Jeremy Chrimes

Melbourne based Software Engineer

Tag: travel

  • Japan 2025 – Day 1: To Japan via Keisei Mainline

    Japan 2025 – Day 1: To Japan via Keisei Mainline

    Part 1

    Flight QF79 – 16:18 JST

    As much as I like to say Japan is quite close to Australia, the 10-hour flights that departs at 9 am are really quite brutal. For an international flight in Australia the advice is that you need to arrive 3 hours prior to departure, that is 6am plus add in commute time into Melbourne Airport that is leaving the house at 5am. Plus you then also need to have a shower before you hop on a plane so you end up having to wake up at 4:30am. However, this is amplified even further with the pre-trip anxiety, where you are going to bed at 3 am. It is just perfect because it meant I really got no sleep before the flight to Japan.

    That being said I was having really awesome dreams of the Tokyo subway network; it was as if the Tokyo Subway Map were being super imposed on the roof like the chess board was in the Netflix television show ‘The Queens Gambit’. I was rapidly trying to recall which where the Toei subway lines (Asakusa, Mita, Oedo, Shinjuku). Working out Tokyo train fares has a bit of an art to it, yes, I am aware I could just use IC card but this is not actually the cheapest way especially when you are using the network as much as I intend to.

    The 5AM traffic through things like the light tunnel on city link was alright, though some of those petrol tankers and ads I thought were a little bit targeted and crass. Our signature hat unfortunately did not make it in the car.Flight QF79 – 16:18 JST

    Our time at the airport was relaxed. We had a bit of Sunflower Scheme 🌻 assistance from QANTAS to get through security. The best thing about this was not having to stop in the duty-free area and having someone to distract me through the often times overwhelming airport (3-year-old Jeremy going to Brisbane was right about that). I was shown where the gate was and was shown, the best place to wait quietly for my flight that was rather low stim. I am really grateful that airlines are offering this service it is one less thing to worry about when traveling.

    The flight boarded from gate 9, I don’t know if it were slightly late but we took off at around 10 am ish. I managed to get some good sleep during the middle section of the flight. For food I had the beef. I do still ascertain that I like QANTAS as an airline even if their food is not as great as JALs. Honestly, JAL miso soup is the best inflight meal I’ve ever had.

    We also debuted out QANTAS pyjamas on this flight finally. We will touch over the story of slightly misplacing our sunglasses needless to say crisis averted.

    To be continued…

    Part 2

    Akihabara 23:12JST

    As we reached the last hour of our flight, we were able to see Mount Fuji out the window. According to the cabin attendant this is something that you can only see during the Japanese summer half of the year as otherwise the flight lands in too late in the day and it’s dark. It always baffles me how the last 100km into Narita can take often like 30 minutes. As we were touching down into Narita a couple of tears left my eyes.

    Once I arrived at Narita I had an escort through the airport. They were also an L2 learner of Japanese so it was quite fun. We were speaking in Japanese and it was really good practice. I think it took me about an hour to get through immigration.

    Ameyoko
    Yodobashi Ueno
    The keisei manline

    After that I made a dash for the Keisei mainline train to Ueno departing Narita terminals 2 & 3 at 19:52. Compared to the Skyliner this takes about an hour and 20 minutes so it’s about 30 minutes longer however there was no wait and I could go straight away. The Keisei Mainline trains have no space for big luggage so you need to hold your bag but my overnight bag could go on overhead racks. But the train was quite nice and I felt comfortable. I arrived at Ueno at about 9.10 local time. I exited Keisei Ueno via the Yodobashi camera shop and then walked through Ameyoko to my hotel.

    Checking into the hotel was a relatively uneventful thing.

    Then went to Katsuya for their katsu curry. After that I had a bit of a headache so went to try to go to Lawson’s to find some paracetamol. Unfortunately, convenience stores in Japan don’t really sell paracetamol so I had to make do with a can of Tully’s coffee. I texted mum some more and then had a bath and then recorded this with my audio recorder and now I’m going to go to bed.

    Today was a really fun day. Coming back to Japan does bring back quite a few emotions but I do really enjoy this country and I am so glad to be here.

    (Thanks Annabel for proof reading)

  • Japan Day 3: TeamLabs, Shinjuku & Karaoke

    Japan Day 3: TeamLabs, Shinjuku & Karaoke

    Today we had a booking for TeamLabs planet out in Odaiba. It is this art installation museum thing which is really sensory. Additionally, today’s weather was quite a bit cooler than the previous day.

