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My first time out of Narita (but not my first time on SQ11)

Ah, SQ11-- the SIA-managed flight that gets you to Singapore via Narita (Tokyo). For the past 20+ years that I've been flying back to Singapore (thanks Mom for taking/sending me since I was 2), I've never actually been outside of the refueling terminal at Narita. My father made the offhand comment while I was planning my trip to Vietnam that I should travel to Japan instead. I rolled my eyes at him then, but when my Mom told me that airfare was $550 RT from LAX, now that was a deal that was too good to pass up. And so, this trip is my parents' graduation present to me. Yay more traveling!

Side note about trains: You could take a JR train from the airport, too, but I decided that the 48 hr subway pass was more valuable than buying a JR pass (and you could buy the airport train + subway pass at a discounted rate). I would also suggest getting a SUICA/PASMO card as those are useful for vending machines and fares (if you don't have a 24/48/72-hr pass)-- which, you can use the SUICA and PASMO cards in Kyoto, too. I also bought a 7-day JR Train Pass which gets me on the Shinkansen bullet trains between the major cities in Japan. When you get out of the terminal, head down to Basement 2B where you'll find the offices for both train companies. You can pick up your passes here (which I found to be quite convenient, although if you bought the JR Train Pass (which, needs to be bought before you get to Japan) you can also activate it at another station (like the one in Tokyo Station)). Also, trains here are smooth, fast, and quiet. It seemed so surreal after riding on the subways in many other major cities....

Anyway, I walked around Ginza since my hotel was nearby, and made sure to go to the Sony Building (since they're putting in a park there), BIC camera, and Yakitori street (you'll know you're in the right place when you see some train tracks and smell some authentic BBQ-- it reminded me a lot of the BBQ in Ninh Binh). I will admit I was being a bit of a wimp and went for a place that stated they had an English menu-- the places that seemed to be very authentic also made me hesitate because the last thing I wanted to do was find the laundry machine and run my clothes in the wash because I smelled like meat and smoke. (Good smells, but bad things to smell like.) I decided that I needed to keep myself moving so it was back up to Akihabara (since I had heard a lot of interesting things about the place).

I'm not a big fan of Akihabara. Sorry for all my friends who thought it was awesome. I mean, yeah, there's an awesome Yodobashi that I glanced at from the outside (one camera/hardware/stationery/wine/everything store is enough for me for one day), but the place felt like a combination of Times Square meets Las Vegas with a nerdy twist. It felt way too touristy and weird. Then again, I didn't venture into the arcades or anything, so maybe it does have some cool things....

I then ventured all the way down to the Shiodome mall area to see the light show. It was quite a pretty display, and since I was already down there, I decided to hunt for the Nippon TV building's Miyazaki Clock Tower. Too bad I wasn't there while it chimed and went through the various motions, but it was still pretty awesome to look at.

Then it was back to Tsukiji. End of day 1.

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