Yōkoso tokyo

Welcome to Tokyo!

Greeted by cold, rain and grey cement sprawling below us, our first view of this huge city, from the 31st floor of the Shiodome Media Tower would, at first glance, seem to be a disappointing one. And yet we were not a bit disappointed.

For one thing, we'd had a decent night's sleep. Our flight, and long bus ride in the dark had been smooth but tiring. We'd both been at a low ebb for a good week, not the best way to start a holiday. We caught a bug, I lost my voice for several days, we both went through a weird combination of flu and allergy symptoms, I had the beginnings of an ear infection and athletes' foot (a misnomer if there ever was one), and eating a BLT and fries at the Vancouver airport after 2 and a half months of being virtually carb free was all taking a toll on our equilibrium, mine most of all. So despite some coughing in the night and sore throats still, we got some good sleep.

For another thing, we were sleeping in the Public Bathhouse room at the Park Hotel Tokyo. I suppose this might be considered a boutique hotel, filling the top 10 storeys in a tall but slim office tower built in a triangular configuration. We had discovered this mildly eccentric gem in our research, then it kept popping up, so we decided that, despite a fairly hefty price tag, although not a lot more than most option and a whole lot less than even more, we would book a room on the artists' floor. This one floor, the 31st, has uniquely decorated rooms, each designed and painted by different artists. More about that in another post, but suffice it to say that we are thoroughly satisfied.

One of the perks of being on the Artists' floor is that there is a small room that provides croissants and coffee in the morning, and pour yourself gins and tonic and wine and juice during the rest of the day. There are newspapers in a variety of languages (the Financial Times in ours), as well as a nice selection of Japanese art books to peruse at leisure.

And another thing - we brought warm cloths and rain coats, so it's good to know we are equipped to handle the elements.

And least disappointing of all, we are in Tokyo! At last we are able to explore this on our list of places to visit. There may not be cherry blossoms out yet, and it is so cold that there are large flakes of snow mingling with the rain at this height over the city, but the city is our oyster and pearl together. Maybe just one more croissant first.