Japan Trip Update/Report

[ep1229]

Following! I'm going to Japan in November.

 

[Haley R]

Glad to hear your flight was great, and that the food was good as well.... I worry about not being able to sleep on the plane over, did you take anything to help you sleep? also glad to hear that customs and immigration was not a nightmare..

Sorry about the trains, this is the one thing that worries me the most... I am sure with some rest and sleep you guys will be ready to go, and will have it figure it out in no time...

Glad your host is amazing... can't wait to hear all about it...

So happy you made it safely... Have fun... sending lots of pixie dust for the trains....

No I didn’t take anything to sleep. I brought anxiety pills and Benadryl but I didn’t end up having any anxiety and I didn’t want to be groggy from the Benadryl. I expect on the plane ride back that I’ll sleep a lot better.

The trains were just really hectic because we were trying to figure out where to go and which train to take. One time we ended up taking one that only had reserved seats so we had to buy seats. Today we are getting a 72 hour metro pass so we shouldn’t have to worry too much about paying for trains and we’ll just use the pass. The rest of the trip we have other passes too so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Our host is so cool! She gave me a hug right when we arrived like we already knew each other. We had been messaging back and forth while we were trying to figure out where to go. We are using the line app which works way better than trying to text. She put food, snacks, specialty drinks, a welcome basket, and all kinds of fun stuff in the unit for us. She also has a mifi for us to use and a washer/dryer.

 

[Haley R]

Great recap! Glad you made it safely. Will be interested to hear if the trains are still confusing once you've had a good night's sleep.

P.S. I get "land sick" after any motion for 8+ hours: sailing, driving to FL, the Autotrain to FL and airplanes...you have my sympathies. I find a Manhattan or a little whiskey in my usually makes me OK again.

Today our host is taking us to get our metro pass and we should be able to use that for almost all of our Tokyo travel which will help a lot.

I don’t feel as unstable now that I’ve had some sleep but we woke up at 4 am japan time lol. We might be a little bit tired today. We did go to bed at like 8 pm though

 

[Haley R]

Do you have internet on your phone? We used google maps to tell us which train to take and it made everything much easier, it was our lifesaver travelling on the subway

We had extremely slow internet so it was really hard to load anything. Our host at our Airbnb gave us a mifi to use and the rest of our trip we rented one so I’m guessing things will go a lot smoother having that

 

[caylene44]

Following along as well; we are going to Japan in the spring! Would love to hear about all your recommendations (especially for AirBnb) when you return.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Enjoy your trip sounds like you are having a good time so far.

 

[mmmears]

Following along and looking forward to hearing all about your trip! BTW I'm lucky if I can sleep for 10 mins on an airplane, even with the lie flat seats. I figure at least I can rest better in those seats.

 

[JKalai]

Star alliance lounge had breakfast options and a make your own ramen station. The breakfast was really good but the ramen wasn’t great. The broth was very watered down. We got there around 9 am. There were only about 5 other people. By 10:30 the lounge was pretty full and some people were having trouble finding a spot to sit. The outside patio was closed for cleaning at first but opened later. It was really nice out there.

We're flying ANA J/F as well... were there a decent amount of spots open at the lounge at 9am? How was the check in process with ANA? What time did you guys arrive at the airport? I'd rather arrive early and claim our space if it's hectic that early. Alaska's lounge @ LAX was crowded and uncomfortable when I went earlier this year and I'd like to avoid it for this trip.

 

[Haley R]

Following along as well; we are going to Japan in the spring! Would love to hear about all your recommendations (especially for AirBnb) when you return.

Have a great trip!!!

I’ll definitely post our Airbnb host after we leave for anyone wanting to stay here. We did have to book decently far out and she books up fast.

 

[Haley R]

Following along and looking forward to hearing all about your trip! BTW I'm lucky if I can sleep for 10 mins on an airplane, even with the lie flat seats. I figure at least I can rest better in those seats.

I couldn’t imagine sitting in a chair that long. I leaned back with my feet up the entire trip. I laid completely flat for about two hours. I think I’ll sleep better on the way home when I’m tired

 

[hulagirl]

Oh I found you by clicking on your name in the budget thread! I got it now. Looking forward to hearing all about your time in Japan!

