Nothing pre-planned on the agenda today so we slept in and were not ambitious in what we put together for the day. We decided to start with what we call “coffee shop time” which is, in fact, us spending time in a coffee shop. We do this in our hometown on a semi-regular basis – bring the laptop and reading and knitting and headphones and videos, and chill in a coffee shop for a couple of hours. Sometimes it’s a brewery. This is that DINKWAD life, people.

We weren’t terribly sure what the culture was in Japan around loitering in a coffee shop so we kept it easy and walked a few blocks to a Starbucks. I know, why are we spending time in an American chain but honestly checking out American chains in other countries can be fun since they typically have different offerings and you can check out locals (if you’re in the right neighborhood). And sure enough, this Starbucks was chock full with locals doing their own loitering. It felt like home except the bicycles outside weren’t locked up.

After awhile we dropped our extra belongings back at the hotel and walked the 1.2 miles to the Uniqlo flagship store in Ginza. Originally I had planned to do this when Scott is going to be away at an amusement park all day (coming up on Tuesday). But right before we left Seattle I needed to head to a local Uniqlo to pick up another pair of my favorite shorts to wear under a skirt, and Scott came with me. While we were there Scott became enamored with some items he saw and I convinced him to wait until this trip to see if they were cheaper in Japan. So, alas, Scott joined me on this pilgrimage to one of my favorite clothing stores.

As we got into Ginza we were delighted to see that they close down the big thoroughfare to traffic on Sundays. Loads of people were out just wandering along the large avenue enjoying the scene. It was still hot out but a bit less humid so we were able to enjoy it.

We also wanted to grab lunch but I was wondering if we would be able to find a decent budget option considering the stores in this neighborhood. This is Gucci territory. I can’t remember if I found it on my phone or we just stumbled across it. It was called Blue Lily and it was a steakhouse and Chinese food restaurant that advertised a “dim sum lunch”. It was kind of oddly tucked down into a basement so we were a bit tentative as we approached. But dang it was so pretty down there. Kind of this old school Chicago steakhouse vibe like Sinatra might be sitting in a corner booth.

It wasn’t dim sum like we are used to with carts of tiny plates being wheeled around and you praying that the thing you’ve pointed to isn’t still alive or some unspeakable animal body part (sorry, I’m not a dim sum fan if you couldn’t tell). We just ordered from menus and the food was very tasty and very filling. We had the biggest gyoza I’ve ever seen. Scott had a super tasty beer from Tokyo Sumidagawa Brewing. All in this environment that felt above our pay grade. Total bill for this splurge? $32. Japan is SO AFFORDABLE.

It was time to head over to my own kind of temple. The Uniqlo flagship store is 12 stories. Seriously. The levels aren’t terribly big, but still… 12 stories. We were in there for a bit going through everything. I think maybe a couple of hours? Scott found quick dry items for himself, and I got t-shirts, cardigans, another pair of their joggers, and socks. Nice haul! I was able to confirm my suspicion that Uniqlo sizes differently in Fatmerica. And I might be one of those people that has to buy another suitcase to get their Japan purchases home. Ugh.

We were wandering around Ginza for a little bit and ran into the couple from Vegas that we met on our free walking tour yesterday. How random is that? They were so friendly and awesome to chat with. And also super gracious because they invited us to join them for a theme bar night tomorrow (stay tuned)… yay new travel friends!

We meandered back towards our hotel and checked to see if we could get reservations for that restaurant we tried to go to our first night in town based on a recommendation from Cakes With Faces. It’s a chain yakitori restaurant called Torikizoku with a location just a couple of blocks from our hotel, and we were in luck! This place was pretty fun – just ordering drinks and small plates intermittently from an iPad in our tiny booth. We had 4 drinks (including Scott’s gigantic beer), several skewers, some other small plates and the grand total? $28. WHAT?

A slow coffee date, walking unfamiliar streets taking in new sights and sounds, a leisurely lunch, meandering a neighborhood or two, and an entertaining dinner. We love these kinds of travel days.

We woke up early after not the best sleep. The A/C just wasn’t doing its job. But then we did a better job looking around the room, found the A/C remote and English instructions and quickly “fixed” the A/C. Guess we were more tired last night than we thought. Otherwise, jetlag wasn’t really affecting us but I remembered from a previous Asia trip that going West from the US isn’t so bad; it’s coming home that can be a bitch. But that’s not for another two and a half weeks!

