Japan

Finally! After much preparation (and even more thinking, which can be considered preparing) we got to the airport without forgetting anything (unless you count me leaving a CR2035 watch battery that I was planning to use for my cycle computer and B's Russian phrase book that she was intending to get). The flight itself went smooth (on takeoff I have the unpleasant habit of delaying my sigh of relief until 2 minutes and 30 seconds from liftoff. If you read about plane crashes, they usually happen shortly after liftoff or on landing so after 2:30 I feel that I move into a different statistical bracket with better odds). It seems I also have the unpleasant habit of putting more in brackets than in regular sentences. After landing, immigration and customs were a breeze. I had a small worry that my printed off ferry 'reservations' would not suffice for proof of intent to leave the country but as it turned out the officer was more happy to guess what was in our bike boxes that to ask about travel details. After disturbing the ladies at the tourism counter we managed to get info on how to get into Tokyo and had a small hotel booked near to the Ueno rail station outside the main Tokyo center. I'll omit the phrases we used as we carried and dragged our bike boxes.

Tokyo, I thought, would be hard to navigate and it turns out that I was wrong. Many signs have English and there are helpful maps and people everywhere you go. We visited a few shrines and temples...I don't have the names. Actually, I feel that I did miss out somewhat on details having not immersed myself in Japanese history before coming. Most of my time was spent in cycle logistics and internal debates of which spare parts I should bring, etc.. We learned that a lot of places are closed on Mondays. Seeing gazillions of people around Shinjuku Station, funny fashions at Harajuku, Tokyo National Museum, electronics malls, and anime were some highlights. As was "the french maid district", a place where young women stand in front of their establishments(bars, etc.) in a Japanese versioned french maid costume to entice and welcome customers.

Texting here in Japan is nearly as common as non-texting. The subway is packed with people looking into their handhelds and more than once I nearly smashed into a text-walker. Also, I never realized that Panasonic makes toilet seats! Even the most basic toilet seat has several options, all electronically controlled.