My husband found a flight to Japan in which we could use our miles to fly in business class.  I have flown business class only a few times and I can’t think of a better time to use miles than a 12 or more hour flight.  You almost forget you are stuck on the plane when you have a pod of your own and you can lay down and cozy up in the big blanket they give you.  

We landed in Narita Airport, which is further away from Tokyo, but has most of the international flights.  We went through passport control and customs very quickly.  My husband was smart to fill out forms and get a QR code before we left.  The lines for the QR code moved much faster.  

My husband was surprised to learn that we needed cash to buy our train tickets.  The trains are notoriously on time here and quiet, even when they are very full.  We were lucky to get seats because the ride was about an hour. There were quite a few people standing for the whole ride. We had to switch to a subway in order to get to our hotel.  

We arrived at the Grand Hyatt at 7pm. Since my husband is a Globalist, they brought us to the lounge to check us in and gave us drinks while they did so. There was also a variety of food to eat and I tried a few bites of noodles that were amazing. Our room is surprisingly large.  There is a nice tub next to the shower. The toilet is in its own room and I was surprised when the seat raised itself when I entered the room.  The seat was quite warm and there was a large control panel to clean yourself.  It even has a dryer and powdering option.  The king size bed is two beds put together. It’s the biggest king I have ever seen. 

We went to sleep right away and woke up very early.  Breakfast started at 7am.  They had a mix of foods.  The bread and pastries were so fresh and delicious.  My husband got a picture of Mt. Fuji from the lounge.  The juices were also freshly squeezed. 

At 8:15 we left the hotel, knowing full well that it was rush hour.  The subway was mobbed.  We got on the train and I was plastered against the guy in front of me. Even with that many people it was completely quiet for the whole ride.  I didn’t need to worry about holding on because I couldn’t fall in that crowd.  It thinned out after a few stops.  

We wanted to walk around inside the Imperial Gardens, but found out that you can only go in if you are on a guided tour.  The tours are twice a day.  You have to stand in a single file line at 9am or 12pm and they let 300 people in each time. You are not allowed to leave the tour group and you are not allowed in any buildings.  The line was so long that I think there were already at least 100 people waiting and it was after 9 so I’m not sure those people got on the tour. 

There are another set of gardens that we could visit, but they were closed today because yesterday was a cultural holiday here.  Instead we went to the Currency Museum, which was free and neat to see the evolution of the yen.  We took a taxi over to the Ginza area afterwards. 

We stopped at the convention center to look at the amazing architecture.  My husband also wanted to see the Godzilla statue, which apparently looked larger in pictures. We walked by all kinds of neat little restaurants that were not open, but smelled so good. 

One of the two giant Seiko clocks has a big display that happens on the hour, so we waited to watch it.  After, we walked around the neighborhood and went in a few stores and then visited the Seiko watch museum (you need to make a timed reservation online, but it is free).  It has six floors and one tiny elevator that you must use, so there is good reason to limit the number of visitors.  They had some really cool displays and examples of clocks and watches.  I also enjoyed reading about the founder and his life.  Before he died, he donated three million yen to a public charity.  After he did so, his friend did the same.  This charity still exists and runs today due to these donations. 

We had lunch at a pizza place.  We had to wait to be seated. They didn’t take reservations.  We did not wait long and they took our order before we sat down.  We each got a pizza that included salad, soup, and a choice of beverage.  I got an iced tea, my husband tried acerola soda, which he liked.  The pizza had a lot of sauce, but it tasted good.  

We checked out a few more stores and tried a maple waffle, which was hot and delicious.  Then we took the subway back to the hotel. We took a surprisingly long nap, but you need to pay attention to what your body needs from you! 

Around 5:30 we went out and there were a lot of trees lit up with Christmas lights.  There were so many people out taking pictures of the lights.  There were also a ton of young people making Tik Tok videos right on the street.  It was a crazy amount of people.  

The Don Quijote store was unreal.  I felt like I was on sensory overload.  We discovered a huge selection of second hand luxury purses and wallets on the 6th floor.  There was a lot of really cool things to buy and I totally understand why people purchase a suitcase to take back all the things they want.  I saw quite a few souvenirs I wanted to buy.  We didn’t have our passports, so we didn’t purchase anything.  If you show your passport, you don’t have to pay tax and it saves quite a bit of money.  

Our first day was not overly taxing and we saw some interesting things and experienced a bit of the culture.  I am not a fan of big cities and crowds, but it’s interesting to wander around and discover new things.