zennie | December 23, 2008
Four months and one day after returning from Japan, I have finally finished sending all the notes and photos. I'm quite relieved it's all over.
From now on, there will be probably hardly any updates ... of course, there will definitely be some when I go to Asia again ... but that's not going to be soon, I'm afraid.
I suppose I can end it all with the last photo in my photo gallery of Japan. It's the map which shows the places I have visited in Japan.
Thank you for reading!
From now on, there will be probably hardly any updates ... of course, there will definitely be some when I go to Asia again ... but that's not going to be soon, I'm afraid.
I suppose I can end it all with the last photo in my photo gallery of Japan. It's the map which shows the places I have visited in Japan.
Thank you for reading!
zennie | December 23, 2008
Narita Express at Shinjuku station
Narita International Airport, after check-in and passport control
Last yakisoba in Japan ...
Haha, this system obviously had a problem. It hadn't been working at all until just before landing, then started (re)booting Linux
Helsinki Airport
Vienna International Airport
zennie | December 22, 2008
I woke up at the hostel, grabbed my mobile phone, checked the time and ... it was 7:11! As I mentioned in the previous post, I had set my alarm clock to 5:00 and intended to depart from Akebonobashi at 6:50. I really managed to screw up, haha. No wonder I didn't wake up actually - the day before, I was very tired, still I did so much sightseeing, ended up in a bar, ran 6 kilometers from Shibuya and went to sleep at 3:00. I quickly changed, prepared and thought over what to do. My flight was scheduled for 11:00 and it was about 100 kilometers from Shinjuku to Narita airport.
I immediately knew that the local trains wouldn't work. I needed to get on some airport express. There are two of them, one of which (Keisei Skyliner) departed from Ueno and Nippori (which was kind of out of the way), the other one (Narita Express) from Shinjuku (or Shibuya, Shinagawa and Tokyo). Unfortunately, I only had about 1500 yen in cash, which would be enough for local trains, but definitely not for Narita Express. I went to the reception desk and asked where the closest post office was (I had to find an ATM), fortunately, it was only about 200 meters. Unfortunately though, it was closed. I returned to the hostel (running all the way), checked out, checked Narita Express schedule (luckily, there was one half an hour later, at 8 ... and no more trains until 9:30), grabbed my luggage and took subway to Shinjuku station. Actually, I had intended to avoid Shinjuku in the morning because it would be the rush hour there and ... the rush hours in Japanese trains/subway are world-famous, you know. That may be something interesting for tourists, however, nothing you want to see when you're carrying around a heavy backpack and suitcase and need to hurry. The problem was that I couldn't buy the ticket in a vending machine, I had to get it at the ticket window (in order to pay with card) and I was afraid that it would be too crowded there. Luckily, it wasn't (apparently everybody buys their tickets at vending machines). I was able to get a ticket for Narita Express for terrible price of 3310 yen.
I had ten more minutes before the train departed. I had a cup of coffee (free of charge) in the train, I was very nervous all the time before arriving at 9:30. I quickly hurried to check-in, arriving about 85 minutes before the flight. I was lucky. There were still people at check-in. Then I proceeded through the passport check, went through few duty free shops (I wanted to buy same sake, but I had been so busy I that I hadn't managed to do so .. and I couldn't buy any in duty free shops since they would confiscate it at the connecting flight :/ ), bought several souvenirs for remaining yen and ate yakisoba (bought with credit card, I had no more yen left).
Flight duration from Tokyo to Helsinki was supposed to be 9:40, but they told us it would take about 30 minutes less owing to the good weather conditions. I ordered some wine from the flight attendant, which helped me to sleep soundly for many hours. I finally woke up about an hour before landing in Helsinki, so the flight passed really quickly (unlike the one from Helsinki to Nagoya). There was even a free seat next so me, so I could comfortably occupy both of them.
I had two hours to transfer in Helsinki. There was nothing to do at the airport, so I paid few euros for internet access and chatted with my friends until the flight. The flight to Vienna took about two hours. I only relaxed those two hours, I wasn't really in the mood to do anything, I didn't even feel like sleeping. I arrived to Vienna at 19:30 CET, my parents had already been waiting for me. We got in the car and went back home to Czech Rep. And this was the end of the whole trip.
I immediately knew that the local trains wouldn't work. I needed to get on some airport express. There are two of them, one of which (Keisei Skyliner) departed from Ueno and Nippori (which was kind of out of the way), the other one (Narita Express) from Shinjuku (or Shibuya, Shinagawa and Tokyo). Unfortunately, I only had about 1500 yen in cash, which would be enough for local trains, but definitely not for Narita Express. I went to the reception desk and asked where the closest post office was (I had to find an ATM), fortunately, it was only about 200 meters. Unfortunately though, it was closed. I returned to the hostel (running all the way), checked out, checked Narita Express schedule (luckily, there was one half an hour later, at 8 ... and no more trains until 9:30), grabbed my luggage and took subway to Shinjuku station. Actually, I had intended to avoid Shinjuku in the morning because it would be the rush hour there and ... the rush hours in Japanese trains/subway are world-famous, you know. That may be something interesting for tourists, however, nothing you want to see when you're carrying around a heavy backpack and suitcase and need to hurry. The problem was that I couldn't buy the ticket in a vending machine, I had to get it at the ticket window (in order to pay with card) and I was afraid that it would be too crowded there. Luckily, it wasn't (apparently everybody buys their tickets at vending machines). I was able to get a ticket for Narita Express for terrible price of 3310 yen.
I had ten more minutes before the train departed. I had a cup of coffee (free of charge) in the train, I was very nervous all the time before arriving at 9:30. I quickly hurried to check-in, arriving about 85 minutes before the flight. I was lucky. There were still people at check-in. Then I proceeded through the passport check, went through few duty free shops (I wanted to buy same sake, but I had been so busy I that I hadn't managed to do so .. and I couldn't buy any in duty free shops since they would confiscate it at the connecting flight :/ ), bought several souvenirs for remaining yen and ate yakisoba (bought with credit card, I had no more yen left).
Flight duration from Tokyo to Helsinki was supposed to be 9:40, but they told us it would take about 30 minutes less owing to the good weather conditions. I ordered some wine from the flight attendant, which helped me to sleep soundly for many hours. I finally woke up about an hour before landing in Helsinki, so the flight passed really quickly (unlike the one from Helsinki to Nagoya). There was even a free seat next so me, so I could comfortably occupy both of them.
I had two hours to transfer in Helsinki. There was nothing to do at the airport, so I paid few euros for internet access and chatted with my friends until the flight. The flight to Vienna took about two hours. I only relaxed those two hours, I wasn't really in the mood to do anything, I didn't even feel like sleeping. I arrived to Vienna at 19:30 CET, my parents had already been waiting for me. We got in the car and went back home to Czech Rep. And this was the end of the whole trip.
zennie | December 22, 2008
One of entrance gates to the Chinatown
Chinese temple
Back at JR Yokohama station
Railway to Tokyo ... still the same
Tokyo station
Informative screen in JR Chuo line train. Displays information about delays, current line, next station ...
... as well as the current car info and guide to the platform at the next station and connecting lines
Shinjuku station (the busiest station in the world) at 7 pm on a weekday
View from the hostel
zennie | December 22, 2008
Train on JR Nikko line
Lunch
Arrived to Yokohama (two and half hours later)
So clean ...
Around JR Yokohama station
JR Sakuragichou station (at Minato Mirai 21 area)
Yokohama Landmark Tower
Moving walkway from the station to Landmark Tower :)
View from Landmark Tower
Manmade islands at the port area
Yokohama Bay Bridge in the background
