Today I landed in Narita Airport, Tokyo. 6 months – far away from home, all by myself, in the huge capital of Japan. I was grateful to my “past self” that I chose to book a direct flight, even though 11 hours in an airplane is a very… long… time… But I had good company in the plane, as I sat next to a Danish girl who, like me, had left Denmark to stay in Japan on a longer term. Therefore, the flight went surprisingly fast, even though I couldn’t sleep (I can’t really sleep while sitting upright).
My initial plan was to bring two suitcases; one containing the necessities of 1-2 days, and another containing the rest of my stuff, packing it to the maximum weight. In the end I actually packed both suitcases close to the maximum weight, and the one which was supposed to be the light one, actually got a 23kg tag (which is max when flying with SAS). I guess I went a little overboard with the amount of Danish cookies, chocolate, and liquorice. ^^
When I landed in Japan, everything went surprisingly fast. After picking up my two suitcases and getting through the customs, I decided to send my luggage to my apartment (it would arrive in the evening the same day). This is actually quite a nifty feature in Japan, making it possible to use the subways without luggage. I didn’t use the subway though… even though I thought I would for a moment, I chose the limousine bus since I couldn’t figure out where to get the PASMO or SUICA card (I was fairly tired as well). But I am actually glad I took the bus even though it is a bit more expensive, as I could see the city (and the traffic) from the road – particularly all the crazily tall building which you would never see in Denmark.
I got off the bus at Shinjuku Station, and it was very hot. I can’t say that I was surprised by the temperature as I have been warned many times, but it surely was hot and humid, and experiencing it really is something else… Well, particularly because I was wearing clothes suitable for the current Danish weather. ^^ I decided to take a taxi to my accommodation, since I was thinking that I would have plenty of time to explore another day where I had gotten some sleep.
When I arrived at my accommodation, I was greeted by a reception area even hotter than the outside. My first thought was “shit, do they not have aircondition in the rooms either? I wouldn’t survive!”, but quite shortly after, the guy at the reception told me that the aircondition in the reception was broken yesterday. Phew! But damn, when I was shown into my apartment, it was another wall of CRAZY OMG HOT HUMIDNESS, since the aircondition had been switched off. It took a few hours before it actually cooled the room down to a reasonable temperature! I had been quite interested in seeing how the 18m2 were arranged to fit kitchen, bathroom, desk, bed, and TV inside – but surely everything was there.
An entrance where you have to take off your shoes and change into slippers
I actually had to sign a paper stating that I’d promise not to go inside with my outdoor shoes on.
And when the guy from the reception showed me my place, I totally forgot to take my shoes off and he was almost panicking. I apologized many times, and I don’t think I’ll forget again – but I am not used to that from home. ^^
A very small kitchen as part of the hallway
A decently sized bathroom including a bathtub, but it feels a bit claustrophobic when the temperature is high though (as long as the aircon works, it’s fine).
A living-sleeping-working room with TV, DVD-player, a quite large desk, and surprisingly many shelves and drawers. I had no problem fitting my things inside, and there is still room for more. ^^
I had a bit of a problem getting the suitcases into the “living room” though. 😀
I felt the view from the balcony was decent as well, but particularly when it turned dark out, it looked very nice. It was dark already around 6-7pm! I tried to take a picture with my smartphone, but it really does not capture the feelz. I need to buy a camera very soon!
Since I didn’t have much energy after my nap, I decided to go out and find a convienience store and try to buy one of those premade meals. It was surprisingly good with plenty of taste, but that’s also what I had heard.
I ended up buying a bit of other stuff as well, but I did limit myself I think! 😛
With that I should manage until tomorrow at least. Then tomorrow, I think I will try to get the hang of the train systems, and maybe take a trip somewhere in Tokyo. Maybe I should go and check out Akihabara. Oh I also need to find out where I can withdraw money and what to do about a sim-card. There’s still a lot of practicalities. ^^
