Taxis in Japan are a great and terrible thing. Great, because I never have to worry about being ripped off (which in a matter of hours will become an issued once I arrive in Vietnam). Taxi’s are abundant, especially around the train and bus stations. They sit and chill out all the time around cities. So, catching a taxi is easy, however, once you get into the taxi and you give the driver the address you want to go to, you get a blank stare (even when speaking in Japanese). The driver looks at you as if you are the stupid one, because you don’t know how to get there. Have you ever heard of GPS, Mister taxi driver? I see it on your dashboard, but apparently you don’t know how to use it. I now know that if I want to take a taxi anywhere, I have know myself how to get to the destination.
When I arrived in Okayama, I took a taxi to my friend’s house. I was prepared, telling the driver in Japanese, its on so-and-so street, near the sports park, by the bowling alley. I’m met with a blank stare, but he drives on. He proceeds to call the taxi dispatcher to check if indeed there is a bowling alley near the sports park. Duh, of course there is! Would I just throw that out there because I felt like it?
My friend Polina lives quite far from the center of Tokyo, about 40 minutes by train, and then another 20 minutes on foot to her house. I’d made the trek 3 times already, and ended up completely drenched in sweat upon arrival. Not wanting to deal with this at 7am (and not wanting to arrive at the airport going to Vietnam already disgusting) I decided I’d suck it up and pay for a taxi. The night before, Polina calls a taxi company (3, in fact), only to find out that at 7am the next morning, there are NO taxis available to make a reservation. Really?! Are all the salary men in Kunitachi taking a taxi to the train station or their company at 7am?! Come on! Is it because, although Polina speaks nearly perfect Japanese, you can still tell she’s a gaijin (foreigner)… we’ll never know. So, plan B, get up at 6:45, call the taxis again, and if we cant get any, we’ll walk to the station. Luckily, the first taxi Polina called was available (go figure!) and I was on my way.
With my flight leaving at 11:30am, I’d have to leave at 7:30 to get to the airport by 9:30. I knew this was going to be problematic, as 7:30am is rush hour, and I’d be going through the heart of Tokyo, with my luggage in tow (a small rolling suitcase, a backpackers backpack and my regular backpack). With this realization, I opted for the more expensive ticket (double the cheap price, at about $40) so that I wouldn’t have to change trains many times and cram into the crowded trains (I still had to take 2 trains). Have you ever seen videos of rush hour in Tokyo? Well, I was not able to escape it. Luckily I was able to get on a train with ‘some room’ left for my luggage and myself. I’m sure I was getting dirty looks from many people on the train (stupid gaijin with her luggage!) At some stations, it was exactly as I’ve seen on videos, the conductors pushing people on to the train. There was literally no room to move, only professionals could do this without getting body parts cut off in the door. I couldn’t imagine doing this everyday, to and from work! I stood like that for a good 50 minutes, however, I’m happy to report that I’m seated on a nice train, the “Narita Express” enjoying my ride to the airport.
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