Travelling to Tokyo

I thought I would try to unwind at the end of each day by writing a few sentences; mostly for my own benefit and memory, but you are welcome to read on...

...It was a pretty weird take off from Heathrow. I had checked in on-line and changed my seat to be directly over the wing. "Nice move", I thought until we were taxiing down the runway with a real wobble on. Have you ever ridden a bike with a buckled wheel? It was like that until the undercarriage wobbled its way up into the plane with an unnerving and concerted gerrump.

Eleven and half hours later, a killer headache and an Australian girl four rows back who didn't draw a breath the whole flight, I arrived in Tokyo. First impressions?

Clean.

Not sterile clean, but just pleasantly clean.

Second impression;

Efficient (in a relaxed manner).

I was worried that I wouldn't make my 10:15 bus to the hotel because of the crowds, the baggage collection, illegible signs, customs, immigration, cute labrador sniffer dog puppies and my terrible sense of direction. I was wrong. In one of the most stress-free arrivals I had managed to buy a bus ticket and be early for the bus.

As I posted before, the "Friendly Limosine Bus" company actually bow goodbye to all of the departing coaches. It took just over an hour to reach my hotel (Tokyo Dome website). If you squint at the picture of skyscraper you'll see me on the 22nd floor. Of course, to get to the 22nd floor you have to go up in a lift. Usually, in the UK, the lifts are considered to be a mechanism that resides within the building. The Tokyo Dome Hotel lifts are more an after-thought strapped on to the side of the tower like bizarre plumblines. I am scared of heights, but I was determined to look out as we went up. That was fine because the trip was only a few seconds. However, I wish I hadn't looked down through the crack as I stepped from the lift on to my floor. I saw right down to the ground; not a great thing for vertigo sufferers.

It's late now and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I will post a couple more photos and then try to readjust my bodyclock. Take care y'all. J