Our first beer and snacks after a very long travel day. It was a long travel day; however, it was also relative smooth going.

The alarm went off at 5, we were at the airport at 7. Our first flight took off at 9 and by noon we were in the air from Dulles to Tokyo. The plane was not full and we had an extra seat beside us to spread out. Not one of us slept very much–Julia may have gotten four hours–but the movies were interesting, especially the Japanese and Indian offerings, the food not dreadful. The wake up snack was a half sandwich–white bread filled with egg salad–was extremely comforting.

The efficiency of Japan was in full bloom as we breezed through immigration and customs, exchanged money and bought our Suica (transit) cards. Our only hiccup was picking up our mobil wi-fi–our plane landed in a different terminal than I expected. It just meant taking the shuttle to the original terminal and then back to where we landed to find the Ninja store.

Then we boarded the monorail and two transit trains to our Guest House. It will take a bit to get used to finding the English translation on signs but for what we have needed, the translation has been there. The trains were extremely easy, albeit crowded, to navigate.

After a short walk from the Nappori station, we arrived at Guest House Wagokoro, in Arakawa. The neighborhood was dark and quiet for the most part–this is a more residential part of the city which is what I wanted to find. The guest house is lovely — small rooms masterfully efficient, good beds, a good shower and a common room on the first floor to eat or cook or hang out in.

After settling in, we found an izakaya (居酒屋), an informal Japanese bar that serves drinks and snacks. It was an excellent way to being our travels! We stumbled upon it walking, relatively zombie-like, around the neighborhood. It is a local hang out and they seated us at a chabudai (卓袱台), the traditional short-legged table. We sat on zabutons. Alas, this seating is now hard for this old lady. Ten years ago, I was still loving sitting cross legged on floor. I am resolved to get back to that!

We stumbled the few blocks home, dead tired and happy we had managed to stay up the full day to get our bodies regulated to this new time. We fell asleep so quickly that I had to get up during the night to turn off all the lights and plug in our electronics.

It was a splendid travel day!