Whew! Three years had gone by since my last post.
I've always loved jotting down my thoughts, my experiences, my new experiences. But life has taken over that I didn't have time to actually sit down and organize anything.
One of the things I love to do is travel. It is a shared love with my husband and five year old daughter. We started traveling abroad with her on her fourth birthday. And she has caught on the travel bug. Since then she's gone to Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
Third time's the charm. On her fifth birthday, we went to Tokyo for her to appreciate our love for this beautiful country. It's our third time in Japan so we were pretty much confident that we can navigate its complex train network easily.
We went in November, the tail end of fall season. It was practically raining everyday we were there. So there were days we stayed indoor (malls, mostly) because it's hard to walk around pushing a stroller and getting on-and-off subway stations that do not have elevators. Yes, most subway stations do not have an elevator especially the older lines.
I am your DIY traveler. I like the challenge of researching and putting together an itinerary with the end in mind: enjoy the city for its culture, food and experiences. But I am not the kind that wants to put everything touristy in one trip. In theory, it can be done. But you will be there to take a photo and then off to your next destination. To me, it's not enough.
I like to explore and people-watch. That is why I spend on a minimum half-a-day in one destination. In some instances, museum visits are a one day affair.
Fellow members of DIY Travel on Facebook asked for a sample itinerary. So I thought about the best way to make it available.
Tokyo Itinerary
Tokyo Itinerary
Sharing some photos from this trip.
Our boutique hotel. Shinjuku Knot Tokyo Hotel
Places of intertest include Mt Fuji, Starbucks Roastery, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Ginza for shopping, Shibuya for the scramble, Hachiko, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo Tower, TeamLab. Tokyo Disneyland. We didn't go to Disney Sea, might include in our next trip.
Pro Tip:
Japan is a beautiful place to travel but it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. So might as well prepare.
In my experience, it is better to prepare at least a year before the date of travel. Here is the order of my preparation.
- Buy ticket (it can be expensive so might as well get it out of the way. In this trip, fare was PHP15K per person).
- Start researching your itinerary. See mine below for reference. If it's your first time the things you can do in Japan is overwhelming.
- Research your hotel, hostel, airbnb. On this trip, we stayed at Shinjuku.
- Apply for your visa. Gather all your documents. And submit to an accredited agency. In the Philippines, there are only three. And my favorite is Discovery Tour (Salcedo Village, Makati) cos it takes only about 3 days for your visa to be released. And it is the cheapest at PHP850 only. Note: You need to ask for a different form if you want to apply for a multiple-entry visa.
- Research how will you travel to your hotel from the airport. There are several options: bus limousine (this is like P2P), airport express train, taxi, and Uber. We took Uber because we arrived midnight. Fare: PHP5K. Bus Limo could be about PHP1k/pax.
- Buy your train pass. I like using Pasmo as it gets anywhere and in all train lines unlike the JR Pass. Also, you can use it to pay for taxi, food, even your coffee.
- Install Maps or Google Map on your phone. Navigation can be a pain but with a digital map, it'd be easier.
- Withdraw money at any ATM terminals. I discovered that I don't lose as much money in the forex when I go straight exchange. Service fee is only 3% or PHP150 per transaction.
And this I hope is the beginning of my reviving my blog. So many trips I have to share yet.
Thanks for dropping by. Do let me know in the comments if you want to see more travel itineraries you can reference to, some tips and other things that might be interesting especially for a first-time traveler to a particular country.
