Flight Over and First Evening

Well the flight over was about as good as a long 18 hours of travel gets. We started at 6 AM from Jacksonville, FL and got in around 8 AM to Chicago. Mom, Dad, and Ellie were kind enough to meet us at the Hilton O'Hare for breakfast so we got to sit with them for about 2.5 hours prior to heading back over to the terminal for boarding to Tokyo.

We were at the gate a little early, so thanks to the United Business tickets we were able to hang out in the red carpet club for awhile. Pretty cool, basically it's a collection of everything you scrounge for at an airport and can never find. Quiet, comfy seats, free internet, all the power outlets you could want, and more food and drinks (although we weren't hungry after breakfast).

When we started to board the aircraft we learned that our seats were upstairs on the upper level of the 747. That's when we really knew this was going to be a good time. The business class had the new configuration which has front-facing and backward-facing seats. They also had the new fully 180 degree flat seats that have been so hyped about. No overstatement there - they are amazing. It was by far the most comfortable long flight I've had to date. On Sae's side, near the window we even had our own cabinet basically for storing anything you may need along the flight. We each had a 17" monitor with all on-demand movies, tv, audio, audio books, games, real-time travel stats, etc. It was all very cool. Because of our travel times we had two lunches, 1 about an hour after takeoff, and the other about 1.5 hours prior to landing. The food was delicious. We were humbled by the flight, quite lucky to experience that.

When we arrived at the airport I had to fill out double the customs paperwork than normal due to the seperate air shipment that should be arriving in the next couple of days (I hope). Immigration and customs went 100% smooth. I didn't have my destination address, thank goodness I turned on the international voice and data plan prior to coming over on my Blackberry, Google quickly solved the problem for me.

A very nice driver fellow met us after customs to help us with bags and take us to the car. James at ReloJapan was thinking ahead again and got a wagon-style vehicle. We had carry-ons 3 massive suitcases (since there is a 70 lb weight limit on business class luggage vs. the standard 50 lb - never knew that). The drive from the airport to downtown Tokyo was relatively uneventful, just took in all the different scenes - everything is different, it's a blast: roads, signs, cars, trucks, vegitation, you name it. So I did a lot of looking out the window and hearing Sae and the driver (Hearing, not listening... couldn't undertsand a word - I'll address that quickly I hope).

As we got closer, we finally saw the tall Prudential Tower stand out from the rest of the near by buildings - it is quite tall. As we were within a couple blocks we really started to realize what an amazing opportunity this was to live here. We're within walking distance of the emporer's palace, a large shrine, multple embassies, the federal government congress buildings, the prime minister's offices and private residence, etc. Everything is perfect, the streets are spotless, landscaping perfect, wow - how lucky. Entering the building with the vehicle was interesting due to the close proximity of all the govenment buildings - very similar to trying to park under John Hancock in Chicago.

Next we got checked in. Everyone working in the building is super nice. I'll save the details of the buidling, etc. for another post. Sae called her parents and Taka, Sae's father gave a go at English and said, "Welcome to Japan" to me... perfectly pronounced by the way... man i'm falling behind in the language race...

Finally we got to our room, it is perfect, with an amazing view. We can see the shrine, the congress buildings, Tokyo Tower, just stunning. Once settled, we ventured out for a quick round of exploring and finding a grocery store. It took us awhile to navigate the streets and learn the directions (straight roads are hard to come by around here) but we managed. We found an excellent grocery store within 5-7 minutes walk of the building. Oppositeside of the building, from the government related buildings/atmosphere, is a booming commercial area - shopping, 1000's of restaurants, bars/clubs, etc. So we strolled quite a bit as we were getting to the grocery store, taking it all in.

Lastly, we came back to the apartment, put some things away, left most things out, and crashed at around 8:30, 9 PM local time. I woke up at around 1:00. 1:30, not sure if that is jet-lag or excitement. So I thought I'd upload some photos and do my first post from Tokyo.

Today (now 3 AM), we'll do a bit more exploring, take a trip to Nihonbashi where the office building is, and get established. It's time to get to work! One last note - check out the night shot in the slideshow of pictures - wow.