Postcard from Asia ...

Good Morning to all.  Just a quick note to check in and let you all know I made it to Tokyo.  The flight was uneventful.  Three movies, two meals and several walks around the airplane and we were here.

 I wish I could sleep on a plane, but that has never been the case.  And that was ok, because with the time difference I went to sleep at 8 PM and was up at 4 AM and have mostly accumulated to the time change. 
I arrived feeling like a seasoned traveler.  I easily found the express train to Tokyo Station (lots of blooming cherry trees on the way in) and my hotel just across the street.  Buying tickets for today's train ride was a bit more difficult.  The ticket agent basically told me you can not get there - Tokyo to Yudanaka - from here.  I did, however, buy a roundtrip ticket on the bullet train to Nagano and will buy a local train ticket to Yudanaka once I get there.

People here are very friendly.  There always seems to be someone right there to help you out.  Getting money exchanged, checking into the hotel, finding a place to eat were all very easy.  And watching the worlds largest metropolis awake this morning was wonderful. 

I walked down by the Imperial Palace at about 5 AM.  There were joggers running along the moat and little else going on.  The gardens open in about an hour and I am going back!! Attached, for your viewing pleasure is a shot of one small corner of the Palace.

Will write again in a few days once I get to Beijing. 

Love to all ... Doug