I sometimes wonder at the decisions I make for travel across the globe. On this day we gathered at the Sunport at 4:45AM Mountain time…for the love of everything holy WHY did I start our day at 4:45AM? Yes, I know we going a long way by plane and maybe just a few more hours of sleep is worth the higher flight costs? OK…you get the idea.
So, we headed to LAX and made our way to United and our flights to Tokyo. I just want to say one thing about United Airlines; they’ve really improved their service and I appreciated the high level of communication with travelers getting ready to board places. The terminal maps and guides are handy, and I found their bag drop for flights in LAX efficient and easy!
As you probably know, the flight to Tokyo is usually around 11:30 hours and the best way to deal with such a long flight is to just make it through. Dividing up your time into smaller chunks helps by watching a movie, reading, writing, sleeping. I’m a big believer in chunking your time!
Even with all of the possible techniques you might use to get through such a long flight, it’s really just a long flight….long.
There’s really no way around it; we were tied when we arrived in Tokyo – Haneda. Our arrival was made quicker by using the Visit Japan website and filling out all customs documents prior to arrival. Flashing a QR code in a Kiosk is much simpler than filling out the paperwork from past trips. The customs process was easy made more efficient by the many staff directing passengers through the process. Way to go Japan!
On this trip, we use public transportation for travel throughout Japan. Once we made it through immigration in Terminal 3 Haneda, we walked a few feet to the Keikyu line at the subway station in the airport. You can purchase tickets at vending machines (just THREE for this crowd of humanity) or, in our case, I bought cards for many travelers at the Keikyu train office located next to the vending machines.
A word on subway and train travel: on iPhones and Android phones you can purchase IC cards – the cards used for train travel in Japan – and add them to the Wallet app on the phone. The CATCH is that you have to purchase with a Mastercard credit card. I’ve read online where people have been able to purchase using a Visa attached credit card on their phones AND this situation was NOT the case for our group. SO, most of us have physical PASMO cards. THE NICE thing is that I was able to purchase these cards in bulk at the Keikyu office right there…I paid one price for preloaded IC cards! Sweet! When things work easily it’s so wonderful! Of course the bonus here was the tourist issued specialty card – Hello Kitty!
With cards in hand, we boarded a Keikyu line that took us all the way to our station at Honjo-Azumabashi. The train ride during this early rush hour was crowded from the start with few of us finding a seat for the 40 minute ride. Still, it’s really nice to travel across Tokyo for only 500 Yen.
We are staying at the Rakuten STAY “hotel” in Asakusa. The rooms are clean and small, and the check in procedure would best be described at torturous. This spot is a hotel in name only: there are no staff on the premises and all check in is through a tablet in the lobby. You make all reservations online and once paid, you receive a code to enter the place. Think of the setup as an AirBNB or VRBO. At the three tablets in the location, you enter all of your information and then speak with a video consultant once everything is completed. The trick is that I entered all of this information in the web form provided by the hotel prior to arrival…then had to reenter the information. Honestly, it wasn’t terrible AND we had to reenter all of the information. It took a solid 45 minutes to check in. Once in, the room is neat, clean, and small. I booked eleven rooms for 18 people and am glad I did…Everyone had a space that they chose and THAT is the best thing about this trip so far.
The hotel is located in the heart of Asakusa (just off the main road – Asakusa-bashi- and a very short walk to Senso-ji and the spots in this part of Tokyo. I’ve also liked Asakusa for its vibe and this stay is no different. Once settled in, we walked to 7-11 and then to Ramen and Sushi. Our walk takes us over the Sumieda River and beautiful views of the city at night.
Our day tomorrow promises to be fun with a full day in Asakusa and the Skytree Tower located just outside our rooms. More information to follow tonight!
gentryfunkblog 
Have fun! Sounds like you’re off to a good start, even tho tiring.
Kate