    For breakfast we had Onigiri from the convenance store. To get to team labs we had to take the train to Shimbashi and then change for the driverless Yurikamome. We bought a day pass for the Yurikamome which came on a Pasmo Card 🤫.

    TeamLabs was really cool. At TeamLabs there were a couple of installations where we would have to walk in Knee-deep, I found these to be a bit challenging especially with the colder weather. But most of the exhibits were really sensory and relaxing be it a bit trippy. My favourite was the planetarium like room where you would lie down on the ground. The outside bits with ferns and things were also very cool.

    When we finished at TeamLabs, we hopped back on the Yurikamome this time heading away from Shimbashi to the 終点 Toyosu, so we could get the front seat on the driverless train. We had a front seat ride back into Shimbashi which was really cool.

    We got the Ueno-Tokyo line express to Ueno and then turned back around onto the Yamanote line to go back to Okachimachi. I went to the café to finish writing my blog post for day 1.

    I then really needed to go to the Kinokuniya bookshop in Yoyogi (which was closed yesterday) to get a couple of Japanese learning books. We had dinner at a place called ‘Egg Slut’, I had a cheese burger it was nice but a bit messy to eat.

    The 都庁 (Metropolitan Government Building), observation deck was open so we walked through Shinjuku on street level to get there. It was really cold. The observation deck was really pretty and it is just a relaxing place to go. After a bit of time there we went back to Shinjuku station and got a Saikyo Line through service to the Rinkai line to go back to Odaiba. Odaiba has a really nice view of Tokyo though it’s quite like the docklands in Melbourne a bit devoid of character.

    For dinner we had Kamakura ramen from the bottom of the Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara. After dinner we went for half an hour of Karaoke and a G&T, which was a lot of fun. We did songs like ‘Let It Go’, a bit of Taylor Swift and a bit of Adelle. We got back to the hotel at 11:30 pm. Our plan for the next day was to go to Nikko.

  • Japan 2024 Day 1: Straight to the Shinkansen

    Japan 2024 Day 1: Straight to the Shinkansen

    Today we had to wake up at the lovely hour of 02:45 in order to get to the airport. Dad drove Mum and I in and dropped us off. He did not park the car, unlike last time around Anna did not come to say goodbye.

    We were the first people in line for check-in for the flight to Narita, the JAL staff did a traditional assembly style group bow right before opening the checking counters opened. The Swissport contractors that handle check-in for a myriad of different airlines in Melbourne were also instructed to join in as well.

    The rest of the airport process including immigration was rather uneventful. After clearing all of that we went to Brunetti for a ‘Melbourne Coffee’ and a ham and cheese croissant it was ok but I made a massive mess with all the crumbs.


    The wait for the plane was ok, I was a bit nervous and walked around the airport by myself for a bit. The plane boarded at about 07:15. Our plane was a Boeing 787-8 which was about 10 years old.

    Boarding the plane bound for Japan

    The food on the plane was really good, we had 2 meals in total on the 10-hour flight.

    I watched Silver Linings Playbook during the first quarter of the flight. I tried to sleep while we were flying over PNG but was not really able to. I really dislike when they turn the lights off on a plane. But luckily this time I was able to use the internet over the Pacific (amazing I know – Qantas Group it’s really good). As a result, I was able to alleviate my boredom by sending messages to people like Anna.

    Our plane arrived in Narita at 15:32 JST, it was the first time I have had a daylight arrival into Narita. It was really pretty.


    Japanese immigration and customs and the process of getting the JR pass was really easy and we were on the 16:48 Narita Express into Tokyo. I was really exhausted though but it was OK.

    Tired on the Narita Express

    We got to Tokyo station at 17:45 and transferred straight for the Yamanote line to Okachimachi. We will be staying at the same Ryokan that I usually stay at in Akihabara.

    Upon getting into the hotel room, I was really tired and did really know what to do with myself. I had a very quick shower before going out into Akihabara to go for Gyoza Ramen and go to the Shosen book tower to get my train timetable book 時刻表. The Shosen book tower is one of my favourite bookshops in the world as it pretty much has an entire floor dedicated to books and other merchandise of interest to people who like trains.

    After this we decided to go the Yodobashi Camera shop in Akiba. The Yodobashi music made me feel really happy. I bought some facemasks at the Daiso upstairs.

    I then decided that riding a Shinkansen would make me feel really happy so that is exactly what we did. We caught a local train to Tokyo station getting the Akihabara station stamp on the way. Then we got a Toki Shinkansen bound for Niigata to Omiya.

