It’s a roundabout route but with frequent flyer points to burn I was keen to get us to Vancouver in comfort. which meant snapping up whatever route Qantas was offering. So the first leg of our travels takes us to Tokyo for a day!
At Sydney heading to Tokyo
As we have never been to Japan, and our route had us with a 24 hour layover flying into one airport and out of another… I chose to book us on a day tour to sample the sights of Tokyo
The first flight with JAL was in Premium Economy and I have to say the food was outstanding , some of the best food I’ve eaten on a plane!
We spent the night at the Royal Park Hotel which is located inside the terminal at Haneda airport, an easy option for us. Dinner at the hotels restaurant was also tasty, a shared platter of Tempura and Yakitori nibbles .
When we woke we were excited to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji from our
Our tour guide/driver Moe arrived promptly at 9am and whisked us away in a very comfortable Lexus for our tour. The traffic was horrendous ( I gather that’s the norm for Tokyo) but we eventually arrived at our first stop, the Meiji Shrine. The shrine was completed and dedicated to the very popular Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress. The shrine was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt shortly thereafter. It was in a beautiful parkland area in the middle of the busy city.
Out next stop was a big change of pace as we stopped to see Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world where up to 2000 people cross at the same time! It’s surrounded by flashing video screens and busy,busy shops.
After that we stopped briefly or drove by a few more iconic Tokyo spots before we had a delicious lunch at one of Moe’s favourite soba noodle restaurants on the North side of the city ( the area where she lives) On the way there we stopped at Tokyo Tower ( which looks very much like a bright orange Eiffel Tower) and the Akihabara district in that is famous for its many electronics shops and has also gained recognition as the center of Japan’s otaku (diehard fan) culture. Many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga dispersed among the electronic stores in the district.
Our final stop was at Sensoji Temple ( a Buddhist temple) that was located in a busy area behind a large market, bristling with souvenir shops. It was very hot by now so we didn’t linger long!
The drive to Narita was over an hour and poor Moe started to nod off! Luckily Neil was watching her and after a quiet word from him she recovered and was ok. We just hope she got home ok!
we enjoyed a break in the lounge before boarding our flight to Vancouver ( in Business class this time) . Another tasty meal and a reasonably good sleep and we were ready for our first time in Canada.
