I checked out of my hotel and made my way to the train station on the subway with all my bags in tow. Let me tell you, I'm thankful that I didn't have to catch an earlier flight because I would have pissed a lot of Japanese off with my baggage taking up space everywhere.
I checked in at the United counter three hours before my flight, giving me lots of time to explore the airport and its many shops.
They had a Uniqlo there just to try and take more of my monies! Thankfully I had already bought everything I wanted to from that place. Part of me wishes there was one in Seattle, but the other part of me is glad there isn't because then we would have the H&M effect here. Great, affordable clothes, but you start to see a bunch of people wearing the same stuff.
There are tons of stores in this airport. The largest area is before the security gates, but there are still some other places once you have passed through them.
They even had a nice little anime shop where I tried to spend the rest of my leftover money. I bought a new Nendoroid figure, a keychain, and the Moekana booster pack.
There was a cool area outside where you could watch the planes take off and land. I feel like areas like this are rare.
Pretty neat.
My last official meal in Japan was tonkotsu ramen from a place in the airport food court. It was still better than any ramen I've had in the States.
Just like my time in the Sea-Tac Airport, I went to the United Club Lounge while waiting for my flight to board. I can now see why people might complain about the Sea-Tac lounges being so weak because this lounge was awesome. They had sushi, soba noodle, edamame, and an automatic beer dispenser.
The flight home felt longer even though it's technically shorter due to the rotation of the Earth. I just wanted to see my family and be home at that point. It's funny to leave Tokyo around 3:30 p.m. and then arrive in Seattle around 10 a.m. the same day. You travel back in time!
Visiting Tokyo was one of the best trips I have ever been on. It was a dream come true. I feel like I got to see a lot, but there is still much more to see, and I'll be definitely going back one day.
Instead of keeping this a short post, I'd like to talk about some of my purchases I made in Japan. First off, I tried lots of different Japanese drinks. Most were good; some were bad.
I have a thing for milk tea, so the last drink in the above picture was one of my favorites. The first drink was also a milk tea beverage with the hilarious name of "The Pungency," but it wasn't as sweet. My other favorites were Golden Mix and orange Fanta. Man, I miss Fanta. Not the kind we have here in the U.S. Our Fanta sucks. Speaking of sucks, that Oolong tea drink in the third row was pretty gross. I expected it to be sweetened a little, but it was like drinking tea that's been sitting out for three hours in a Chinese restaurant.
As for snacks, well, I had a lot of them. I made it a point to stop at one of the convenient stores on the way back to my hotel every night to get stuff. It was mostly ice cream. The best one I got was the one you see in the upper-left that was like an inside-out chocolate covered soft-serve cone. Reminded me of the Choco Taco. I tried Mister Donut, which I have been wanting to try for years, and while I liked it, I wasn't all that impressed. Even Dunkin Donuts is better. The best instant noodles I had are on the far left, third row. Closest thing to getting restaurant ramen. The soft serve in the fourth row, fifth picture, was the best I have ever had in my entire life. It was milk flavored, not vanilla, and came with a burnt sesame seed cone. And finally, you'll notice that there are quite a number of different KitKat flavors available in Japan. The cinnamon cookies one was delish because it had bits of the cookie in the chocolate. I miss these snacks.
Here are only a few of the gifts I got while in Japan. Loved the anime style dress-up sticker things, especially the Disney ones. Julie loved playing with those.
And since I know there are people who are just stumbling upon this blog to find out more about their own upcoming Japan trip (Especially in a few years now that Tokyo has officially been chosen for the 2020 Summer Olympics!), I want to go through some tips that could help:
*japan-guide.com is the best place for information on anything Japan travel related. I used it for just about everything.
*Don't stress out too much about finding your way into the city when you land at Tokyo Narita Airport. I was worried that it would be difficult to figure out, but it's not at all. Think of it like this, if you want to take a bus, just walk straight ahead after the customs gate and go to the counters. If you want to take a train, go down the escalators and have your pick of the litter. All that being said, if you can fly into Haneda Airport for a similar price and travel time, then choose that as it is closer to Tokyo.
*What I found is that you can hit three major tourist attractions, or neighborhoods/districts, per day if you start around 8 a.m. and go back to your accommodations around 10-11 p.m. If you like to relax and absorb your surroundings more, maybe 2 major sights per day. Once I figured this out after my first couple of days, I was able to schedule my time a lot more efficiently.
*Getting a Japan Rail Pass is only worth it if you are going to travel outside of Tokyo further than an hour away. For example, my one day trip to Kyoto made the 7-day rail pass pay for itself. After that, I was saving money on all of the additional local train rides and the train to Yokohama.
*Bring and wear undershirts. I was in Japan in April and I was not used to the humidity, even for that time of the year. I had huge sweat marks on my shirt just from the point of walking between my airplane and train to Tokyo. I imagine that it's 100x worse in the summer.
