To the land of the free

• Woke up at 6:15am, packed final things and got downstairs at 7:15.
• The lobby staff told me to wait out front for the bus, which came right at 7:30
• Went by the Shinagawa Gods Hotel, but there was nobody to pick up. Then we were on our way to Narita
• Made it around 8:30
• Finally saw AA kiosks in English for the first time since I left DFW, so I was able to skip the check-in line.
• The bag drop line was half as long, but somehow moved more slowly (some people had a lot of bags or weird things like skis). I probably didn't actually save much time.
• No line for security or immigration!
• Made it to my gate at 9:15
• A couple minutes after sitting down, a man with the Japanese Tourism Agency came and asked me some questions about my trip. The questions weren't too personal so I had no problem answering for him (how was your stay, would you like to come back, did you do a lot of shopping...etc).
• Wrote bullets up until here while waiting.
• Boarding started a little before 10:40 (11:30 departure). We left the runway around 11:40.
• ALL THE ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE IN ENGLISH. I'm home.
• The couple next to me seem to only speak Japanese, and only oneof the flight attendants is bilingual (the rest just kept repeating the same thing in English slower and louder). I know how that feels, and tried offering to use Google Translate and charades to help translate a couple times, but the flight attendant waved me off.
• This ride had some major turbulence in it. Usually when turbulence gets bad I tell myself to look at my drink to prove to myself that we're steady. This ride failed the litmus test and my cup toppled over during one of the shakes, which wasn't a little unnerving.
• My plan had been to sleep during Dallas' night time, but I was hardly able to get a wink between the violent shakes and seatbelt warnings. The longest we went without one of those episodes was maybe an hour.
• Instead of sleeping, I spent most of the flight sitting with my eyes closed, but also managed to watch Arrival, La La Land, and Moana.
• We were served 3 times (the timing seemed more in-line with Tokyo-time, but I wasn't going to say no to food). Dinner was beef + rice with a roll and some salmon and corn/tofu/mayo salad thing, the 'snack' at 2am Dallas time was a turkey sandwich with a kitkat and 3 grapes, and breakfast around 6am Dallas time was an omlette with a grape tomato, 3 potato wedges, and a fruit salad with a grape, a slice of grapefruit, a slice of pineapple, and a slice of honeydew.
• I was surprised that other than the breakfast there weren't any vegetarian options. One of the things I heard the flight attendant keep repeating to a Japanese man was " you can just eat the grapes and the Kit Kat." Some meal!
• Touched down right at 7:50am Dallas time.
• Passport control for all passengers (foreign and nationals) was automated, which was kinda cool. Customs took awhile though, because for some reason they only had 2 officers working and all the nationals and foreigners were in a single line (I had been jealous about how nationals in other countries could so easily walk through their reserved queues).
• Walked out and met Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Granny Lou
• Went to The Original Pancake House for (second) breakfast and got ham & eggs and buttermilk pancakes. <3
• Business as usual...need to pack up for moving to Seattle! Somehow I'm able to resist sleeping until around 9pm

Traversing Tokyo

• Walked to takanawadai metro stop (the JR Yamanote line had been taking was not included in my 24-hour pass I had bought at the airport when I arrived.
• Rode to Ginza stop
• Popped up to see the famous high-end shopping area & architecture, but didn't stay long.
• Rode to Tsukiji stop
• Walked the wrong way while trying to find the market, but my GPS eventually updated to show me that so I was able to correct it.
• Saw the Tsukiji Hongan Temple as I walked to the market and thought the building looked cool. I saw some people going in/out so I decided to try.
• This was a buddhist temple that had tons of incense smoke floating around when you walked in. There was a monk at the front facing the Buddha and chanting, but most of the audience seemed to be tourists.
• There was a guy standing at the back who asked where I wS from as I entered, then handed me an English brochure and welcomed me in.
• Left and saw fish market. I walked around and tried a few more samples, but I pretty much already knew what I wanted to buy.
• Left and rode to Abilhabara
• Was a little confused when I exited, because the metro exit was to the east of the JR station and electric city was on the west, but I found a tunnel that let me pass through to the other side.
• Walked along a couple streets, passing several SEGA arcades, electronic stores, and a maid café
• The maid cafe sounded like it would be funny to visit with a friend, but awkward and uncomfortable alone. Basically you pay 2000 yen for some young girls dressed as maids to dote on you for an hour (play games with you, spoon feed you, sing to you, etc.)
• Walked through sof___ (an electronics store)*******. It had 7 floors of any kind of electronic you can think of! I didn't think the prices were all that different from the US, but it was kinda cool to see everything in one place.
• Walked back through the tunnel get on the subway to Ueno
• Walked down Ameyayokocho street, which Levin had suggested for street food when we drove by.
• The rain started up again while I was walking through, and eventually I just picked some place based on the prices so I could get out of the rain and under their awning.
