My total travel time from Fiji to Tokyo was 25 HOURS! This is the way it went down:

1. taxi to Nadi airport
2. plane from Nadi to Melbourne (6 hours)
3. three hour layover in Melbourne (beautiful airport terminal!)
4. plane from Melbourne to Tokyo (10 hours)
5. bus shuttle from one terminal to the other
6. train from airport to downtown + two station transfers
7. walk from train station to hostel

I was tired and definitely sick of traveling, but not as tired as I thought I would be. It helped that the 10 hour flight was from 2am – 6am(local), so I got some decent sleep on the plane. It took me two days of going to sleep really early (7pm) and getting up really early (4am) before I started to get used to the time change. And I’m still not used to the weather. Sunny and 85* in Fiji, to rainy, windy and 55* in Tokyo. UGH! But, I have the right gear, so I’m okay.

I was keeping track in my iPhone notes of what I wanted to do in Japan, and I started noticing that my list of things that I wanted to see just kept getting weirder and weirder…….

I didn’t find the novelty vending machine yet (this was a recommendation from a friend… he suggested I become a supplier for the vending machines to make a little extra income on the side…. I won’t name him to protect his “reputation”). But, I found a lot of the other cool stuff… (also – it’s 100 yen shop, called a daiso, not 1 yen😳)

Street in Asakusa district

Fish roe from convenience store😏

My hostel is by a huge Buddhist temple, one of the most significant in Japan. Monday, when I was walking by the temple from the train station to check-in to my hostel, there were tons of people – I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, that day was a national holiday, so a lot of Japanese were visiting on their day off.

Senso-ji Temple

Pair of Buddhas – bringing me wisdom and mercy (fingers crossed)

Shibuya district

Christmas decorations!!!!!!!

Omotesando Hills Mall

There is delicious food everywhere – some for really cheap. This bowl of noodles with tempura was less than $5 (ordered it from a vending machine). It was huge, hot, and scrumptious.

Udon and tempura

Why does a toilet need a flushing sound? I don’t understand. But I definitely pressed it like three times😁

High-end toilet

It’s gettin crun(ch)ky

Starbucks barista art😍

My favorite thing I did the first day in Japan was go to an Animal Cafe. I paid $12 to play with 15 dogs for one hour. Totally worth it! My two favorites were Ribbon and Becky😆 The more popular types of animal cafes are cat, owl, and hawk cafes. Owls would be cool, but holding these pups made me miss my sweet, special canine duo a little less☺️

A note on the people: they’re extraordinarily helpful! Everyone is eager to offer assistance, even if they know little english. What a relief! I was worried about the language barrier here, but this has been such a pleasant surprise to find so many willing and helpful people. I dropped a 5,000 yen note (~$40) on the ground in the subway station – had NO idea – and these three women came running after me to give me the money. Would that happen in NYC? Hmmmmm… AND THE LADY AT MY HOSTEL GOT ME TOP-SECRET SUMO MATCH TICKETS. Sumo isn’t in season (only 3 months of the year), but she helped me out… OMG, I don’t want to jinx anything, I hope it all works out, but I AM SO EXCITED.

Next up:  Disneyland Tokyo!