Saturday River Cruise: Asakusa to Odaiba

Woke up with a bad case of hangover after a night out in Roppongi. Gathered myself up and headed straight to the hotel lobby. Today’s plan was to go shopping for souvenirs and take a cruise to Odaiba. I queried the concierge who said that the Nakamise shopping street approaching the Sensoji temple is the best place to buy traditional souvenirs.
So I took the Chuo line to Asakusabashi and then the Asakusa line to Asakusa.

I entered the Nakamise through the Kaminarimon entrance on the directions of an elderly lady near the metro train station. “It will lead you straight to the temple”, she said.
There are two statues of guardian deities Raijin (god of thunder) and Fujin (god of wind) guarding the entrance. I was very pleased to see the old Tokyo atmosphere much in contrast to the modern parts of Tokyo like Roppongi, Shibuya or Ginza.

There were so many shops lined on both the sides of the street selling everything from Kimonos, folding fans, wooden shoes to local snacks and even pearl jewelry!
I got a set of Sake cups, a set of tea cups and a lot of rice crackers. Really wanted to get some of that pearl jewelry but ‘twas way over budget. Make me wonder the price of Mikimoto pearls.

Concluding my walk at the Hanzomon gate and after paying obeisance to the “Kannon” I left in search of my primary motive, the Sumidagawa river and the Sumida river cruise. BTW it’s called the Suijo bus and I have no idea why!
I had to go to Odaiba to see the artificial beach, the Fuji TV building, the Rainbow Bridge, the statue of Liberty, one of the world’s largest ferris wheel and then ride the fully automated unmanned Yuirkamome train to Shimbashi. So what better way to go to Odaiba!

The cruise will take about 75 minutes and will cost you around 1,500 yen. Although there are direct ferries to Odaiba, the frequency is much less. And if you land at the ferry terminal in Asakusa at 2 p.m. like me, you’ll have to take two ferries. One from Asakusa to Hinode Pier and then the other from Hinode Pier to Odaiba. But excitement-wise it’s the same.

The views are amazing with a lot of photo opps. Take for example the Asahi building with a golden ‘poop’ over it and over 13 bridges including the famous “Rainbow Bridge”. One of the locals on the ferry told me I should try a bike trip along the Sumida river. Odaiba is much more beautiful at night serving as a backdrop to a dozen or more small boats offering dinner cruises.

Tokyo Nightlife: Club hopping in Roppongi

Alright-o! This is one thing that every young traveler would like to experience. Nightlife is one of the top attractions on any travel site.

I did some research before coming to Tokyo. The one website that kept creeping up all the time was Sunnypages.jp. This website has a good amount of listing and reviews as well. But the best way to know where to go is to ask the concierge of your hotel or a local (if you know one or can speak Japanese). And that’s what I did. Another helpful resource is the city map. Try to get your hands on a Roppongi map. Yes, there is one and it will not only give you a list of places around Roppongi crossing but coupons as well.

I had listed down two spots; Gaspanic and Club Atom. Gaspanic is the famous Hip-Hop club and Club Atom (which is actually in Shibuya) has three floors, all of which play different music.

The guys decided to go some Japanese restaurant called “Teppanyaki Ten Roppongi”. As the name suggests, it’s a Teppanyaki restaurant located near Roppongi Station in Tokyo. Open every day. Hours are 18.00-24.00 (-23.00 on Saturdays, Sundays and National holidays). Price range is approx. JPY3,000 – JPY6,000 per person for dinner and credit cards are accepted. Seatings: table 60, counter 10 people. Tokyo restaurant directory by TRADINA
Personally, I found this place very expensive for quality of food and cocktails they were serving; their Miso soup is terrible. The only fun thing is too see your food being right in front of you! You’ll understand why its fun when you see Shrimp being cooked alive.

After dinner, we wandered about in the area looking for good clubs. That’s when we landed in Geronimo Shot Bar. Its small, native American themed with walls lined with the names of people who took the most number of shots that night. Amazing place! We had some shots there to ‘get into the mood’. And it worked!

As we got out and walked in search of another bar/club, a couple of black guys surrounded us, asked us if we needed any titties for the night Funny as it may sound the constant pestering on every damn block will set you off. One of those guys suggested we go to Bar 911 and Motown House II. I was a bit skeptical but then trotted along.

I was happy to find Bar 911 was a very good and classy club. Not much crowded when we went in at around 11:15 p.m. Most drinks, except local draft beer, were priced at 1,000 Yen. Hip-Hop is the trend around the world now and that’s what was playing here too. This place was full of foreigners. I could a see a few drunken Japanese bumping around (literally). Fun!

Bar 911 got awfully crowded about 1:30 a.m. and we decided to check out Motown House II. I instantly like this place because of the décor and 60’s music. The crowd was mostly nearing thirties and all were expats! The club takes requests too but prepare for a long wait before your song comes up.
I later learned that both the above bars also serve as pick-up joints!

We left that place at about 3, went for a late night snack at a Persian restaurant nearby, caught a cab and headed straight to the hotel.

