The Blogger on the Bus is Going to Tokyo...

...going to Tokyo, going to Tokyo!!!

It is the night of my trip and I am excited. "I'm so excited...I just can't hide it..."

Well, I am hiding it. Walking around Japan with a big grin on your face might look strange to many people.

Laundry is done, apartment is scrubbed, bag is packed, iPods are charged (bringing my crappy one for audiobook use so that the shuffle doesn't lose space) have my tickets on the Dream Bus...

Dream Bus you ask? It's an overnight bus. The Shinkansen is so damn expensive that the only people who use it are tourists on the JR Pass (think Eurail but for Japan), business men, if you are indulging yourself or if you need to get somewhere fast, like a funeral. Regular people never use the Shinkansen. And I am a student. You think I have $250 to spare? I would rather use that money for shopping.

So it's an 8 hour bus ride, overnight. I leave at 10:40pm which is 9:30am EST. I arrive at Tokyo Station at 6:30am the next day - just a right time to experience the early morning buzz of Tokyo and the relative quiet. Colleen told me that it won't be quiet possibly even at that time, but I am thinking that early morning hum that a large city has before the rat-race of rush hour. For me, that is my favorite time of day - things are open or just opening and people are about but it's still peaceful. And in the summertime, it's cooler at about 6 am.

OoOoO...I can have the chance to ride the women's only cars! Yes, I know it's a stupid thing to be exited about, but I have not ridden on a proper subway for awhile. In the course of making my itinerary (yes I make itineraries so I am just organized and that I don't look like a chicken with my head cut off int he middle of Tokyo), I pretty much got the gist of the Tokyo Subway system - personally, the NYC subway system is more complicated I think.

They have the women only cars on the Kyoto subway too (which is just two lines and I never have occasion or reason to use it) but those are designated during rush hour so that women don't have to worry about chikan ("gropers") groping their butt. Plus it will be a nice reprieve from the crazy crowded cars that the regular people ride - hopefully. Will report as much as possible - there is internet at my hotel (public computer, staying at a budget place) and I am bringing my laptop so I will definitely blog on this as much as possible.

The blogger on the bus is going to Tokyo...