We have arrived in Japan !

Well, we have finally arrived. Its been a really long day, we were awake at 4.30am to get to the airport by 6, for our 8.45 flight.

The plane left on time, which is surprising for Sydney. Check in was fast an easy, we were quite lucky, 10 minutes after we checked in the queue was out the door. Getting there on the dot of 6am really paid off.

JAL were really good, the only minor issue was they didn't know Emma was a child and hadn't organised a kids meal. How they can't know that is a bit beyond me as she is on a child's fare, but these things happen. They were very nice, took our details to ensure it doesn't happen on the return flight. 

Sitting right behind us was a Japanese girl returning home from holidays in Australia. This was fantastic as they were instant friends and kept each other amused for most of the flight. Emma spoke no Japanese and Aoba only knew a few English words, but small "girly giggles" are a universal language at that age.

Japan is super efficient, we were off the plane, through customs/immigration and on a bus to the hotel in no time. They even scan your fingerprints. The bus to the hotel was virtually brand new. 

My phone only kind of works here, I can receive calls and SMS messages, I can make local calls but can't send SMS to Australia or call Australia. I suspect three managed to enable global roaming on the phone, but not international dialing. Something to sort out later.

The hotel room is rather large compared to what I was expecting. They have broadband internet, although it costs about $10 a day. Cheaper than phone calls anyway. We were so exhausted from the flight we only quickly went outside to grab some McDonalds and some milk. Emma went straight to sleep as soon as she went to bed.

Tomorrow we are going to check out the Cherry Blossoms  and look around Tokyo.

If you want to see the pics from today, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/sg_harrison/sets/72157604410672837/