The first leg of my 2019 Asian adventure was Australia to Japan. I was looking forward to going back to Tokyo. I had a fantastic time when I was there in 2017.
Jetstar flies frequently from Gold Coast to Tokyo, and the prices are very affordable. I did pay a little extra for some hot food and a seat, so it came to $442.95 one way.
The good thing about flying from the Goldie, is you can rock up for a flight 1 hour before because it is such a small airport. The check in was via a kiosk, so it only took 60 seconds. Then security scanning part 1 (domestic) and part 2 (international) was quite quick, and so was immigration.
Sadly though, the other side is very uncomfortable and cramped with limited eating and drinking options.
Luckily the flight was right on time, and boarding was super easy, so I didn’t have to wait long.
I was really glad I paid for an upfront seat, as the leg room helps when you are so tall.
It was perfect weather. A beautiful day to fly. There was also an Air Asia flight to KL heading out just before us.
Soon, we pushed back, right on time.
The morning sun illuminated the Tweed perfectly.
And within minutes I was leaving the Aussie coastline behind.
The flight was smooth and comfortable. And just over 8 hours later, I saw we were landing through the summer haze into Narita Airport near Tokyo in Japan.
Since we were early, we couldn’t get a parking bay, so we had to sit on the tarmac for 20 minutes. Immigration was very fast, and soon I was in the arrivals area.
Japan SIM card for foreigners – Wamazing
Times have changed. No more ridiculously priced mobile roaming charges. The age of the easily accessible sim card for foreign travellers has arrived!
I had heard of a company called Wamazing that offered free data-only sim cards with 500MB of data on arrival for foreigners into Japan. I signed up on their website before I flew, and followed their instructions to find their sim machine at the airport.
I scanned my barcode, and was able to get a sim card out of their machine. I seemed to be the only one doing this.
It was straight forward, and the sim popped out in a little box with instructions and a pin to remove the existing sim card.
With my new sim card installed, with an initial 500MB free data, I headed to the ATM to grab some cash, and then I bought a bus ticket to Tokyo Central for 1,000 YEN.
Keiso Express Bus Narita to Tokyo Central
The bus was leaving in 15 minutes so I followed the signs outside to the waiting area.
At the bus stop, the staff member tagged the suitcases, and ensured everyone had tickets…. very organised!
Right on time, the bus arrived.
It was a smooth ride to the centre, after picking up passengers at T2 and T1. Although we did hit some construction work on the roads that slowed things down for a bit. Still just over an hour to the centre was pretty good.
I gathered my suitcase and headed for the metro, after I arrived at Tokyo Central Station.
I forgot how clean and nice Tokyo was. And 35 degrees…. at night!
Tokyo Metro
I found the metro, bought a ticket for 170YEN and jumped on the train, just to ride 1 stop.
It was only a few minutes until I reached Ginza.
It was about 12 minutes walk to the hotel. It felt so strange to be back in Tokyo, especially being so hot. The last time I was here it was so cold.
It still felt bizarre that the streets looked so clean.
I could finally see the hotel. I was sooooo tired.
Tokyu Stay Tsukiji Hotel
Checking in was seamless and easy. I had low expectations of the room, because I’ve heard rooms are SO small in Tokyo, so I was pleasantly surprised.
And the bathroom looked huge!
I made it. I was finally in Tokyo. Such a strange day, starting on the GC, ending up in Tokyo. I could tell…. this was going to be fun 🙂
Thanks for another Wamazing blog.