We went on a long-delayed honeymoon to Japan in early 2024, from 31/12 to 29/01. The next series of posts are my notes taken during the trip.

Day one (31 December 2023) – Brisbane – Ueno

• Flights went smoothly (10:25 am – 6:30 pm Brisbane to Narita (Tokyo), gaining an hour due to the timezone change)
• It’s so bloody hot, both in Bris and Narita airport, even on the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno
• We got sniffed over by a lovely golden labrador drug-sniffing dog, which was a delight. We love labradors!
• We went with Mobal voice & data SIM cards for this trip, and they worked painlessly and reliably the entire time. Strong recommend for people looking for connectivity options in Japan, at least around the areas we visited.
• Nice and cold outside when we got out! Arrived at Ueno around 8:30 pm

• The streets were less crowded than we expected, we assumed that the majority of people out and about would be heading to Shibuya to celebrate the New Year

• Our first meal in Tokyo was…. a mandarin Strong Zero, a chicken teriyaki and egg sandwich, and a seaweed and plum onigiri. Living large thanks to FamilyMart!
• The first hotel we chose was Sunroute Stellar Ueno, which was about a block away from the Ueno hotel we selected last trip (and thus much easier to find with all our luggage; last time we landed in a blizzard, didn’t have mobile data set up and it was super dark! Story for another time).
• The location was great, the facilities were great, the room was about average by Tokyo standards but well laid out, and the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. The only real issue we had was the 4-5 steps at the front door, which became more of an issue later on when my wife hurt her knee.

• The hotel also did too good a job keeping us warm, to the point where the room was slightly hotter than we’d like. We decided after this first night to resolve this as a priority.
• First purchase in Tokyo – the December issue of Weekly Pro Wrestling, featuring Tanahashi on the cover.

• In bed by 11 pm Japan time, which our body clocks told us was midnight from earlier in the day. Tomorrow the adventure begins in earnest!