Fast Forward 3 years

Been three years since my last blog post. I stopped travel writing but I didn't stop hobo-ing. Tokyo is now an annual pilgrimage for me and this year, I'm making it in December. It'll be my first trip there in the winter. Brrrr.....

This time though, I won't be traveling alone. My bestie will be trekking it with me. This time, I won't really be hobo-ing either. I'll be putting up in hotels and ryokans. And it won't be all Tokyo. We plan to do make a trip up North with her bro who lives in the city, exploring onsen hotspots.

WIll I be blogging about this trip? I might. But my priority is my food blog now on rumblingtummy.tumblr.com For sure, the food pix will be going up.

Till then. See you maybe on blogspot. But definitely on tumblr.

Living out of Locker 2053

It's a case of the best laid plans gone awry, the plan being:

A) Leave my luggage in the locker at train station.

B) Hang out with friends.

C) Go clubbing.

D) Grab luggage, sleep over at a manga kissa.

For it to work, first you must have the foresight to carry or wear whatever's essential, on you. Alas, I didn't see past my footwear.

I had on slippers. I know, slippers? But anyway, that night was going to be my one and only opportunity to club in Tokyo and I wasn't going to find out at the door that slippers were a dress code violation.

So, I dragged my poor friend and clubbing buddy Wilson to the lockers with me. Locker 2053 at Shibuya Station. Took out one suitcase, set it on the floor and opened it up in full view of the public.

Dug out my heels and a pair of socks. Sat down on my suitcase and put them on.

I was determined to ignore curious stares. But strangely, I felt none.

Not one passer-by batted an eyelid.

Wilson who's lived in Tokyo for two years, says it's not uncommon to see people living out of the lockers. There's an actress who famously does it and it was documented on TV.

Since then, I've not changed out of the locker or done anything as drastic as that. But I've found it extremely useful for storing my shopping while I walk from retail heaven to retail paradise, holding my luggage when I stay over at a manga kissa and keeping my dirty laundry as I move from one part of the city to another.

Lockers are commonly found at train stations, less commonly around the city. Those at the train stations are typically locked in when the station closes. So check on the station's opening and closing hours before you leave your stuff in.

A mid-sized locker can contain one mini suitcase, one good-sized duffel bad and a big bag of shopping. It costs ¥300 (S$5) per day — with the day ending at midnight.

Some lockers at the train stations accept payment via stored value card: Suica or Pasmo. These lockers operate by touchscreen and there's an option for English instructions. Most lockers however, are coin-operated and they only accept ¥100 coins. So keep those coins handy!

Manga kissas and their rules, rules, rules!

When you've got nowhere else to go in the middle of the night, a manga kissa is surely the place to go. BUT BEWARE OF THEIR RULES. Take it from me. I had to learn it the hard way...

5am.
Was looking for a place to crash after clubbing in Shibuya, a place with shower facilities would be good. So I tried to check into Manboo in Center-gai. It was full. Bummer.

I went next to Manga Hiroba across the street. No shower rooms, no big deal. I can wait till Manboo has a cubicle for me.

8am.

Back at Manboo. I finally got a cubicle and place to shower. Or so I thought before I found out about:

Rule #1:
To use the shower room, you MUST reserve it ahead of time.

There's only ONE ladies' shower room at Manboo and I expect it's the same with the men's shower. And even if no one's using it, you can't go right ahead to shower. The ever-watchful receptionist will take care that you don't.

And FYI, I made my reservation. There were 8 people ahead of me... and that meant I had to wait 4 hours. Which was a huge pain because:

Rule #2:
You're stuck inside until you check out.

I tried to get out, didn't think there was anything wrong with it. And I got stopped at the exit.

=====================

I learnt a few days later, that not all manga kissas play by the same rules.

A Japanese friend has told me of a manga kissa in the Meguro area, which has more than one shower room. Reservations for the shower room are not needed.

I've also explored a couple of other manga kissas after Manboo and I found Chi•Kou•Raku to be a friendly one.

It's the one at Kaminarimon in Asakusa and it allows you to hang out outside as long as you've settled your bill — something which I did as it was their policy to do so anyway.

Moral of the story? If you simply wanna use the Internet, watch movies, read comics or waste time, then just walk in. But if you're looking to shower or find a more comfortable spot to crash, it wouldn't hurt to scope out the place beforehand.

A good place to begin your research would be www.cafeman.jp

Narita to Tokyo

If you're arriving in Japan via Narita Airport and spending at least two full days running around Tokyo, I recommend that you get Suica & N'EX.

It's a commuter package made available exclusively for foreign passport holders. With it, you get two train tickets: a stored value subway pass (Suica card) and a seat reservation on board the Narita Express (N'EX).

