Sun, 31 Aug '08 - Feeling deranged, Shinkansen to Tokyo

I sit in the bar and look up through the glass wall across the 500m wide atrium of the giant station building. Far up in the sky people climb the Busby Barclay staircase to where the trees move in the gentle breeze and the sunset. It's like the world has turned upside down. The heat, the jet lag and three days of constant physical exertion are taking their tole. 

Fast forward two hours...

Shinkansen? Sminkansen! It's dark and rainy outside. Parallax waltz once again but now that it's night it all looks a hell of a lot more Coruscant. Countless lights from five or six major cities glow and blur and trail past my peripheral vision. John sleeps and no doubt dreams of being a Samurai surrounded by Geishas. I realise an old Japanese gentleman is watching me and smiling as I win at Mahjong for the third consecutive time on my iphone. I have one of those out of the world moments where you feel like everything is slowed down around you.

Fast forward two hours...

We make it to Tokyo. Onto the subway with heavy bags. It takes nearly 30 minutes to figure out what line, what ticket and what platform and direction, but we do it without having to ask for help. I secretly feel quite proud of us. I get told off for not queuing correctly. I stare blankly at the in-train LCD TV display promoting the musical Wicked. Nice little animation of the Wicked Witch I think to myself. John, in bright pink with an armful of gangster tattoo is attracting some stares. I don't think he realises so I manouvre myself between him and the fucking skinny wired looking 40 something in the corduroy fishing hat. Please god don't freak out mister. JMT would say tiredness has induced delusional paranoia. Quite possibly.

Fast forward one hour...

We exit the taxi at Claska. How do we get in? I try the door of the pet grooming company in desperation. Nope that's definitely not the hotel. Eventually we make it to the check in. Hunger strikes. 7 Eleven to the rescue because there's fuck all else open round here at 11pm. We are grumpy Gaijin now.

Thought

At some point or another on a long distance trip you have to crash out. The longer you delay it the more deranged you become. It's a bit like being on drugs. Either way it made for a highly memorable introduction to Tokyo. I think secretly the city was looking out for us because in reality we passed through to our destination with ease.