A Night and Day in Tokyo

4/29/11 – 5:00 am (From Tokyo)

I had mentioned that I was hoping to spend a 1/2 of a day in Tokyo (capital city of Japan) before I head to Taipei (capital city of Taiwan) and it looks like I am going to get more than my wish. I arrived here at about 8:30 pm last night and will not be leaving until 6:50 pm this evening for Taiwan. I did not have time to do anything last night. By the time they (Delta) bused me around and finally found me a hotel it was midnight. I wish I was with the rest of the group because I know I am missing activities in Taiwan and because I know this is causing headaches for Dr. Peng who worked very hard to plan this trip and our itinerary. Nevertheless I plan to make the most out of my day here and hope to take a bunch of pictures of Tokyo that I can post tonight or tomorrow. I am with two other students that were on the same flight as me so I’m not completely stranded alone….. although we are the blind leading the blind. Luckily the Japanese people are extremely friendly and helpful, most of them speak English (kind of), and Tokyo is a safe city. We are lucky as traveling Americans. Many places in the world speak and label everything in English (as a second language), including Japan and Taiwan. I know someone from Japan traveling in the U.S. would not have it as easy as I have had it so far (assuming they could not speak or read English).

Here's some advise for you. Do not take photographs at customs (above) no matter where you are. I should have known that one! I'll blame it on jet lag. Luckily even the customs officers were very friendly and apologetically asked me not to take anymore pictures.