I got up early thinking I would start this trip off right -- owning my personal time to make me a more outstanding human being. This meant conversing with friends on IM, catching up on professional email, doing yoga with Rodney Yee, and commuting to the office by Tokyo Subway.
My plans were a bit foiled relative to Robert Yee EXHAUSTING me, a bloody nose striking in the shower, a cash-only subway ticketing system, and a trapse around Akasaka after a wrong turn out of the subway station!
Having brought my debit card culture with me to Tokyo, I merrily found the subway station full of confidence and a plan to get me from Tochomae to Aoyama-itchome on the Oedo Line, then transfer to the Ginza Line to Askasaka-mitsuke. Sadly, I couldn't even buy a ticket! The ticket vending machine - 100% in Japanese - owned me altogether. Thankfully, I won over the ticket agent who advised me that the system does not take credit cards. No Visa. No MasterCard. No American Express. I didn't leave home without it, nor was it everywhere I wanted to be. It was in my pocket and completely useless!
She directed me to the nearby government building in which there was a bank ATM on the first floor (note to self: self, "bank machine" does not translate in Japan; use "ATM"). Lovely ATM, I said. Hello beautiful!
Sadly, said ATM didn't work for VISA. Nor did it work for MasterCard. Nor did it accept American Express. DAMMIT!
Thwarted, I returned to the friendly ticket agent in the subway to see if there were monthly passes I could buy with a credit card. THERE WERE! Now that's being resourceful, I said to myself! Turns out, however, a monthly pass only to travel 1-4 subway stops would have cost me $117 USD! No amount of pleading with my boss would allow that to come through on an expense report. Next best option, head back to the hotel and ask the concierge to exhange currency.
Hello concierge, I said! Go to the post office, she said!
So, I trek out the building, to the left, in the building, down the escalator, around the corner behind the elevator... the post office! And indeed an ATM! And indeed an ATM that accepts my debit card. SUCCESS! Want to know what stinks about ATMs in Japan? You punch in 10,000 Yen and get one bill in return. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! For 10,000 Yen, I want some cold hard cash, Avid Reader!
However, cash in hand, I return to the subway to get a ticket for 260 Yen to the stop closest to work. If you read a lick of this post, you will know that the ticket machine was only in Japanese! I just need a ticket, I scream! OK, I didn't scream, but instead found the information desk and was able to convince the kind Japanese girl in the top hat and pale yellow blazer to help me buy a ticket.
She graciously accompanied me to the machine, pointed to the money in my hand and to the money slot. SUPER, I thought. Here we go! And wouldn't you know, the screen lit up, she said, "where to" and pointed to the map above the machine that listed my station destination and told me the amount to pay. All I had to do was push the button with the corresponding amount and voila -- A TICKET! It was all I could do to hug my dafodill-jacketed friend and chant "I've got a golden ticket! I've got a golden ticket!" as I raced to the turnstyle. But, you know me, Avid Reader, I'm all about calm, cool, and collected -- traveling internationally is no exception.
Short story longer, I successfully conquer the subway, including a transfer. In other words, I owned that beyotch! I won't mention that I got lost and wandered the back streets of Tokyo upon emerging from the subway "near" work, but I finally made it to Microsoft at noon today, after departing from the hotel at 10AM.
I know now three things relative to my travels:
1. I didn't need to transfer as the transfer station was closer to the office than the one I went to;
2. Home is where the Starbucks mermaid is; she led me the right way once again;
3. Whenever I see another Caucasian person, I somehow seem to think that we have something in common -- that we are together in a strange land -- and then I realize that I'm the idiot who is lost.
Until another adventure -- subway or no...
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