Japan: Day 2 - Imperial Palace and Ginza

Day 2 (morning) - Ride to Ginza

After checking out from the hotel, we walked in direction to the train station and stopped at a nice Japanese coffee shop for breakfast. The cost of a coffee and a toast were Y560 (u$7.3).
The first impression at a Japanese train station was overwhelming. The ticketing machine and maps on the wall were all in Japanese and there was no way of knowing how to get a ticket.... but after careful look at the screen, I found a small button labelled 'English' and voila! , we could understand something now. The next challenge was to figure out how much to pay. This is supposed to be written on the wall, but couldn't figure out from the Japanese. A couple that saw us struggling, got closer and asked where we wanted to go... Since they were also going to Ginza, they offered themselves to guide us. Not only did they show us the way, but on some exchange station, they even paid some additional fare for us and didn't accept our money! They also helped us getting the JR Pass at Tokyo station (read bellow), and later, they took us on a cab to our next hotel... I never got so much help on my travels. Japanese are the some of the friendlier and most welcoming people in the world.
I still can't figure out why such a developed and well visited country, doesn't have English translations under every sign. This would be helpful and attract more tourism, IMO. Anyway, somewhere I read that if we don't know how much to pay, we should get a ticket for the minimum fare. At the destination station, there's a ticket machine called 'fare adjustment' and the difference can be paid there.
JR Pass at Tokyo Station
Before going to the next hotel in Ginza, stopped at Tokyo station to get the JR Pass.
Some weeks before traveling to Japan, I purchased the Japan Rail Pass from JRPass.com ( 7 days for about u$340 ). This pass allows free traveling on JR trains during a given period of time and it's available to foreigners only. It can't be purchased in Japan, we have to buy it outside. I think that the validity period can be extended by paying more in a JR ticket station, but better confirm than going by my comment. The voucher arrived in a couple of days by Fedex.

This voucher needs to be exchanged for the actual pass at a Japan Rail Pass office in some JR stations. I got it at the Tokyo station, not sure where the other locations are. At the same time, I reserved seats to Kyoto. Lots of Japanese return to their home towns by year end. Therefore, it's better to secure a seat rather than risking to not finding one on the cart for with unreserved seats (they won't allow standing passengers). If unsure about the time, make the reservation and change it later. JR will change the reservation in a few minutes at any JR Ticket office. BTW, reservations are free for JR Pass holders. They charge a fee otherwise.

JR Pass is not only valid for long distance travel, but it can also be used on any JR train in Tokyo. However, AFAIK, it isn't valid for subways. We're planning to go to Kyoto. A return (go and come back) ticket costs slightly less than the JR Pass with unlimited travel. Thus, with only 3 trips the pass starts saving money. I did some comparison with plane tickets and the pass ended up being much cheaper. Also, there aren't flights between Tokyo-Kyoto. Osaka is the closest airport and I was quoted u$ 600 for a return ticket.
A cheaper option for traveling exists. It's the well known bus. One company (Willer) offered Y5000 (u$65) for one way (Tokyo-Kyoto). The bus takes about 8 hours for a trip that the bullet train makes in 2 hours. At some point I considered saving a night of hotel by taking the slower bus and sleeping there, but the options weren't good. The bus would stop every two hours, and it didn't have a restroom. I don't know why, but premium buses weren't available. Those buses have seats that become a bed. Only two bus company have English Web sites. Others are in Japanese only and might offer better buses, but they were impossible to understand for me. I even tried translating the page with Google translator but it doesn't work for the drop down menus. Perhaps buses will work for somebody, but I suggest reading the comments from people who went through the experience (make a web search). Most of them recommend avoiding bus because it's very hard to sleep. IMO, loosing a day of travel/vacation will usually be more costly than paying an hotel and getting a good night of rest. Bus travel is going to make sense under a tight budget and extra time.
The JR Pass will allow me traveling on a bullet train and covering different cities in the few days I have. It isn't cheap, but it's the best deal around.


