The hotel that I booked didn’t come with bfast and I shall save some calories.
It was past midnight when I turned in on Tuesday (1st night in Tokyo) night. When I arrived at the hotel, I contemplated walking to the nearby 7-11 and was told that it was 7 mins walk away. Ya, that was how quiet that neighbourhood is. I wasn’t hungry with the dinner on the plane. I was just upset with my stupid mistakes and think that a snack would comfort me. While it was s probably very safe, I cannot make myself walk 7 mins at 11ish and in the cold for a snack that I didn’t really need.
After I had settled down, I was tired but I wanted to do mindless scrolling and refused to sleep. I finally turned in when I realised that I was courting death. Within mins, I was in lala land. I did wake up a couple of times in the night but sleep was overall good.
Before I knew it, the alarm went off at 6am. The hotel has a gym but I had my distant to clock. It had been a long while since I last jogged and after the Yeouido Park run, I could already feel the muscle ache.
The MUFG stadium is very grand. Based on what I had figured, one Olympic and another Para Olympic game were held here. There were many people jogging, strolling, walking their micro dogs. It seems like Japaneses have a liking for mini dogs.
I had time to get ready and head for work. I googled last night and the Roppongi station is 2 stops away on a direct train. The train station entry was a min walk away.
It was the rush hours but fortunately the station is a quiet one. I followed the fellow commuters to Q for the train. When the train arrived, it was already fully packed. In Singapore context, you would wait for the next train. I saw the lady in front of me squeezed in, back 1st and I followed suit bcos I needed to get to work. The next moment, a miracle happened - the train was already so packed but another 6 people managed to squeeze in! I duno how the space was created.
The cabin was thankfully a ladies only one bcos it was so packed and somebody was constantly sticking to my back. We were standing shoulder to shoulder and I got to experience how one can never fall down in such a pack train; there was no space to fall down.
The next station was super busy. Many people got down but even more people boarded. I saw this petite lady who was simply “moved” by the crowd. When the train started moving, she was standing in an awkward facing angle and her bag was stuck. She tried but gave up shortly in trying to gain protective possession of her bag. Somebody will give it to her at some point. Poor thing.
My stop was next and seeing how things unfold, I was very sure that I would be able to get off. I was pretty near the door but realised that even if I wasn’t, the solution is just to bash your way through. While people may not be able to create a visible exit path, they would try to shuffle a little and there would always be helpful people giving a hand to push you out. Lol. I got out nicely; I didn’t need pushing and can now proudly declared that I have taken Japan famous rush hour train, even if it was 2 stops. I cannot imagine how Japaneses can do this everyday. So stressful.
All things were good for the rest of the day. I had egg mayo and ice coffee for lunch and then more coffee and cookie in the afternoon with a colleague.
It was already 7.30pm when I left the office. I saw the cart drivers! We had wanted to do that but a real driving licence is needed and the kids don’t have one.
Instead of the 7-11, I went to the Newstand instead. My dinner was the instant corn soup with croutons and calibee snacks. I was happy.
There was a lot of phone scrolling after I have done some work. I woke up at midnight and realised that I had dozed off.
Did I do my morning run? Yes, though not the most willing. My quads were aching. The sweater was ditched after I was warmed.
This time, I explored the neighbourhood and found the 7-11 that is 7 mins walk away. There were a lot more “life” on the other side of the stadium. I saw many more eating places and con-bi-ni. There were also many different stadiums and gym in the area.
This not very interesting looking building is the ice skating rink.
Bcos I was heading to the site in Saitama, I had to take a long train ride in the morning. The Japan train service is very on time and my colleague had told me exactly which train and what time to take. I am supposed to take JR from Shinjuku station and if I missed that train, I will have to wait. As such, I left earlier bcos it will take me time to figure my way to the JR station, which was 4 mins walk away. The train to the Shinjuku station is opposite from CBD and empty. I mean, who goes Shinjuku for shopping at this time?
Which one ah? Luckily, I decided to WhatsApp my colleague, who told me that it was the 8.09am one. I almost decided that I would take the 2nd one. Google map was showing 8.10am either bcos there was a slight train delay or it was showing the departure time. Anyhow, I think I got into the right train bcos the next station was as per what Google map said it should be.
The train ride was 45 mins long. My colleague was on the same train but in a different cabin and we walked to the site together. It was another long day and I didn’t get to leave until about 7.30pm. It was a long hour travel back to the hotel. My colleague had to travel even further to get home. She said that many people moved out of the Tokyo city to the countryside to save on expensive Tokyo rent and enjoy more nature, thinking that remote work is the forever arrangement and all ended up commuting crazy for work now.
At one point, I had the thought that maybe I could do some shopping/ sightseeing at Shinjuku. I simply didn’t have the energy. I bought dinner from 7-11 and walked back. At that time and that cold, there was soccer practice. Very committed.
This was my view from the room’s balcony.
Every morning, I would draw the curtain and check the weather for a morning run. Cold air seems to seep in from the balcony door. Despite not opening the door for the 3 nights, it was cold enough to keep the aircon off.
On the last morning, I did the same and looked out. It looked strange, gloomier than usual. It would be my last jog in Tokyo and I wasn’t looking forward. I did see a signboard the morning before that the famous Meiji shrine was 1km away and I had planned to jog there.
When I arrived on the ground floor, I realised that it was drizzling and I wasn’t sad at all missing the shrine. I ended up with the treadmill, clocking my last 5km. I really had enough of jogging for the week. I did 5km each for 4 mornings and would gladly stay off jogging for a while.
So done.
The gym was small with very limited weights.
The hotel has a public bath but I am not sure if tattoos are ok and I had no time anyway.
With a luggage, there was no way that I would attempt the morning peak hour train and got a cab via uber. The hotel tried booking a cab but couldn’t get one but uber works. Looks like the Japan taxi scene is finally catching up.
Lunch was my last chance at the delicious con-bi-ni food. I went to the atas Pierce supermarket across the road to tabao lunch. I had a mini salad, grilled fish, roll egg and coffee. Then saw the katsu san-do, couldn’t resist and bought too. Last chance already. All the food were so good. I did share the sandwich with colleagues.
It was already 8pm when I left for the airport. I had a headache and popped Panadol. I flagged a cab; it was so easy bcos not many people probably take cabs when they are this expensive. The 40 mins ride to the Haneda airport cost about SGD100.
I was famished and got this dip noodles that was so nice.
The remaining time was to clear email at the gate. I was flying economy and didn’t have access to the lounge nor priority booking. When I checked in, the seat beside me was empty. I was hopeful but my hopes were dashed; a man took the window seat. I prefer a lady companion. When my fellow passenger is male, I ended up sitting further to my side and trying to squeeze my not so small self into the tiny airplane seat.
The JAL plane was very old and the screen very aged. I tried meddling around and gave up. The movie selection was quite bad. I chose sleep and even gave up bfast at 4am. I heard that it was omelette.
Sleep was broken but I did mange some. I was super happy to finally land. This time, I bought sake for Daddy Lim.
