Asia trip Day 26 - off the ship and on our own

Thursday March 23

We were awake in good time, had vacated our cabin and had plenty of time for breakfast. There was quite a good-byeing going on in the Terrace Cafe.

I took the above photo to put on FaceBook. When I wanted to add our location this came up. Not very helpful. What do you think?

We even left the ship before we really needed to and went on our way. Not everything always goes as you plan it. This escalator didn't work. We did still manage to roll the suitcases on the stairs though.

Not how the Landmark Tower with the Observatory looked yesterday. We were so lucky. 

Now, we knew that we were too early for the ticket office but we were lucky. A station person came to help us with the machines. He went beyond his duties, ran to get an iPad and googled on the hotel. Helped us get the tickets. Credit card didn't work but it was only 980 yen for both of us and we had that cash. We could not imagine what a taxi would have cost us. I checked ... there were several routes one could take. The longest drive with a car might have taken 1 hour 15 minutes.

Anyway, the station person hurried us because the train was leaving 9:04 am. We thanked him and off we went. We had not asked him about the transfer though like the lady at the info had talked about and marked on our map. The electronic board in the train was not very conclusive. We decided that we should do as she said, got out soon, went up and over to the platform to return to the transfer place. 

There we were lucky that we found another station person who was very helpful even with limited English. He told us the right platform again and it turned out that on the blue line we never needed to transfer. It was a direct line. It was no big deal though because we hardly ever had to wait for another train. This one now had the electronic sign a bit better and we were confident were to really get out. In this train we also had found seats and I could check on google map our progress. It was fun.

 

The one thing we were really surprised about was that the young people never ever stood up for older people. Not girls and not boys. Everybody except a very few in the Train were on their gadgets.

Finally there. Elevators are helpful. Now to find the right exit. 

As all the underground stations were in every city we had been in, they all were rabbit warrens.

It rained. That didn't help. We didn't exactly take the shortest way or the best for the suitcases but it still was very convenient to find the Park Hotel Tokyo. Very nice!!! The reception is on the 25th floor. Our room is on the 31st floor. 

I must say this hotel is a bit different. Everywhere are original art pieces. Even in the corridor with the rooms. Not sure whether they are all for decorations or for sale. I think at least some are. And when we checked in we were asked which room we wanted. She had a ring book with photos, showed us which were already ready for us to get into even if we were early. Each room was differently decorated. We choose the "Castle". Something to tell the grandchildren.

Helen wanted a photo from the 31st floor.

The lobby is on the 25th floor.

We didn't stay long in the room. We found our two umbrellas in the luggage and thought we should go out and find a restaurant with some Japanese food. We went into the wrong direction. First try we went into a small place on the ground floor. We had seen pictures outside which looked like soup bowls. Yes, she had a free table. It had an acrylic divider across the table. and we were supposed to sit next to each other. It was very difficult to squeeze ourselves in. As I said before, Japanese people are not that large.

I am happy to report that we did not forget to ask before ordering whether she takes credit card. No.

Next door was a staircase upstairs and we had seen people sit next to the window. I rashed up to ask about credit cards. No. 

We could not see any other restaurants around us so wandered around several corners. There seemed to be quite a row. At the first a customer showed us that you need to order outside at a machine which looks like a vending machine. The next one was steps up: snacks on the 6th floor and a pub on the 3rd? There was a lift after these stairs but no pub and no snacks. Storage on every floor in the hallways.

Finally there was a row of several nice looking restaurants. We asked and this would have taken a credit card but at a closer look every (and I mean every) one of them only served fish. Ha-ha, James was not so happy about that.

I suggested we should go to the undergrund station rabbit warren which was not far and James thought that might be a good idea. 

The "Beef Kitchen Stand" was a go-ahead! 

I had a soup. The beef looks a bit bloody in this photo but don't worry, It was very hot. I stirred it and it was cooked.

My soup was also a bit fishy tasting. Probably because of this. Can't get away from these little things. But there were only two.

Back to the hotel. Still raining the whole time. This is where we had come up with the suitcase, ha-ha. Withoout it was much easier.

Back in the room we found that we could make a cup of coffee which was nice. And a hot shower did wonders. I had too many layers on in the train so a change was also a good thing.

We contemplated what to do with the next two days. What should we see? Mt Fuji would be one thing but that is not up to our choice. The weather-forecast is not very favorable. I also work a bit to catch up on blogs. We had declared that what we had for lunch was our main meal and only needed an appetizer to share.

In the lobby on the 25th floor was a bar and that was perfect. James' beer was local as always and I decided it was time to have sake properly. There were two pages of it in this menu. I had a "fruity" one. You could have a bottle, ichi-go or glass. I went with ichi-go (hope I remember the spelling right). 

It was very nice. James called it an egg cup but it was nice to drink out from. The little pitcher kept it nice and cold. When in Japan do as ....

... but we didn't do like that with our appetizer, ha-ha. We shared a pizza. But it was just right.

Where we sat I could watch the bar tender. He constantly hacked on square ice cubs (3 x 3 inches ?) and made them round, put them in glasses, mostly 2 but sometimes only 1, and added ingredients for cocktails. He had a special tool to give them a swirl.

We had an early night because neither one of us had slept well the last night on the ship. Was it because we were docked and didn't get gently rocked ? 

Just found this on FaceBook. So right. Make the days count.