Departure for Japan and Tokyo Orientation 2014, Day One

Our flight today was scheduled for 2:05pm, so we left the house around 9:30am and drove to the airport. We were supposed to be there for 10:30am, and it was a good thing because there was some issue with the self check-in machine not printing baggage stickers and we ended up in this huge messy line for ages. Finally we got our 5 suitcases checked. We said goodbye to my mom and then went through security.

Yana was super excited to see all the airplanes.

We still had a while before boarding, so we ate some lunch and played around on the iPads that are free to use! Toronto airport certainly got an upgrade since the last time I was there!

Yana in front of our airplane.

We finally started boarding, in a very confused manner, but we were able to get seated a bit early since Yana was with us. Justin and Yana were in a 2-seat row (25), while I was behind the bathrooms and one row at 32. Unfortunately I was in a middle seat between two guys, so I ended up staying in my seat the whole time. It seems like Yana did great and was amused by watching The Aristocats on repeat.

Overall, the flight went by pretty quickly. Between 6 and 3 hours left until arrival was the slowest period. I had a plan to sleep as soon as we got on the plane (since it was 3am Japan time), but that didn't end up working at all and I mostly drifted in and out of terribly uncomfortable sleep. This was partially due to some guy who felt the need to stand in front of the row in front of us and chat loudly with the people sitting there for hours on end. We were served a lunch (stirfry with rice, bread, salad, and a brownie), a dinner (beef sandwich, biscuits, and cup noodles), and breakfast (omelette/rice pudding, fruit, and bread with jam). I watched a few movies and before I knew it we were landing! There was a bit of turbulence near the end, but overall it was a really good flight and the landing was actually amazingly smooth.

After we landed we went through immigration, where we had our fingerprints scanned and our photos taken for our residence card. Last time I was here it took a few weeks to have the resident card printed, so I found it was a nice change. However, I struggled with the fingerprinting machine just like last time. Next we picked up our massive amount of suitcases, went through customs, and were ushered through halls and up and down escalators until we got outside. There we lined up and shipped off our suitcases (we're just keeping carry-ons) and boarded the bus for the hotel in Tokyo.

Waiting to ship luggage. Somehow we got separated from the Canadians and ended up with a bunch of Americans and Kiwis.

I have no idea how long the bus ride was, because I was drifting in and out of a slightly more comfortable sleep and at this point I had no idea what time it was. I'd say it was probably close to the estimated 2 hours. We were shown into the hotel, where we had a quick lecture, submitted insurance forms, and picked up various things like schedules, room keys, and name tags. I also had to pay for Justin and Yana's various expenses for coming along. 

Currently we're in our room on the 22nd floor of the hotel. It gets dark pretty early here. Its hot, but actually not too bad, but perhaps thats because we didn't leave the airport until after 5:30pm. Justin and Yana are both conked out on their beds. I actually feel pretty good right now. Tired, but not overly exhausted. Actually, I'm starving but I have no idea where to go for food and I don't want to leave the two of them alone. 

The view from our hotel room window.