being oppressed by the heat.

I knew it was going to be hot in Japan this time of the year, but no one told me about the humidity. And even if someone had, I can't say that I have ever experienced a humid climate before. A dry heat I know. I can handle that, but the constant feeling of being slightly wet like you have been walking through a wall of thick but invisible mist during an 85+ degree day is an experience one can never give back, no matter how how hard you try. And it is an experience that keeps on giving. There is nothing quite like sweating at night.

The plane flight to Japan was a quick 11 hours of burning suck. I didn't think there was anything more uncomfortable to sit in than a poorly shaped wooden chair, but the airlines have proved me wrong once again. I think the tagline for coach should be, "The seats ruin your back, but the food is nauseating!" Thankfully, Narita Airport was pretty nice and we only stood at the wrong baggage claim for 20-30 minutes while Scott's bag spent an unknown amount of time circling the correct area. Fortunately we weren't the only ones who made this mistake. Once we collected our baggage, we bought our tickets for the airport limousine that took us on a 2 hour ride to our hotel.

Our hotel is gorgeous. It is ranked by Expedia as being in the top 1% of hotels in the world. Needless to say, when we first arrived here, Scott and I looked about one step above hobo on the scale of looking like we fit in at this nice of a place. Luckily they didn't seem to notice or care and we weren't kicked out for trespassing. A tiny Japanese girl brought our luggage up to the room for us and despite the fact that she weighed half of what our bags did, she insisted on carrying them into the room anyway. However, the thing that impresses me the most about our hotel is the elevator. These things are baby's butt smooth. You don't even feel yourself start moving and then you are suddenly at your floor. Amazing every time.

Our room is relatively small but we have a pretty cool view. On the other side of the hotel is Shiba Park and the Tokyo tower, which is magically bright orange at all times of day and night, as if the paint they used to cover it glows on its own. After getting situated and looking at the staggering cost of a meal within the hotel, we decided to brave the night and head out towards Hamamatsucho Station as suggested by a hotel employee. As soon as we stepped out of the hotel, the beautiful air conditioning conveniently realized it left something in the hotel and never returned. After getting over the abandonment and spending many hours on the phone with a therapist, we were hit in the face by what felt like a hot towel, only it was a hot towel that covers your entire body and never cools down.

We made the walk down to what we have named Hamamatsucho Street until we can discover the true name and eyed many different restaurants that looked good or familiar. Being incredibly hungry and tired I almost suggested we eat at McDonald's and try some real food the next day when we wouldn't be so intimidated by everything, but when I noticed that the people sitting outside were all fat white people I decided against it. We thought about a number of different ramen places, but they were all packed and they all used unfamiliar kanji that made both Scott and I very upset with ourselves for forgetting so much Japanese. We ended up settling on a place called "CoCoIchibanya," a curry restaurant that ended up being both fattening and delicious. But at least it wasn't McDonalds. The menu was all in Japanese and we had no idea what we were supposed to do, but thankfully there were other customers we were able to watch for clues on how to order and pay our bill.

After our dinner outing we walked back to our hotel through the late night heat and the deafening scream of the cicadas which, despite their best efforts, failed to make blood run from my ears. As soon as we got to the front doors of the hotel the air conditioning came rushing up to us saying that it had finally found what it was looking for and that it was ready to go get something to eat. It was briefly disappointed that it missed dinner but soon agreed that it was tired and that we should all go to bed. Another baby's butt smooth ride up the elevator and we crashed in our beds, which have yet to decide whether they are comfortable or uncomfortable.