As is becoming our travel routine, I had booked a free walking tour for this morning, our first full day in Tokyo. It was scheduled to begin at 10:30 am in Akihabara. Google Maps suggested a small station a couple of blocks away to begin our commute via train, but I was hesitant since we didn’t yet have our Suica cards and would need to figure out tickets, likely from a machine. A quick YouTube search alleviated my concerns with a preview of what we should expect. My time as an NYC resident might give me an advantage, but overall I think the metro/subway in Tokyo is really easy to navigate. Google Maps provides very detailed directions, including which platform number to find your train going in the correct direction, and the exit number you should use at your destination station.

It’s funny I made such an effort to get a hotel “close” to Tokyo Station for ease of transportation, but most of the time we used this much smaller station only two blocks from our hotel and it was still easy. On our next trip I’ll know to just make sure we are close to any station and it will be all good!

Once in the Akihabara area we eventually found our way to a bakery I had found online. I say eventually because unlike using Google Maps for transit directions, using it to follow walking guidance is horrible. It didn’t seem to do a good job of pinpointing our exact standing position at any given time, so we might think we were on one side of a road or an intersection but we were most definitely not. But yeah, we eventually found the Akihabara location for Vie de France and enjoyed a couple of goodies while we people watched.

Since we were figuring out how long it takes to navigate while walking, we left with plenty of time to spare for our free walking tour, and had a little time to browse inside the Tamashii Nations Store (the tour meeting point). I don’t really know any Japanese characters, but they had some great Star Wars items for this GenXer to enjoy.

We joined the Original Free Walking Tour of Tokyo hosted by Tokyo Localized at 10:30 am. Our guide was Reiko and she was so, so lovely. Our group was an international mix of maybe 10 people, including a couple from Vegas and a father/daughter duo from Cork/Dublin. In addition to an ongoing verbal overview of Japanese history and cultural notes, our three-ish hour tour included:

*A walk around Akihabara with comments on “otaku”. Oxford says, “a young person who is obsessed with computers or particular aspects of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills“. HA! Our guide also talked about maid cafes and recommended we give one a try. Um, no thank you. The neighborhood definitely had fun vibes and amazing visual stimulation though!

*Yushima Seido, a site for Confucianism including the world’s largest sculpture of the man himself. Our guide took the opportunity to explain how the Chinese teachings align well with Japanese culture, and how the temple fit into the larger story of Japanese history. Students frequently visit here to pray for scholastic success. Our guide also warned of the mosquito population on the grounds and graciously provided repellant, but per usual my blood is too tempting for those little shits and I found many welts on my legs the following day.

*The Kanda Myojin Shinto Shrine that is a favored site for business people to pray for success. Here, Reiko taught us about Shinto shrine etiquette. On one hand she explained that Japanese people are not judgmental or offended by people that simply walk around the grounds as a tourist stop. On the other hand she said non-believer tourists are also welcome to participate in visitation rituals and took us step-by-step through the process including how to walk through the torii gate, how to purify your hands and mouth, and how to pray at the offering hall. There are lots of websites and YouTube videos that detail the traditions, but getting the lesson during our walking tour was so great to instill confidence for the rest of our trip. The Shrine grounds included nice bathrooms and an indoor souvenir shop, which provided a wonderful A/C break.

*A quick stroll through Ameyoko Shopping District with a warning to watch our belongings in the crowded area with a reputation for pickpockets. The food stalls all looked super amazing, but sitting outside in the 90-degree humidity to eat did not.

*Ueno Park, which probably qualifies as their “Central Park”. Massive park with water features, museums, food stalls, etc. We didn’t walk through much of it on the walking tour, but it was a great ending point. Only one photo here because I was getting heat stroke and needed to find some sustenance and A/C asap. My face might have told you that already, though.

Overall I definitely recommend this tour and bonus if you can luck out getting Reiko! The company has several free walking tours spread around the city and next time we are in Tokyo we will likely do a couple more. I just think these tours are an awesome way to get acclimated to a new city. We all need to tip well to keep these going all over the world!

