Saturday, May 16, 2009

Silly Gaijin... or How I Spent My Saturday.

Above is Landmark Tower in Yokohama. We've been there before, but we were in the area this afternoon, so up we went.
Up, up, up, in Japan's fastest elevator. It takes you from the 2nd to the 69th floor at a rate of 750 meters a minute. The whole trip takes 40 seconds.

The amusement park in the area is called Cosmo World. The first time we visited the area, we wanted to give the Ferris Wheel a whirl. The Ferris Wheel there is one of the biggest in the world. Unfortunately, it was closed on Thursdays. Today we were just up for a quick trip in the area and we didn't even venture over that way.
Below is a picture of a enclosed room with an ATM machine... and the reason for the title of this particular blog entry.
We were hungry, and out of yen, so we decided to get some money from an ATM. The screen was entirely in kanji. Kanji that is way above my reading ability! I stopped two women passing by and asked them if they could help. The came in the room with us and tried to help. One of the women ended up calling for assistance on the phone attached to the ATM. Ultimately, the machine would not honor cards not issued in Japan.
We're done, right?
WRONG!!!
We all turned around to leave, but the doors were locked! Evidently, there was some security feature that locked us all in that tiny room. I ended up down near the floor banging on the glass until someone finally saw me and went for help. Several people were outside the room trying to get the door to open while we were inside doing the same. Eventually, an official-looking woman came and told us to hang on. She ran from the area and the doors opened a few minutes later.
I apologized to the two women who stopped to help and bowed my deepest gratitude bow. They were very gracious, perhaps because they now had a great story to take home to their families about how they saved some gaijin.

4 comments:

Alisa said...

that is UNbelieveable, both the fact that in Landmark tower, they have an ATM that wont honor forgein cards AND that you got locked in! Wow!
What an Adventure!
I mean, the machine did not give you any money, Why the Heck would it Lock You In?

I still need to head to Landmark Tower... unfortunitly today is not the day (weather). :(

Jamie said...

That's quite a story! We've found very few ATMs that take our American cards, made for the fastest trip to Kamakura yet. Glad you were able to get out of the bank.

Katie said...

Ha! Now that is funny. I'm sure you weren't laughing at the time, but hopefully you can now!

Unknown said...

Post Office banks will let you use your foreign card for an ATM, although it fraud alerts my account every time.
But, to be locked in!!! Wow!!! You guys 'win' having the most unique experiences in Japan! That is AWESOME!!!! :)

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