*As for must-see locations if this is your first or only trip to Tokyo, here is a simplified list of what I would say you have to check out.:
-A walk down Yasukuni Dori in Shinjuku at night to take in all of the neon.
-Shibuya. Specifically, Shibuya Crossing, which is the famous busy intersection outside Shibuya Station. As seen in Lost in Translation.
-Shinjuku Garden. I could have spent a whole day here. I bet this place is gorgeous during the fall.
-Ueno Park. Lots of different museums around here, too.
-Tuna auction at Tsukiji Fish Market. This has gotten a lot more popular recently and you had to get there by 3 a.m. in order to secure a spot for this while I was there. They are building a new market to be completed in 2014, so this might change, but check their website to make sure the tuna auction is still going on.
-Akihabara Electric Town. Must visit once during the day and once at night for two totally different experiences. Try to visit in the late afternoon on a Sunday when they close off Chuo Dori and make it foot traffic only. If you are an anime enthusiast, look up all of the amazing manga and anime shops on a map before you go to Akiba, so you know where the good ones are. It will save you time from wandering too much.
-Ikebukuro. If you are a female otaku, this is a must visit. It’s basically Akihabara for ladies. Otome Road has lots of shops that cater a lot more to female customers. I honestly felt awkward and out of place at some of the shops there. >.<
-If you like shopping, Ginza on a Saturday afternoon when they close off Chuo Dori.
-Harajuku and Meiji Shrine.
-Sensoji Temple.
-Odaiba. This area was a lot more fun than I expected. The beach is pretty, the life-size Gundam is cool, and the shopping malls are nice. The train ride over Rainbow Bridge provides some neat views.
-Tokyo Skytree. No need to go up Tokyo Tower unless you have the time because Skytree dwarfs it. Tallest tower in the world and second tallest structure in the world. Amazing views. Get there early to get a pass.
-Sky Deck on Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills at night. The lights of the city are amazing from here.
-Ichiran. It’s a ramen chain all over Tokyo. Really unique way to eat noodles. You just have to experience it at least once.
*hyperdia.com was absolutely vital to me for figuring out how to get from one place to the other. I used it for everywhere I went. It tells you train information, times, tracks, etc.
*Rent a pocket WiFi or SIM card. Having access to the Internet to look things up on the fly is absolutely necessary and it's not always easy to find free Internet.
*Most Japanese are embarrassed to use their English. They understand a lot of it, but are too self-conscience to use it a lot. If you need to ask a question, they are more likely to answer you if you start using Japanese first. Say, "Chotto, sumimasen..." and then ask your question in English. Majority of the time, they will answer you back in English. If not, pointing and hand gestures are adequate.
*Obey the law and keep your passport on you. It's illegal for foreigners to travel around Japan without having your passport physically on your body.
*The Japanese might be a little racist or intimidated by foreigners. I really can't tell. All I know is that whenever I sat in a seat on an empty subway train, no one would sit next to me. They'd rather sit next to someone else or stand. I didn't take too much offense to this as it's kind of expected as I do stand out, but it was noticeable.
*Anticipate Sundays to be the busiest day at touristy attractions because the locals are also off of work. It can be nice to go somewhere that is going to be busy and is meant to be crowded on these days like the Shibuya Crossing, or a temple or shrine. I would avoid places where lines are likely to form, like viewing towers, boat/bus rides, and amusements parks.
*Avoid the trains during rush hour. I found it much better to sleep in a little, grab some breakfast, and then go out around 10 a.m. so you skip the morning rush hour. I took trains during rush hour twice, and while it is uncomfortable in a sardine can sort of way, it's not impossible to get to where you need to go at this time. I found evening rush hour times to be more spread out and not as bad as the morning. I assume this is because some folks work later.
*The doors on taxi cabs opening automatically. I heard about this on japan-guide.com and witnessed it the one time I took a taxi to the fish market. Don't go up to the door and try and open it yourself.
*If you are like me, you hate coins. I can't stand those heavy little things weighing me down in my pockets. One of the things I hated about living in Germany. While Japan does use notes for everything higher than 1000 yen, you're still going to get a lot of coins. I would save these and use them up in vending machines. Find the machines that will take 5 yen and higher coins. Most will only take 20 yen and up, but you can find the other ones on occasion. I also grouped together my coins and spent a bunch at Narita airport on the way home for some candy.
Well, that's all I've got for you. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it here. If you have any questions, you are welcome to leave me a comment and I will usually respond rather quickly. Thanks for bearing with me on these Japan posts. We'll hopefully now get back to our regularly scheduled blogging.
See all 10 photos from Day 8 of my Japan 2013 trip here. See all 7 mobile uploads from Day 8 here. See all 60 pictures of the purchases I made in Japan here.
Day 1 is here.
Day 2 is here.
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