AdaQuonsett

Thank you all for the wonderful, wonderful recommendations. We'll be waiting for more and probably place our order with Amazon next month. LOL, A Taxing Woman was listed for about $120 on Amazon.com, very high lol.

By the way, at the end of "Lost in Translation", what kind of car is Bill Harris being driven off in? Is this the normal type of car hotels use for airport transfers?

Sunnyhere

IIRC, wasn't it a black Toyota Crown, the same car most commonly used for Japanese taxis?

LapLap

Is that the car he stops and gets to wait for him when he runs off to say goodbye to Scarlett's character?

If it is, it's a normal taxi cab. The decor is a little unusual, like someone from a baking club has prepared the interior in order to lay out a full complement of cakes and pastries. Key thing to remember, which I always forget , is to not open or close the doors. The driver does this for you - they open and shut automatically.

Mind you, I also remember seeing him in a black limo speeding along with the lights of Shinjuku reflecting on the car and the window. Some hotels will provide transport of this sort (but it's not that common). If they do have it it is usally rather expensive (use www.tokyoairporter.com if you really need a limo service) but you should realise that the experience of a VIP visiting Japan can be quite different to that of a 'regular' traveller, and not always better (too many formalities to go through).

EDIT = PLEASE DON'T GET A TAXI FROM THE AIRPORT!!! There are taxis that will take you there for a fixed rate, and if you're happy with the cost (approx 24,000yen) then that's fine, but under no circumstances should you get a normal metred taxi. We hear tales all the time of people who blow their entire vacation budget by doing this. If you have lots of lugagge, there are plenty of takkyubin services at the aiport that will deliver the bags to your hotel (who will then deliver them to your room) for a modest amount, or a limousine bus that can deliver you to the door of your hotel, or get the train. Spend your money on some wonderful meals instead!

Sanosuke

Ah, ah, reminds me of the time when I sat in the overrated bar called "New York Bar and Grill" from "Lost in Translation" atop the Park Hyatt Tokyo to have my photo taken up there by a waiter sitting near the seat that Bill Murray sat in the movie. (Watch the budget if you order a non-alcoholic cocktail and fruit bowl.) :P

That aside, Tokyo is a huge city with a lot to explore. Some decent art museums, and then there are the parks with plenty of greenery to relax. I'm not sure what movies to recommend, but I do know that Quentien based one of his films in Tokyo -- called "Killing Bill" or something like that. I know there are movies that overuse the famous crosswalk in Shibuya for either opening scenes or middle-of-movie scenes. Gee. I am sure the expats in Tokyo have better ideas to share.

Sanosuke!

kcvt750

Not sure which country you're in, but be aware that Japanese dvds are usually coded for Region 2 (Japan + UK, IIRC). You may be disappointed if you order a dvd coded with a Region incompatible with your player.

motytrah

I liked TABI NO OKURIMONO 0:00 HATSU. I don't know if it's out on DVD in japan yet.

Pickles

I take that personally. I wouldn't call it overrated by any stretch of the imagination. To me, it is in the pantheon of what human endeavor can reach for and achieve. Not quite the moon landing, but up there.

LapLap

Even you must realise it would be if you were to go through some mental break down resulting in you ordering a non-acoholic drink and a fruit bowl.

I'd imagine this place only comes into its own if you have a proper appreciation for good whisky and fine cigars.

Sanosuke - remember, fruit in Tokyo is very, very expensive. You might as well have gone for the 15 year old Malt, I'm sure it wouldn't have cost that much more....

It's kind of like visiting a place famed for its dim sum and thinking it over-rated because you had fish and chips there.

Pickles

Couldn't agree more with this statement.

kcvt750

I'd appreciate the Park Hyatt Tokyo Grill even more if I could meet Scarlett Johansson.

AlexS

Speaking of NY Bar....did they change the drink menu there recently?

I was there a couple of weeks ago and the whole left hand side of the cocktail menu was gone, and replaced with some sort of seasonal drink menu that was mostly Sakura inspired?

Alex

Sanosuke

Pickles and Laplap,

I suppose you both didn't read into what I really meant when it was overrated from my perspective. I was referring to the "fanboy" value of the scene from "Lost in Translation". Now, I am sure that most who have seen the movie would have *wanted* to sit in that bar and enjoy the scenery that Bill Murray did in the movie. It has nothing to do with the expensive fruit and non-alcoholic drink. With that in mind also, I do not drink alcoholic drinks. I'm sure that Pickles noticed that when I had two bottles of Cola at the Mabodofu lunch.

Sanosuke!

hondsps

the fast and the furious tokyo drift, maybe for the kids??

LapLap

Errr.... I think we did.

As you've just explained more fully, you went along there and had fish and chips rather than what the place is actually renouned for. It wasn't over-rated... it was misunderstood.

I hope that photograph was worth the price of the mocktail!

Sanosuke

LOL, That photograph is now sitting on the shelf proudly. And indeed it was worth more than the "mocktail." :P

Sanosuke!