Tokyo

Tokyo

An overnight flight lasting over ten hours from Auckland to Tokyo has the clear advantage that you don’t get off the plane dead tired when you arrive, but rather well rested. At least one should assume so.

At Narita Airport, the immigration process runs surprisingly smoothly and shortly afterwards we find ourselves at a loss in front of the various ticket machines. First of all, we don’t even know which of the various lines we should take. Secondly, we should first clarify which Tokyo train station is closest to the hotel.

Luckily, as always, Mr. Google knows. We should take the Airport Express to Tokyo Central Station and then take a taxi from there. We are slowly beginning to understand how to switch from the cryptic characters on the machine to readable characters in English.

A short time later we got four tickets out of the machine, for which we paid the equivalent of around 75 euros. This is significantly cheaper than any other means of transport on offer.

When we arrive at the platform, the train arrives at this moment. We let people get off and then heave our luggage and ourselves onto the train. But then a nice person comes rushing up and just as politely and firmly pushes us out of the train. Like right now?

Then it turns out that the wagons have to be completely cleaned and cleaned before boarding! That’s a thing! So a little later we are sitting in our reserved seats on a completely cleaned train. The journey takes a little over an hour, is quite monotonous and tiredness sets in again. Doesn’t matter.

We get out at Tokyo station and roll our suitcases somewhere outside. Like at the airport, the paths here are quite long, but fortunately they are reasonably well signposted. So we find the taxi rank without much difficulty. The driver actually manages to fit all of our luggage into the standard taxi along with the four of us! This is Tetris in reality!

After the vast landscapes of New Zealand, we drive through deep urban canyons. The streets are arranged on several levels and trains, subways and monorails also form a tangle of tracks on stilts. What a difference! In comparison, New Zealand seems almost two-dimensional!

Nevertheless, the traffic around us is not as dense as one might expect. So we arrive at the hotel at around ten o’clock. We booked at the Conrad Tokyo. The reception and lobby of the hotel are on the 28th floor. Pretty unusual.

Plus, everything here is pretty classy. We are amazed at the exquisite decoration, the spaciousness of the lobby and the adjacent bar, and are very happy about the upgrade, which gives us rooms on the executive level. Unfortunately the rooms aren’t ready yet, so we make ourselves comfortable in the lounge, where we even get breakfast.

Our room number 3717 is incredibly comfortable and offers great views of Tokyo Bay, the Rainbow Bridge and the park directly in front of the hotel. Directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, which cover the entire width of the room, there are two chaise lounges, so that we can let our eyes wander in wonderful comfort.

Our next destination is the wellness area on the 29th floor. From here we can also look over the city from the huge pool. Wow! The only small disappointment is that, except in the swimming pool area, there is a very strict separation between males and females. All right. Then we’ll see each other again after the steam room and whirlpools.

All four of us see each other again later in the lounge, where Sabine and Hans don’t last very long. The two want to go out for something to eat and find what they are looking for in a small restaurant in Ginza, where they spend a wonderful evening with Suahi and Raki among nice and happy people.

By the way, that is the deepest first impression of this country: without exception, the people meet us with a friendly face, great willingness to help and politeness. We already noticed the positive mood in New Zealand. But in Japan this impression is even exceeded. Let’s see if it stays that way!

Liza and I, on the other hand, have a really good time in the hotel until tiredness overcomes us and we fall into the wonderful beds. Here’s to a good first night in Tokyo!