Day 2 (afternoon)

While looking for information about Tokyo, I found Tokyo Free Guide, an organization of volunteer tour guides. This was a great opportunity for touring the city and getting in direct contact with somebody living there. The tour is scheduled on the web site. It asks for some personal information date, time, and places we wanted to visit. A few days later, the guide wrote back to me introducing herself.
She picked up as our hotel lobby and took us to the Imperial Palace East Garden, and later to Giza shopping mall area. The garden is a very nice place, but in Winter it doesn't rain much. The vegetation was dry and we couldn't see any of the beautiful colors. Also, several sections of the park were closed for gardening activities. The Palace can't be seen from the garden. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend spending time here unless somebody has plenty of days. There are many other places in Tokyo that should be visited first. In other seasons, it should be great.

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Imperial Palace Garden - Tokyo

Ginza is a nice business district with lots of world known companies such as Gucci, Dior, Gap, Sony, Yamaha, Seiko, and lots more. Some of them occupy a whole building. There are shopping malls with all kind of items.

Tokyo International Forum - Ginza

Sony Building - Ginza

Ginza - Tokyo

Seiko - Ginza

Gucci - Ginza

Apple Store - Ginza

Also, lots of restaurants... I won't go into much more detail here as this area is well described on any travel guide. One place I liked was the Yamaha building. On different floors, the show all type of musical instruments. The Sony building is also an interesting place to visit for somebody that is interested in technology. All Sony consumer products are on display.
For dinner we found a noodle place that was open 24hs but forgot the name. For Y280 (u$3.6) we could buy a medium bowl of noodle soup. It was just fine, not great, allowing to calm the appetite. We also had some tapas at a Spanish restaurant called El Cerdo. It was good, but seemed a little pricey for the small portion size (Y800+ each dish).

Ginza - Tokyo

We spent the second night at Ginza Capital Main Hotel (don't confuse with the Ginza Capita Annex, which is the same hotel but different building. Still, they're very close). Good stuff in room: included water heater and tea bags, high definition TV (movie rentals and free Japanese TV channels), free wired broadband Internet available, shower nice and warm but not great, friendly and VERY helpful hotel staff, excellent location and very good price, safe and secure, free shuttle to Tokyo station (read day 3).

Ginza Hotel Capital Main - Tokyo

Not so good: bed mattress was not good (too hard and one can feel the springs), neighbors could be heard however we're in Japan and people are pretty quiet, the heating system was more noisy that I'd like, very small bathroom. This room is smaller than the one from Hotel Jal City Tokyo Haneda (read day 1).
I would give 2 stars to this hotel. It's OK for a short number of days, and it is very close to the Fish Market. If you prepay this hotel, make sure to take a print of the voucher. They are going to ask for it at check out. I didn't have it because I didn't receive it. But after a short discussion, they took my printed copy of the purchase receipt.

Tips & Tricks

• If you want to make/change an existing reservation for a JR Train, try to avoid making the long line to the cashier. Just go to any open desk and talk to the JR representative. It worked for us, she took care immediately and didn't make us make the line. We saved at least 30 minutes. This is probably a benefit that foreign tourists get :-)
• Don't spend too much time trying to find a cheaper JR Pass. After a few hours of trying, I couldn't find anything better than the official JRPass.com.
• Eating out cost: An average price for restaurants seems to be Y800 - Y1200 (u$10.4 - u$15.6). In general, food is about 40% more expensive than in the US. So far, the lowest cost option is to get a cold sandwich at a convenience store for Y280 ($3.6), or the noddle bowl I mentioned above.
• Get a very good map of Tokyo. Lots of street names are in Japanese only. The buildings don't have a number on front. It can get pretty confusing for somebody new to Japan. The best source of directions are police and people walking by. Actually, if you can't find the place in a short time, just ask anybody walking by. In my experience, Japanese are very helpful and patient when asked for directions. But still, take with you a street level map to let them mark on it the way to your destination.
• On every other street block, I see a map of the area showing where I'm standing. But some of the maps are in Japanese only.
• The GPS of my phone didn't work; it couldn't find the satellites. Don't rely on it.
• My US cell phone works in Tokyo. It automatically connects to NTT-Docomo Telecom (roaming, expensive). I could eventually make cell calls, and access wireless broadband internet (3G). An option is to rent a cell phone in Japan, this should be easy although I didn't try. Some companies will even ship a rental phone to a US address.
• In some hotels laptops are available for rent at Y1000 per day (~ u$13)