Japan for 10!
When we were in Hawaii celebrating nine years together, it took but a hot minute to decide where we’d like to go for our 10 year anniversary.
Japan! It’s a place that Sean and I have always dreamed of going. We’re both into Japanese culture, food, style, anime and manga scene. And what better occasion than our big milestone together?
We booked our flight with Japan Airlines (instead of ANA Airlines) because of their 2-4-2 seating configuration. No random stranger or one of us crunched in the middle seat on this 10 hour flight! However, just a heads up – Japan Airlines’ seats are quite narrow.
What was really cool that I never experienced before were the airplane windows. Instead of having those plastic pull-down shades, the window auto dimmed to a dark blue, creating an “artificial night.”
The flight itself was good. The flight attendants were attentive. The in-flight entertainment selection was fine. We were given blankets and a pillow and served two full meals.
PRO TIP: Order a special in-flight meal over the regular onboard offerings – especially on a long haul flight. We’re lacto-ovo-pescatarians, so we ordered the seafood meal. You don’t want to go hungry because you can’t eat the butter chicken, or Waldorf salad with ham.
We were able to get a couple hours nap in and before you know it, we were touching down at Narita Airport.
There are a few ways to get into Tokyo, but we chose the Narita Express or N’EX because the line is closer to where we were staying. It costs a bit more than the other trains at 3000 yen, but with two departures an hour, it’s direct and only takes 60 minutes to get to Tokyo Station.
PRO TIP: if you’re staying in Japan for 2 weeks or less, purchase the discounted NEX Tokyo round trip ticket for 4000 yen, which is only available for foreign travellers.
Also, riders need to make a seat reservation at the JR ticket office or at the ticket vending machine before boarding the train. Seat reservations can’t be made on the Narita Express. And don’t throw away any of the tickets, as they will be all inserted into the ticket gate at the departure and arrival stations.
We arrived at Tokyo Station in our jet-lagged state. It was the tail end of rush hour and it was still visually overwhelming. There was a sh*t TON of people at Tokyo Station, rushing to make their connections, doing their shopping or getting takeaways. I’ve never seen so many people in a train/subway station – not even at New York’s Times Square, or London’s King’s Cross/St. Pancras. For someone who might not be well-travelled, this would definitely be confusing and intimidating.
Luckily, I’ve traveled by train and subway in places like London, New York, Paris, Berlin and Shanghai, so I got quickly comfortable, once you get a lay of the land. A subway system is a subway system, no matter how extensive the lines. They all work the same. Find the line you want, make sure you board it in the right direction and watch for the stop.
Like other global subway systems, Japan’s lines are coloured coded, numbered and easy to understand.
We got to our accommodations, the Hotel Felice Akasaka without any problems. Tokyo is a city of lights, neon, and electrifying buzz. We checked in, went for dinner nearby and tried to get on Tokyo time. (by the time we crashed, we were body clock time of around 7am) Even in our heightened jet lagged state, we were so excited to be here.
View more photos on my Flickr album.
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