Day 1: Morning!

So the room 405 team (Beth and Robin) were up at 4:30am this morning.  Abby and I in 404 got up at 5:30 (despite Abby saying, right after deplaning last night "I'm not jetlagged at all").

We went out for a nice walk and it was great to show the girls the calm before the storm in early morning Shinjuku.  We also went by Hanazono Shrine which reinforced how much Tokyo can move from modern to ancient in a blink of an eye.

Walking around Shinjuku

Yesterday night we toured Shinjuku. There were so many bright lights and colourful signs- at first, it was a bit overwhelming! We stopped for a quick dinner at a ramen place in some alleyway. It actually turned out to be pretty good. We ate miso ramen (noodle and veggie soup), gyoza, and steamed white rice. Yum! We then walked around (along with about what seemed like millions of people) and every single sign was bright and neon and had some sort of cute mascot on it! After getting the feel of the nightlife in Tokyo, we stopped at a Family Mart and picked up some bean paste pancakes for dessert. They were good! Our hotel room is really nice (although the bed is kind of small) and clean. I thought I didn't have jet lag, but then soon discovered that I did when I woke up at 5:30 am. I can't wait to explore some more today and meet up with Uncle Steve and Kristine!!

Plane Ride to Chicago!!

My sister Robin and I heading on a 1 hour flight to Chicago. There we will make a transition to our first stop- TOKYO!!!!!!!

Waiting for the Narita Express

After a great flight on JAL, we quickly got our JR Rail Passes, booked all of our bullet train tickets and got ready for the 1 hour ride into Shinkjuku where we are staying.  

Starbucks Review: Chicago Airport

My dad and I have developed a rating system for each Starbucks we go to from every country during the trip. We rate it out of five, on service, cleanliness, selection, food/drink quality, and ambiance. These are our ratings for our second "stop": Chicago! (Just 2 hours after our last review.... I have to pee!)

Service: 5/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Selection: 4/5

Cleanliness: 3.5/5

Food/Drink Quality: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Starbucks Review: Toronto Airport

Even though this technically doesn't count as a new country, my dad insisted we put this in. Here are our ratings for Toronto:

Service: 3.5/5

Cleanliness: 4/5

Selection: 3.5/5

Food/Drink Quality: 4.5/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Breakfast of champions