The next couple of hours are a little bit of a blur but I know in my heat stroke haze we made a stop in a Starbucks for a cold drink – the yuzu citrus iced tea was amazing, and we stopped in a tourist office to get our Suica cards. We had to show our passports to get them; apparently there’s a chip shortage so they’re reserving some for tourists. These tasks happened in/around/between Ueno Station and Tokyo Station. I know we ended up having lunch in Tokyo Station at a place that lured us in with their name: Beer Hall New Tokyo. Cold beer in an air conditioned restaurant. Yes. Well, kind of. Cold beer was good, food was pretty meh. They were trying to do German food. My German-ish partner was definitely a YES though – so cute, right?

Next on our preplanned agenda was Street Kart at 7:00 pm in Shibuya so we headed that direction planning to explore that neighborhood a bit before our start time. But when we started to exit the station a huge thunder and lightning storm hit and we crowded under the roofline with a couple of hundred other people to wait it out. It did stop for a short bit but then started up again later and we found refuge in the doorway of an apartment building.

This is when I started texting with the Street Kart office about options. They were cool about us rescheduling, but apparently we still needed to come to their office in person to do that (WHY?). Luckily the rain subsided to a trickle and we were able to walk to their office, but we decided to reschedule to another day anyway considering all of the rain puddles we would have to zoom through in our lowrider vehicles. No thank you.

For the late afternoon we spent a lot of time in the Mega Don Quixote in Shibuya. Does anyone ever get in and out of there quickly? Jesus that store is insane. I had seen a couple of videos on it during my trip planning but they did not prepare me. I found some stationery sets for Scott’s mom, and I grabbed my favorite kit kat flavors (orange & strawberry). I left the pikachu shorts for someone else.

After all of the walking, heat, sweating, heat stroke, new learning, and visual stimulation we were kinda done early. We did the cliche konbini dinner in our hotel room, showered, and zzzzzz… goodnight Tokyo.

We landed at Narita close to 3:00 in the afternoon. Customs/immigration had a longish line, but it moved. At immigration they didn’t put a stamp in our passports; they put a sticker which was so easy and clear to read. This was our first moment of “they do things that make sense here!” And the organized side of my personality swooned when she took the time to find the next available passport page with the right amount of space left for the sticker, instead of haphazardly opening the passport and slapping it on a random page. I wonder what those agents think when they see the chaos of other country stamps in people’s passports.

We had this cute little greeting as we exited customs into the arrivals hall. They like cute little things in Japan, right?

For most of the months leading up to this trip I had planned on using the Narita Express train to get us from Narita to Tokyo Station. It was going to take around an hour and $40 for the both of us to get within 20 minutes walking distance of our hotel so it seemed like a great option. Besides, it’s a TRAIN, and in Japan you take TRAINS. But then just a couple of weeks before we left I stumbled upon a YouTube video that talked about taking a coach bus from Narita to Tokyo Station and I was intrigued. Same transit time, half the cost, less popular with tourists. So we decided to keep an eye out when we landed at Narita to see which option was most appealing on arrival.

So we exit customs, get cash at an ATM, and then immediately see two counters selling these bus transfers to Tokyo Station. And the bus picks you up right outside the doors. And they could get us on one leaving in 20 minutes. And it was less than $10 pp. SOLD.

We were the only western tourists on the bus (this means it was quiet). It was comfortable and clean, obviously. They stored my bigger bag under the coach and pulled it off for me when we got to the station. This couldn’t have been easier, and considering it’s around a 40-mile trip I think the cost was a steal. I might preach bus coach over Narita Express forever.

When we disembarked from the bus we got our first clue that Google Maps for walking directions in Japan is just annoying. #iykyk But after a few false starts we started the walk to our hotel which was about a mile away. Tokyo streets are largely what I think you’d imagine – clean and orderly. Every single person waits for the cross signal before they cross a street. Every, single, person. The thing that caught me off guard the most was how few cars are driving on the road. This is one of the biggest megacities in the world and they must have fewer cars then Seattle. I know it’s expensive to drive there, and they have great transit, but it still struck me. Like I texted a friend during our trip, “I knew they were better than us, but now I know it know it.”

So the walk to the hotel was easy, but it was hot. Like hot and humid, muggy, sweaty, yucky hot. I kinda wish I had a wheelie bag at that point instead of my pack. So entering our hotel to a wave of frigid A/C air was heaven.