• The waitress didn't speak any English, but I ordered bubble tea and hot pot and we used charades to make sure the food wouldn't be too spicy.
• When it came out, it was too hot to touch, but I started trying to slurp some of the soup down (in Japan it is considered rude to eat silently, which as some of you know, kills me).
• I think the waitress thought I was hesitating because I didn't know how to eat it, so she came over and helped me hold chopsticks.
• When I finished I had 167 yen remaining, so I bought a 150 duck wing to try it (and stay out of the rain, which had gotten harder).
• Tried to walk through Ueno park, but the rain was still coming down, Some of you already know my relationship with rain...it was pretty unpleasant so I gave up after about 20 minutes
• Rode subway to Asakusa, which is near the sensoji shrine.
• I had come to go to the Asahi Brewery, which Levin had pointed out and said we could go there for free tastings. He said the short building was for tastings and the tall one was for business. When I got to the short building, I walked in and found a host who didn't speak much English in a fancy restaurant. I said I was looking for Asahi and they pointed to the building next door. So I went there and found the lobby of an office building with no indication of there being s tasting room somewhere upstairs.
• There was a small exhibit abut Asahi's environmental measures that I strolled through briefly.
• Left and went to Tawaramachi, which was just one stop over, but I had an unlimited pass so I figured "why not?"
• Coming out of the subway, I made the mistake of using the posted sign to help me figure out where to go. Apparently they do this thing here where they rotate maps so that what's 'forward' is up. I had assumed when I read the map that north was up, so I ended up walking all the way back to Asakusa *facepalm*
• Walked back and went to Kappabashi Street to window-shop. This area is known for selling restaurant supplies (everything but the food), including specialization in fake food used for displays. I found a few things I liked, but nothing I couldn't find in America (some nice bowls, cutting boards, etc.)
• Had trouble finding tawaramachi station on the way back. Aapparently it's only accessible on one side of the street, which I thought was kinda dumb.
• Rode about 45 mins to Harajuku, napping on the way.
• As I waked into the Meji Shrine grounds, a recording said they were closing soon and wanted all visitors to leave. But I swam upstream because Google has said they shouldn't close until 6, so I thought it must be an early warning (it was 5:08)
• Made it all the way to the main shrine, where something was going on (a bunch of monks chanting).
• Soon, a guard came up and asked all the people watch in to leave because the park was closing.
• Guard made me go out a different exit from where I had entered (apparently it closed at 5:20/5:30 instead of 6), so I got a little lost finding my way back to the station, but GPS bailed me out yet again.
• Stopped on Takeshita to get a sweet crepe, which seemed to be really popular when I had walked along the street a couple days before. It was basically a big crepe with a slice of cheesecake and whipped cream and nuts inside (I got the salted caramel one). Yum!
• Rode to Shibuya
• Found the Haichikō statue, which I had read about before. Basically Professor Ueno had this Akita dog that would always meet him at the station to walk him home, but one day the professor died and didn't come back. Even still, Haichikō continued to return every day and wait in the same spot for his master, so after he died the city built this monument to honor his loyalty
• Went to Tokyu Hands, a DIY store that I thought might have some small horn decor thing. There were 24 floors but not all the floors led to consecutive ones. The map was a little confusing at first, but after awhile it made a little more sense. Basically each of the 8 floors had an A, B, and C, but As and Cs could only be reached by Bs.
• Went to the Don Quixote at Shibuya, which had similar options, but the snack selections at this one seemed better. Their sex area was much smaller (and actually separated off with in 18+ symbol), so maybe this one just had different priorities.
• Went back to the Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing and got a sakura (cherry blossom) frappachino. This place had the best people watching of the whole trip! I managed to get a reasonable spot pretty quickly because someone happened to be leaving (the best ones take hours to open up). I spent an hour here
• Took metro back to hotel (ended up at Shinagawa station instead of takanawadai somehow. Apparently some of the trains take one fork and others take the other, and mine happened to be bound for Haneda Airport but I'm not sure how I would have known. Like the other time  when I tried to leave the subway hate it closed and gave me an X, but I was able to push through and hero walking.
• Packed and posted pictures and worked on bullets. I was 3 days behind because there was always something I wanted to go do! In the other places I always got to a saturation point where I was willing to (often reluctantly) sit in my hotel and write bullets instead of ping out and doing things, but this was not so in Tokyo.
• Went to sleep at 3:30am (trying to reset my circadian rhythm)

Mt. Fuji

• Woke up at 7:15, started walking by 7:45. I needed to get to the World Trade Center bus terminal by 9:00 and it was about an hour walk away (I could have done the train, but I figured I'd be sitting on the bus most of the day. Gotta get those steps in somehow!)
• Didn't get too lost - made it at 8:45.
• Check-in was easy. The staff member spoke English and said we would be departing from 'gate' 3 on bus 1 in seat 3A. I had come into this basement room via an escalator, but all around it had numbered glass doors with curbs just outside for the buses to park. There were 3 50-person buses going to Mt. Fuji, all leaving at 9:00.
