See ya China, Hello Tokyo

My last couple of days were spent travelling. Having woken up fairly early, the group meets our hostel owner out front. She is driving us to the station today with Adam gone. As we load into the car I get into the front and shut the back door. A mistake on my part, as in doing so, I almost take the owner’s daughter out, not realising she was right behind me waiting to get in the car – apparently she was coming along for the ride. Once in the car, the journey goes quick with the radio on with a surprising number of English and American songs. Once we are at the station and out the car the hostel owner waves goodbye and we are on our own. At first we get a little confused; we have got here so early our train isn’t on the board yet so we go for various walks to different entrances, scared we were going to the wrong place, but in the end we found our way. In the station we all do our best to use up any and all of the Chinese yuan we have left. I only have a couple of coins so give them to Tom who goes to buy a drink and some snacks for the journey.

The train ride was a chilled one and we reach the Hong Kong border and join the queues for the multiple security checks. We get through most without a hitch until we get to the final phase a health declaration. Erika and Tom are waved through by a guard using their old screenshots from when we entered China almost a month ago. For some reason the guide doesn’t let me do the same and I am sent to resubmit the online form. The problem with this being that for some reason my phone won’t connect to the free WiFi in the station so I switch back on the little bit of data I have left and, of course, it runs out midway through submitting and eventually the officer lets me fill in a paper copy of the declaration and I get through having caused Erika and Tom to wait for me. Luckily once through we are just getting the metro to our hostels and get back quickly. Erika is in a different hostel to Tom and I so we decide to meet for dinner for our final goodbyes.

Tom and I get back to our hostel early as both of us are up early for our flights tomorrow and are sharing an Uber. After our showers we are joined by others in our room and share a look as if to say please let them be quiet. In a room with ten people Tom and I manage to have five different loud snorers who come back to the room and turn on the light at various times up to 2am. I choose to leave the room at 2am having had no sleep. With our Uber coming at 5am I decide the lobby and some movies would make me less grumpy so I sleepily packed up my bags and chill in the lobby until our Uber arrives. Once at the airport Tom and I reminisced about the month gone by and complaining about the room that neither of us could sleep in. Even our gates are next to each other with Tom of to Taiwan for a few days before heading to India for a month. As the queue for his plane reduces we say our final goodbyes and exchange WhatsApp numbers as Zangi, the Chinese messenger we have been using, has limited time left on our phones. An hour later I am sitting on my flight and ready for my next adventure Japan.

On the train

After an hour or so on the train I get to my Asakusa hostel and horror, they don’t have my reservation, well to be more specific they have me down but only from the 25th when the tour starts and it is the 22nd so I have a mild panic, bear in mind I have been awake for roughly 21 hours straight at this point. I quickly call my soon-to-be tour leader Rachel and she doesn’t answer and I panic some more. Luckily she messages back almost instantly, she was in the shower. After a few messages back and forth she calls the reception, they don’t have my booking but she is confirming that Intro will be paying and they should just get me a room for the next three nights, whew! Tired and hungry I ask Rachel for some food suggestions close by and then ignore everything she sent and ordered a PizzaHut. After China I want cheese and carbs and after being awake this long I don’t fancy leaving the hostel. So once full and roomed I go to bed for a much needed sleep.

I wake up the next morning earlier than I would of liked but nonetheless feeling refreshed. My plans for the day: do absolutely fuck all! I very gradually get out of bed and get myself showered and make my way to one of Rachel’s cafe suggestions from last night. Where I find a croque monsieur and a nice english breakfast cuppa with my name on it. So far Rachel has impressed; sorting out my booking issue with ease and a good food recommendation – I am having high hopes for this trip. After feeling up for the day I head for a much needed haircut, having avoided the barber in China, choosing to spend my free times getting a beer instead. But I am starting to look as homeless as I currently am. So after a meander through some streets filled with a combination of high-rises and old school Japanese architecture, I get to the barbers and it is shut. To be honest I knew this was a risk, it was the only barber in the area without opening hours on google and those that did where shut on Mondays so I turn around and head back to the hostel and my bed for the coming nights. I spend the rest of the day between Netflix, a craving that has built due to it being blocked in China, and googling things to do in Tokyo and planning the coming days.

You're here to eat not socialise!

I arrive back at the hostel minutes away from slipping into a food coma, ready for sleep and excited to start exploring Tokyo tomorrow. Once back in the hostel I have a quick FaceTime with my parents during which I receive a notification; Jasmine, another member of my soon-to-be tour group, has answered my offer to meet up with any early arrivals tomorrow and spend the day together. Warmed in heart and soul by delicious food, a conversation with family, and excitement to meet a new friend tomorrow, I head to bed happy not even worried about the roommates who seem to insist we keep the light on all night. The curtains block out most of the light anyway and I am quickly learning to sleep in pretty much all situations anyway!

Looking across the Sumida river at the Skytree Tower

After a fairly fast flight I land in Tokyo, Japan for the next country on my adventure and I am excited. Getting through the airport takes a little longer than it has been as I have to queue for quite a while to get through immigration and then once again when I have to fill out a form for customs, even though I have nothing to declare. Once through I do something I have been looking forward to doing since other Tom mentioned it in China: I got a SIM card from a vending machine – no talking to people, no passport scanning, no complicated activation process, a bit of money, pick your number and bang E-Sim ready for you. After getting it set up and getting some cash out, I head to the taxi rank and ask about prices to Asakusa, I am not sure if one can haggle in Japan but the price quoted wasn’t even worth haggling over, £165 for the trip, no thank you! Luckily Intro Travel, the company I am doing Japan with, have a great little app which had advice on how to get to the hostel. There is a SkyLine train that pretty much gets me all the way there, and a single ticket was £16.50, much more in my price range.

I end the day by heading out to another one of Rachel’s food suggestions, a branch of the popular ramen chain Ichiran. It is my first real experience of Japanese dining and it is a confusing one. It starts with me lining up outside this tiny place and waiting my turn. Once in I am directed to an electronic ordering screen which, as far as I can tell, doesn’t have an English setting, so I just order one of the four things that has a picture accompanying it: what looks like a spicy pork ramen with spring onion slices on top. Once I have placed my order the Japanese waitress directs me to a thin corridor with individual booths and stools. I sit in my cramped spot unable to see the person next to me even if I wanted to. As I sit down in the booth a bamboo sheet in front of me swipes up and a chef asks for my ticket order before shutting the sheet, leaving me somewhat confused as to what is happening. Within a couple of minutes the sheet is lifted again and I am given one of, if not the best, tasting bowls of ramen I have ever had. It is so good that when I notice the extra order card tucked into a pouch on the side of my booth, I instantly fill it in and press the call button. After some quick calculator calculations I pay and wait for my second order to arrive, before inhaling it as fast as I did the first order. Japan is of to an amazing start!