Cloudless Tokyo

There was a slight party atmosphere at dinner last night. I got the impression everyone had descended on Atlantide at the same time as our waiter was very apologetic for our wait. It mattered not. We weren’t going anywhere, plus they were very liberal with their pouring.

The engines changed their sound around 6 this morning and we were welcomed into a sunny but chilly Tokyo. I insisted I wanted serving for breakfast this morning, so we returned to Atlantide and had a very relaxed breakfast without me stumbling into everyone at the buffet.

The sickly one is still harking and barking and we’re hoping a change of environment plus some fresh Tokyo air, might just shift this chest infection.

Disembarkation was a breeze with a short wait in line for a taxi. Four staff were busy coordinating passengers into taxis so everything was very orderly.

Our hotel for the next three days was only 10 minutes drive away. Not surprisingly our room wasn’t ready but we were able to leave our cases and went in search of the local Hama-rikyu gardens. It was beautifully tranquil even though we were in the city. No smoking or pets allowed in this garden.

We came across a few of the pine trees that had a sort of string wigwam tent effect around them. We were quizzing over this when someone overheard our conversation. He explained that the tents were yuki-zuri or snow sling. The idea is that by having the string tents over the trees, when the snows come, the snow settles on the tents and not on the trees. Otherwise the weight of the snow would break the branches. Bizarrely, we saw a couple of people from the cruise wandering the garden too.

Our room is on the 23rd floor of 24. I’ve managed to get brave and look out. It’s a phenomenally long way down. Tokyo is precisely what I was expecting. Yes, it’s another skyscraper concrete jungle, but it is by far my favourite of the three places we have visited in Japan. There’s a calm order about the place. The weather is still really chilly, but beautifully sunny with not a cloud in the sky. In general the trees have progressed further than the other cities we’ve been to. How can there be no pollution in such a huge city? It’s not as if all the vehicles are electric, but there just doesn’t seem to be any pollution haze hanging around the city.

I was very conscious that I didn’t want to tire Nick out too much, given he’s trying to get over this infection, so we partook in that very Japanese of traditions…afternoon tea, on the 20th floor of our hotel overlooking Tokyo Bay.

As I write this, I’ve already got into bowing and taking and receiving anything with both hands. Weird how easy it is to mimic those around you. The one element of the Japanese etiquette I’m struggling with is to not point. I’ve realised I’m a very pointy and waggy person, especially when I’m not supposed to. However, we have discussed our next home improvement when we return to the UK. I am so loving these snug Japanese toilets even though they do scare me with their automatic opening and flushing. We just need to find a way to do a bit of a loo upgrade.