• My bus had about 25-30 people on it, so my guess is they had over 150 tourists and just distributed them evenly.
• My guide's name was Take (pronounced like "sake" with a t. He said if we forgot his name we could just yell sake and he would respond :) )
• My seat buddy was a British girl who looked to be about my age named Amelia. She's been traveling for 8 months after quitting her job (I didn't pry because it didn't seem appropriate). She said she would be leaving Tokyo tomorrow for Sri Lanka, but wished she had changed her flight to allow more time in Tokyo. After Sri Lanka it's back to Britain because she's run out of money, but she's really lamenting that (I got the sense that she really needed to get away from it all, but I'm not sure what the details are).
• Take spoke to us about several buildings and legends as we left the Tokyo area. It was about a 1 hour drive to our first rest stop and he managed to fill about 45 mins of it.
• Got to a rest stop with a meh souvenir shop and an observatory with an ok view, but Amelia and I were really looking forward to seeing the view from the water.
• Drove to mountain station #4 (we were supposed to go to 5, but snow fell on the road between 4 & 5 so we couldn't pass). Terrible gift shop, but there was an incredible view of the Japanese alps.
• There was also a strip of broken trees that were taken out by an avalanche a few years ago. Instead of rebuilding the part of the station that was destroyed, they have preserved the Avalanche area "as a reminder of the power the mountain commands over us."
• On the way to the station, there was a 'musical road' which had been grooved so the tires made a song as you drive over it. Unfortunately, we couldn't hear much in the bus (especially with the rattley windows), but the YouTube videos of smaller cars doin it sound much better.
• Drove back to hotel at an amusement park we had passed, where we had lunch.
• We were served in the basement, where tables had been set up to accommodate each group of people. It was here that Amelia and I learned we were the only lone travelers, so we sat together with Take.
• We weren't quite sure what everything was, and a couple of the things had pretty unappealing textures (one felt like you were eating a moist cloth), so we left that.
• The souvenir shop was slightly better here, so we got postcards in case the next one was just as underwhelming.
• Clouds were coming in and shrouding the mountain, and Take said they might be in the way when we got to the water part...
• He said he had a group one time that came and said "we've done this tour 5 times and never seen the mountain!" So we were lucky that we had even seen it that morning.
• Drove 1.5 hours to a pier on lake Ashi (with one pit stop on the way where we saw a valley that should have had Mt. Fuji as a backdrop, but it was gone.
• Took a ferry along Lake Ashi to Hakone. We never got to see Mt. Fuji here. Amelia kept saying "I'm so gutted!" I'd never heard that before
• Passed a Shinto shrine whose hate was half-submerged. The legend we heard has a couple versions (one we got from Take, one we got from the recording that played during our ferry ride). It says there was some 9-headed dragon related to the Loch Ness monster (actually, Ashi's name supposedly comes from "Nessy," a nick name for the monster) that was terrorizing the town of Hakone. In one version the terrorizing acts were that he kept eating the children, in the other version he was destroying crops and the people had to offer their children as sacrifices. Some monk was traveling through from Kyoto and took pity, so he decided to defeat the beast. He somehow made a whirlpool to suck the beast in and latched a sunken tree trunk to his ankle. Version 1 says he was left at the bottom and is still there, version 2 says that as soon as he was trapped he magically transformed into a good dragon that still protects the people of Hakone.
• Took a gondola up to the top of Mt. Komagatake
• The gondola station was a very ugly building, but back behind it was a Shinto shrine right on the peak that we were able to go see. It was cold, so we just went to look at that and came right back to take the gondola down. The view got more and more obstructed by the minute
• Take told us that Hakone is the only place to buy these things called 'magic boxes' that are puzzles to open and close. He said they're almost impossible to find in Tokyo, and I'm not sure if it's true or not but the shop owner/maker seemed very humble and so I bought a 10-step box.
• Drive back to Tokyo without stopping. Most of us slept (Amelia said she was trying to figure check in for her flight and check her hostel details for Columbo)
• There were 2 drop off options: Shinjuku or Ginza. Since Shinjuku was on the Yamanote line to get me back, I picked this one. We got there around 6:30, and Amelia stayed on to Ginza so this was goodbye.
• Since the time was close to 7, I went to the Godzilla again to see it from the street.
• It started raining, which wasn't much fun, but at least it was less than the rain in Shanghai (but still more than a drizzle).
• The Godzilla show was different this time, and not that impressive from the street. The audio was easy to hear, but it looked like a lot of people were just confused about what was happening because you couldn't really see the Godzilla unless you were looking for it (they had turned off its lights and only had the red eyeballs on)
• The rain got a little harder, so I went back through Don Quixote and bought a few snacks.
