Today was a very slow day in Shinjuku-Ku. Our flight from Sydney landed at Tokyo-Narita at 0610, and it tool only till 0830 to get out of immigration and customs, and grab a transfer bus to our hotel.
Rooms, of course, were not ready. So, we wondered over to the restaurant district near Shinjuku Station for a bit of breakfast. Look-see and site seeing. Several challenges needed to be conquered:
Challenge No 1: Find an ATM that understands the Australian bank cards.
- Solution: Use CITIBANK or 7BANK ATMs which appear to understand the Australian debit visa and master card cards. If that fails tell the ATM that has the right markings (VISA, Mastercard, etc) that its a credit card..
Challenge No 2: Find a pre-paid data SIM! This is harder than you think as most carriers require you to have an Alien Registration Card for any plan whatsoever and very few of them them do affordable pre-paid or device rental options.
- Solution: order one on-line form B-Mobile (Japan Communications Inc.) – a reseller of NTT DOCOMO – they will deliver a 1GB DATA SIM with recharge capability and 14 Day lifespan for mere 4100 yen to the hotel sometime on Sunday between 0800 and 1200.
Having conquered the challenges we ate a good lunch at a Sobe place near the hotel, and then settled in for the day to shower, and plan our moves for tomorrow.
