Katie and I flew out of SFO on United. This was our first time flying business class. We stayed in the Polaris lounge at SFO before our flight and found it to be excellent. Good food, comfortable lounging, and a taste of Champagne maybe a little early in the am. Boarded the plane first and found we each had our own little cuby with lay flat seats, large monitor, and a welcome kit with socks, eye shades, ear plugs, toothbrush, and slippers.
Our guide Haru, met us on exiting customs which was a gaunlet of forms and QR codes that seemed to repeat the inormation over and over again. we took thesky express into Tokyo and to our hotel, the Sunroute Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. we showered and changed then met her in the lobby to do a bit of a walkabout. we went to Golden Gai and ’Piss Alley’ an area with small alleys cramped with tiny restaurants and bars. We had Sashimi and Sake at a restaurant, or some of us had Sashimi all of us had Sake. we walked further along many Neon lit streets with an overwhelming number of advertisements. Reminds me of a number of science fiction books I’ve read and movies I’ve seen. Shibuya crossing was kind of like Times Square, people everywhere, neon lights, huge video displays and even Godzilla on one of the buildings. Katie and I were pretty tired so skipped the kareoke that was planned.
