Friday, July 5, 2024

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?