• Found the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, which I had read about having a free observation deck. I went up the North Tower (the only option) to the 45th floor and looked around. Tokyo doesn't really have a centralized skyline...it's lots of scattered buildings. So the views were nice because they were high up, but there wasn't really much to look at. The 3-tier building where a bunch of "Lost in Translation" was filmed was nearby.
• Passed the LOVE Monument on my way, so I got a picture since I hadn't had time to the day before.
• Tried to pass another capsule hotel on my way back to Shinjuku, but it was also a boring building.
• Got back to hotel and picked up another 500 yen voucher.
• Dropped my stuff off in my room then used my 2 vouchers at the food court. I ordered what looked kinda like a bento box but turned out to be bibimbap.
• Went up to room and planned my last day. Basically going to do a counter-clockwise loop around the city

Intro to Tokyo

• Woke up at 6:45 and left room by 7:15.
• Went to ask the concierge for directions to the Shinagawa Station (they weren't there, but reception helped me). I also asked them to call and confirm my tour, but when they dialed the number nobody picked up. I set out at 7:30 (Google said it would take 30m, and I needed to make it by 8:20).
• Made it to Shinjuku Station by 8:00, and had some trouble finding the right exit to take, but my gps helped me figure out where I was and compare that with my map of where I should be.
• I also had trouble getting out of the gates from the train...it was saying my 170-yen ticket was invalid for some reason (that's the fare I was quoted from the kiosk when I had come in the morning), but on the second attempt I happened to walk fast enough that I made it through the doors, so I just left...
• When I got to the LOVE Monument, I saw a large bus with 2 ladies standing outside. I went up to them and said "I'm looking for a Tokyo tour I should be scheduled for," and they asked for my name. I told them and they said I was on their list. Phew! I found the right place (and with about 5 minutes to spare)!
• I was the third person on, the other 2 being Adrian (a corrections officer) and Junior (an Integrated Circuits engineer) from the Phoenix area.
• Our tour guide, Levin, came on. Apparently the 2 ladies were just there to check names off the list.
• We had to wait about another 10 minutes for the last 2 (Kelvin and Peter, recent graduates from Australia) to make it, but then we left. Kelvin gave us audioguide players to hook on our ears, but throughout the day he was usually saying something at the same time so I didn't get much from the audioguide when it came on to say things. A lot of the times he was saying the same thing.
• Our first stop was the Imperial Palace's inner-garden. The emperor still lived in the palace, so unlike Beijing we were not allowed to go into the royal living area.
• The imperial garden wasn't that exciting, but you can see where the cherry blossoms WILL be in about a month. (all the trees are dormant now).
• Most of the original was destroyed in WWII, but it has been rebuilt in the same way (so they say).
• When we got back to the bus, the last 2 people (Bankers Alexandro & Rosaria from Mexico City, who had pre-arranged to meet up with us late) were already on.
• Next, we drove to Asakusa and stopped at the Senso-ji shrine, which has been around for about 1400 years.
• Levin told us that to distinguish a temple (Buddhist) from a shrine (Shinto), look for the gate out front - only the shrines will have them.
• He said the process at a shrine is to smell burning incense (cleanse your mind), wash your hands in the pool of water (cleanse your body), approach the altar, throw your money in (only 5 and 50 denomination coins ok because they have a hole in the middle and that's helpful for some reason), make a wish, bow 2 times. The only difference for doing it at a non-main shrine (there was one next to the big one because the big one gets too crowded) is that you have to ring a bell after the money and before the bell (because the spirit is already 'close to you' at the big place, but for the smaller ones you need to draw their attention). I did not do this, but watched as several others did.
• There is also a building (actually a few buildings) with what looks like little mail slots. You're supposed to put 100 yen in, then pick a box and open it. If the fortune inside is good, you keep it with you. If it's bad, they have a place for you to tie it (and later all the tied fortunes will be torched so they will not come true)
• We were left to run around this place for 40 mins, so I first went to the nearby Kaminari-mon Gate, which leads up to the shrine.
• Nakamise Shopping Avenue lies between the gate and the shrine, and was packed. Levin gave us 35 mins to walk around, and said it would take 15 to walk through the crowd to the gate (distance-wise it should be just 3-5 mins away).
• Next stop: Tsukiji Fish Market
• There are 2 parts, inner and outer. Inner is the wholesale part for shop owners to come negotiate (more like yell about) prices on fresh fish (tuna go for ~1500 USD, and it goes bad after a day so now I understand why they make sushi so expensive especially if it's a place that makes it fresh. The outer part is what we saw, which is basically just hundreds of vendors and thousands of locals & tourists. There are tons of free samples as you walk along, so I tried a bunch of stuff (and will probably go back to buy some on my free day).
• The city said they would be moving the inner part to the Koto area in November, with the outer part to follow, but it was delayed for some unknown reason. This is apparently how it always goes in Tokyo when the government says they're moving something.
