We both awoke early after a good night’s sleep on the
low hanging bed, it’s about 14 inches of the floor and so low compared to other
beds we have been on. We breakfasted on yoghurt and muesli and banana and of
course generous helping of tea. By 10.00 having sorted the suitcases we were
ready to go on the long walk we had planned even though it was raining quite
hard.
A long walk down the main road in the direction of
Shinjuku Station, and a stop in the Kinokuniya Book shop to buy some maps, and
then stopping here and there for photo opportunities. We came across a small
historic house which had no doubt been there for many years which was
surrounded by high rise. This often happens when elder folk do not want to sell
their property and although builders offer amazing amounts of money they do not
want to move and the government protects their rights.
We passed the Isetan
main department store where in 1985 we had to purchase school uniforms for both
Michael and Joanne and they cost a fortune then so god knows what they cost
now.
We eventually came across Shinjuku Station where we
checked out the location of the car rental company and it took us about 30
minutes to find the place in this massive complex where several million people
a day transit. It’s quite a big change for Mangonui New Zealand with its 385
residents compared to the 15 million in Tokyo, 30 million if you also count
Yokohama and Kawasaki areas as well, so the place is rather teeming with
people. Food and drink prices seem very low compared to what we remembered and
cheaper for coffee than Weybridge or Mangonui. We were also looking for the
Citibank to change some Japanese Yen travellers cheques only to find that on 1st
April they had stopped this service but they did recommend the Travelex office
behind the station and so we trudged through the rain until we located it but
only to find they restrict the amount you can take to Yen 50K per person per
day, so we will have to go back several times to ensure we have enough cash for
our needs.
When we left the money shop the rain was getting worse
and so we cheated and popped in to the KFC for lunch, crazy KFC when in Japan! But
needs must.
The next step was to find
the Tourist Information Office in the Government office zone which we
eventually did find and took some good information away for our later use and
we got outside the building and the rain was getting worse so we slipped in to
the Hyatt Regency for a break and then took a taxi back to our Hotel.
 |
| A GOOD KFC lunch |
For dinner tonight we went to a local small restaurant where
you purchase the food in advance using a machine which then gives you a ticket
which is then passed to the guy behind the counter. All rather confusing for the
first time but one of the staff did come and show us so this will hep us for next time.
We both had Miso soup and then Jennifer had the fried Pork and rice bowl and
Noel the fried Beef and rice bowl, all quite filling for only £ 6.00 for the
two of us. So we went extravagant and had two large Asahi beers which cost
another £ 6.00. Not bad £ 12.00 for a filling dinner for two,
Forgot to mention that some of the younger womens fashion
is quite amazing so hope to have some photos soon to be taken on the sly.
