The bullet train ran through several long tunnels in the mountains and carried me out of snow. In less than twenty minutes, I was in a different, snow-free world where the sun was shining and the blue sky spread. I put on my makeup and had rice balls that I’d gotten back at the station. By then, my worry about this trip had dwindled away and I began to feel thrilled. On the other hand, my poor partner who accompanied me on this trip had been suffering from atopic eczema and was sitting next to me nervously, as his body was itchy. We arrived at Tokyo Station where we walked through an underground passage that was busy and crowded with people and transferred to the local train. As this line runs along Tokyo Bay, the ocean can be seen out of the train window. It was so refreshing to see a stretch of the horizon over the sea for me who live surrounded by mountains. I thought I finally got my breath. The hotel I’d booked was close to the train station. I got in there but wasn’t allowed to check in until 7 p.m. since I chose the bargain rate for the room. I went straight ahead to the top floor lounge to enjoy the afternoon tea for which I had collected points diligently for two years to exchange to a fifty dollars off coupon. Although a small usual disappointment was alongside, which there was a family with a noisy child even in a luxury lounge like that, I was in seventh heaven looking out the magnificent twilight view of Tokyo Bay. And it was practically free because I paid only a fraction of money thanks to the coupon. Then I moved to another lounge that was exclusively for the hotel’s premium member. This bargain rate stay came with preferential treatment at no extra cost as their off-season promotion and I was entitled to use this lounge. It had a single-serve coffee machine and expensive soft drinks. I had two cups of freshly dripped specialty coffee, two cups of specialty tea and a bottled sparkling water along with elegant cookies that the receptionist had brought to me. And everything was free! I wondered why something complimentary was always gone to my stomach easily and endlessly. As it was still too early for my check-in time, I was headed for a shopping mall near the hotel. When I was walking on the broad sidewalk beside a modern convention center and looking ahead the twilight skyline of tall buildings, I somewhat missed urban life. I stepped in the gigantic shopping mall and looked around the grocery floor for something to eat in the hotel room. The floor had ten times as large space as a grocery store of my town and had all kinds of deli foods, salad and bread. I imagined how much fun it would be if I shopped daily at a place like this. Adjacent to the mall was Costco. A lot of kinds of free samples were being given out there, such as beefsteak, salmon, sushi rolls, and croissant. I became full enough with those. My partner took free samples and had them too, which was odd. He’s usually a little lofty and conceited and doesn’t like to get free samples. But this time, he willingly joined the line for a sample, took it, swallowed, and eagerly repeated it over and over. I observed his strange behavior thinking that he must have been so much hungry, or the samples must have tasted so good, or his atopy must have been bad enough to affect his brain. After our free sample jamboree, I dropped by the food court of Costco. The place to eat was dirty and looked like a visitors’ room of a prison. But considering the incredible size of the hot dog and the cup of soda, they were virtually free because their prices were incredibly low. I gobbled them and walked back to the hotel. The first day of my trip ended this way, filled with freebies and savings…
Blog Search
Blog Archive
- July 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (1)
- May 2019 (1)
- April 2019 (1)
- March 2019 (1)
- February 2019 (1)
- January 2019 (1)
- December 2018 (1)
- November 2018 (1)
- October 2018 (1)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- July 2018 (1)
- June 2018 (1)
- May 2018 (1)
- April 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (1)
- January 2018 (1)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (1)
- October 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- August 2017 (1)
- July 2017 (1)
- June 2017 (2)
- May 2017 (2)
- April 2017 (2)
- March 2017 (2)
- February 2017 (2)
- January 2017 (2)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (2)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (3)
- August 2016 (2)
- July 2016 (2)
- June 2016 (2)
- May 2016 (2)
- April 2016 (2)
- March 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (2)
- January 2016 (3)
- December 2015 (2)
- November 2015 (2)
- October 2015 (2)
- September 2015 (2)
- August 2015 (2)
- July 2015 (3)
- June 2015 (3)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (2)
- March 2015 (2)
- February 2015 (2)
- January 2015 (3)
- December 2014 (2)
- November 2014 (2)
- October 2014 (2)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (3)
- July 2014 (2)
- June 2014 (3)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (4)
- March 2014 (4)
- February 2014 (3)
- January 2014 (3)
Comments
-
Hidemi WoodsMay 7, 2019
-
May 7, 2019
-
April 30, 2019
-
April 30, 2019
-
April 30, 2019