• Adrian, Junior, and I all apparently misunderstood Levin's directions, because we ended up at the end of the large street with nobody else. The narrow side-streets is where all the action was, so we went down those together trying samples.
• Levin had recommended that we try the scrambled eggs, so we did. It was a thick hunk served on a Popsicle stick with what tasted like sauerkraut. It's made in these tall square pans, and to the Japanese it is weird to use salt with eggs because they prefer them with sugar. So the eggs were actually kinda sweet, which I thought was weird but not bad.
• Back to the bus, and we crossed the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba to eat lunch at Aqua City. Odaiba was originally used for military purposes as protection for Tokyo harbor, but now has some futuristic buildings like an observatory, some residential areas, and a theme park (I think)
• There's a big robot sculpture that is famous for something. It looked kinda like the combined power rangers guy.
• Tokyo's Statue of Liberty is also over there, with a nice background of the Rainbow Bridge (which, by the way, is all-white but gets lit up with rainbow colors at night).
• Aqua City is like a mall, and on the first floor there's a human robot that speaks (but her language was set to Chinese, so I'm not sure what she said). There's also a hologram menu that was kinda cool to swipe through.
• We are lunch at "The Oven," which said it was an American Buffet. Levin assured us that it used to be a Japanese buffet but too many tourist clients were passing it up in lieu of something  that reminded them of home, so they rebranded and added some American things (which really is just a smash of many cultures' foods). The Japanese section was tiny though (some corn salad thing, potato tempera, and one kind of sushi roll that was meh), so it was basically an American buffet...(think french fries, fried chicken, pizza, scalloped potatoes, pork tenderloin, plus tacos and Thai curry and lo mein).
• Levin said we had to try melon soda, which tasted like carbonated Midori
• There was a really extensive dessert bar that we tried most of. It included some pink & clear jello, mochi, pumpkin/strawberry/mango puddings, cheesecakes, brownies, and fondue
• We met back up with the Arizonans, who had not included lunch with their tour, and hot on a "cruise" that crossed from Odaiba to *** (more like a ferry).
• After that, the tour was done, the bus had a few drop off points (Ginza, Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku). All but the Arizonians got off at Shibuya and went up to the Starbucks to watch the Shibuya Crossing.
• Other than the crossing, the only thing in Shibuya is malls which are famous for attracting foreign celebrities. I tried to find the main one but made a wrong turn, so I gave up and walked north to Harajuku
• Got to the Main Street in Harajuku, Takeshita Street (Yeah, I laughed a little too). It's famous for all the cosplayers that walk up and down in full costume, but I only saw 2 (it's apparently more popular on the weekends). Along the street there were plenty of shops selling outfits like the crazy ones I have seen online
• There's a New Zealand Cookie Time there! I stopped in and the staff were all Kiwis. No fresh hokey pokey cookies though :(
• Wound my way through what I guess was some residential area to get up to Shinjuku. I was trying to follow the train tracks to make sure I didn't get lost, but apparently the main roads beer off other directions.
• It was about 6:20, and I knew the Godzilla at Hotel Gracery was going to roar at 7pm so I went there first. I actually found it a lot sooner than I thought I would, so I strolled through the nearby Don Quixote shop, where Levin said I could find the best souvenirs.
• There were lots of snacks and underwear and some Halloween costumes, but nothing really appealing. I also found a corner of the store that was only dildos, lube, hentai, sketchy pills, and lingerie...k
• Left and walked up to the hotel to get a closer look at the Godzilla 
• I was asked by one guy on the way if I wanted a massage, and when I said no he said ok. It felt so good to be listened to!
• A sign said that the Godzilla was on the 8th floor, so I went up. When I got there I walked to the patio outside and passed a sign saying "hotel and cafe guests only," but nobody stopped me.
• There was a guard out on the patio, and I used Google Translate to ask him if it would be better to watch the roar from up here or on the street. He said up, so I hung around for 20 mins to see it.
• Lots of people came and went, but nobody else seemed to be there for the roar. Maybe they thought it was too cold to wait (and that's why the rules were lax?).
• When I went back down, there was a hotel security guard at the elevator that had not been there before. Maybe I just got lucky.
• While leaving the hotel I saw a sushi place with a sampler for 1500 yen, so I stopped in. It was nice, but they eventually got 2300 yen out of me because there was a hidden 'table fee' (Levin had said they didn't do that within Tokyo...), and I ordered shochu (tasted like flavored water, by the waiter said it had 15% apv).
• Apparently there's a cafe near there that has robots come up and perform by your table. I didn't go see it (was full from dinner, my feet were starting to hurt, and it was already 8pm), but I read about it and saw it in passing. Not sure how cool it really is, but if it's anything like the robot from the mall in Odaiba it might be kinda creepy and cool to see.
• Tried to pass by a capsule hotel to see what I looked like
• Not exciting at all...just looks like an office building. The one I have seen in pictures looked much cooler but it's out by the airport.