    Omiya was an important location in the Japan season of ‘Jet Lag: The Game’ (one of my favourite YouTube/Nebula series’). At Omiya, we got the station stamp as well as a スタンプオート(stamp note) book to put our stamps into. Our train back into Ueno was a Yamabiko of which we got on the Mini-Shinkansen E6 (which is usually used for the Akita Shinkansen).

    The 大宮Omiya station stamp in my stamp book.

    The Shinkansen ride was a lot of fun. Upon our arrival at Ueno we got the station stamp and the digital stamp on エキタグ (station tag).

    We got back to the hotel at around about 10 and I was asleep at about 11:20 I think. It was a totally massive day.

  • Japan Day 1: The Adventure Begins

    Japan Day 1: The Adventure Begins

    Today is the day that I have been waiting for, for over 3 years, I am finally returning to Japan. It has been a very big day of travel starting with leaving the house for Melbourne Airport at around about 03:45 (of course I did not get much sleep before leaving because of the excitement of it all). Mum on the way had forgot her handbag so she needed some help with some cash to organise the parking. 

    Once at Melbourne Airport I had to find the right Jetstar Check-In counters (because there were multiple there was one for flights to NZ and another for flights to Japan). After checking in I said goodbye to mum and Anna of course in the traditional fashion of me going to Japan I took a photo with them and then waved goodbye.

    Jeremy standing in front of departures sign at Melbourne Airport with his suitcase. He is wearing his Northface Jacket a black cheque shirt and blue pants.

    I cleared immigration and security in Melbourne in about 5 mins and after walking through duty free I got myself a coffee and some fruit toast. At this time I spent a bit of time chatting to people like Di. 

    I then proceeded to walk to gate 12 at MEL where the first of my flights (a JQ11 relay flight from MEL – Gold Coast) would be departing from Gate 12 (in the T2 – Satellite terminal). In no time the plane started to board. The first leg of the trip, I was sitting next to a newlywed couple who were on their way to the Gold Coast for their honeymoon. This flight took 2 hours and was relatively effortless. 

    I arrived in Gold Coast at 09:15 QLD time (straight up to departure lounge),  I had time to get a coffee and walk into NSW as the Gold Coast international terminal is situated on the border between NSW & QLD. I was pretty overwhelmed at this point but managed to get on my next flight to Narita. 

    The next flight was 8 and a bit hours long. There was some really pretty scenery going up the great barrier reef. I slept while we were flying over PNG waking up when we were at latitude of 1 S because crossing the equator is a milestone of any flight (though it always takes a long time). I had a toastie on the plane as food with 2 coffees and a can of solo. 

    On reflection I think that the Dreamliner (B787) is a much better plane for the trip to Japan as it is a lot more comfortable when compared to the A330 that Qantas use. In all honesty I would likely fly to Japan on Jetstar again. 

    We arrived into Japan at roughly 6pm local time I shed a tear or two as I saw that lights of Naruto Chiba. As per the Narita Airport website immigration procedures were done through terminal 2 even though we arrived into a terminal 3 gate. There is a corridor between the 2 terminals that they guide you through. Everything was rather seamless though there was lines. The visitjapanweb app being really helpful especially for someone who struggles to handwrite. 

    Getting the JR pass was relatively easy there was not much of a queue the station attendant booked me on a 8:47 train into Tokyo so there was a bit of a wait. I bought myself a zero beer for the ‘NEX into Tokyo and I tried to call the hotel to let them know that I would be there at 10pm. 

    I arrived at Tokyo station at 2143, prior to arrival at Tokyo I was chatting to some of the other people that were on my flight that were also taking the ‘NEX. I went straight to the Yamanote line platforms and took the Kehin-Tohoku line, I got the womens car which was fine since it was after 21:30 at which time it is free for everyone to use. Some salarymen who were also in the car commented that I was using it. It was the first time I really had an organic conversation in Japanese in over 3 years though it was in broken sentences. 

    I got to the hotel just on 10pm and checked in the staff were waiting for me and left once I had finished checking in. I called mum to let her know that I was safely at the hotel. 

    I then went out for a bowl of Noodles. I had Noodles that contained pork they were ok, however pork is not my favourite thing in the world but none the less it was nice to be eating in Japan. The store I went to had Radio Tokyo on in the background which was cool. 

    On the way home I bought some Nescafé from the Convenience Store for the next morning and then went to sleep. 

    To be continued…