Tokyo Trip Day 1: Brisbane to Tokyo

It began with a wakeup before the sun. My bags were packed, my cookies baked and my clothing all laid out ready to wear. Abby decided that since I was up at 3.30am, I should play and pet her. At 5am L and ainead rolled into my driveway. We stuffed my mostly empty suitcase in and were on our way to the Gold Coast airport. It was a surprisingly quick trip, though it could have been due to the mounting excitement of our trip.

Bag checking was quick and painless ans we set in for the wait until we would board our flight. 9 Hours. Need I say more? I cannot think of a more boring was to spend my day. Thankfully after only three hours sleep the night before, it was not too tough on the system and I managed to catch up on my sleep.

We landed at Narita airport and suddenly felt the cool breeze of a Japanese winter hit us as we stepped off the plane. Navigating our way through the airport proved rather simple, and we quickly found our way through to the customs declaration. Blissfully, nothing was wrong and we proceeded through to collect our baggage and hop on the next Keisei Sky Liner express to Ueno.
A short walk later, we hopped on the Hibiya line and wand our way to Minowa; providing my first glimpse of the city night in Japan. After dragging out suitcases up three flights of stairs, we headed towards our hostel. The map made it look like only a couple of blocks, but in reality, and when you are dragging a heavy monster of a suitcase, it took us an age. We checked in, ditched our bags and gave in to the rumble of our stomachs.

Here is where the words 'gourmet' and 'starving' come into contrast. By this point it is 10.30pm and it has been a very long time since lunch. So the 7/11 down the street starts to look the best viable option. What I have come to learn is that eating out in Japan can be very cheap. 105 YEN for 1 onegeri. Very tasty and very filling. I wasn't quite that adventurous on our first day and instead opted for a rice ball. I think my dinner cost me a grand total of 320 YEN. Last of the big spenders I know. But by eating on the cheap, I have been able to get the full and fantastic experience of a trip to Japan, and could afford to bring back fantastic goodies to fill my wardrobe and room. (Suitcase capacity permitting).