Arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport at 6am (YAWN!). It was mad rush having less than an hour to transit at Hong Kong airport (and luckily, we made it!).

Took Narita Express to Shinjuku and then transferred train to Ikebukuro, where Sakura Hotel is located. Seats were assigned on Narita Express, and I fell asleep during the long but comfortable journey.

It was a tough journey after alighting from Narita Express, having to locate the right line for transit (the railway system in Japan is complicated!) and dragging the luggage up and down the stairs, sometimes without escalator. No lift was in sight. After alighting at Ikebukuro, it was another tough journey to the hotel. First time in my life I had to drag luggage to cross several road junctions.

After storing the luggages at the reception, we explored Ikebukuro Sunshine City.

Soon, it was lunch time! The ramen was relatively cheap (around 500 yen?), but oily.

Went back to check-in. The room is small! Luckily, the toilet has all the essentials (I like of like the toilet actually). Hotels are expensive in Japan. We had to pay around 60000 yen for six nights (inclusive of passports to Sanrio Puroland, so effectively the accomodation is around 50000 yen.)

Went out again to explore Shinjuku and Shibuya where we bought the freepasses to Hakone (they are not free! Quite expensive actually, but essential for us to explore Hakone on Day 4). Had my dinner at a fastfood restaurant. Expensive meal (more than 1000 yen)! WQ and I shared the meal, and he had to get cup noodle on our way back to the hotel.