First time in JAPAN - Bad time in Transit!

(Originally posed May 1 2020 - I've move this post from my old site here so everything can be in one place )

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to visit Japan. I love their culture and food. I watched so many youtube videos about things to do in Japan and I even tried to learn the Japanese language..(not going well)... There were a few opportunities to go to Japan in the past but something always came up and I never end up going.. Until last year, my partner, Jackson said he will promise to take me to Japan. I've heard this line before from previous relationships and I never end up going. So i didn't keep my hopes ups for this.. BUT not long after he said that, he found some cheap flights to Japan and then he booked it!! We were going to Japan! I was so excited, I couldn't believe it! So I looked for accomodation and booked that, and then it was time to save some money!!!

Holidays are always fun but I didn't have too much fun getting there! Here is my little story of when I went to Japan.

So, when we landed in Tokyo I was sooooo..... grumpy not happy, GRUMPY!!

Lets start from the beginning shall we? It all started with our transit to the airport, it was cheaper to fly direct to Narita Airport from Cairns International airport so Jackson booked those tickets for us, but it's a 3hr drive to the airport from where we are. We decided to catch a coach bus so we didn't have to drive and leave our car there. That bus ride took 5hrs due to the rest breaks they had to take, and to make things even better the bus was scheduled to leave at 1200am, but it got there 30mins late (smh)😔. Thats the only bus time we could catch because we had work that day and by the time we finish the earlier buses had gone. Oh wells, things you do for a cheap flight ehy? 💁‍♀️The bus ride was awful, our plan was to sleep on the bus but the chairs were so uncomfortable that we couldn't sleep at all. When we arrived in Cairns it was 0530, nothing was opened yet so we waited until 0600 when the cafes opened for breakfast. I had the berry smoothie and the beans and chorizo while Jackson had the eggs and bacon.

It was such a good meal, presented beautifully and tasted really good. I was recharged and ready to go!!... Too bad our flight didn't leave until 1200 and we couldn't check in until 0930, so we waited at the airport until then. 😫 Once we checked in we decided to have a couple of cheeky morning beers, (we're on holidays so why not?) that was fun, we sat around and talked about all the things we were going to do but when it was time to board, it was delayed for 40mins, so there we were, waiting again. By that time I was kinda tipsy and tired from not sleeping for the past 24hrs. We took our seats and I passed out! I was so tired, I probably napped for 50 to 60mins and when I woke up, turns out we were still on the tarmac!! Another delay for some reason SMH! So far things were not going smoothly for us, and because we took a budget airline we had to buy food on the flight and they food that they did have was a sandwich pack, which pretty much had mayo and pickles or something in it.. no ham or meat and it was just bland.. Note to self: pack own food next time.

We landed in Narita Airport at around 2000, we got our luggage, went to get our simcard and suica cards, took the train into Tokyo, went to the convenient store to get some food and drinks and then checked into our airbnb.... It was a rough night and day. I was so tired and hungry... I was HANGRY! Poor Jackson was trying to cheer me up but I was not having a bar of it at all, I just wanted to eat and sleep... and thats what we did hahah.

I woke up the next morning and everything was good hahaha I was recharged and ready for a day of exploring. We set off early to get some brekkie and the first thing we got was a delicious bowl of ramen!! I love ramen and I've had many in Australia at Japanese ramen joints but to have ramen in Japan was awesome! Best thing ever!! I will definitely go back to Japan again, there were so many things I didn't get to that trip so I have to go back one day. :)

Have you guys had bad travel experiences? Let me know in the comments. xox