• Walked back to Shinjuku station. These ticket kiosks didn't have English as an option so I went to the ticket sales booth.
• The lady here said the ticket was 200 yen, so I asked why it had only been 170 in the other direction. Apparently it was also supposed to be 200, so we just awkwardly laughed about it and I left with my new ticket. This one gave me no problems when I got out at Shinagawa station.
• Got back to hotel and got my 500 yen voucher from the receptionist (part of their "green cleaning" program - if you elect to not have the maid service then they give you 500 yen each time you don't use it). I also signed up for the next day.
• Tried to write bullets, but fell asleep (which was probably for the best because I had to be up early for the Mt. Fuji tour the next morning)

To Tokyo

• Woke up at 4:45, went to get my boxed breakfast from the concierge at 5:15, and down to meet the bus at 5:45.
• Bus had ~8 others on it, and my hotel was apparently the last because we went straight to the airport. We got there right at 6:15.
• Check-in lines weren't long at all and security/immigration didn't take too long. I was at my gate by 6:50 (boarding time is 8:25, departure at 9:05). Wrote bullets up until here while waiting.
• Flight was pretty smooth.
• I watched Keeping Up with the Joneses and Trolls
• We were served chicken sausage, potatoes, eggs, 2 cherry tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberry yogurt, a roll, black tea, apple juice, and water.
• The plane had a camera underneath that we were able to watch on our screens, which was pretty cool during landing (especially since I couldn't see out the window)
• Immigration a didn't take very long, and my bag was already on the carousel when I got there. Nice job, NRT.
• Left baggage claim to find a guy with my name on a sign. He asked if I had anything to do at the airport before leaving, so I asked to exchange some money (my last 40 USD) and buy a 24-hr subway pass for my free day (800 yen). Then he confirmed the return trip with me (7:30am on 3/3 back to the airport), led me out to a bus, and by 2:10 I was on my way to the hotel.
• There were about 10 others on the bus with me, and my stop was the second. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the first stop, during which I fell asleep because 1) the bus was warm, 2) the view was boring, and 3) I had woken up at 4:45 that morning.
• Got to the hotel and it looked so fancy inside! I went to check in and was told there were multiple reception desks and I was actually in a hotel on the side, which had a much less opulent reception area.
• My original reservation had apparently been for a smoking room, but they were able to change it. When I got to my room it looked kinda like an apodment...very cramped quarters with a twin bed, porta-pottie-sized bathroom (but with a bidet!), and a window the width of 2 hands (looking towards the fancy hotel's tower).
• There was a card in my room that said if I opt out of cleaning the hotel will give me 500 yen/day, so I'm gonna plan to do that all 3 days if I can.
• There isn't much around my hotel (but the hotel itself is a pretty big complex of shops and restaurants and a bowling alley and an aquarium), so I didn't leave the hotel. I went to get dinner at the food court which ran me 830 yen.
• Made sure to triple-check the directions to the Love Monument near Shinjuku Station. That's where I need to meet my group tomorrow for my tour (should be a 20-30 min trip there, so I'm planning on leaving at 7:15 to be there by 8:20 since I'm sure I'll get lost at least once).

Free Day in HK

• Woke up at 7:45, made it to breakfast by 8 and let myself take the full hour to eat slower and try everything I wanted to.
• THEY HAVE NATTO HERE. I even saw someone take some of it (how can they stand it??)
• Left the hotel around 9:45 to the Tsim Sha Tsui MRT subway station, rose to Mong Kok and transfered to the green line to come up at Diamond Hill. The escalator up put me in the Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall, but I got out and went towards the nunnery. Before I got there, I saw the entrance for the *** garden, which I knew was associated with the nunnery. What I didn't know is that they are the same, so the entrance I went in was for both (and free). It was just a nice place to look at the plants and koi in the pond and chillax for a bit.
• Took subway to Mong Kok, where the concierge said I could find a souvenir. One street was all electronics, one was all clothes, and one was all pet fish (not what I had expected when he said it was a "fish market."
• I ended up finding ONE vendor on a side street and buying a horse painting. Who knows if I'll actually use it, but I have it :P
• Walked to Tsim Sha Tsui and found the hop-on/hop-off bus with the intention of riding the full loop.
• When we got to the Central Pier (on the Hong Kong Island side), I was asked to leave. They said all passengers had to exit at this stop, and since my pass was only good for one hop-on I would need to purchase another one-way for 35 HKD.
• Instead, I bought a 3.40 HKD ferry ticket back to Tsim Sha Tsui, stuck it in my pocket, and decided to walk around while I was here. I knew SoHo (one of the artisan areas) wasn't too far so I tried to find it with my map. I eventually came across a place that was packed with people, so I'm assuming that was it.
• Walked around looking to see if I could find a postal card or a souvenir I might like better, but basically everyone was selling the same stuff - traditional female Chinese shirts, or watches.
