First day in Tokyo - Shinjuku

My flight landed at 08:30 local time.

Hello Tokyo!

Stepping out of the aircraft was an experience in itself. Representatives from the airport were there to welcome us and guide us through every step we needed to take to clear customs and get our disembarkation stamp.

customs declaration

A nice detail: They actually have someone making sure the luggage doesn’t get damaged when it drops onto the belt. That is so sweet, haha.

After clearing customs, I had to get an eSIM. I got a message from Ice saying mobile data was 3.99 NOK per MB, so yeah… no choice there. I went with 4 GB/day for 30 days, which cost around 400–500 NOK. As you’d expect, they were super helpful setting it up, and they’ve clearly done it so many times that they even knew exactly which Norwegian settings to click, haha.

To get into Tokyo, I took the Limousine Bus service (which, by the way, is just a regular bus). It took about 35 minutes to reach Shinjuku bus station. Shinjuku underground station is the busiest in the world and one of the largest in area, so I was more than happy to pay a little extra for the bus.

And wow… you have no idea how hot it was today. 38°C! But the real killer is the humidity. Just walking ten steps makes you soaked, and even the iPhone camera fogs up. Absolutely crazy!!!

On the bus to tokyo

I wanted to get a bit of the local experience at 7-eleven , and since I couldn’t check in before 15:00, I grabbed an ice cream to cool off before hunting down some real food.

7 NOK

After that, I found a restaurant with booths where you can sit alone. It honestly felt a bit like McDonald’s. You order from a machine, get a ticket, sit down, and pick up your food when it’s ready. But honestly?! The value for money was amazing. Getting a steak with so many tasty sides made for such a good first impression of Japanese food.

Biff, pasta, brokolli og miso soup

After that, I checked into my hotel and took a rest (mainly hiding from the sun). Once the sun went down, I headed back out expecting Spain-style evening vibes but wow, it was still 30°C and hummid after dark. And as mentioned, the humidity is brutal. But fuck itt, I’ll get used to it, and it won’t stop the goat!!

I went to Kabukicho, the biggest entertainment district in Tokyo. This area is both beautiful and chaotic!! First thing you notice: the police are on repeat saying, ‘DO NOT INTERACT WITH TOUTS TRYING TO GET YOU INSIDE, YOU WILL BE RIPPED OFF!’ The streets are packed with bars, pachinko parlors, and lots of adult-themed spots.

Kabukicho also has Golden Gai .a super cozy little drinking street full of tiny bars, each fitting maybe 5–6 people at most. On top of that, there were plenty of restaurants and izakayas (food-and-drink bars) around, giving the whole area such a lively vibe

It was time for food, round two. I headed up to a restaurant for wagyu beef… BUT I accidentally picked the wrong floor. Each floor is its own business, and I ended up on the top floor, which turned out to be, well… let’s just say it wasn’t for food, but for prostitution. 😅 Luckily, I quickly found the right floor, and oh man the wagyu was incredible. First time trying it, and it absolutely lived up to the hype!

Wagyue A5 (180 NOK)

Since I was a bit jet-lagged, I didn’t drink or anything, but I can imagine this being a really fun place to hang out with friends (as long as you stick to the right businesses 😅).

Even though this was probably the sketchiest place in all of Japan, I still felt incredibly safe the whole time. And the best part? There’s literally a temple right next to the entertainment area, haha.

Temple

I'm tired! Stay tuned for tomorrow, I think i'll check out Shibuya then!