Welcome to Japan... country #77

We were up at 6:00am Tuesday morning and had a short walk in spitting rain to get to the airport bus stop where we only had to wait about five minutes for the bus. It was a really convenient way to get from Hong Kong's central Kowloon Peninsula to the airport.

We checked in at the brand new Terminal 2 (it only opened at the end of May) for our HK Express flight to Tokyo.

The self serve check in wouldn't work for us, but this time it wasn't because they were putting us in first class... it turned out that I hadn't put my middle name on the ticket, so it didn't exactly match my passport so it had to be processed manually. I'm not sure why Ruth's did, and mine didn't.

From check-in, we headed to the premium lounge. We now get 20 premium lounge access passes per year through our credit card, so we might as well use them up even if it's just to have breakfast.  They renew again in August, so we are unlikely to use them all.

We wasted an hour and a half there, and then went to board our four and a half hour flight to Tokyo's NRT airport.

A wet departure from Hong Kong.

HK Express is a discount airline. There is no first class section however for the four and a half hour flight I did book us extra legroom seats and we were put in row 1. The extra legroom is nice but you still can't stretch out because of the bulkhead... I would actually have preferred the exit row seats.

We also paid extra for one checked bag. They make you jump through hoops by saying that you can bring a personal item and a normal sized carry on bag into the cabin... but then regulate you to a maximum of 7 kgs (15.4 lbs) which includes BOTH items. Very difficult. So we checked one of our carry on bags, and packed it full of everything heavy. Then put everything else heavy into one backpack, and split what was leftover into the other carry on and the other backpack. What a circus, but we got it done. Then of course... they didn't check the weight of anything! But of course you never know when they might, so you either follow their rules, or you better be prepared to pay the price at the gate when they tell you you're overweight.

The total one way flight From Hong Kong to Tokyo including the extra legroom and the one checked bag came to $353 CAD ($251 USD) per person. Not bad, but not fantastic.

Our first sighting of Japan.

Getting closer to landing.

Narita Airport (NRT) is located about 65 kms (40 miles) from central Tokyo. And our hotel was another 10 kms (6 miles) past that in Shinjuku. So we had to take a train from the airport. We could have taken three buses but it would have taken almost three hours and that's if you don't encounter traffic. Or, two slow trains that would have taken just as long. Instead, there is a direct train, but of course it's also more expensive at 3,375 yen ($29 CAD, $21 USD) per person. It gets you there in an hour and a half.

There was a one hour time change between Hong Kong and Tokyo, and our plane was a little bit late leaving Hong Kong so it was already after 5pm by the time we got through immigration and customs. So while the bus would have been cheaper, we took the train.

The view in Tokyo's Shinjuku area as we exited the train station.

Shinjuku is a popular nightlife area for young people.

Made it to our hotel... and we were given a room on the 26th floor! I knew it was going to be small, but yeah.. it was really small!

Good thing we are used to living in an RV!

Even the facilities looked more suited to an RV than a hotel room. 

Actually, maybe more like a cruise ship.

Anyhow, it was clean and comfortable. It cost 13,400 yen ($116 CAD, $82.50 USD) for one night. Honestly, we would not have wanted to stay a second night, although I remember that I booked it because it was close to the train station and it was relatively cheap compared to other options.

By this point it was after 8:00pm and we needed some food. We checked out a couple of places in the area that were more than we wanted to spend. And we ended up going to a 7-11 store (they are popular in both Hong Kong and Tokyo) and buying two of their pre-made microwave meals and bringing them back to the room. Mine was edible, but Ruth's was awful. She only ate it because she was starved. Lesson learned, be fussy with your 7-11 meal choice!

And then off to bed. Next up, a quick view of Tokyo, and then another train ride to Kofu!

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