March 11, 2016

One-Day Trip to Tokyo/東京へ日帰り旅行

Today, March 10, my son and I made a one-day trip to Tokyo to search for an apartment.
今日3/10は、息子とアパートを探しに上京しました。

Even though I want to take some good photos of a Max train every time I ride it, my camera always fails me.
Maxに乗るたびにいい写真を撮りたいのですが、私のカメラはいつもダメです。
 


I really want to get a better camera in the near future.
近い将来、もっといいカメラを買いたいです。

At the kiosk, I bought Cheeza and a can of beer, the Premium Malts from Suntory, this time.
キオスクでは、Cheeza(チーザ)と缶ビール一本(今回はサントリーのプレミアムモルツ)を買いました。
Cheeza: 193 yen
Beer: 353 yen
チーザ:193円
ビール:353円
Cheeza contains 53% cheese! I really like it.
チーザにはチーズが53%も入ってます。私は大好きです。
The 8:08 Max Shinkansen was less crowded than I had anticipated. We were able to get seats on the second floor of the two-storied Max train.
8:08のMax新幹線は、思ったほど混んでなくて、二階建てMaxの二階の席に座れました。

At Tokyo Station, we took the Chuo Line, rapid, got off at Ochanomizu Station, and took Chuo Line Local Service. We got off at Suidobashi.
東京駅では、中央線快速に乗り、御茶ノ水で降り、中央線各駅停車に乗り、水道橋で降りました。

You can see a MacDonald's at the center of the photo below.
次の写真の中央にマクドナルドがあります。
Chic.
シック(おしゃれ、上品)です。

Tokyo Dome
東京ドーム
No time to enjoy any of the attractions of Tokyo Dome City...
東京ドームシティのアトラクションを楽しむ時ではないです...。
Official Website of Tokyo Dome City/東京ドームシティのサイト

We hurried to our destination.
目的地に急ぎました。
We reached Korakuen Station on Marunouchi Line (subway). A few more minutes to go.
丸ノ内線(地下鉄)の後楽園駅に着きました。後もう数分です。
We reached the destination a little after ten o'clock, the building on the campus of my son's university where the co-op shop is located.
I was worried if we could find a really good room in just one day,... but we did!
10時ちょっと過ぎに目的地に着きました。息子が通う大学のキャンパス内の生協がある建物です。
たった一日で本当にいい部屋が見つかるか心配でしたが、見つかりました!

At around four in the afternoon, we had a late lunch in a Kyushu ramen shop in the food court in Seibu Department in Ikebukuro.
午後四時頃、池袋の西武デパートのフードコートの九州ラーメン屋で遅い昼食を取りました。

I ordered a mug (M size) of Ebisu beer. I was offered an "otoshi" (appetizer to have with alcohol) free of charge, takanazuke (a kind of pickle), with some mayonnaise.
ヱビスビール中ジョッキを頼みました。無料でお通し(マヨネーズが少し付いた、高菜漬け)を出してくれました。  
600 yen.
Note that at an izakaya (Japanese pub) in Japan, an otoshi (also called tsukidashi) is not free of charge. It's something you are offered even though you don't order it AND you have to pay for it (usually 300-500 yen).
600円。
日本の居酒屋では、お通し(「突出し」とも)は無料ではありません。注文していないのに出され、代金(通常300~500円)を払う必要があります。
I had Shokichi A set.
私は小吉Aを食べました。
950 yen.
950円。

My son ordered Kaiun Daikichi Set.
息子は開運大吉セットを頼みました。
650 + 500 = 1150 yen.
650 + 500 = 1150円。

Interior of the ramen shop:
ラーメン屋の内部:
It was already 16:35 when we left the ramen shop. I decided to take the Marunouchi Line, instead of the JR Yamanote Line to go to Tokyo Station. We managed to reach Tokyo Station at around 17:00, where we took the 17:16 Max Joetsu Shinkansen.
ラーメン屋を出た時はすでに16:35で、東京駅に行くのにJR山手線ではなく、丸ノ内線で行くことにしました。東京駅に17:00頃着くことができ、17:16のMax上越新幹線に乗りました。

8 comments:

  1. Good news! I'm glad you were able to find an apartment for your son so quickly. It sounds like he chose a university to attend. Congratulations to him! Dinner looks delicious. I hope it tasted as good as it looked.

    Take care,
    Erin in California

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  2. ErinBear: Thanks for your comment. The room was canceled by another person only the night before, and we were the lucky ones who got it the next day.

    Yes, the lunch was tasty enough. I had Kyushu-style ramen (with tonkotsu broth) at a ramen shop for the first time in years.

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  3. So it will be Tokyo? Is it Todai?! Congratulations to your son - Tokyo is the place to be for all the young folks, isn't it. Hope he will have a great time and doing fine in his studies.

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  4. Kiki: Thank you! But not Todai (laugh)! Todai is a national university, and it's Japan's No. 1 university. My son's is Chuo Daigaku, a private university.

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  5. How wonderful that you were able to find a good apartment! I wish your son all the best in his university life :)

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  6. Yangsze: Thank you!

    I'm really glad that we went to Tokyo to search for an appartment on that particular day because otherwise, we would not have been offered it.

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  7. Best wishes to your son from me, too :)

    What a coincidence - we've been in the neighborhood only three weeks ago (Kudanshita subway station)...

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  8. Katrin: Thank you!

    I hope you have enjoyed (are still enjoying?) your stay in Japan!

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