Day 1&2 (July 30th and 31st) - Start of Japan 2019!

As it is my fourth summer in Japan over the past six years, it seemed pretty routine. I no longer had the deep desire, nor initial excitement that I had in 2014 and 2015, but I was happy to be on vacation. The weather was nice as our mom drove us to the airport. Checking in and security took literally 5 minutes. The gate at the international airport in Calgary was quiet like a few years back. Since we explored it a couple years back, we opted to just sit and wait till we had to board our flight.

Unlike two years back, we were in a Boeing 767-3 aircraft. It feels slightly dated, in comparison to the 787, especially when it comes to the in-flight entertainment system. Nevertheless, I had Friends downloaded on my phone and Seven Deadly Sins to read to keep me entertained. I did watch Infinity War (first time) and parts of End Game (first time as well) to round up the 10 hours and 15ish minutes. Fortune was on our side, for our flight was practically turbulent free. Also, there wasn't anyone sitting behind me so I was able to recline my chair back into a comfortable position!

After arriving at the airport and going through immigration, my brother and I headed to a somewhat quieter spot to set up our phones with data only Japan SIM cards that we got this time around instead of a wi-fi modem. Unfortunately, my SIM was a dud, thus wasting ten minutes trying to get it to work. After my brother got his SIM card to work, we headed down to the JR Ticket station at the basement floor of Narita Terminal One to trade in our JR Rail Pass Vouchers. Due to our trip being longer than three weeks (our vouchers were three weeks), we opted to start our Rail Pass a couple days later -- to make use of our first major train travel!

After getting our Rail Pass, we purchased tickets for the Narita Express and headed towards the track to wait for the train. I'm not sure why, but it has always been cloudy every time we travel from Narita to Shinjuku, though granted it has only been twice (2015 and 2019 -- 2014 was straight to Hokkaido while 2017 was straight to Okinawa). I had to admit, I was trying to muster excitement over the 70ish minute train ride, but I was unable to do so. Once again though, it was vacation and I was glad to be able to travel.


Our first hotel was City Lonestar Shinjuku. It was relatively close to the station, with each of us (including a third member that we met up with at the hotel) with our own rooms. Since it was a single room, the room was extremely small (the bed took up about 60-75% of the room), but very clean. After settling in and getting changed into my shorts (I always wear sweats on the plane), it was off to Roppongi. I never been to Roppongi to explore, so I was excited to see what it had to offer. We managed to find Roppongi Hills, a towering skyscraper that is apparently similar to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro where it's a city within a city (housing, entertainment, sustenance and whatever you can think of in one location). There was some sort of festival/event set up I believe. After wandering around for a while, it was off for some food. I did had a rice ball and drink before Roppongi, but I was starving at this point.

Back in 2017, our friends introduced us to Uobei, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, in Shibuya. Like Muten Kura Sushi, it was fun though I personally like Uobei better since sushi is made on demand and shipped out to you on a conveyor belt. 

After filling our stomachs, we headed back towards the hotel to grab breakfast at a nearby convenience store. A long day of travel, but with new sights and familiar food. All in all, a great way to start the trip!