jameschan2811

Thanks for the info. Will do it the next time I go to Tokyo

jameschan2811

It depends on where your hotel is located. If it is on the bus route, then it is better to take the bus

PublicBJ

Took this very trip last year, we took the NEX. Very easy walk from the station to the Strings, I would take the NEX as long as they haven't severly reduced the number of trains.

greendx

Yep. I'll still double check when I get to Tokyo and this wouldn't have stopped me from going anyway just bad timing.


Yeah still leaning towards NEX mainly because I prefer trains over buses. Ultimately decision will be made based on the time I land, etc

NewbieRunner

Not sure what the roads around Tokyo are like this weekend but with NEX you know exactly how long it's going to take.

When I was on NEX a few weeks ago to the airport, my train was 2~3 mins late and you should have heard the profuse apology for inconvenience caused, etc.

greendx

My plane landed early, 1pm. I was through immigrations and customs and buying my nex ticket at 115pm.

Big thanks again for the link with the map of how to get to intercontinental from the train station.

NewbieRunner

Wow! That's amazing. It must be a record. I've once done it in ~20 mins with checked luggage.

Enjoy Tokyo!

CLEHillbilly

I arrived early at 4:30 was on my bus with checked luggage at 5pm, at my hotel in the room 6:30 at the Tokyo Tower....each his own...

greendx

Yep it helped that I was sitting in 2L and was one of the first people out of the plane.

Btw that map of yours really helped, thanks again. First time at the Shinagawa station especially after a very long flight can be a bit confusing.


Highlights of the trip:
-Very hot and humid in Tokyo and for obvious reasons ACs aren't blasting as much cold air as one would like. (Next trip out there I'll have to plan accordingly for different time of year)

-Tsukiji Market was closed but I went on Monday anyway and was able to find a couple of open restaurants picking one with the very long (40 min line). They basically only served don type dishes (fish over rice). It was good but I've had better and wouldn't wait for 40 minutes at that place, no way.

-Next time will actually spend more time planning where I want to eat. Had sushi (my favorite food) 4 times in 48 hours and while all meals were really good they were not even close to the best sushi I've ever had. I was actually happy about that as I basically randomly picked all 3 places one of them being at the airport. So for 4 random places to be very good to me means Tokyo is as good as I expected for sushi

-Metro/train system can be confusing at first but starts to make sense after a few trips and people that work at the train stations are very helpful. Both train system employees and the police officers.

-I don't volunteer the fact that I flew out to Japan for 2 nights to people I don't know but it did come up twice in conversation with locals. They of course probably taught I was nuts but ultimately seemed to like the idea.

-I love that the trains are on schedule. I would pay double for the MTA to be within even +/- 5 minutes of their posted schedule.

-Ab

greendx

oops double post

mnmag

Your post is appearing twice!

Glad to hear that everything worked out & great that NewbieRunner was so generous w/his information!^ I did that NRT run 2x -- once in Feb., & then again in July -- used N'Ex/Suica both times -- & calculated exactly how to run the suica card down, so that I could get the 500 yen deposit back w/no fee deducted!

Michael El

Here's what I did on my first trip and never got lost in that big beautiful city.

Did my research online before my trip.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/

Printed the subway map to carry with me. I knew what I wanted to see while there and made my agenda so that I could maximize my time and see everything in such a short period of time.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/index.html

Bought the two day tourist subway pass at Narita Airport.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/v...dex.html#anc02

Jumped on the Limousine Bus and, for 3,000 yen, I was at my hotel in 90 minutes.
http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/bus...s/narita/index

Rode the subway all over the city and never got lost. I took pictures of buidlings just in case. Ate at restaurants that had pictures on their menus as I only speak two Japanese words.

Have fun. I loved my time in Tokyo and would like to go back someday.



Oops....Just realized you already took your trip.

greendx

Thanks.

Yeah I forgot about that. I had 142 Yen left on the card. Went in to a store at Shinagawa and got a drink for 159 yen. That was also confusing with the cashier but she figured out that I wanted to pay the balance in cash. So here I was with the 0 balance card looking to get my 500 yen deposit back. I walked in through the turnstile and only then did I ask someone if I can get a refund in there but was told nope that I had to do it on the other side of the turnstile and couldn't get a refund at the airport. So I was given a note saying that I can walk out through the info booth entrance and go back in after I got my refund. At this point I had 15 minutes to catch the train and ended up going to the wrong place, the ticket office where I had to wait online for about 5 minutes to be told that I needed to go back to where I came from as the office that issues refunds is located right by the turnstile gates. Got my refund, went back through the info booth and got to my platform with 3 minutes to spare. This is where knowing that the train will be exactly on time came in really handy.

The only trouble/confusion I had with the Suica card was while transferring between different train systems at Shinagawa. At other stations there was no issue for example taking the JR line would get me to a station. I would get out through the turnstile and use another turnstile to get back on the metro or something. At Shinagawa it was confusing as I entered at the central gate and needed to go through a second set of turnstiles to get on the Keikyu line which I ends up being/going on the Asakusa line. My Suica card didn't let me go through this second set of turnstiles. A police officer that was there who didn't speak a word of English did help me out. We walked over to the ticket booth where he explained in Japanese to the cashier what I was trying to do. Cashier took my card and then returned it and handed me a ticket. I guess it is possible to use the Suica card on the Keikyu line just not to transfer from it or something? On the way back I was able to use the Suica at the Asakusa station to get on but back at Shinagawa while I was able to exit using the card I ended up in the same situation of having to pass through a second set of turnstiles to get out of the station. Maybe I was missing something simple but didn't see any other way to get out of the station. Ended up going to the info booth and they just let me walk through the booth after looking at my card. Not sure if they deducted any money. I was so tired at that point I had no idea how much money was on the card.


Also totally forgot to add. What really really helped me out was having goolge maps on my blackberry. I'm lucky enough to still be grandfathered in to Sprint's unlimited international data plan so that's basically the only way you can use that much data without going broke. Google maps was a life saver. I would get out at the station and just search for my destination and follow directions. It was great.

craz

yep both ways work and Id go with the bus again myself, took < 1 hr to the Conrad with 2 stops before getting there as well, only had to wait 20 mins for the bus. But if a Metro station wasnt gonna be within a 10 min walk of my Hotel then NET might not be so bad even if cost alittle more

liiked getting off the bus and bingo no worrys as the door to the Hotel was right in front of me