Touch Down

After a less than fortunate morning, we managed to board the plane without any more hiccups. Breakfast on the plane was nothing fantastic, just your typical airline food. One thing good bout United Air is that we each had a individual screen so we can watch whatever we want instead of sticking to one movie. Other than that, there really isn't much to talk about the flight as its pretty normal.

Even though we were travelling in a pack of 4, we actually had our seats separated 3-1. So our dear Rac volunteered to sit alone. But apparently she wasn't exactly alone. Sitting just behind her was her colleague from school which coincidentally was a teacher i knew. She didn't teach me back then but we used to hung out quite abit. We went out for meals and movies a couple of times and it has been years since i last saw her. So it was definitely a pleasant surprise to see her in narita. I would have invited her to travel with us but she was on transit to US to meet her boyfriend.

As we plant our feet firmly on Nihon ground, we managed to find our way to the train station which will lead us to our hostel. Being sua ku singaporean, we were pretty excited when we saw the seats of train turn around as it prepares to travel the opposite direction. Along the way we caught a glimpse of the more rural areas of japan as our train meanders through towns to reach tokyo.

Great View along the way
By nightfall, we managed to find our way to our hostel in Asakusa. It was a simplistic and cosy place with a good roof top view. What i really didnt like is the lack of space in the room. There is so little space that it was impossible to open a luggage fully.


Night view from the rooftop of my hostel


Communal living room with free tv and internet

Very very cramp room little space for luggage

Seeing as there is only a few hours before the city went to bed, we dumped our luggage and immediately head out. Went to the Asakusa shrine which is considered the most famous site in that area with its giant lantern.
Giant lantern at Asakusa

Asakusa Shrine

Night view of Pagoda

Deity statue

Even though it was getting late, there were still quite alot of people who are heading to the shrine to pray. It goes to show that even japan which is flooded with modern trends and advanced technology is still very traditional at heart. This is probably the reason why japan intrigued me the most. Along the streets, its not common to see both elements of tradition and modern living by each other, sometimes even complimenting one another.

So with that ends our first day in japan. Its a short day but overall a good introduction of the country.

Brace yourself for something fishy in the 2nd day. Till next time!