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Godzilla Hotel (7th Jan 2020)
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Holiday in Japan (20th Mar 2013)
7th Jan 2020
We
touched
down
at
Haneda
Airport
and
the
first
hiccup
manifested
itself.
I
couldn't
join
those
onboard
the
plane
messaging
and
tweeting
their
safe
arrival.
For
some
reason
I
don't
yet
understand
the
GigSky
eSim
I
had
in
the
iPhone
didn't
work.
Perhaps
they
need
to
be
used
every
so
often?
This
was
painful,
I
did
manage
Wi-Fi
from
the
coach
and
hotel
but
in
the
end
loaded
up
an
eSim
from
Ubigi
for
Tokyo
which
was
a
must
for
getting
around.
(I
failed
to
use
the
Ubigi
eSim
in
New
Zealand,
my
Ubigi
account
got
stuck
in
a
payment
authorisation
loop).
Having
a
working
eSim
meant
I
could
use
Google
Maps.
Google
Maps
was
tricky
to
follow,
where
it
thought
you
were
could
be
off,
but
it
enabled
me
to
find
my
way
around
an
alien
city.
It
took
me
a
while
to
navigate
immigration
and
customs.
On
the
plane
I
didn't
get
declaration
forms
and
twice
I
had
to
exit
long
long
queues
to
fill
out
forms.
Customs
guy
also
decided
to
check
my
case
for
drugs.
At
immigration
they
scanned
fingerprints
from
both
my
index
fingers.
So
I'm
afraid
I
kept
the
Meet
and
Greet
girl
waiting
for
me.
She
was
efficient,
and
gave
me
a
bag
of
stuff
including
a
PASMO
card
for
travelling
around.
She
also
sensibly
put
me
on
a
limousine
airport
bus
to
Shinjuku
West
rather
than
my
trying
the
monorail
as
originally
planned
which
would
have
meant
trying
to
manoeuvre
cases
on
a
rush
hour
trains.
They
gave
you
a
token
for
bags
stowed
on
the
bus
which
was
reasonable,
a
bit
of
a
scrum
collecting
the
bags
afterwards.
At
Shinjuku
West
couldn't
see
the
bus
she
told
me
about
so
instead
tried
walking
to
Hotel
Gracery,
happily
the
sign
was
visible
in
the
dampness
and
dinginess.
20th Mar 2013
My
first
time
in
Japan,
seeing
many
shrines
and
cherry
blossoms.
I
caught
a
faint
glimpse
of
Mount
Fuji,
and
stayed
in
a
temple
on
Mount
Koyasan.