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Underground
River Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines
Island Hopping, Puerto Princesa, Palawan,
Philippines
Manila, Philippines
Munich, Germany
Salzburg, Austria
Mercedes, BMW
and Nazis
May Marte and I were just discussing of going
to Tokyo, Japan last year and May kept on saying that it was out of their
budget. However, Philippine Airlines made a promotional discount
through mileage that enticed the Marte couple to meet up with me in Tokyo
last October 8-10. They even brought Joel and Carren Duterte with
them. Due to Air Canada seat availability, I arrived a day early on
October 7 and the 2 couples from General Santos City arrived on October 8.
From Narita airport, I took the
JR Narita Express to
Shinagawa station, transferred to Gotanda station en route to Nakanobu
station which was the train stop near our hotel,
Chisun Shinagawa West. The
subway
route system of Tokyo was very overwhelming at first but it was actually
very simple. There were just numerous train companies intertwined to a
very efficient network and the information counters at each station were
very helpful and patient in explaining how to get from one (1) stop to
another. The Tokyo
subway can be simply termed "crazy" due to its web-like network but true
to Japanese ingenuity and engineering, the trains were very efficient and
on-time.
The one (1) way fare for the JR Narita
Express was Yen 3,100 or about US$ 38.00. Since we took the subway a
lot for our roaming around Tokyo, we bought the
Metro open ticket for both Metro and Toei subway lines for Yen 1,000.
When I arrived on October 7, there was not
much to do since the flight arrived at 4pm and it was about 1.5 hours from
the airport to the hotel. I was just able to roam around Shinagawa
west in the evening.
On October 8, while waiting for the Martes
and Dutertes whose flight arrived at 1:00 pm from the Philippines, I first
went to the famous
Tokyo Tsukiji
Fish Market. Acres of fish trading and the Japanese really love
their fish! For an 11 pc sushi set, the price was Yen 3,650 or about
US$45 yet an eat all you can Japanese buffet in Toronto was just about half
the price! From the market, I passed by the
Tokyo Imperial
Palace/Garden which was closed to the public at that time due to an
official funtion. So I just saw the feeding of big carps by the river
bank.
From the Imperial grounds, I passed by the
Tokyo Tower
which was near Akabanebashi station. From there, I checked out
Shinjuku and Harajuku areas where the "Harjuku
looking" girls of Tokyo hung out. Within the area of Shinjuku was
the Meiji Shrine
where I also witnessed a traditional Japanese wedding. On my way back
to the hotel, I walked for about 15 mins to
Shibuya where the
"Tokyo Times Square" was located. Since it was still daylight, the Shibuya
crossing was not as glittery compared at night. Took the subway from Shibuya
and met up with the Martes and Dutertes at the hotel at about 3:00 pm.
Typical of my compressed travels which the
Martes and Dutertes were not used to, as soon as I met up with them at the
hotel, we went to Shinjuku then walked to Shibuya. At that time, the
Shibuya crossing was such a treat with all the lights and the Japanese
people criss-crossing the Shibuya intersection. We had dinner at the
food festival at the Shibuya mall and from there capped the night with a
stroll at the Tokyo Tower.
On October 9, we left the
hotel at 730am and went to Yokohama via JR Line. The fare for the JR
line was not included in the whole day Metro subway pass.
Yokohama had a very
beautiful waterfront and was developed as a convention/business site.
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