My friend Joseph and I woke up in San Diego, CA and left for the airport at 5:00AM Pacific Time. After a napped through 2.5 hour flight from San Diego to Seattle, WA, we had an 11 hour flight from Seattle to Tokyo. The long flight arrived one hour early. We booked these flights back in late summer, before Japan had reopened to tourism. It was a bit of a risk at the time, but based on our research and Japanese tourism trends, we were optimistic. A $600 flight in Delta comfort plus across the Pacific seemed like a steal, and those extra 3 inches of leg room were well worth it for the long legs.
Fast-forward through 10 hours of napping, Travyling website coding, watching Bullet Train for the third time, and doing countless laps around the cabin and lunges to mitigate restless legs, we arrived in Tokyo! Upon our descent, Mount Fuji could be seen clearly, dominating the horizon with a height above the clouds. Masks were handed out and mandated before stepping off the plane, and their requirement indoors in Japan was communicated. Getting through the health inspection, immigration, and customs was by far the easiest and most efficient I had ever experienced. We bought our metro train tickets to get from the airport to Shinjuku, where our Air BnB is located. The trains were very packed and full of locals mostly playing games on their phones or reading. Did you know books are read right to left, with sentences organized in columns instead of rows?
Living in San Diego, I often forget what season we’re in due to the consistently warm weather. It was low 50s (F) and the sun was setting as we walked around and found our Air BnB. After dropping off our bags, we quickly returned to the streets to experience the transition of day to night. For one, experiencing the change in light helps adapt circadian rhythm, and helped us adjust to the +17 hours time difference. Two, seeing the signs and lights of a city coming alive by nightfall has obvious appeal.
We walked around Shinjuku, stopping in a few shops and arcades. We made our way to a restaurant, and I enjoyed my first great Japanese meal consisting of a Sashimi plate and pork bowl. We then walked to Golden Gai, an area in Shinjuku with narrow alleys and hundreds of small,intimate bars with capacities of no more than 7 people per bar. Many of the bars were members only. In American bars, people tend to meet up with large groups or go to places with high capacities and more things to offer. I loved how here, you and your small knit crew can walk around until you find an empty place to pop in and make it your own for a while. We found a bar with a unique Seahorse logo, walked up a tight flight of stairs, and enjoyed some homemade whiskey and gin while using Google Translate conversation to engage with our bartender. He loved American music, specifically jazz, and we shared drinks and laughs in the intimate and hip space. We also talked about anime shows, and our shared affinity towards Dragonball. I mentioned the show Chainsawman, which is gaining popularity and I had recently watched, but he had not seen it. (Note: the show is quite graphic)
On our walk back to the Air BnB, we stopped by a mini mart to grab mochi and a bottle of Sake to take back with us. At convenient stores in America, I’m used to seeing mediocrely appealing pizza slices and hot dogs on rollers for hot food selection. We laughed at seeing a tank with sweet potatoes sitting on hot rocks.
Our Air BnB is about 250 sq. ft. and in an apartment building with many homes. Our neighbors next door were having some sort of get together and partying. We debated on knocking on their door and saying hello, but the exhaustion and jet lag of our travels were catching up on us, and we decided to get some rest for our first full day. Today (Jan 12th) is also my travel buddy Joseph’s birthday (happy birthday Joesph!), and we have a full day of shenanigans in store.