Day 2. 9th May 2016. Monday.

We headed down to immigration and found a long queue waiting for us . The boys were tired, cranky and irritable but thankfully, the queue seemed to be moving quickly and soon, a Japanese woman came and opened a few more counters. The immigration officer had a bottle of sanitizer that he squirted every time he touched a passport and there was another bottle kept on our side of the counter for the passengers to use. Nice and hygienic. 

The bags were ready and waiting for us, and then it was time to complete our tasks for the morning. 

1. Pick up the pocket wifi: Before we left, I placed an online order for pocket wifi from Global Advanced Comm for Standard Pocket Wifi 75MBPS which was to be picked up from the airport. Cost was 9150yen which was prepaid by credit card. I received instructions as to where to pick it from (post office) but I still had to ask information where exactly it was located because Narita is massive. Next time (if ever) I'll take the option of having it delivered to our hotel. Once I had found the place though, it was pretty painless . I had to produce my passport and receipt and the device was waiting for me in an envelope. 

2. Nex train tickets to Shinjuku: So by the time we got that sorted, half the morning was over. We went down to the basement and found the area to buy tickets for the NEX train to Shinjuku. There was a manned counter and automated ticket kiosks. Since the manned counters were crowded, we decided to brave the automated kiosks. Once we had the language changed to English, it was easy. Then we headed down to the platform area, where there was a machine to reserve your seats. I had no clue where to begin doing that and looked all lost (I suppose). A kindly old railway official quickly came forward to help. He didn't speak any English, but took the tickets from my hand, put them in the machine, furiously punched some keys, pointed to our seating options which I selected, and voila! our seat reservations popped out. Then it was time to wait for the train. We were the only ones on the platform at that point of time and there weren't any benches, so I propped the boys up on the suitcases and they then proceeded to whine for the next half hour till the train arrived. By then, the platform had filled up nicely with travelers from all over the world. The train ride into the city was smooth and efficient like most of Japan, and Zane thoroughly enjoyed his first ride. Half way into it though, he dozed off and had to be carried off the train . Shinjuku Station is huge and we had to stop and ask for directions because I was yet to change our rail pass vouchers for the actual rail passes as well as buy a Suica card for local transportation. There actually was a counter at the airport that we walked past but I decided not to do it there because it was really crowded. 

3. Japan Rail Passes. A couple weeks before the trip, I ordered Japan Rail passes for 3 adults and one child (Zane is free) from Japan Experience.Total cost came to USD 926 for 7 days of unlimited travel on the Shinkansens. The only except were the Nozomi trains which weren't covered by the pass. I parked Zane with Godwin (still fast asleep), and took Zach to the small office where we were literally the only ones. The passes were to be activated only on the day we left for Kyoto but I decided to finish with it because I didn't know when I would back at Shinjuku Station. This is where I realised I had left the printout with the train details I needed to reserve. I went up to the counter with Zach, and the two ladies were very friendly and helpful. Even though I didn't have the train details with me, I knew them well enough and they were able to issue me the passes as well as do all my seating reservations for me.

So, with all the nitty gritty details sorted, it was time to make our way to the hotel. By now both boys were irritable and wanted to get on with it. Zane kept muttering that I had too much work to do and that I should have done it before I arrived, haha. We had way too much luggage to even think about attempting the metro and then walk to the hotel so I asked around to find out where the taxi stand was. We had to take the elevator to another level where there was a line of cabs waiting. The first driver said we would two taxi's and we said that was fine, split up the bags and ourselves, and drove to the hotel, barely 10 minutes away from the station. Cost of the taxi's were 1000yen each, and first impressions of Tokyo city were good. Extremely clean and organized. It was a rainy, overcast day. 

Check in at the hotel was smooth and one room was ready, so we decided to  go up and rest. Then the guy at the reception tells us its on the 7th floor and the elevator was out of order, we would have to walk up. I was like, seriously? Godwins mom plonked herself in the lobby and said she would come up with the luggage when the elevators start to function. The staff was apologetic, but we trudged our way up the fire escape, quite the adventure and fun until I had to carry Zane. 

The rooms were nice, and all clean and tidy. We freshened up the boys, gave them a wash and a change, and in about half an hour, the other room was ready, the elevators were working and Grandma was settled in her room. This is where we ticked the first item off the wish list, the toilets, the ones in our room even had a button for fragrance and for warming the seat! We rested only about an hour, I didn't let the boys sleep, and then decided to head out. Godwin had made plans to join some professional photographers for a Tokyo by night tour for that evening, so I would be alone with the kids and grandma. 

We decided to walk to the Shinjuku-sanchome station which was quite far from the hotel, so there was grumbling and muttering from the boys, and then take the Fukutoshin line to Harajuku. It was raining, wet and cold and the hotel lent us these four giant transparent umbrellas. Everyone has them here, its a thing. Once we got to the metro station, it was a straightforward ride to Harajuku two stations away. It was crowded and we had to stand. Evening rush hour. Both boys weren't happy campers from weariness and jet lag and the long flight, so I scrapped the initial plan of walking to the Meiji Shrine from here. The Meiji Shrine is a Shinto Shrine decided to the emperor and empress.But the boys weren't in the mood to appreciate it so I decided to take them to a shrine they would appreciate. The star wars shrine at Kiddyland! The massive toy store is located on Omotesando street where there are lots of upscale glass buildings and the best brands. The boys thoroughly explored the Thomas and Star Wars sections. I ended up buying Zach a working BB8 model and a few trains for Zane. Then I had to absolutely buy these glowing light saber chopsticks! Only in Japan! Zane got the Luke Skywalker ones and Zach got the Master Windu ones.

Then I swear to god I'm so blind. I couldn't for the life of me find the nondescript entrance to the metro station and walked right by it for almost fifteen minutes. Finally, looking at googlemaps, I realised we had shot right by it and backtracked. The boys were completely unimpressed and were cribbing about all the walking. Luckily there was a 7-11 there where I bought sandwiches and drinks for the boys and asked the kind guy at the register where the station was. He came outside the store to point at it, right next door. Finally, we got into the Fukutoshin line to Shibuya, one stop away, and Grandma decided to park herself there while the boys ate their snacks. They were famished and I was a little uncomfortable about having them eat there, but I really didn't have a choice. Then, we went off to find Hachiko. There are these cute colourful paw prints all over the Shibuya station, by the way. 

So we exited Shibuya, saw the famous world's busiest crossing (this is like the Times Square of New York, lots of neon and big giant screens), and then for the life of me I couldn't find Hachiko. (Story: Hachiko was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture, Japan who is remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner which continued for many years after the owners death. Courtesy: Wikipedia). The boys knew of Hachiko because they had seen the story on Ninja Hattori. So there we were in the dark, cold, rain looking for the statue and I was just about going to ask someone where it was when Zane said mum, its right behind you. Sigh, I decided to wear my glasses the next day.We took a few obligatory pics in the dark with Hachiko and the boys were bone tired by this point and did not want to walk any more. So I went and got grandma, walked up to the street, found a cab and took it to the hotel. Godwin wasn't back yet but I got the boys in their pajamas and off to bed.

He arrived with Bento boxes as it was too late to grab dinner, and the food was delicious! 


Steps walked:9680
Items ticked off the wish list:Japanese toilet, Shibuya Crossing, Hachiko Statue
Next: Day 3. Another day in Tokyo.