Day 1 in Tokyo....Excited and Nervous

Flying over the snow mountains in Russia
Its amazing how straight the coastline looks from this picture.

Flying over Japan

After flying for more than 14 hours on the plane, I finally touched down at Narita Airport. It was the beginning of my 5 day stay in Tokyo....alone. Felt so excited. Made a fren on the flight there. Haruna-san was sitting beside me and she was on her way back from Mexico City. She was kind enough to bring me to Ikebukuro Station where I stayed and helped me buy ticket for the Narita Express along the way...really nice.
Me and her on the Narita Express towards Tokyo.
With her help, I got to my hotel at Ikebukuro with ease..Thanks! I was greeted by a huge crowd outside the station and it was incredible. Never seen so many people in one place...I only heard from my tour guide 3 days later that 10 million people stay in Tokyo and thats 10% of the entire Japan population!

Thats my hotel on the right...Dai-Ichi Inn Ikebukuro. I would recommend this hotel. Its surprising decent for its price. SGD 630 for 5 nights. It right next to the railway station so its very convenient. Shopping wise, there are three huge shopping centers..Parco, Tobu and Seibu all right next to the station.

The view from my hotel room. Its beside the railway track but its surprisingly not too noisy.

After settling down, I went to explore the area. Thats the backalley behind my hotel. A few bars, lots of Pachinko shops - their gaming centre. Their shopping centers are huge..Seibu itself is 12 storeys high. Lots of things but all very expensive :(

Another happening place - Sunshine 60 Street. Again alot of Pachinko shops, HMV, restaurants and other shops.

The crowd outside the train station..