Honolulu to Tokyo

My worry from catching the flight resulted in nothing. The flight to Tokyo was on time and my ticket was issued very quickly once I arrived at the Zipair counter. When they weighed my backpack it was 6.6 kg, or about 14.5 pounds. I’m very proud of the fact that I travel very light. Also, if my backpack was over 7 kg I would have to pay extra.

One interesting thing is that when I bought my ticket over a month ago I paid over $300. Now, the ticket price had dropped by $100. Normally, flight tickets increase when it gets closer to the departure date. I suppose I could have saved $100 if I canceled and rebooked my ticket, but I didn’t want to complicate anything.

The airplane was only about 10% full after boarding. I was surprised to have the whole aisle to myself. The flight was over 8 hours long. I’m glad I took several shorter flights to Tokyo than one long flight from Philadelphia.

When I landed in Narita airport, I was so tired. I would have been sleeping at this time in Hawaii. Once I got out of the customs, which was very quick, I asked three different people to find the ATM, buy a Suica card, which is an intelligent card that I can use on transportation and in shops, and to buy a train ticket to downtown Tokyo. The people were very nice in helping me since I didn’t speak Japanese.

I took the Skyliner train from the airport to Keisei Ueno station. The ride was very scenic and I loved looking at the buildings with the old Japanese architecture and the green farm fields.

After getting out of the station in Tokyo, I walked about 20 minutes to the &And Hostel Kuramae West. After checking in, I was tired, hungry, and sleepy. The last meal I had was on the plane, but I was so tired that I decided to sleep around 8 PM local time. My bed was one of the capsules beds in the dorm room, which I thought was neat since I never slept in one before.

Arrived in Tokyo!

Shops in Tokyo

Hostel

Capsule beds

Inside a capsule

The sink is attached to the toilet. Great idea!

Due to my jetlag, I woke up at 1:45 AM. I was hungry and nothing was open around the hostel except for a 24 hour grocery store. I walked there and got some prepared foods. The food is cheaper than the food in the United States, especially Hawaii.

After eating my night-breakfast, I chatted with a young man from Texas named Arturo. He just graduated from college and will be in Japan for three months. We talked about the idea of freedom and following the flow.

I was planning on canceling or rescheduling my ferry to Busan from Fukuoka and my flight from Seoul to Taipei since I want to stay in Japan longer, but I would incur some fees. Maybe I should experience Japan longer before I make my decision. I decided to not make any changes for now.

I took a two hour nap after talking to Arturo. I feel better now that I had more sleep. Today, I will walk around the neighborhood near the hostel in an area called Asakusa.