# Day 1 - Konnichiwa, Nihon ## Flying into Tokyo The flight went well, we had a modern plane (A330-900neo) which provided a good amount of space at the seat. No doors flew off or bolts were loosened during the flight, which is always a plus. Food was ok but not great, as expected from airline food. Manu had some sort of Ginger Pork bowl while Sophia got a "root vegetable chili" that wasn't necessarily recognizable as chili. Only light turbulence throughout the flight, and we had a smooth immigration process. ## Hotel After buying a local SIM and getting some japanese Yen at the airport, we made our hour-long train journey to the hotel, which gave us some initial impressions of the city. We were expecting a lot more skyscrapers and large apartment buildings, but it turns out much of Tokyo seems to be very flat. We checked into the New Otani hotel, which will be our base of operations for the next few days. The check-in process was unlike anything we've experienced, rather than standing in line and talking to the attendant at the reception desk, they sat us down in a lounge and offered a welcome drink while they checked us in. After a 15 hour journey from our home to the hotel this was very much appreciated and immediately took away some of our travel-induced stress. The same person then escorted us to our room and showed us in, where we were treated to this rainy-day view: ![[day 1 - 1.jpg]] ![[day 1 - 2.jpg]] ## Dinner At this point we were quite hungry, and despite the grand total of 30 (!) restaurants in the hotel complex, decided to brave the rain to get some more initial impressions of Tokyo and the neighborhood. We weren't disappointed to be immediately greeted by the typical Tokyo alleyways with all the little shops, the lights, the lanterns and the bustle. ![[day 1 - 3.jpg]] We ended up going to a place called Kyushu Jangara in Asakusa. For what ended up being only 15$ between the both of us, we were treated to some of the best Ramen either of us had ever had. The quality of all of the ingredients was deliciously outstanding - everything had a much stronger fragrance and intense taste compared to what we're used to. The place itself was very eclectic with tons of fun drawings, writings and paintings plastered all over the walls. ![[day 1 - 4.jpg]] At this point we can only hope that this first meal was a harbinger of things to come. ## Early to bed After another very cold and rainy walk home, which we nevertheless savored thanks to our new surroundings, we were definitely ready to go to bed. At this point we had been awake for more than 24 hours, so we made it an early night. Taking a last look out of the window, we were treated to our first night time views of Tokyo, this time with the Tokyo Skytree lit up and well-visible (left third): ![[day 1 - 5.jpg]]