We were all bursting with excitement for our trip to Tokyo. We flew Jetstar via Cairns first, then to Tokyo. The flight was actually quite pleasant. But it took forever... Cairns was about 4 hours. Then we had to collect our bags, and check in again at the International terminal. From Cairns, it was about another 7 hours.
We arrived Tokyo quite late in the night. Plus, it was freezing! It would have been around 3-4 degrees Celcius at night. We made our way to the hotel quite easily, and although it was small, it was clean and modern.
After we popped our bags in the room, the quest for yummy Japanese food had begun! Our first meal in Tokyo was CoCo Curry House. While this was a chain restaurant, I was already starting to like Japanese curry! It was very delicious! It reminded me of my time in Ireland, where chips and curry sauce is so popular.
The next morning, we took a quick stroll around Shinjuku. After breakfast, we immediately checked out of our hotel. We validated our 7-day Japan Rail Pass at the train station, which allows us full access to all JR trains around the country.
We said "sayonara" to Tokyo for now, and we were off to Osaka! We were going to begin our travels around other parts of Japan first, and our last leg of the trip was the remaining 8 full days in Tokyo to relax, shop and have some good food! Before we left for Japan, I even made reservations at a 3-michelin star restaurant, Joel Robuchon (in Tokyo).
Little did we know, we were not going back to Tokyo at all!
We left Tokyo at about 12 noon. About 2.5 hours later, still in the train, I received my first text message from my cousin (in Osaka) asking if I was alright. Puzzled, of course I was fine.. I asked her whats wrong? She said a massive earthquake had hit the north and she was swaying in her office for a good 5 minutes all the way further down in Osaka. I assured her we were all safe.. Our train stopped for about 30 minutes at a station, but because everything was in Japanese, we had no idea what was happening. Minutes later, my father texted me, and he was worried sick. Finally we arrived in Osaka, and everyone was crowding around a TV screen watching the news and the extent of the quake. My cousin rushed to meet us in the city, and then we found out the disaster of a tsunami that had wiped out Sendai.
I am truly grateful that we were all safe and not affected by the disaster. Family and friends were trying to contact us to check if we were alive/okay. Grumpy and I were staying at my cousin's apartment for the next 3 nights, and it actually provided some relief to my parents that at least we were with family at a time like this.
Okay I promise some more interesting pictures in my next post.
Good night for now.
