Oct 5-6, 2026

I didn’t take any photos of travel. Suffice to say that was the worst overseas flight I’ve taken yet with no sleep. We were sandwiched between a group of older white Canadian folks who had social hour every hour of the flight and at least 3 crying toddlers, who all picked different times to lose their shit. I don’t blame the toddlers at all and their parents were trying, but those boomers…anyway, that’ll teach me to not book overnight flights.

Insert the ‘I’m too old for this shit’ meme here.

We arrived at Narita around 3pm Tokyo time and caught an express train to Shinjuku, where we’re staying for the first few days.

We’re staying about ten minutes from the nearest sub station/main nightlife of Shinjuku and I’m grateful for that. It’s quiet. Our room is also tiny, but that’s to be expected.

We were ready to crash but made an honest effort to walk a bit, grab some dinner, and avoid passing out before 7pm.

We stumbled across ‘Memory Lane’ and took a look around – seemed like a pretty little alley with lots of chicken skewer places to eat. Pretty adorable. But so many tourists there. We weren’t sure that was a good thing, but maybe we’ll try it later.

We ended up deciding on a dumpling restaurant in a basement. Much to my amusement, James does not quite fit. This would be a trend.

Then it’s off to a 7-Eleven near the hotel for snacks and to pass out!

<a href=”https://awanderingjill.com/?page_id=5866“>Tokyo Day 1</a>