I finally did the last of errands for our trip to Tokyo. Me, Patrick and Anne will embark on our first ever journey *alone* on the eclectic, fashionable, modern, funky, historic, cultural and trendsetter capital in North East Asia. Dad decided to book us on a package tour to Tokyo and extend one day for our own sightseeing in Kyoto. All in all, it will be 4 nights and 5 days exploring and cam-whoring on the streets of Tokyo, the slopes of Mt. Fuji and the temples of Kyoto.
Being 23, 21 and 19 years old respectively, dad deemed us old and mature(?) enough to travel on our own. That and the fact that my sister and I can speak kick-ass Japanese (disclaimer: kickass in this context refers to our capacity to speak basic statements and questions, understand grade school level Japanese as well as read hiragana, katakana and kanji), mom and dad are pretty confident we wouldn't head towards disaster of finding ourselves suddenly in Nagoya or Okinawa. My brother's forte? Spanish.. mwehehehe! Not the least bit helpful... maybe he'll get to see some Spanish tourists and chat with them.
Being the O.C. among us, I already did some research on the places we want to go.. even to the tiniest details of which station we should get off! I had help from some of the people I work with in Japan and Miho-chan was gracious enough to help me out with the Shinkansen schedules from Tokyo to Kyoto. One of my colleagues in the office, Ian, had a trip to Tokyo as well and gave me some travellers' tips and pointers on how to scale the biggest and one of the most expensive cities in the world. In return, I will buy some camera accessories for him in Akihabara. ^_^ Fair enough deal.
~~~~The road to tickets, visas and JR Passes~~~~
I bought the tickets as well as exchange coupons for the JR Pass. A JR Pass is an all-you-can-ride ticket on all JR Lines for a limited time (7, 14, 21-day) only for tourists. Japanese are not entitled to this privilege. This is very cheap and convenient especially if you plan to go to other places in Japan such as Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, etc. A round-trip shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto costs the same as a 7-day JR Pass. Because we also plan to go around Tokyo via trains, sobrang sulit kami! It will cost us lining up at the ticket booth and going through the machines. We just show our passes to the Manong Guard and we are off!
We got our visas in record time! We got it the same week we submitted it. Hmm, maybe because I already went to Japan and we already had Schengen visas on our passports. A first timer will have to wait at least a week before the visa is released.
~~~~We plan to go here!~~~~
On the 5 days we are there, we plan to go to these places:
1. Imperial Palace - the seat of the oldest monarchy in the world. The gardens are told to be one of the best showcases of Japanese traditional minimalist designs as well as the unique architectural structures of Edo Castle, Nijubashi bridge and some temples. A photo op here is a must!
2. Ginza - the shopping district of Tokyo! Has the trendiest styles and fashion as well as designer labels are here.
3. Harajuku - a must for gothic, emo, anime cosplay and elegant gothic lolita styles! My sister and I are avid cosplayers and this is our mecca! Shops here also include very weird, eccentric and out-of-this world styles.
4. Shinjuku - where the famous crossing is! We plan to take a picture right smack in the middle. A combination of modern and futuristic skyscrapers and buildings as well as the Red Light district at night! oh yeah, yebah!
5. Akihabara - electronics and otaku district! Known for a lot of electronics and gadgets and cheap-o accessories, as well as anime mechandise (gundam models, costumes, manga)... one could not be satisfied with just a day!
6. Asakusa/ Ueno - this area is where old Tokyo is preserved. Temples and zen gardens are a must!
7. Tsukiji Market - the biggest fish market in Japan! Auctions here start as early as 430 in the morning and all kinds of sea creatures (edible of course!) are here for sale! There are many very nice sushi shops in the area that guarantee the freshest fish and sea delicacies.
8. Mt. Fuji - Japan's most sacred mountain. A shinkansen away from Tokyo that brings us to the Onsen (hot spring) town of Hakone. We will also take a ferry ride to Ashi lake and take a cable car.
9. Kyoto - cultural capital of Japan! We plan to take the first shinkansen ride going there and take a scenic route (with a view of Mt. Fuji on our windows!). Take a temple overload tour before going home late in the afternoon.
~~~~Cam-whoring sessions~~~~
Being cam-whores that we are, we plan to bring 2 cameras to capture every adventure for 5 days! That and a ton of SD cards waiting to be crammed with pictures of buildings, temples, shrines, cosplayers, trains and scenic places. Good thing we have the same brand of camera so we'll just share the charger.
As if that isn't enough, we plan to bring a laptop with a lot of free GB to store our photos just so we can be confident the next day that we will not run out of memory!!!
~~~~Who needs rest?!?~~~~
We are all mentally prepared to make the best of this trip. This includes waking up early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the rising sun (after all, Japan is the land of the rising sun!) and end the day full of stories to tell and pictures to view. I told them to stash a lot of energy drinks, vitamin c and power bars along the way. Bawal ang papatay-patay at ang magreklamo na pagod na! The hotel room is just a place where we dump all our stuff, take a shower and sleep. Nothing more! Wear comfy shoes (no heels please!) and casual clothing.
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