Like most trips I’ve been on, I’m up the night before we leave, double checking my packed bag, writing a to-do list of what needs to be done in the morning, and excitedly lying in bed trying to get some sleep in. Unlike all my other trips though, I’m also pacing around my apartment, paranoid that I have forgotten something crucial or that any of the bookings or reservations I made might fall through, as this is the first trip I’ve ever gone on where I was responsible for all of the planning and coordinating. From countless hotel reservation and event booking confirmation emails to the costs involved, I was up until around 1:30am sorting through it all again before I was able to actually get some shut eye.
Alarm rings at 8:00am sharp and I’m up and ready. I wake my friend and travel mate for this trip, Preston, and we grab our bags and head down to Union to catch the UP Express. I think I’m finally starting to feel like an experienced traveller when it comes to the Canadian side of things. I know Union like the back of my hand and Pearson was a breeze to get through. We grab a bite near our gate and wait around as we hear 8 seperate “Final Calls” for a single flight departing one gate over, calling into question why they bother saying “Final” at all. Some time passes and finally our plane starts boarding as I get ready for an expectedly lengthy ride.
I won’t bore you with 13 hours of minute details consisting of the occasional baby crying and mild turbulence, as it was painful enough to force myself to stay awake for all of it so I could sleep easily when we arrive at the hotel and get used to the new timezone quickly. Much to our relief, we do eventually get to disembark and stretch our legs enjoying our nice, albeit limited, joy of getting off the plane, before it was cut short by the 2 hour process that is getting through Japanese customs. We chugged some vending machine coffee to help us through the process, obtaining our JR Pass and train ticket along the way, finally able to leave the airport to the first area of our trip; Asakusabushi, Tokyo.
We arrived at the hotel just after 8pm and unpacked all our luggage. The room was nice, and had double the necessary beds required, as well as an AC unit, which I managed to turn on by utilizing the popular technology solution of pressing random buttons until something happens.We made a brief stop at the 7-11 after just around the corner to grab some toiletries before finally ending our 24 hours in transit.
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