Arrived safely in Japan!

We've made it here safely to Tokyo.

Flight was not bad. We were told to check in 3.5 hours before the flight (12:45PM). Good thing, because the WHOLE airport had their computer systems down. Check-in required the ticket agents to manually assign us seats. We were also told to ask for the upper deck on the Japan Airline plane. Well, we got it, but it was super hot the whole time, with limited air-conditioning.

Last time in Tokyo (2006), we took the Narita Express bus to Tokyo. It took over 2.5 hours in rush-hour traffic. Today we decided to take the train, and it was much better: 80 minutes. We attempted to walk to our apartment, but decided to hop on a cab. We were elated upon entering our lodging for the week (I'll be able to add photos tomorrow morning). This is where we are staying, OAKWOOD apartment SHINJUKU (pictured above).

We went for dinner at a small ramen place. The waitress/hostess spoke in Japanese (maybe we fit in too well?). We replied in English, but it was apparent she did not understand. All of a sudden, she broke out in perfect mandarin. We were able to converse a bit and ordered. Dinner came up to only 1200 yen! (less than 12 bucks!) Who said Japan was expensive?

After dinner we walked around the area and took a few photos. We weren't about to venture on the train tonight, as we're both quite tired. We bought some groceries (our room has a fridge), and I went to work out in their gym. Tomorrow, we'll probably hit the main areas: Ginza, Shibuya, Akihabara, etc.