Off to Asia, and first stop, Tokyo

Swapping one continent for another

We left Miami, and behind us a whole continent. We were headed to Asia, and Tokyo was to be our entrypoint. What stood in our way was a short 6 hour hop across to Los Angeles. where we overnighted near the hotel, making for a smooth start to a long travel day to Japan.

ZipAir to Tokyo

Tokyo was a 12 hour flight and in our wisdom we had booked a budget airline. One we had never heard of, ZipAir. And ZipAir turned out to be one of the better budget airlines we had used in our lives. And they range from good, like the ZipAir flight, to pitiful. And this was before we were to encounter VietJet in Vietnam. More on that down the track. The biggest downside to using ZipAir was that there was no in flight entertainment. Nothing. We now had the challenge of sitting through 12 long hours.

A travel oddity of flying from the United States to Asia is that you cross the international date line. We left Los Angeles and at some point over the North Pacific Ocean the date changes. It jumps forward. to the day after. After a 12 hour flight and a 1 and half hour transfer from the airport into Tokyo city it was very discombobulating. I couldn’t work out what time my body thought it was even though my watch was telling me it was 8pm.

Dinner time in Tokyo

And my watch telling me it is 8pm leads to my brain telling me that it is time for dinner. In Japan, this is where the fun starts. Travelling is a little like playing a computer game. There are varying levels of difficulty. Travelling in places like The Netherlands and Belgium you are on level 1. Everyone, like everyone, speaks English. Navigating and eating is easy. No skill required. 

Switzerland and Austria turned out to be level 2. Everyone is very friendly but little English is spoken. German dominates, and you have to look hard to find a menu in English. But you do, eventually. And the beauty of the country takes over, making you forget your minor struggles.

In Tokyo the struggles are real. Not only do very few people speak English, but there are very, very few menus in English. Yes, they do make those cute little plastic plates of food that you can point at. Observing me making chicken and pig noises to try and establish what is actually in the real version of the plastic dish is a sight to behold. 

For those of you screaming, “use Google translate, you idiot”, give me a second to explain myself. I love Google Translate, and when you have data on your phone the app is priceless. With no data, it is useless, unless you can manually type in the Japanese characters for whatever phrase you are looking for. Not easy. 

Exploring Tokyo

And yet, Tokyo is captivating. There is so much to see. Even just visiting the various suburbs, once you have worked out how to use the underground, and seeing the differences is quite startling. Shinjuku, where we based ourselves, is all neon lights and tall buildings. Down the road, Shibuya has the busiest intersection in the world. At its daily peak, there are as many as 3000 people crossing the road all at once. It was a little more sedate when we visited but check out the videos on YouTube.

Not far from Tokyo station there is the Imperial Palace and gardens to explore. And close by is Ginza, well worth a stroll. Streets lined with shops, shopping being something that the Japanese do very well. Another thing we noticed the Japanese doing well is queuing. The Japanese just love a queue. I don’t mean three or four people waiting to get to the counter. I mean lines and lines and lines of people, queuing for all manner of things, including teddy bear shops (note: these were adults), and a K pop band, whatever one of those is.

We visited Itoya. A magical stationery store, spread over 6 levels, packed with everything from high end fountain pens and luxury notepads, to the cheap pens that I am slightly addicted to. I treat myself to one of those that have four colours in one and you select by choosing the one you want around the top of the lid.

New Years Eve in Tokyo

As a quirk of timing we had New Years Eve in Tokyo. Never being big fans of this particular occasion, we are always in bed before midnight, we found ourselves having a couple of pints of good Guinness in an Irish bar, and heading home well before the clock struck midnight. I ended a fabulous 2022 with a nightcap of Japanese whisky.

We both reflected on what 2022 brought, us getting on the road finally, and what 2023 would bring us. Grateful, and tired, we kissed goodnight, and turned the light out on the year. We had an early start for 2023, heading to country number 18.