• I stopped by a bakery I passed to try the egg tart (haven't had one in Asia), and it was so good!
• Walked back to the ferry with the intention of taking it and going back to Tim Ho Wan again (so cheap and so good!), and asking my concierge where in the heck to find a postcard.
• Right by the pier there was a music festival going on (Dragonland), so I walked over to see the lineup. Mike Posner was the voice I was hearing, and Carly Rae Jepson was next. I sat down nearby to type bullets up until here and pass time until she started. I wasn't willing to pay 1000 HKD to get in, but wanted to see if she sounds the same in-person as she does recorded. It sounded great, but when did she get short blonde hair?? I was one of 20+ people standing and watching the screen from outside of the gates, and I'm surprised the guards were ok with that.
• Took the ferry back, meaning to sit on the Hong Kong Island facing side, but apparently the ferry can drive in either dorection without having to turn around. Oh well.
• Walked to my hotel to drop off my bag and count my money. I had 82 HKD, so I kept my plan to go try more things at Tim Ho Wan. I gave up my idea of finding another postcard because I didn't want to add on another thing to do.
• Now that I knew where I was going, I made it there in only about 20 mins (Google thinks it's a 30-35 min walk)
• Ordered all-different things, and unfortunately they were out of one of them so I tried to exchange that item for another and the waitress was not having it. I couldn't tell if they were also out of the replacement options I gave, or if their system wouldn't let them edit an order once it's places. She just kept saying no.
• If you've been to a dim sum restaurant you know that ordering is not like a normal restaurant. You fill out the card and they take it. At Tim Ho Wan, when they take your order card a receipt is generated for you to hand the cashier when you're done.
• Since I now had 23 extra HKD that I thought I wouldn't have, I went into the Olympian City mall to Gong Cha, a bubble tea place I had seen yesterday. I got a taro milk tea with boba (my go-to), and it came out to 21 HKD. 2 isn't enough to get anything, so I guess that'll just be a souvenir.
• Walked back to the hotel (9:30) to pack and post pictures and get ready for Tokyo! My ride comes at 5:45am.

HK Island

• Woke up at 7:15 and made it to breakfast by 7:30
• Buffet was great! I'm glad this is the one I get to have again at a more leisurely pace on my free day.
• Went down at 8:10 for my 8:15 pickup, and saw a big tour bus and group outside. I asked the receptionist if she knew if that was the Hong Kong Island group, and she asked if there was a number she could call to confirm. I told her I would just ask the group outside but she said it would be better to call in case that was the wrong group going to a similar place. While I was talking with her a guy came up and asked if I was William. I said yes and he told me he had been waiting by the concierge desk (in the other building). Whoops.
• This guy put me in a 25-person bus, which I found out was just to transport me to the bigger one for the tour, which could seat 50. There were 26 of us on the tour, and my small van was the second-to-last to arrive.
• The guide (Rex) came on the bus mic and talked with us the whole way between each stop. He was a great guide and pointed things out to us along the way (and was funny). Unfortunately this tour also eemed like this was a shopping tour with certain un-included parts I had to pay extra for (which I had not anticipated)
• On our way to the island, we went in a tunnel under Victoria Harbor. This was the first (45 years old) of 3 underwater tunnels between HKI and Kowloon, and also the most congested because each way is 10HKD whereas the other two are 45HKD.
• Our first stop was the tram up Victoria Peak, which was very steep! The ride took about 8 mins.and we were at a 45° angle for most of it.
• Before we got there, the guide told us that we would need to pay 50HKD to go to the top ("the tallest 360° observation deck in Hong Kong"), because the tram would only take us to the station near the top. I asked if we would even be able to see anything and he said "oh yes, today is a very clear day." I disagreed.
• While getting off the bus, the woman across the aisle told me to go first and said "I'm with him," pointing to her husband. He laughed and said "she means to say that the man is old." This was Lloyd and Joyce, a couple originally from orlando, but more recently from the Philippines where Joyce grew up.
• When we got to the tram stop, there was a mall with a food court and a free observation deck, so we were released to do whatever we wanted for about 30 mins and I went straight to the observation deck.
• Yep, there was fog all around us. Even better, from this deck you could see the top, which was only slightly taller than where I was. Money well saved.
• I spent the rest of the time strolling through some shops, but the vendors started to get a little pushy do I removed myself and tried going up as many escalators as I could before I would have needed a pass to the rooftop.
• I came across some 3-D art gallery that had free admission (I've come to feel REALLY skeptical when anything is 'free'), and tried going in.
• About halfway through is where you find the photographers who want to take your picture interacting with the art. I was about 5 mins away from my group's rendezvous time, so I started saying no (other than that, the pictures were kinda fun to act with). When I got to the end they tried to sell me the pictures for 160 HKD each
• Met up with the group and we went to our bus, which had driven up to meet us (so we wouldn't have to pay for the ttam again).
