Destination Tokyo

Blog entry 23rd of February 2009

Tokyo

I am in Tokyo. We arrived on the 18th but my Internet connection at the hotel has been a bit limited, so therefore I have not gotten a chance to write a blog entry before now.

The flight was comfortable, and the movie and game selection on the plane was nice. Finnair from Oslo to Tokyo via Helsinki. I am on this two-week tour (and a little holiday…) to Asia together with my mum and little sister. I really like having them with me, it is so nice to experience all of this together with my family. We did have a little incident on the first flight from Oslo to Helsinki though. Our jackets were in the overhead compartments and when we arrived in Helsinki my mother’s coat was completely soaked on one side! It turned out our neighbour had a bottle of water, one of these with sports cap, outside his bag and it was leaking. The compartment was full of water… The coat was almost dry when we arrived in Tokyo (thanks to a lovely stewardess!). But that was really all the drama, and I would say that was quite little.

Tokyo is so full of people! 33 million inhabitants (we are 4.5 million in the whole of Norway!) and the main city centre is huge. Our hotel is located in Musashino, about 15min by train to the nearest part of the centre, Shinjuku. At the left side you see me in Shinjuku and on the right side in Asakusa.

The city is so clean! And most places there are not allowed to smoke on the streets, they have their own small painted squares on the streets were you can smoke. You should have your phone on silent mode and not talk in your phone while you are on the train or the subway, and the line and queue system everywhere is remarkable! I also love the way they greet eachother, with all the bowing and give things with two hands. There is just something with the respect they give and show one another.


The people from the Musashino Cultural Foundation is so nice, especially Mr Wada, and the concert on the 20th were so much fun! It was sold out and such a lovely audience. I played with a great organist, Naomi Matsui, and my first concert in Tokyo was a great experience.
The two last days has been spent as tourists, taking a lot of pictures and trying to see as much of Tokyo as possible.

Tonight we are leaving for Hanoi, so right now I will finish my practising and then do some last packing. It is 30 degrees Celsius in Vietnam, so I think I will try to work a little bit on my tan (which at this moment is non-existing…).
You will hear from me when I arrive in Hanoi!
Sayonara, Tine ☺