Well here we are in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. The country has a total population of 127 million people, and according to the local travel guide, over 14 million of those folks live right here in Tokyo. The word "crowded" does not come close to what you might find in the center of downtown, especially the ritzy Ginza area. We have had the privilege of visiting Tokyo on previous cruises, one of which was the Asia/Pacific Explorer cruise on the Volendam in 2002. On our two day stay back then, we toured every museum, shrine, and temple. We ended each day with a hotel lunch and a shopping spree through the Beverly Hills of Tokyo – the Ginza district. We will never forget just trying to cross the street to enter one of the massive malls, and once inside, we were shoulder-to-shoulder with scores of customers. Thinking by going up higher on the escalator did not help, since the higher we went, the more people were there. Once we made our way back outside, we never attempted a repeat performance. Guess we are not shoppers at heart unless we are looking for something we really need.
We docked very early this morning right in Tokyo's harbor, a first for this ship and the first for any HAL ship we have been told. The International Cruise Terminal was built in 2020 and is quite impressive. It has four spacious floors for the customs and immigrations, the entrance level for buses and taxis, and an observation deck with reception and multipurpose rooms. When a cruise ship is in port, they offer a shuttle that takes people to the Tokyo Teleport Station where other transportation can be taken. One of those options is the subway system which is quite extensive as well as complicated. In addition to that shuttle was another bus that took a loop to the Hilton Hotel, Odaiba Kaihin Park, and Ariake Garden then back to the pier terminal. That is the bus we took.
Leaving the ship around 10am, we bundled up with our arctic jackets which really helped with the cold weather today. The skies were cloud-free, but the temperature was near 40 degrees with a strong wind that was bone-chilling. We had no doubt that the day would warm up once the sun was up. We had done some homework with the stops that were offered, but sometimes you just have to get out and explore. No one got off at the Hilton TokyoOdaiba Hotel, and the same thing happened at the following stop at the park. The last stop was at a mall, not a garden, so all of us got off. Like many other buildings in this area, it was new and full of stores on five floors.
Entering the food market was interesting. We noticed a bank of what looked like cell phones, and we learned later that these are used to log every item in your cart, store the price, and total it all up when you are done. By tapping your credit card, you bag up your stuff and leave the store. Simple. From here we went up each level, checking everything out. The only store we recognized was H&M. On the fifth floor we found the food court and some restaurants. One of them was a TGI Fridays. It was after noon time, so we went in and found our waiter spoke good English. And their menus were in both Japanese and English. We started with draft beers and added a platter of cheese nachos to share. For a special treat, we split a chocolate and vanilla ice cream Oreo Surprise which was really good. Afterwards, we walked around the entire floor of cafes and restaurants. There was a food court style seating in the center where many little kids were with their moms. Since today was a Wednesday, all of the older kids were in school.
The nice aspect of visiting this mall was that it was not crowded like we knew the center of Tokyo would be. This was just one of many new buildings here, so tomorrow we shall explore some more options near the Hilton Hotel.
We found the bus pick-up spot and got back to the ship by 2pm. We noticed there was a spot where we could get free WiFi if we could log on with the Kindle. We'll try that tomorrow as well. We were right that it warmed up, especially on our veranda. It was out of the wind with the full sun shining that it actually got too hot. Relaxing outside with a view of Mt. Fuji could not have been better.
Dinnertime came right after the sun set behind the mountain. We figured that some guests might go out to town for dinner, but it seemed that most everyone was in the dining room. For a change, we ordered the beef carpaccio for appetizers and two different salads. Mains were the Club Orange special of beef short ribs, mashed potatoes, and a mole gravy. We shared a plate of egg noodles that came with the stroganoff. Desserts were one scoop of pistachio ice cream and an almond cake with vanilla ice cream. All good.
There was a Japanese Fusion show this evening in the World Stage performed by local musicians and dancers. It is always a treat to see these cultural shows and listen to the traditional music using Japanese instruments.
One more day in Tokyo and we hope for the same weather. It appears that there may be a storm in the next port.
Bill & Mary Ann
