We made it to Tokyo!

 

Wednesday 21 June 2023

Day 2

The night flights suck. I got some rest, but was left with pins and needles in my legs, as I had to pretzel my body into awkward shapes. Paul on the other hand was awake all night. We were glad to arrive at 730am (6.30am Perth time). The process of exiting, passing passport control and collecting bags was very smooth. There was plenty of English info, that was clear and easy to find. 

I was glad I had done a fair bit of research before leaving, so knew what we needed to do do at the airport. First priority was data SIM cards for our phone. The info lady was very helpful and pointed us to a manned counter. We spent more time waiting in line, than it took to get the phones all set up and the messages begin to ping. 

From here it was back to the info lady to find the JR ticket office. Back downstairs and into another line. From here I was able to activate our JR pass, book our Kyoto tickets, get tap on train cards and book our AirPort Express ticket to Shinjuku. Phew. We had 9 minutes to get on our airport train and then sit back for another hour. All done by 930am.

We watched the outskirts of the city unfold. Marvelled at the homes on the train line, the car stacking systems, the small vege plots and rice fields, before finally reaching the end of the line; Shinjuku station, the busiest station in the world!

Once again, I was glad for the solid prep, so when we entered the madness of the station, with our bags, I knew to head to the east exit. The place is a rabbit warren of tracks and concourses and you can see people would easily get lost. The east exit was displayed on a bright yellow sign. We followed the arrows, sometimes having to lug our cases up stairs, though mostly there were escalators and we finally were spat out again into the fresh air. With google maps primed, we followed its directions about 500m until we could see, what would be our marker for our time in Shinjuku, Godzilla. 

We found our way into Hotel Gracery for 11am. Checkin was 2pm, but we could dump our bags, check out Godzilla, watch him roar and then made our way onto the street for a quick wander around the general area and a meal of gyoza, but we were starting to fade. 

We returned to the hotel at 1230pm. Found some places to sit, before approaching check in at 1.15pm and thankfully we were given our room key to 1248. Phew we had made it. Time for a rest. We did venture out again at about 430. We stopped in at Shinjuku Ale, had a delicious bowl of ramen, before finding the family mart and buying up stocks for breakfast.