First Night, First Impressions

It was a warm April morning as I said goodbye to my family at the New Orleans International Airport and headed off to Tokyo Japan. The night before was a happy yet humble moment for me, as I got to experience my last night in the United States in a city that I hold a lot of nostalgia for. New Orleans has come a long way from the post-Katrina days, and eating at the P.F.Chang's at the newly renovated Clear-View Mall was just about the perfect way to spend my last night with my family.

Goodbyes were short but sweet as I had to catch my first flight from New Orleans to Los-Angeles, the final stop before my trip to Tokyo. After a 5 hour plane ride to LA, I spent my last moments before boarding my transpacific flight looking for a decent burger. Sadly there wasn't a McDonald or Burger King in sight, but there was a quaint 50s themed restaurant that had just what I was looking for. After spending 15 of the 30 minutes I had to spare waiting for my food, I hurriedly ate, and got to my gate, where I waited to board the plane that would take me to my final destination: Japan.

The transpacific flight was long, but I was able the pass the time well enough thanks to the ample amount of entertainment provided by my flight. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Pacific Rim, and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug tided me over until my plane finally arrived at its destination. Customs, immigration, and baggage pick-up went by surprisingly fast as I was out at the bus terminal in less than 15 minutes from exiting my flight. It was at the Narita Airport that I got my first impressions of Japan. Even with the reputation of being a technological wonderland, Japan doesn't have all the modern conveniences I enjoyed back in the United States, the largest of these deficits being access to free wifi. Pay phones are still a common sight around Tokyo, the fax machine is still heavily used, and cash is still the only way to pay for goods at many Japanese businesses. But despite these deficits, Japan has a plethora of conveniences not available in the United States, easy in-and-out access to and from the airport being one of them. Also, no one does service quiet like Japan, as everything from getting my luggage to booking my hotel room was done in a gentle and efficient manner. If tipping was an acceptable custom here, I would probably be broke already.

The moment I entered my hotel room, I turned the TV on to NHK, plopped face-first onto the bed and passed out for a good 2 to 3 hours. I woke up around 6:30, and imminently went in search of something to eat. Luckily, there was a conbini (Japanese convenient store) built right into the hotel, and I dined on onigiri, senbei, and Mitsuya cider. after flipping through channels on the TV and charging all my devices, I decided to get ready for bed early. Tomorrow I would check out, meet with my school's representatives, get situated in my dorm, and officially begin my stay in Japan.

Packing, Planning, and Anticipation

It's about two weeks before I set off to Japan, and I and already full of anticipation. I have probably packed and repacked my bags thrice, and I am still not entirely sure of everything I want to bring with me to Japan. I figured it would be best for me to pack light, yet at the same time this trip will be the longest and the farthest I will  have ever been away from home. 

Of course, going to Japan is not like going to the Caribbean or Alaska. Tokyo is after all a modern city with most of the conveniences I could find here stateside, if not more. Its not like I couldn't buy more supplies, toiletries, or clothes as needed while over there. At the same time however, Tokyo will be very different from anything I have ever experienced, so even something as simple as buying shampoo might be a total shift from what I'm used to doing here in the states. (Though they do have a Walmart equivalent in Japan called Seiyu, so it might not be totally different from home.)

But its not as much about what clothes I should bring as much as what personal items I should bring. I'm definitely bringing my laptop and phone, since those are a must in almost any situation, but what else could I bring that wouldn't take up too much space, wouldn't be redundant, and would even function while in Japan?

My laptop is small, but its not exactly as light and and portable as a tablet, so my tablet is under consideration. I'm also wondering if I should bring either my PSP or my 3DS. Its safe to say that none of the games I buy from there are going to function on the region-locked game systems, and I might be surrounded by enough entertainment and busywork in Tokyo to even bother using them. Yet at the same time, its going to be a long plane trip to and from Japan, and there may be days when I may be stuck between school and my dorm anyway. (Money is a consideration as well.) 

I'm also considering bringing some travel books as well. Even though most of the information I could ever need about Tokyo is online, free wifi connections are not as prevalent in Japan as they are in the United States. Thankfully my school and my dorm will have free internet, but Tokyo is a big place, so it would probably be wise to bring a railway guide, or a travel guide for some of the more popular areas.

I'm also trying to decide what sights I should see while I'm in Japan. I'm going to have 11 weekends in Japan, and even though I'm still debating which sites, locations, and attractions I should visit, here are a few I definitely want to see:

1. Mt. Fuji: Who doesn't think of Mt. Fuji when someone mentions Japan. One of the largest and most famous volcanoes in the world, it would be a shame not to see it while I'm over there. Besides who doesn't like volcanoes? They're tall and beautiful, yet ominous and foreboding at the same time.
2. Asakusa Temple: Probably one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Japan, Asakusa Temple is the site of many of Japan's big holidays and festivals. I'm going to be in Japan during Golden week as well, so I'll definitely have to observe one of the festivals while I'm there.
3. Tokyo Tower: Probably the most iconic sight in Tokyo. Even though it isn't the tallest tower in in Japan anymore (that would be the Tokyo Skytree), It is still seen as one of Tokyo's great monuments, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or Big Ben in London.
4. Sunshine 60 Building: Close to the neighborhood I'll be staying in, the Sunshine 60 is one of the largest buildings in Asia, and is also an aquarium, history museum, park, hotel, shopping center, and office rolled into one. Its also built on the grounds of an old political prison camp, and is supposedly haunted by the spirits of the inmates. Spooky.
5. Akihabara: If you are an electronics geek, or an anime nerd, this is as close to heaven as one can get. The entire neighborhood is geared towards techies and otaku, and is one of the best spots for buying anime, manga, old and new video games, electronics, arcades, etc in Japan.

Well I shouldn't have to long to wait until I go, but these are probably going to be the slowest 2 weeks of my life, and hopefully I won't have too much to worry about when I actually do arrive.

 

Hello all.

Hello everyone. The purpose of this blog is to keep friends, family, and anyone else of interest in touch as I spend two and a half months studying in Tokyo, Japan. What I post on this blog will mostly pertain to things I see or do in or around Tokyo, observations I make about Tokyo or Japan in general, topics of interests, fun, photos, and more. I can't guarantee that I will be updating this blog daily, but I will try to keep this up to date as much as possible. I intend to start posting regularly as soon as I have made it over there.