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We left the hotel about 7:15 for the 30 minute ride to the Hong Kong Airport, which is located on the island of Chek Lap Kok, which largely comprises land reclaimed for the construction of the airport itself. The fare takes most all of the remaining HKD I have.

After a fairly turbulent flight, we arrived at Tokyo’s Narita airport  from Hong Kong about 4pm. Tokyo is an hour ahead of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Express flight was full. Definitely a no frills airline, we prepaid to check our bags and spent 25HKD ($3.22) for one can of a soft drink. 

Once landed, we cleared customs, spent some time deciding how best to get into town, finding an ATM (~113 ¥ to the dollar), and looking for an arrivals lounge. Some of these lounges are quite nice, like the one we used in LAX and others, pretty basic. Narita is definitely basic- couple dozen chairs, no food and a soda dispenser, charming.

We opted for the bus into Tokyo central subway station, over a train that was 2x the bus or a limo that was 3x the cost.There’s not a lot to see as we continue towards Tokyo on the bus. The darkness tends to equalize all of the buildings and all you see is the stream of headlights coming towards you. The bus and the train both take about the same time from Narita airport to Tokyo central station, 1 hour.We’ll transfer to the subway system, take the subway for a few stops and walk to find our hotel. It’s winter here too. Did I forget to mention that? It’s 48° and feels colder than that.

Even with an app for the Tokyo subway you still have to overlay where you’re going on the surface to the lines and stops underground. First time here, so we’re not familiar with the line names, etc. But we were fortunate to find the right line, right direction and stop. Then, like so many other subway systems, you have to walk from one station to the other. I think we ended up walking more of the total transit underground than riding the subway. But once above ground, the hotel was literally across the street.

There are quite a few people here wearing masks over their mouth and nose. I didn’t notice any problems with smog, so I’m sure it’s one of those precautions people might take in highly populated areas where any contagion can spread quickly.

We’re in central Tokyo, so now that we’ve checked in, it’s time to go find something to eat, since we haven’t had anything to eat since early this morning.