Four G&Ts later we were in Tokyo and threw ourselves upon the mercy of the transport system. It proved to be just as I imagined: clean, perfectly on time, and packed like sardines. Perhaps due to the in-flight drinking we managed to catch a train that stopped at all 44 stations between the airport and our destination of Yokosuka. But we swapped to a 'Limited Express' at the earliest opportunity and were soon met by Amanda.
She and Jack are stationed at the US navy base in Yokosuka, but that's coming to an end in July when they've been called back to the homeland. So we decided to take advantage of their hospitality while it lasted. After presenting our passports at the main base gate (being British we're immediately trusted and allowed everywhere) we were driven through what is essentially a small American city transplanted onto Tokyo Bay. McDonalds, Popeye's Chicken, Starbucks...all elements of 'civilization' are here.
Japan is several hours behind Houston time, but it's also in tomorrow! This madness translated into a 4am wake up by our darling 6-yr-old, but after a bleary breakfast it meant we were out nice and early and quickly relaxing in a local onsen.
Onsens are bathhouses, found all over Japan, fed by natural hot springs. Most of them are gender segregated, so Amanda and Hannah headed left while I got to take Pete to the right with me. There's a lot of scrubbing and cleaning yourself before you're even allowed into the water, where you get your choice of hot or cold, murky, slightly less murky, and filtered, as well as walking around an outside garden in your birthday suit, with hot rock slabs with water trickling over them that you lie on. They were the best, and Pete loved it all. I loved it too, mostly because I'd dishonestly convinced him that you have to be silent in the baths.
After that it was a ramen lunch and then a trip to a Japanese 7-11; a far more imaginative version of their American counterpart. I stocked up on snacks that I had no idea about, and was soon chomping on a giant hollow Whatsit, some cheese-filled scampi fries, and washing this down with a kind of Sprite/milk hybrid. Delicious, and it gave me energy for a trip to a bike park with fake roads, traffic lights, and one-way signs, where grumpy old men shout at children in an attempt to teach them how to ride properly. Very similar to me taking Pete and Levi to school every morning.
And this is just day one! I can't say we've found the 'real' Japan yet, but we've certainly found the real tourist Japan - a theme that will continue tomorrow with our lunch at the exclusive Pokemon Cafe...
Glad to be here!
At the onsen. Shortly after, we were naked.
Re-hydrating with a pineapple milk.
Having the ramen restaurant explained.
Fabulous food arrived so we must have done something right.
Pete and Charlie, following a theme.
It's still junk food, but it's Japanese junk food!
Fizzy milk. Certainly tasted like Calpis.
Learning to ride. Thankfully Japan, unlike America, drives on the correct side of the road.
