Day 1 (Monday): Arriving in Ginza, Tokyo
My plane got to Tokyo on time (around 3:30PM local time the next day) and it was nice and sunny. I popped into the bathroom right after getting off the plane and was unexpectedly hit with my first bit of Japan. Heated toilet seats complete with built-in bidet are a common occurrence in Tokyo public washrooms. It didn't matter if I was in a washroom at an upper establishment, a fast food place like KFC or at a subway station restroom. I wasn't brave enough to have my first bidet experience at Narita so I skipped over the spray button and went straight to flush. I knew my cellphone (HTC Touch, a GSM North American tri-band) wasn't going to get any reception but I turned it on anyways to see what would happen. Nothing, as I suspected. If you live in North America and are looking to take your cellphone in hopes of roaming while in Japan, you will need a 3G HSPA phone that will operate on the 2100Mhz band, something like the North American Blackberry Bold or Apple iPhone 3G/S. ...