• Next stop was the Aberdeen Fishing Village, which the guide really pushed as 'the highlight of the tour' of course, it was 60 HKD if you actually wanted to participate.
• I had only brought along 80 HKD with the intention of buying something when we went to Stanley Market, so I held back with some others on the dock. The guide saw us and came over to collect our money and we said we didn't really want to go. But he said the boats would be out for 30+ minutes, and this was really the apex of the day, and and and...eventually the others caved in, so I decided to go too.
• The boat was a huge disappointment and not at all worth the 60 HKD. We drove from the dock to some crappy-looking house boats, passing a huge floating restaurant that you could see from the dock. Maybe this would have been cooler if I hadn't already seen crappy house boats in Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand...I just wasn't very happy with it. And 30+ mins was such an exaggeration! We were maybe out for 15 mins.
• There was a loud group of 4 40-50 year old ladies from Miami who were on my boat with me, and they were really interested in asking about where I had been and where I was going and why would I come alone...They wanted others on the boat to take a lot of photos of them (but returned the favor by taking a few of the other 3 people - Lloyd & Joyce, and me).
• Next we went to a the Dynasty Jewelry Manufacturer, which was promised to only take 30 minutes, but then Rex made us stay for about an hour...
• We were first asked to listen to some lady tell us about how they use only 16 and 18 carat gold,  and they import gems from all over the world, and talk about different Chinese zodiac symbols because they make a pendant for each of them. Then she took us to the showroom, where the salespeople were literally waiting on either side of the door and latched on as we shuffled in through the single-file door. I was able to shake mine off pretty quickly by saying I don't have a girlfriend and going to the restroom. There was a small place at the opposite end of the showroom with free water where most of us naturally congregated after just a few minutes (and exchanged hushed whispers about how we felt like we could hardly breath with all the sales hawks around us). Rex just stood there for about 50 minutes, and I went to talk to him about the next place we were going (Stanley Market). I confirmed that it was just a small street market that probably wouldn't accept cards, and said I only had 20 HKD after the boat ride. He laughed at me for only having 80 HKD in my pocket, so I guess it's just normal for everyone to carry a couple thousand around with them? It would certainly make sense since the economy is mostly cash-based (despite what my hotel's welcome book says...).
• When we left, I think the shop got maybe 3 purchases out of us. One of them was a ring for Lloyd, who announced to a few of us "it took me 45 years, but I finally said yes." 
• We finally left and went to Stanley Market, which was basically some cramped streets of vendors with all kinds of things to sell. The Miami group invited me to eat lunch with them, but I was wanting some alone time and was also a little embarassed that I didn't have any money with me. I walked through the streets to see if I could even find anything I was interested in, but didn't. At the end, I came to a bunch of boulders out in the water that a bunch of people were taking pictures on. I went to one of the furthest ones and sat down to watch the waves for a little bit while I ate a granola bar. We only had 35 minutes here, and we left at 2:05.
• On our way there, we passed an overlook of a horse racing track. Rex said we should go to see the races, but not get involved in betting because the local people are INSANE about betting (since they would have to go to Macau for actual gambling, this is their alternative). He said that in 2016 over 107 BILLION USD was put into horse-betting (for reference, Hong Kong's international airport was 35 billion USD to build).
• On the way back, we passed Repulse Bay Beach (one of the most popular in Hong Kong, but not now when it's cold). On the island's edge that juts out next to the beach, Jackie Cahn's house is at the end. I was on the wrong side of the bus to see the house (you had to look up the face of the wall next to the road because it's on the side of a steep hill), but I saw the driveway!
• After about an hour we dropped off at each hotel (using the big bus. Soetimes it had to let out across the street like they did at mine, but that wasn't a big deal). Rex gave us all vouchers to take the hop-on/hop-off operated by Grey Line Tours (the operator of thsi tour), but it's only good for one 'hop-on'. I think I'll use it tomorrow.
• Took a 1.5 hour nam (was supposed to be just 20 mins...), then decided to exchange my last 9 USD (got 65.70 HKD) and walk to To Hai Wan for dim sum. This place is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world (well, was until some place in Singapore recently beat them out), with each plate costing around 20 HKD. But the way dim sum works is you order several plates of different things, so I ended up spending 65 HKD (9 USD) here.
• Got BBQ Pork Buns, Rice with spare ribs and chicken feet, and fried rice dumplings with a pork filling. The buns were especially good because the bread they used was different than any other than I had seen.
• The restaurant was on the outside of the Olympian City Mall, so I took a stroll through there and found a nice spot to watch the atrium crawl with people. I wrote most of these bullets while I was there.
• Walked back to the concierge and asked what I should do tomorrow. He suggested some markets, so I'll see if I end up in that area tomorrow. I've been told I shoudl go to the Chi Lin Nunnery, so I'm planning to start my day with that (but a little, because I'm ready for a day to sleep in!).