Arriving in Tokyo

Yesterday, Scott and I arrived in Tokyo Haneda Airport where we met up with Danna and Lynsey. The purpose of this trip was to visit Danna and see parts of Japan with her before her contract ended, and she moved back to the States/ a different country. Lynsey heard that we were making the trip and asked to tag along with us.

Scott and I did fly over on business class. He has decided that flights over seven hours are too much for him to be folded up in economy. I don’t blame him, and I could easily get used to living the high life up in business! It was so nice to be able to stretch all the way out get a couple of hours of sleep on the 13-hour flight.

At Danna's apartment. 

Danna met us at the airport and helped us navigate the train station, get our JR passes for the bullet train activated, and find our way to our hotel. It was beyond helpful! There were tons of people and train options, so having someone who knew what they were doing made it less stressful.

Our tiny room. 

Our hotel room was tiny, but functional. They did make great use of the space for having such a small room. Danna took us to her apartment, and again, it was tiny. She did have a nice balcony overlooking her street. It was amazing how quiet her street was for being in such a huge city. This has stood out to me the most in my short amount of time here. Everything is very quiet and orderly. As we are sitting on the bullet train to Hiroshima now, you would never guess that the car is full of people. I’ve already caught myself a couple of times being too loud.

Our comically small bathroom. 

Danna left us to our own devices for dinner as she had a prior engagement, but did recommend a couple of restaurant by our hotel. We ended up at an Indian- Nepalese restaurant. It seemed pretty fitting that upon reuniting in travel with Lynsey that we would end up at an Indian restaurant for our first meal in a new country. The food was delicious! By the time we finished eating, everyone was starting to fade and we headed back to our rooms for some much needed sleep.

This morning Danna took us to breakfast before dropping us off at the station for our first bullet train ride. We’re headed to Hiroshima where we plan to drop our bags at our hotel and go see the Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Dome. I anticipate it being a rather emotional but informative afternoon.