Tokyo Earthquake

There I was in the bathtub of my hotel room watching Reservoir Dogs on my iPod. Suddenly I hear squeaking noises. And they somehow don’t seem to stop. Being a Curious George I got out of the bath tub and put on the bathrob. That’s when I start feeling it! I’m excited at first. Then the excitement turns into fear after I look out of the window and realise I’m on the 36th floor!!!
\O o/

I quickly put on my clothes and got out of the room. I caught the elevator (ya ya I know that’s not advised in times like these but it was the fastest way) and went straight down to the lobby to confirm if there indeed was an earthquake. I asked the bell captain if there was any news about an earthquake. “Yes sir” he replies with a smile, there was an earthquake but don’t worry it was just 6.9 and about 320 kms away from Tokyo.” Really?! Does the guy even know how far down the ground is from the 36th floor?! Guess these people are just used to it. After all Japan is the one of the most earthquake prone regions.

Japan travel tip: Never use the bath tub on the 36th floor of a hotel in Japan.

Getting to Tokyo

Japaann, Love in Tokyo!! Well’s that’s how an old hindi song with Asha Parekh and Joy Mukherjee from a movie of the same name goes. That was back in school.

15 years after I saw that movie I arrive in Tokyo eager to experience the image of Japan made up by hindi movies like the one above or ‘Giant Robot’ the kiddie show that used to appear on TV during vacations.

Here’s what it takes to be in Japan.

Check in
Surprisingly, there don’t seem to be any direct flights from Mumbai to Tokyo. I’m flying Malaysia Airlines to Narita, Japan via Kuala Lumpur.

Check-in was quick as the flight wasn’t full that day. I collected the boarding passes and walked towards immigration when I heard some commotion. I thought to myself ‘if there’s a commotion at the airport, I better stay away. Don’t wanna get killed by a stray bullet from a terrorist!’ But I was astonished to see a big crowd gathered around the scene, much against my thoughts, trying to conduct their investigation into the matter. We Indians are soo brave aren’t we? Hitting the beach especially when BMC has issued a high tide warning and now in this case mobbing around god-knows-what situation at the airport. Kudos!

Lounge
I mostly travel business class when I’m not on a personal trip. And when you are this special you get to relax in the lounge. Sounds fun?! Sounded fun to me until I visited the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt. More on that later.

Anyways, so this will be the third lounge I visited at the Mumbai airport; the Clipper Lounge (Continental) and the Star Alliance Lounge (Lufthansa) being the other two.
This one is called the “Celebration Lounge” (wonder what they are celebrating? Maybe my arrival ). Good décor, nice plush cream-colored sofas (expected them to be soiled and they were (to an extent of course) but totally not acceptable for a business lounge. There were three LCDs, a mobile charger point (nice!) and a massage chair (awesome!!) too. And guess what, no free Wi-Fi. What a bummer!

The bar was well stacked; McDowell’s, Signature, Black & White, Teachers, Bacardi, Smirnoff, Absolute, some Indian wines, beers, et al…but Mr. Walker was nowhere to be seen. I’m disappointed, not good. Food was the average fare with Biryanis (both Veg/Chicken), Samosas, Kebabs; nothing special.

Read more about it here.

Boarding
Boarding was quick, real quick. There wasn’t a separate Q for business/first class passengers but the crew was prompt enough to stop the economy passenger Q to let me in! I could see some of them going red-faced (:P).

Onboard
The aircraft was a Boeing 777 jet and there was a lot of space between my seat and the front. I was excited at the prospect of a 180 deg. lie-flat seat which turned out to be an angled flat seat much to be disappointment (:(). I was sure I’m gonna keep slipping down but the seat held me as if I’m stuck to with a Velcro!
The seat width is just 19.8”, wider than economy of course but not as wide as the seat on Continental (22”).

See the seat survey here.
And other reviews here.

One thing that I loved about this airline is that they pampered me like a child! I wanted Asian Veg. Meal but my dim-witted agent forgot to mention it at the time of booking. Although the ground staff had assured me that I will get a veg. meal onboard I did not trust them. And I was happy to be disappointed. Every flight attendant in the business class cabin made sure I got what I wanted, even on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Narita. Very courteous!

Narita
This is the airport where almost all the international flights come to. It is 65 kms away from the city.
But it is linked very well with the city centre and most hotels by bus. It also has a very helpful tourist information centre.

Most shops, cabs, budget hotels, vending machines won’t accept credit cards so carry cash. ATMs/cash machines are hard to come by too. Withdraw enough money at the airport ATMs/cash machines that will last you for a few days. Japan has printed 10,000 yen notes as well so carrying cash should not be a problem.

Transport
There are 3 ways to get to the city; taxi, bus, train. Taxi is super expensive; guys at the tourist information centre gave me a 35,000 yen estimate to get to my hotel in Shibaura!

Train is good but you may have to change trains or transfer to a local bus or taxi depending on where you wanna go. Moreover, I’ve heard stories of how damn crowded the trains can get. The metro even employs people to push the passengers in the coach so that the doors could close and the train could start. Well I’m used to being pushed & shoved in the Mumbai trains but not after a long flight, I pass!

Buses are the best in my opinion. All tourists go to some hotel when they arrive and these airport buses called ‘The Airport Limousine service’ will take you directly to a lot of them. Didn’t take me to my hotel though! It cost me an additional 1000 yen for a cab. But still cheaper than taking a cab directly from the airport.
My hotel was an hour and a half away from the airport and it cost me 3000 yen for the trip from the airport to the Prince tower Hotel.

By the time I got to the hotel, it was 10 p.m. and I hit the sack straight away.

Well that’s it for the ‘getting there’ part.
Keep looking out for more travails, trivia & experiences from ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’!