Tokyo trip 2008 - Day 1

Finally getting down to documenting my trip. Was waiting to upload my photos onto Flickr first so that I can create links.

Didn't do much on Day 1 except fly to Tokyo. There wasn't much in-flight entertainment and I caught Mamma Mia again. 1 thing about the programme guide was that it didn't give you the channels so I had to browse to check out which shows were on what channels and also which language it was in. Hmm...maybe I should feedback to ANA.

After touch-down, we took the airport limousine (which was essentially a coach) to Shinjuku JR station. It was less than a 2 hours ride and generally, V & I just dozed on it due to the lack of sleep we had on the plane.

As advised by V's friend, we flagged a cab to send us to our hotel. Unfortunately, the cabbie didn't really know the address and we couldn't really communicate. However, we managed to get there eventually when I exclaimed "Here! Here!" on passing it. Later, as we ventured out, we realised that it's actually a straight road down to the station, about 5-10 minutes walk.

As the check-in time was 3pm, and we reached about 10plus am, we left our luggage with the reception and went out to meet V's friend who brought us to this tempura place at the basement of Odakyu, Shinjuku. We got good seats at the counter and could watch the chef kill & clean the live eel that we ordered. It was a set actually, and the tempura included prawns, veggies, fish & the eel. The set cost about 2,000 yen. The tempura was served as & when it was cooked, so it was really fresh.

After lunch, we ventured to some UFO machines shop and tried our luck. I lost count of the amount of money we spent on these, it was addictive as we found it hard to give up when we were this close to getting the item. I managed to grab 1 item.

Isn't it cute! I call it my 流口水 dollie.

After having fun at the machines, it was back to the hotel to do our check-in. We stayed at Oakwood Shinjuku, which was quite a decent place. Though small, the apartment had everything, from a small kitchenette, a washing machine, a bathroom with both a shower area & bathtub (and also interesting features), a balcony and a 37-inch LCD TV! which provided us with our nightly entertainment before we slept each night. With rates at 13,000 yen per night, I think it was quite worth it given the convenience of the place and the amenities. There was also free Internet access at the business centre located in the basement.

After checking in and doing some unpacking & settling down, we went out for a short walk round the area and also grab dinner. Dinner was on the way back at this fast food stall that had those vending machine ordering system. I had a katsu don, which wasn't too bad except maybe a tad too salty for me.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to call it a night as we were really tired after the flight. We actually slept before 10 pm! Knocked out the moment we lay on the fluffy bed.