Last Weekend in Japan

This last weekend marked my last one that I was going to be spending in Japan. Funny how it goes, it also was the weekend that some of the more important shipyard people came to visit also. My division (Nuclear Facilities) head came, along with many of the other facility related people. Saturday involved some informal tours followed by lunch out at the Chili's on base. About half of the group I know fairly well and was able to spend the time talking about more than just work. After the day was finished I rested up for Sunday, the big trip to Tokyo...

I am glad that I got the rest because it ended up being a very full day. Starting out meeting them at one of the local hotels around 0745, we made the treck up to the train station where they picked up rail cards. After hopping on an express train up to Tokyo, we stood and chatted during the hour or so train ride it takes from Yokosuka to get up to Tokyo. I was not leading this little adventure and it was nice to just tag along with some others especially when going to a big city like Tokyo. The first stop was the New Sano Hotel. Sounds strange as a tourist location, but the hotel is probably one of the nicest I have ever seen. Lots of restaurants and cafe's and shops all packed in this very luxurious building. It is almost kind of hidden on the street. The area is not too busy and I had never been to that part of Tokyo. What makes that hotel so special is that the prices are very very low (like $90 a night) and it is only allowed to US government employees. Another perk of the job I have discovered. I am still waiting for someone to tell me that I get to stop paying taxes because I am a government employee but that hasn't happened yet.

After the hotel we made our way to Shibuya crossing, and the up one of the little side streets. We grabbed lunch and after that the main tour was headed to a brewery and then home. I wasn't so interesting the brewery so I went on my own path to Akihabara, the electronics district. My two goals was this huge 9 floor shopping centre full of electronics. The place is bigger than most malls I have been into in the states and has whole floors dedicated to one type of electronics. So one floor is computers only, then video cameras, then audio, and so on. I needed a new camera case and thought that I couldn't get a better selection of options. Also one of the floors is full of toys and I was still on the hunt for some gifts. After wandering around there and grabbing a quick donut from Donut Planet, I wandered into the vendor section near the shopping centre where the local street vendors hock cheap electronic stuff, but I knew hidden in there was this little trinket place which sells cool key chains and other figurines. I have a collection set from my last trip to Japan of Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxies on my desk at work and I was missing one out of the set. I guessed if anywhere close to me in Japan would have the missing figure it would be this store. Sure enough hidden in a corner was the last one of this little set. Happy and feeling successful I made the trip back down. Knowing I wanted to change trains in Yokohama, I took the opportunity to get out of the station and wander.

By the time I was home I was very tired and thankful that the day was done. You can see my Tokyo photos and added Yokohama photos on the links. Friday I fly home, and after this trip and being gone for so long I am happy to be flying soon.