Day 1 - We Have Arrived!

We left Houston at 1AM on the morning of March 23rd, boarding our EVA Airways flight from Houston to Taipei. Thanks to some planning ahead, we had managed to procure Exit Row seats, which gave us plenty of room to stretch out.

Unfortunately, we were seated next a young mother who was traveling along with her two very young boys. I'm sure you can imagine what a shrieking toddler does to the nerves after a couple of hours, but thankfully the kids did eventually fall asleep and we were able to nap intermittently on the plane. It's funny how three years later, I managed to completely forget how interminably long a flight to Asia feels. By the time we landed in Taipei, Lauren and I were both desperate for a proper restroom and meal, so we made the walk over to the food court in Taipei's Taoyuan airport which feels a lot more like a mall than an airport.

Lauren has a slight obsession with Japanese burger chain Mos Burger, so one we saw one in the food court, that's where we got our meal.

Lauren ordered the seafood burger in a rice patty, while I had the wagyu beef burger. Both came out after a 10 minute wait, and were far superior to anything we ate on the airplane. The wagyu burger I ordered actually had a truffle and horseradish sauce on it that was slightly overpowering, but a neat idea none the less.

Lauren's meal came with some sort of Grape Jello in a cup that you consume with a straw. Weird!

Following our meal, we waited for about an hour before heading to our gate and boarding the 3 hour flight to Narita airport just outside Tokyo. From Narita, we cleared customs and collected our Rail Passes before hopping on the Narita Express train into Tokyo Station.

We are staying at the Hotel Niwa Tokyo, a nice hotel in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo. Getting to our hotel took a quick transfer to the Chuo subway line, and a 2 stop ride to a station called Ochanomizu.

After a quick 10 minute walk we arrived at our hotel and checked in. Check in was slightly more eventful than usual when Mie Ito-san, a wonderful employee of Hotel Niwa came out to greet Lauren. The two managed to strike up a friendship while planning the trip, so they were excited to meet face to face for the first time. Ito-san was kind enough to purchase a gift for Lauren and I, a collection of Sake from Aomori near Okinawa.

Once we got settled in our room, Lauren and I took a short nap before heading to dinner at a delicious Sukiyaki spot called Imahan located just next to the Hyatt here in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. The meal is sold as a set, and you get to choose your meat quality. Being the carnivores that we are, we chose Top Quality - which is basically a heavily marbled Wagyu. The set includes a Kaiseki style appetizer course, a sashimi course, the sukiyaki itself which is served with white rice, and dessert.

Our sashimi course. This was Lauren's plate and consisted of Conch, Tuna, Fatty Tuna and Snapper.

Look at that amazing marbling! You can see our beef, the assorted vegetables and tofu, as well as the pot they will cook the sukiyaki in.

Dessert consisted of Sakura (cherry blossom) Sorbet, Honeydew Melon, Strawberry, Grapefruit, Sweet Potato and a Milk Pudding.