This morning I checked out of my hotel and checked into a cheaper hostel for the next two nights. Moving there was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I couldn’t board the train in the morning because the train was too full and I could never made it on with my backpack. I realized then how small you need to keep things in Tokyo. This has been the first time the transportation system failed me. I think because it was a Saturday morning there were less trains running, this particular line couldn’t handle the load of people going into the city. I waited around for the next train, but same thing happened.
Finally, I decided to take a private subway line. It wasn’t covered in my rail pass and it took a while to figure out how to buy a ticket, since it is a different price depending on where you go. I missed the first train here too because it was pretty full and I arrived a little too late. Finally, after an hour and a half I made it to my new destination, which is just a mile or two away. Maybe would have been faster to walk. I kind of wish I stayed at the same place now, but I do save $10/day here.
It was time to go to the Tokyo Game Show, a video game exposition. I dropped off my backpack and took another train to Chiba, about another hour train ride. The train went past Tokyo Disneyland and finally arrived near some huge exposition halls. The size of the show is comparable to the Detroit Auto Show and Cobo Hall. You can walk up and play any video game any video game about to be released in Japan or see some big screen trailers. I heard they expect about 300,000 people to show up over the two days.
After it got dark, I headed to the Roppongi area for a while. And finally back to the hostel. It has been a little while since I’ve shared a room. The last two dorm rooms I stayed in were Shanghai and Stockholm.