Oh, Tokyo! Part I

I knew we would be riding PAL‘s new Boeing 777 to Narita so I was quite excited to get on the plane. Unlike the old, tired aircraft I took to Honolulu, this one was so new, it almost sparkled.There was so much luggage space and headroom.

My favorite part was the entertainment system. Of late, I’ve been having a hard time sleeping during a flight so any distraction is welcome. Unfortunately, to and fro Honolulu last October, there was very little in-flight entertainment on offer so I had to make do with Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and Sorcerer’s Apprentice even if I had to strain my neck to see  the overhead TV screen.

Not this time. On board the 777, I got my own entertainment console where I was able to watch movies (Letters to Juliet was my pick) and TV shows and play games.

I played Bookworm and Sudoku

Not much improvement on the food though

Narita at 8:05 p.m.

Narita Express ticket to Shinjuku – more than 3K yen

Cute green pay phones

Platform 6 for Narita Express to Central Tokyo

From Shinjuku Station, it was a short walk to Hotel Sunroute Plaza, relatively affordable but still the price of a 4-star hotel in LA.

The hotel lobby

The hotel was centrally located. It was a five-minute walk from Shinjuku station. But my room was so tiny, there's hardly enough room for my luggage. And there weren't any English channels on TV.

Go-to place for a late-night meal

The chicken carbonara sandwich was good!

Sweets for the night

We walked to a nearby convenience store to buy some supplies and found the shelves well-stocked with Starbucks products. Heaven for a caffeine addict like me.