N'EX is a great time-saver. It gets you into metropolitan Tokyo quickly enough. One hour to Tokyo Station, another twenty minutes to Shinjuku Station.

Price-wise you do save though not as much as its website strongly suggests that you do. You save on the N'EX itself. But there are cheaper trains running to and from Narita Airport too.

¥1,000, 75 min – Keisei Limited Express to Ueno Station

¥1,300, 85 min – JR Sobu Line to Tokyo Station

Note that transfers from one line to another inside a station can sometimes mean a long walk. Check out Hyperdia-timetable. It'll tell you how long it takes to get from one station to another, factoring in the estimated time it takes to hike from one line to another.

8D/7N Tokyo: the breakdown

So, I'm back in Singapore. Don't know exactly how badly I've damaged my credit card but I put it at not more than ¥143,000 (app. S$2,250). Yeay!

Major expenses:

S$499 – Northwest Airlines return ticket

¥26,900 (app. S$425) – 3 nights in various business hotels

¥7,200 (app. S$114) – 2 nights in a hostel

¥3,950 (app. S$62) – stays at 4 manga kissas

¥5,800 (app. S$92) – 1-day DisneySea passport

¥4,400 (app. S$70) – Oedo Onsen Monogatari (entrance + sand bath)

¥3,500 (app. S$55) – clubbing (cover charge)

¥8,000 (app. S$126) – commuting around Tokyo, av. ¥1,000/day

¥3,500 (app. S$55) – Suica & N'EX (more on this in my post: Narita to Tokyo)

The season is changing by the day

25ºC, partly cloudy to sunny skies.

That's pretty much what was forecast for the week I'm here. The perfect holiday weather.

But when we're at the cusp of a new season, the only thing we can predict about the weather is that it's unpredictable.

Rain clouds swung by on Tuesday, the day I went to DisneySea. And it poured Wednesday morning. Good thing I was ready for a cold, cold autmn. I brought enough clothes to wear in layers.

But summer came back on Thursday. I'd checked in most of my luggage in the locker at the train station and walked around with my camping gear (was planning to go camping that evening but never made it).

Sweat poured out of pores I never knew I had as I lugged every kilogramme of the dead weight — around Shinjuku, Harajuku and all the way from western Tokyo to the southern tip of Odaiba.

Good thing I ended up at an onsen-themed amusement park there.

Tubs and tubs of bubbling spring water. A 15-minute sand bath. Absolute relaxation.

I've got the b for one more night

Still reeling from yesterday's nightmare of hunting for a place to stay.

So my plan for today:

Walk around Ikebukuro, Ueno, maybe the Yoyogi Park to find accommodation.

Bummer. And I was thinking of going to DisneySea today :(

Culture shocked

It startles me to discover how different the same city can seem, once you throw yourself off the tourist circuit.

It's one thing to observe the quirky Japanese culture and be amazed by it, another to as they say, do as the Romans do.

I've been here what, 36 hours? But it feels way longer than that. I've done so many things out of the ordinary — not to mention out of character.

And I'm exhausted just trying to keep track of them all.

On board NW20

I hate turbulence. Especially the kind that creeps up on you. It's like, one moment you're unbuckling your seatbelt, getting up to go to the loo.

Then the plane drops 50 storeys.

...

1360km more to go, 1 hour 43 minutes left to pass. Can't wait to touch down.

T minus 1 hour and 22 minutes

T minus 31 hours and 40 minutes

I sprained my pinkie toe.

I know!!! This close to Tokyo???!!!

I've a really bad habit of walking into walls. Usually I end up with a huge bump on my forehead. But today's wall is only half a wall, it reaches up to my mid-thigh. It's too low to hit my thick skull. And so my left foot became next in the line of fire.

Bummer.

My flat shoes will stick out like an ugly sore thumb in Shibuya.

T minus 48 hours and 40 minutes

5am. I can't sleep.

One. I'm really excited about Tokyo and two, a little nervous.

I'm planning to get lost in the city. Not gonna set an itinerary. Not booking ahead into any hotel.

This way, I figure, I'll get to see all of Tokyo. The touristy side, the every day side and any surprises it throws my way. But that's not to say I haven't done any homework.

I know where to find Harajuku Girls and I know what time I've got to be there. I know I'm going camping and I know I'll need to reserve a campsite.

Yes I'll be sleeping under a tent in Tokyo, land of the manga kissa, loveho, sento and capsule hotel. I'll be spending a night in them all if I can have my way, why not? That's part of the Tokyo experience.

My "all-seeing" Tokyo experience :)

Well, looks like I'm more psyched than nervous now. Great. Now I really can't sleep.