 

[Haley R]

We're flying ANA J/F as well... were there a decent amount of spots open at the lounge at 9am? How was the check in process with ANA? What time did you guys arrive at the airport? I'd rather arrive early and claim our space if it's hectic that early. Alaska's lounge @ LAX was crowded and uncomfortable when I went earlier this year and I'd like to avoid it for this trip.

It was basically empty at 9 am. I think there were like 5 other people in the entire lounge. We actually checked in online before the trip but did have to drop our bags off. We arrived at the airport around 7:45 but the desk didn’t open until 8:45 (our flight left at 11:45). By 8 am the lines were pretty long so I would get to the check in line early. Business class has its own line which was super nice. It was a lot shorter than the economy line.

 

[Haley R]

Oh I found you by clicking on your name in the budget thread! I got it now. Looking forward to hearing all about your time in Japan!

Thanks for following along! Hopefully my posts aren’t too boring lol

 

[Albort]

Trip Report-Day 1 (May 27/28)
Separate check in line and security line for business class

Star alliance lounge had breakfast options and a make your own ramen station. The breakfast was really good but the ramen wasn’t great. The broth was very watered down. We got there around 9 am. There were only about 5 other people. By 10:30 the lounge was pretty full and some people were having trouble finding a spot to sit. The outside patio was closed for cleaning at first but opened later. It was really nice out there.

oh hey, my mom was in there too with ya!

 

[Haley R]

oh hey, my mom was in there too with ya!

In the lounge?!

 

[Haley R]

Trip report-Day 2 (May 29)
We went to Shinjuku station first thing this morning with the airbnb host. She helped us exchange our hakone passes and buy a 72 hr metro pass. Her help was amazing because the desk staff felt more comfortable speaking Japanese.

We took the train to harajuku. We were going to do shibuya first but our host suggested harajuku first because it gets busy. She also told us the shops open at 10 am which we didn’t know (we thought it would be earlier). We aren’t big shoppers so we didn’t buy a ton but it was still really fun to see everything. I had a cotton candy cloud and syth had a green matcha crepe cone. They were both just okay, more just for the picture. Our favorite store in harajuku was Kiddy Land. That place is a must. So many fun toys! We got some really cute Totoro towels there for our new house. We had lunch at Ichiran Ramen and omg is that good!!! You order outside at a vending machine type thing and it gives you your ticket. You then go inside and pick your seat. This ramen was seriously so good. We ate at about 11:45 and there were maybe 5-8 empty seats (it’s a small place). When we left there was a HUGE line of people waiting. That was probably 12:30 pm so go early.

We then walked to shibuya to shop some more. Syth wanted to get a picture at the Hachiko statue so we did that. It was a pretty long line but moved fast. Shibuya crossing actually wasn’t as big as I thought it would be but it was still cool to see everyone crossing at once. The main shops we went here were the Disney store, Tokyu Hands, and the UFO claw machine store. My favorite was the UFO store even though we didn’t win anything. The Disney store was cool but I didn’t see a lot of great stuff. I did buy some really cute Stitch jammies, a green alien that “eats” my phone cord when I plug it in, and we got a fun Woody hanger magnet. We ate dinner (lupper?) at 3:30 at Genki Sushi which is a conveyor belt sushi place. I actually don’t like sushi but Dh really wanted to go. He ordered about 5 different kinds of sushi and liked them all. I ordered cheese fries lol. Yes cheese fries!! And I ate them with chopsticks. It was pretty great.

To finish the day we walked about a half hour to our Airbnb. We walked by yoyogi park and it was really interesting to see all of the different playgrounds and park areas on the way. This area we walked through was so much more relaxing after the busy streets during the day. We got back to our unit at around 5:30 pm and Dh is actually sleeping right now. I’ll probably wake him up so he can sleep tonight. Overall a pretty good day! Sorry this was pretty long.

 

[DisneySwede]

The alien eating your phone is great! Sounds like things are going smoother now!

 

[hulagirl]

So fun, Haley! I love the photo of you with your cotton candy. Your smile says it all. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

 

[LovesTimone]

The alien eating your phone is so cute... as well as the PJ's... great up date...

 

[Lesley Wake]

Reading along too! Glad you are having a fun time!