Settling in at Villa Fontain Annex, Tokyo

We have unpacked all of our gear and to my surprise it went quickly and effortlessly. The only unexpected surprise was the internet connection is not great and it cuts-out my Magic Jack. We are getting our Japanese cell in a couple of days, so those of you who can do cheap calls to Japan I shall post the number as soon as I get it.

As you can expect, we have played tourist on our first couple of days. For those of you who discount my affection for technology, the iPad works brilliantly here. I cannot get a local sim so I am limited to the WiFi I set up in our flat. Without this gadget we would have spent half of our 2 days like every tourist in Tokyo, LOST. The Maps app uses a built in GPS to locate where I am when it is on. Therefore for the past days we have been tethered to this thing. Not only did it plan our route to any destination (better than most who profess to know Tokyo) but also tracked us as we walked the streets. There was not a missed step nor getting lost. WOW.

We now face a fundamental challenge. Cooking seems like a chore but eating out, although great in this city, can get boring and expensive. We have discovered that Frommer is quite accurate in its recommendations. We are still looking for some excellent prepared food stores. There was one a couple of metro stops away.

Speaking of Metro, we have been getting around this city from top to bottom and side to side without skipping a beat. Again, the iPad metro app finds our destination and with our Pasmo card we get there in a flash or without getting lost. Like every other major subway system this one can get you anywhere but there is a tremendous amount of walking required to transfer. I guess that the good new is that it is all underground and allows for even more exercise. Speaking of which, I am beat.

Tomorrow we start our 1 week of Japanese lessons. We failed the entry test and shall therefore start at level 0. They could at least have called it Beginner. Stay tuned for updates on our language skills.

This is the beginning of a great adventure. We have already booked our tickets to the Sumo tournament in Fukuaka. In addition, I am now on the mailing list of the Sumo association of Japan. Another good thing about the Japanese lessons, I hope to be able to read these e-mails.

We have not embarrassed ourselves too much as we wandered and rode around this beautiful city. More about the public gardens for later.

For those of you who are wondering, yes I have brought out my camera arsenal. That is why my back is a bit stiff right now. The couple in the photo was following an ancient global tradition, wedding photos in the park. I am now checking out as to how to get my stuff onto a photo sharing web-site. I shall let you followers know when I figure it out.

Good night and best wishes to all