Departure & Getting to the Airport
So, here we are—12th March, 2026, a Thursday. My father always advises me against traveling on a Thursday based on my zodiac sign. Alas! Seldom do sons listen to their fathers!!
Anyway, our ANA (All Nippon Airways) flight is at 10:45 AM SGT. We need to start from home by 8:00 AM, as we are planning to have breakfast at the airport.
I booked a taxi via the “Comfort” taxi app. This company is exempt from the child-seat requirement in Singapore. As I am traveling with two young kids, this makes things a bit easier for me.
We reached Changi Airport (Singapore), Terminal 2, in around 15 minutes.
Airport Experience at Changi
The check-in process was quick and smooth:
- One of the ANA automated desks to collect the bag tags
- One of the bag drop counters
The airline allowed us to take our stroller all the way to the airplane gate, which helped us move our younger one around the airport.
Although Changi Airport provides strollers for babies and kids post-immigration, we felt our younger one would be more comfortable using the one she is familiar with.
Immigration, as usual, was super quick via automated gates with just a passport scan. For families, there are dedicated gates to make the process even smoother. In some other terminals, Changi Airport also offers face-scan facilities, making the experience even more seamless.
Changi Airport has been awarded the No. 1 airport in the world for the 6th time, and deservingly so. With four terminals currently operational and a fifth one being added, the airport boasts huge and efficient infrastructure, establishing itself as “the” major transit hub of the world.
(Posting here a couple of pictures of Changi Airport and airport strollers.)
Changi offers a wide range of options for breakfast. We chose the usual breakfast set, which comes with kaya butter toast, half-boiled eggs, and a drink like coffee or tea. In food courts (or in Singapore, those are usually termed as “coffee shops”), this breakfast set is quite common (a picture below).
After savoring our breakfast, we did quite a bit of window shopping across a variety of shops in the airport and then proceeded to our assigned boarding gate. Security formalities were completed in no time—worth mentioning that Changi Airport is one of the very few in the world to offer individual security check-queues specific to each boarding gate.
There were announcements to board according to the zone or group number mentioned on the boarding passes. In our case, priority was given to us as we were traveling with kids.
In the meantime, during the check-in process, I had forgotten a plastic document sleeve that I usually carry during travel. Although there were no passports in it, it did contain a few passport-size photographs. The ANA staff were swift and efficient in retrieving it from the check-in counters and handing it over to me.
Anyway, we occupied our assigned seats. To add, while booking the tickets, we had requested a bassinet seat for our younger one, in case she wanted to sleep (posting a picture).
In-Flight Experience
We started to fly on time, i.e., 10:45 AM SGT. Post announcements, we were served refreshments like soft drinks and other types of beverages—I chose a black coffee and a bun.
I offered the window seat to my elder one, as he likes to peek out of the window every now and then.
For lunch, we had already chosen the meals while booking. I had a seafood meal for myself. Post lunch, I started to search for movies on the in-flight entertainment screens provided at each seat. My elder one stuck to his usual “Paw Patrol” videos.
Even I watched a couple of episodes of a Netflix series which I had downloaded prior to the flight, before I drowsed off for some time. I don’t usually sleep on flights—I had no choice, as this was a 7+ hour flight.
My younger one slept in the bassinet seat, to her mom’s great relief.
Landing in Tokyo
Some snacks were provided post lunch, like cheesecakes. Even the air hostesses gave some toys and a notebook to my elder one—he was elated upon receiving them!
Overall, the flight experience was smooth.
We started to touch down in Tokyo at a local time of around 7 PM JST—do note that Japan is 1 hour ahead of Singapore. I could see seashores and some ships while landing—excitement was at its peak, and I was trying to fathom that finally I was about to be in Japan—the faraway land and the country I had always wanted to visit since my childhood.
Upon seeing the seashore, my son’s question was, “What’s the difference between a ship and a boat?”—somehow I managed to answer (LOL).
The pilot announced that the temperature in Tokyo was around 11°C. Anyway, we were carrying fluffy winter jackets in our cabin trolley.
Arrival and Immigration in Japan
Immigration and luggage collection were smooth. It’s worth mentioning that travelers need to submit a “Japan Arrival Card” prior to arrival in Japan, which assigns you a QR code (paper options are also available, though those queues tend to be longer). However, we got assigned a priority queue as we were traveling with kids.
Per our research, we needed to obtain travel cards for every one of us (except for children under 6 years). The prepaid travel card is called “Suica” (a picture below). Automated vending machines provided us with Suica cards, and we topped up each with 5,000 Japanese yen (JPY), which is equivalent to around 40+ SGD. The vending machine even allowed us to inscribe our names on the cards, which we did to make them feel personal and as a souvenir later.
Reaching Our Airbnb in Shinjuku
My wife had earlier explored options to reach our Airbnb, which we had booked around downtown Tokyo in an area called Shinjuku. We decided to take a bus from the airport and then a taxi to our Airbnb (taxis in Japan are usually pricier than in Singapore, though we were comfortable with short-distance rides).
We booked the bus tickets via automated machines—it turns out what we heard about Japan being full of vending machines was correct! We walked to the bus lane and queued up. The service staff were cordial and helped us load our luggage onto the bus. I couldn’t wait to see Tokyo from the bus.
On the way, we saw Tokyo Main Train Station, skyscrapers, roads, parks, and shopping districts. The bus took almost 40 minutes to reach our drop-off point at Shinjuku Station – West Exit. Everything we saw along the way was very well maintained and impeccably clean.
From the drop-off point, we took a taxi to our Airbnb, which was 1.5 km away, costing around 1,100 yen. I paid via the Suica prepaid card we bought at the airport.
The Airbnb was a triplex, with two bedrooms on the 1st and 3rd floors with toilets, and the 2nd floor had a kitchen, utility space, and a living hall with a TV. All the rooms were equipped with room heaters to cope with the cold—it felt very comfortable overall.
We joined another family who had already arrived in Japan that morning—they were traveling from India.
Evening Stroll and Exploring Shinjuku
We tried to freshen up quickly to take a stroll on the nearby streets. Once we were out of the room, we could feel a gust of cool air—Japan winter is here, and for us, it felt freezing. The temperature on my phone showed 8°C, with a “feels like” of 7°C.
The narrow lane was unbelievably quiet and super clean—a residential area. We discovered that the area we were staying in actually becomes quite buzzing at night, with lots of eateries, convenience stores (I noticed stores like Family Mart, Lawson, and 7-Eleven—though 7-Elevens are common in Singapore, the others are not), bakeries, and bars. Korean eateries were plentiful, along with a couple of Indian/Nepali restaurants.
We strolled a bit on the pavements to get a feel of Tokyo, its crowd, and the weather. The kids were getting tired, so we opted to have some dinner takeaways—breads and milk packets—and returned to the room. We also figured out that the nearest train station was Shin-Okubo, to help plan travel for the coming days.
Tokyo Night and Rest
After having dinner, my friend and I ventured out to experience Tokyo at night, exploring the streets and the bustling buzz around. However, we were tired and quickly returned to the Airbnb to take a nap, planning to wake up early the next morning.
Stay tuned! I will publish the Day 2 blog in this week.
Till then yoi ichinichi wo and Oyasumi!! (based on the time you are reading this blog).