When we pulled our luggage out of Tsukiji Subway Station, we found ourselves in the middle of a nondescript commercial district. Grey, drab buildings livened by the occasional neon signboards stretched away in all directions.
My wife turned around and asked me where our hotel was. All i could do was shrug – i was just as lost as her.
In our family, this is something of a rarity.
From Keisei to Hibiya
This was our first day in Japan. We had taken the Keisei Express Train from Narita Airport to Ueno. This journey took us 1.5 hours. At Ueno, we were introduced to the intimidating Tokyo subway system. Fortunately the helpful lady at the Tourist Information Counter got us onto the right track, literally, and 20 mins later, we emerged tired yet relieved from the depths of the Hibiya Line.
As far as i can remember, i’ve always been a bad arriver. Unlike some who itched to take in all the sights, sounds and smells, i would always arrive at my destination hungry, jet-lagged and wishing that i had already checked into my hotel.
I wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower, change into clean clothings, eat and maybe take a short nap – in that order.
Help is all around
We could have caught a cab but i vaguely recalled that the hotel was close by. We decided to brave the unknowns and ambushed a kind-looking young lady. After listening to us intently, she quickly caught hold of a passing, black-suited gentleman. A short conversation ensued between the two Japanese. Alas the bespectacled man knew where our hotel was. He scrawled little crosses and arrows on our scrap of map and gave us impeccable directions to our hotel despite his halting English.
This politeness and willingness to help a stranger would be typical of other Japanese we came across during our holiday.
In my next entry, i’ll give my review of the Ginza Capital Hotel.
Tags: Tokyo