Day 1: Chicago to Tokyo

Today is travel day! Our flight was scheduled to leave O’Hare at 12:15 pm, so we didn’t have to wake up too early. We got ourselves ready and took a cab to the airport. There was a bit of morning traffic, but our driver navigated it expertly and we made good time. Security was quick and easy (no yogurt this time) and we made our way to Terminal C to press our luck with the United lounge.

Good news! The lounge was open and accepting day passes (which we had). We relaxed with some breakfast, coffee, and mimosas. The lounge was also right next to our gate, so no extra travel time.

Hanging in the lounge

We went next door to our gate for the start of boarding. While in line to board, the agents made an announcement that the private first class jetway was 99(!) degrees, so even the Polaris folks would need to use the peasant-class jetway. Guess we are leaving one hot place for another.

When checking our seats a few days ago, we noticed the flight wasn’t full. We had an aisle and middle in the middle section, but moved Jo’s middle seat to the aisle in hopes that no one would pick the middle. It worked! We had enough space to be pretty comfortable for the entire flight. Plus, we arrived an hour early.

Economy life, but with an open middle seat!

Meanwhile, Cordinas flying in style

The flight went well, except for the dog a few rows back who barked at any turbulence (really???). We both caught a few hours of sleep and/or finished off Season 2 of Andor. When we landed, we made our way to customs with all of our paperwork completed ahead of time. This let us go into the “priority” line. Great! Until you realize this is also the line for the families with little kids. Still probably shorter than the regular line though. Once we picked up our bags, we used the QR code at a kiosk, and walked through the exit without any trouble. Kind of a long global entry-like of process.

Hello!

Next up! Let’s get to the hotel. Having arrived an hour or so earlier, Belinda tipped us off to get some cash first for the train card. We easily found an ATM, then we went to buy the Suica card. Be sure to ask for the regular card, not the welcome card, and you will receive a very special penguin card that will soon be retired.

Suica Penguin!

With Suica cards in hand, our last task was locating our train. Once we asked an agent and spent some time looking at Google Maps, we had it figured out. We arrived at the hotel and settled in as the Cordinas made their way back from shopping. We met in the lobby at 5:30 pm for our evening.

Even Jo feels tall in Japan! (But to be fair, the desk staff is a couple steps lower)

Shiba Park library hotel

Our main goal the rest of the day was stay entertained long enough to (somewhat) reset our body clocks to the local time — 14 hours ahead of home — by checking out the Odaiba shopping and entertainment district. To do this, we ventured back out to the massive Tokyo train system.

Stay awake for a few more hours

The train stations in Tokyo are absolutely wild. They are essentially huge department stores with multiple train lines. One station can be multiple levels and span several blocks.

We took the Yurikamome line, which runs over the Rainbow Bridge, and arrived in Odaiba. Everything in this area looks vaguely futuristic/dystopian. The buildings are big and have multiple levels. We made it to the mall with three objectives; Dinner, Giant Robot, and Water Fountain show.

First was dinner. We found a noodle soup restaurant that looked tasty, was kinda busy, and not too expensive. We split into two tables and ordered a tsukemen bowl (pretty much ramen, but with different noodles) and a couple pieces of fried chicken. I know hot soup when it’s 100 degrees outside doesn’t sound great, but it was really tasty.

Bibs came in clutch and didn’t embarrass Lilly at all

There was also a McDonald’s right across from the restaurant. We’re obviously not in Japan to eat at Mickey D’s, but it is worth checking out what crazy pie flavors they may happen to be selling in Asia these days – which are almost always delicious.

Morinaga Milk Caramel pie is solid

Just outside of the mall is a giant robot. I mean a 65-foot tall, light up, moving robot. Several times throughout the day, there is a short show with a video screen and a robot “transformation.” The face and horns move, and the lights change, but that’s about it. Still, it was pretty cool. When we went outside to the are where the robot is, there were hundreds of mostly teen girls and what appeared to be a boy band on stage. We couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but they were kind enough to pause for the robot show (which the crowd had zero interest in).

Unicorn Gundham

The giant crowd is here for the robot show, right? Right??

The final cool thing we waited for was the Tokyo Aqua Symphony. Basically, it’s like the Bellagio fountains, set to hip Tokyo music and synchronized to lights. The harbor was just a few minutes from the robot. The water show is 820 feet wide, and the center spout can reach almost 500 feet. It was impressive and a fun show.

Tokyo Aqua Symphony

Having hit all three objectives, we took the train back to the hotel and called it a (really long) day. Tomorrow, we have some ideas of how to spend the morning before going to the Studio Ghibli museum.