A Principal and Wife Travels: Day 2: Shin-Yokohama Train Station Arrival Pictures and the Daiwa Roynet Hotel

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Day 2: Shin-Yokohama Train Station Arrival Pictures and the Daiwa Roynet Hotel

"Shin" in Japanese means "new," so we are in the New Shin-Yokohama area. It's like a suburb of the Yokohama area. Residential, few hotels and lotsa restaurants.

Passing through the train system gates, we pass the guards and show our JR Railpass.

Stairs exiting station into Shin Yokohama

Walkway around station

Bikes are everywhere - and not locked up or tied to anything.

We have arrived... OUR Itinerary for the day

7/2, Tue, Narita, 2:25 PM
• Arrive at Narita Int’l Airport*Luggage will be separately transported to Hiroshima. -Pass Immigration/Customs -Receive JR Pass -Change $US to Yen-Miki rent a cell and router at the airport.
PM
• Depart for Yokohama via train
• Arrive at Shin-Yokohama Station, walk to hotel (4min)

Remember space is a commodity in Japan so the rooms are small by American standards. Free wifi! Can't beat that.

This is our hotel: Daiwa Roynet Hotel. Hotel entrance is a 4 minute walk from the railway station.
Hotel: Daiwa Roynet Shin-Yokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, KanagawaTel: 045-473-4155

At the front desk, upon arrival, we were offered "bitter or weak" coffee with sugar packets and mini spoons. A bath soaking salt, and a small bag to put it all in (Japanese love their bags and bags to put it all in). I of course took a free fan for the boys!!

Our room, yeah, this is it and a bathroom door. There a cut out closet that would fit 3 pairs of our shoes put on a mat. Of course they have slippers in the room for us. Again, great room by Japanese standards with this queen bed. Down covers and firm mattress and bamboo pillows.

See my yellow purse in the picture above, and now below.

The room keyhole is a little low for me :-)

Hotel Room Art.

The bathroom. There's a bidet (warm or cool water, hard and soft spray options). A soaking tub and shower head. After my shower tonight the center of the mirror didn't steam up-- so cool. Supposedly cucumber water helps prevent it from steaming up.

And "close the door when using the bathroom. Hot steam may cause fire report."

This is the tub faucet...

And the sign on how to use the faucet. The signs are actually really good and user friendly.

After we were in the room the front desk called and in very good English said "we forgot to take picture of your passport, please come down right now." "Right now?" I asked. "Yes, after hang up handset." Click... He meant now!!

We unpacked and headed out to dinner. Go, Go, Go!!

Pay phone in the area. THere are some here and there in the streets, but many restaurants and buildings have them around.

As you can see this is a car parking garage. He drove in. But if backing up onto that silver circle, he'd be turned around in "a spin" to exit.

As you walk the evening street in search of a restaurant, there's waiters and waitresses in front trying to lure you in with their menu. Interesting at first but it gets a little annoying.

And another...

And at least 3 more before we landed here... They had an English menu for us "Gaijin." Dinner tonight was tapas style, which is the Japanese way - you dont order individual meals instead everything is shared. Sapporo beer "kampai," Sake, wasabi edamame, grilled veggies, sashimi tuna and scallops, chef special rice and ginger, daikon noodles, shred lettuce and carrots, Japanese tomato (sooooucj flavor!), and potstickers.

Our waitress ... She didn't take our order, this pen did!!

Here's a nice video of our guide Miki-San ordering with a talking pen (it seems everything talks to you in Japan, the elevator, the pen, street signs... It can be overwhelming until you tune it out).