My Time in Hong Kong: Tokyo Trip

Yesterday was a long day of travel to Tokyo. My flight was at 8:20 am so I had to get up super early to get to the airport on time. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare so I hung out by my gate for a bit before boarding. I flew Delta airlines because it was much cheaper than all the other carriers. We had to go through a second round of security whereby they searched each bag by hand. I'm guessing it was because of the recent underwear bomb scare. The flight wasn't bad at all. It was about three and a half hours long and we arrived Tokyo's Narita International airport right on time.

I am actually taking this trip by myself. For the first night, I got a moderately priced hotel room in the Shibuya area of Tokyo (west side of the city), at the Shibuya Granbell Hotel. at the Friday and Saturday night, I'm staying with Matt Miller, a friend of a close friend, Dave Martinez. I met Matt back in October at the Reaching Out MBA conference in Dallas, TX. Matt works for United Airlines and actually used to live in Hong Kong as well. Now he's based in Tokyo and lives with his partner, LD.

The way Tokyo is described is pretty accurate. It's massive and filled with tons of people, mostly Japanese. While Hong Kong is very multicultural, Tokyo is much less so. As a foreigner, you definitely stand out here. The city is also very clean and the public transportation system is super efficient. It takes you anywhere, but navigating it isn't always easy. The system is made of a subway, trains and buses. The subway and train systems are run by different companies so sometimes you have to leave one line and purchase a ticket for a different line, which adds to the confusion. Look at their subway map. It makes New York City's subway look like child's play.

I didn't have too much problem getting on the train at the airport to Tokyo station into the city. I also didn't have too much difficult switching to another train to get to the stop for my hotel. It was once I left the metro station and tried to find my hotel that it became difficult. Many streets don't have names and the ones that do show the name in Japanese characters. Some of the Western hotels or businesses show their English name, but that's about it. I had to ask directions multiple times and ended up walking around for about an hour trying to find my hotel. The confusion ended when I walked into a restaurant to get some food. They weren't open for a late lunch, but they were so helpful in finding my hotel. One of the workers was nice enough to look up the hotel on his computer, print out directions and then actually walk me the few blocks to the doorstep of my hotel. It was so gracious of him and I kept thinking how that would never happen in Hong Kong.

I was able to check in my hotel and loved my room. It was small, but the space was smartly planned. Plus, it was trendy and good deal. Tokyo hotels are really expensive. After watching a little Sumo wrestling on TV, I went out and explored the area a bit. I walked by the Times Square of Tokyo (in Shibuya) and through Harajuku (where the teenagers wear/buy all those crazy Japanese outfits). After walking for a couple of hours, I came back to my hotel. I attempted to do a bit of schoolwork, but it was hard to pay attention.

Today, I check out of my hotel at 11 am. I'm going to have the hotel hold my stuff for a few hours so I can go explore some more. I want to go find the Meiji shrine. This evening, I'm supposed to meet up with Matt.