We stayed at the Hotel Villa Fontaine Hatchobori (they have several locations). I don’t remember exactly why I chose this one. I wanted a hotel walking distance to Tokyo Station for day trips, it was less than $100/night, and the reviews were decent. We prepaid $595.71 for 7 nights, including taxes, and including a $69.63 rewards credit we had on Expedia. I failed to take photos of the hotel and the room, but the photos on their website and Google are accurate. First impressions were great, and I’ll write about our overall stay when we check out on the 12th.

We unpacked somewhat quickly. Well, kind of. Not only was the room small (to be expected in Japan) but there wasn’t much in the way of furniture to unpack very well. But we made it work. We then set off the two blocks to a recommendation from Cakes With Faces, a chain yakitori restaurant called Torikizoku that uses iPads for ordering that you can toggle to English. Keeping it easy on our first jetlagged night. Well they were full and we didn’t have a reservation. Another time, then!

I was getting hangry so we stopped into the infamous Japanese 7-11 to grab snacks, head back to the hotel and regroup for a new dinner plan. This is where my love of konbini egg salad sandwiches was born. I started to Google a new dinner plan and we both just realized we were exhausted and would be happy with just another konbini run and an early night. So we set out again and this time found our first Family Mart. Like everyone else says, why can’t we have these in the US?

While Scott was showering I decided to see what was on Japanese TV. I noticed that they tend to have a lot of writing on their screens. There’s also a lot of big cute energy. And then there’s the show where a panel of people on a TV stage were watching and reacting to nighttime videos of cats navigating around their sleeping owners?

Goodnight, Tokyo. I look forward to getting to know you better. Sweet dreams.

I can think of no better way to celebrate US Independence Day than by leaving it. I was ready to be independent and free of this shitshow situation, most effectively displayed in our presidential contest that was in full swing. My people have the shortest memories, I swear.

We booked our flights for Japan at Christmas, so this had been a long time coming! We had gone through several rounds of obsessive YouTube travel vlogger binging, I think three different Air Canada changes of itineraries/planes/seats to our original purchase, and some last minute oh shit I think I should grab a few more ideas from the interwebs on what to see what to eat what to do. But the morning was finally upon us!

We had a 10:40 am flight and left the apartment at 7:00 am. We did our usual walk a block > take a bus > walk a block > take the light rail commute to the airport for $3.25 each. Typically this is a very, very smooth transportation option, but this time we had a technical issue on the light rail and had to switch trains mid-route. But we left plenty of time and the transit people did an awesome job so it was no biggie. When we arrived at the SeaTac station I did my usual grumbling of “WHY DIDN’T THEY PUT IN A MOVING SIDEWALK BETWEEN THE LIGHT RAIL STATION AND THE TERMINAL AT SEATAC?!?!?!” So stupid.

TSA was a long line but it was fine. We found our way to the Concourse A Priority Pass Lounge and wow, terrible. Crowded, a couple of sad snack options, and WOW NO COFFEE? I think they’re overwhelmed by how many of us commoners have access now.

So now is where I will explain my travel day stress and how it all ultimately worked out fine (of course it worked out fine, see below). When we bought the flights back in December, our layover in Vancouver (YVR) was 2 hours. One of the itinerary changes by Air Canada along the way was to reduce that layover to one hour. Then they also moved our seats from the front of the plane to the back of the plane, apparently because they combined two flights and well, someone has to lose and why wouldn’t it be the people that booked 6 months ago? And then when we got to the gate that morning we learned that our Air Canada flight departure out of Seattle was delayed 20 minutes. If we missed our connection in YVR to Tokyo it wasn’t like there was another one just a few hours later. I didn’t like this.

What fixed my mood was when we got on the plane we figured out that there were maybe a dozen people or so that were also connecting to the Tokyo flight in YVR. They wouldn’t abandon all of us, right??? Yeah, it all worked out fine (see above). The transition through YVR was short and quick, they held the plane for us, and I think maybe for even another connecting flight because we were sitting on the plane for a bit before we pulled away.

The 10 hour flight in economy was just fine. I slept for maybe an hour, the movie selection was yuge, and the inflight meals weren’t bad. For some reason I didn’t want to pull out my knitting project. I would like to forget the midflight massive hot flash that I think was triggered by the free red wine. And I would ask Air Canada to rethink passing out hundreds of tuna fish sandwiches as a mid-flight snack.