Tokyo Day 1:.....Will I be "Big in Japan"?

And here is the relevant link in case you didn't get the "Big in Japan" reference (you probably didn't ;-):  It's a German Strange Pop hit from 1984.... but it's still good ;-)

WHAT will it be like ?

....Back to reality.... the plane touches down at 14:00 local time.
20 minutes of taxiing after landing.... endless walking through the terminal..... temperature scanner, filling out another form, lining up for finger-print scan, then passport control... another SHORT line-up for customs..... 

... and I'm in Japan!  Quickly, OUT of the terminal to light a cigarette.... I've had 2 puffs when someone walks up to me and says NO SMOKING, while the Diesel buses idle right in front of us.....OK.... NOT my favourite country so far.....  they direct me to a fish tank 50 meters down the road.... A smoking FISH TANK OUTSIDE, LOL.   And my nutty seat neighbour is there, chatting up every single Asian-looking person in Japanese.....

There are two Foreign Exchange booths but NO banking machine... but I only have Vietnamese Dong to exchange.... I wander the terminal and finally ask a white person at a stall..... ALL the ATMs (about 10 different ones) are clustered together in a corner at the other end of the terminal.... 
There.....30,000 Yen....about CAD$ 400..... back to the smoking booth.... The Nutter is still there.  I ask him how to get to Shinjuku..... he suggests the bus and NOT the train...  I approach the bus ticket counter.... but then I see a booth for the Narita Express.....

... which should get me to Shinjuku without having to change trains !


2990 Yen (that's CAD$ 37 !!) will take me to Shinjuku... and I easily make the 15:14 train..... the ticket includes the reserved seat and it is a window seat.... AND the JR Line has WiFi on its trains ;-)

 Looking out the train window, I am surprised how much Japan looks like Germany..... the same idea of villages among fields (only here it's rice and not wheat) with roads and power transmission lines cris-crossing the whole thing.... only Japan looks much CLEANER than Germany...  ok, so I haven't been to Fukushima yet .....

  The train WiFi is not very good... I am disappointed ....

Another one of those EXTREMELY embarrassing moments....  I step out of the train washroom and on the other side of the train aisle there is a cubicle with a partly glass door giving view of the men's URINAL.    DAMNED, if THAT is the urinal, then WHAT was the thing that I just peed into ........ OHMYGOD.... it was right under the baby-changing table..... say no more, let's pretend I never went to the washroom, LOL

16:10
the train enters the outskirts of Tokyo....  more and more buildings...

The train enters and endless tunnel.... and there is TYO Tokyo station..... our train will travel through basement level 5..... HOW many levels does that train station have?

 The train gets split here.... I can stay in my seat because my car will proceed to Shinjuku....

Shinjuku Station.... WOW, that's a LOT OF PEOPLE ! It's time to put my fate in the hands of Google Maps again...

I am tempted to light a cigarette.... but when I look around, I don't see ANYONE else smoking.... WTF?

this way..... that way ....

I see the first person smoking after 15 minutes of walking .... that does not bode well ...  but if he's smoking, so can I....

FUCKING GOOGLE MAPS.... the hotel is not where it is supposed to be.... NO REALLY, it's NOT there.. and I'm VERY GOOD at reading maps! .... I ask 2 young guys...they get out their cell phones and in broken English show me where I should go..... they point out the direction.... Supermarket....right.... but I have no idea whether the corner they are referring to is 100 meters or 5 km from here.....I waddle through the streets...... I am SO LOW ...  here is no more WiFi, I can't even get it on my roaming phone.... I am COMPLETELY lost....and I'm getting tired and desperate...... there is a mini mart here....let's turn right here..... maybe I should walk back to Shinjuku Station where at least I have WiFi.......which direction is Shinjuku Station again?...... maybe if I turn right here, I will get back there ? ..... about 75 meters after my last turn there is a bar with the same name as my hotel.... I look up..... I am actually standing right in front of my serviced apartments building...... 
OH Thank You so very Very VERY much, my Guardian Angels !!

bathroom left, kitchen right, living/bed room straight ahead

Pretty but using a computer here for 3 days will RUIN my back....

the view from the 8th floor balcony

WHAT does it say?  WHERE is the ON button?

When I sit down for a #2, I almost jump up in TERROR..... someone HEATED the toilet seat, LMAO.  There are all these OTHER toilet control buttons... at least they have pictographs  (I found the MANUAL flush knob on the side of the toilet)....

...and before I leave I will try them all, even though I'm pretty certain that the results will SURPRISING at least ;-)

18:15
Time to hit the supermarket ;-)

The bill comes to 3700 Yen (45 CAD).... but I get instant coffee, Italian prosciutto, Camembert, bread, yogurt, and THREE bottles of wine..... going shopping in the centre of Shinjuku is still MUCH cheaper than in Vancouver ;-)


19:15
NO WONDER I got lost..... GOOGLE MAPS had the location WRONG..... WHY does this happen to me SO OFTEN?   I send the fix into Google Maps and hope that no one else will suffer the same fate !

 Neo-Seoul?

20:30
Yes, that's only 18:30 in Vietnam... but I'm tired....

OMG.... an e-mail from Mr. Perfect !....  he will travel to BBCT... talk about a near miss ....

22:00