It was an ordinary day in May 2013. I was on sick leave due to
asthma when I felt a sudden urge to check the website of Cebu Pacific. And
there it was, a seat sale. I would usually check ticket prices to Incheon
because Korea is my favorite place on Earth, having been there three times
since March 2010 and another trip booked for July. However, I wanted to try
something different, and a bit risky (knowing that a Japanese visa is hard to
obtain). So I checked the ticket prices to Japan which were almost the same
price as the ones to Korea. I called my husband to ask for his permission to
book the trip for our first wedding anniversary in January. At first, he was a
bit apprehensive knowing that we were having a tough time making ends meet and booking
a trip to Japan would definitely leave a dent on our budget.
I pleaded and of course, he gave in. I'm just too cute for him to
resist. Hahahaha! So there. Fast foward to October, we submitted the documents
for our visa applications one Sunday afternoon and on Tuesday night, I got a
call from the travel agency saying our visas have been approved and are ready
for pick up. I was beyond excited. The following day, I left work really early
and rushed to the travel agency to claim our most precious visas.
Fast forward to January 15, the night before our much awaited
trip. I hurriedly packed our stuff and felt eager to get to the airport the
next morning just to confirm if our visas are authentic and that this isn't a
dream. Then we were off to Japan on January 16.
We arrived at around 8:30pm Japan time and realized there weren't
many Filipino tourists like us. We hopped on the Nankai Railway train to our
hotel in Namba. I would definitely recommend Swissotel Nankai Osaka Hotel for
its superb location, comfortable rooms and facilities.
The following day, we made reservations for breakfast at the
hotel. We decided to try it despite the expensive price tag. What the heck, who
knows when we'll be back in Japan, right? YOLO! We took a train to Shinsaibashi.
It's a very long shopping street. We also went to Tokyu Hands, a huge
department store. We walked back since it was only one station away from our
hotel and realized we were already walking along Dotonburi - the place with
lots of good food.
The next day, we tried a Katsudon place near our hotel as
suggested by our Osaka tour booklet. It was definitely yummy for 680yen per
serving. Paying for this meal was so fun. We had to insert bills in a sort of
vending machine and select the meal we want. Choose a vending machine with
pictures because if it's written in Japanese, you'll never know what you're
going to eat!
Then we went to the Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN and took lots of
photos of the beautiful sea creatures. Afterwards, we headed to the Osaka Castle.
Take your photo in front of the castle because some floors inside won't allow
you to take pictures.
We had our dinner at Yoshinoya. Ryan didn't enjoy his first raw
egg experience while I had a salmon meal.
The next day, we met up with Ryan's cousin
from Canada who also happens to be in Japan. She treated us to lunch at a
kaiten sushi along Dotonburi where we experienced our very first snowfall! Then
we went to BIC Camera to search for the Casio watch that Ryan's officemates
asked him to buy. We saw camera prices were really cheap in Japan and Ryan
almost bought one if I hadn't convinced him that the money we had was only
borrowed from my mom and to be used only for emergency purposes. Buying a new
camera is definitely not an emergency!
Our two companions had to leave for a
concert then we headed to Denden Town - the little Akihabara of Osaka. Here we
bought Japanese porn as souvenirs for Ryan's barkada. We also went inside lots
of stores not to shop but just to check out what they were selling. After a
tiring day, we were hungry again and decided to have a second lunch at
Matsunoya located just between Denden Town and our hotel. It's a popular
restaurant, I think, because lots of people ate there when we went inside. It's
similar to Yabu here in the Philippines. On our way back, we saw a long line of
people trying to buy Rikuro's Hot Cheesecake. We thought this must really taste
good because lots of people are lining up for it. We fell in line and bought one
for ourselves. It tasted okay. Just okay but not for me to line up again. It's
super moist and I didn't like it that much. Ryan and I had the same sentiments.
We didn't finish the entire thing. After resting a bit, we went out again and
had dinner at another kaiten sushi which Ryan didn't want to try at first
because he's worried about how eating raw fish could make his stomach act out.
But after our first kaiten sushi experience, he was willing to try again. And
we did at Nipponichi, just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel.
Just to explain what a kaiten sushi is,
it's a conveyor belt sushi place. Every plate is fixed at a certain price and
you will be billed according to the number of plates you have gotten from the
conveyor belt. Generally, the price ranges from 120-170 yen, depending on the
kaiten sushi place. Normally, the price is indicated in front of their stores.
We chose the ones with many people inside which means the food they are serving
must be really good.
The following day, we had to move to
Kyoto. But since people suggested not to go to Universal Studios on a weekend,
we took a day (Monday) which we have dedicated to Kyoto and spent it on USJ.
What a waste of time and money. We could have just spent our day in beautiful
Kyoto instead of as if paying only for the entrance fee to the theme park
because we got to ride only four attractions. There were just too many people
inside and lines would take you from 1-2 hours per ride. We got there past 10am
and with the long lines of people trying to buy tickets, we were able to enter
the park past 11am. The park closes at 5pm so imagine how much regret we felt
for allocating one precious day in Japan for USJ. We returned to our hotel to
collect our luggage and travelled to Kyoto that night. We arrived at Shijo
station and had to ask a man in a black suit for directions as to how to reach
our hotel. He didn't speak English much but he took out his iPhone and searched
for our hotel in the maps. He told me that I must cross three traffic lights
before finally reaching the hotel. True enough, we got there in probably 5
minutes which seemed a bit long because we were pulling our heavy luggage along
and it was raining which made the cold weather worse!
Hotel Mystays Kyoto Shijo seemed a bit of
a downgrade from our previous hotel but since I paid for this place for only
4,200pesos for 2 nights, I could not complain. The room was small considering
the size of our luggage but it had everything we needed and of course, a comfy
bed and internet connection (LAN cable only). All their wi-fi devices were
being used by other guests, meaning, they didn't have enough. Upon check-in, a
package was waiting for me containing our Shinkansen tickets to Tokyo which I
have paid for in advance through Japanican.com.
The next day, we woke up early to maximize
our shortened stay in Kyoto, big thanks to USJ. We bought an unlimited bus pass
around Kyoto for only 500 yen including the bus route map. I didn't know that
roaming around Kyoto was that easy just by using their bus system. Sadly, Nijo
Castle was closed when we got there and we had to make our way to another
must-see place which is the Kinkakuji Temple. Then I fell in love with Kyoto.
The place was just so beautiful, serene, and being there made all my worries disappear.
We also went to Gion district and saw the old-style Japanese houses. We had to
leave right away to have lunch. Ryan was so hungry that time and food places
there were really expensive and beyond our budget.
After eating, I went inside a BTMU branch
to exchange my US dollars for yen then we hopped on another bus to Ginkakuji
temple. The same peaceful ambiance welcomed us. We took a lot of pictures
before hopping on another bus to Nanzenji Temple. It was getting dark and we
had to go back to our hotel. We didn't want to experience a true Japanese ghost
story so we hurriedly walked back to the bus stop and went back to our hotel.
Generally, people in Kyoto are nicer as compared to people in Osaka. They were
proactive in helping us out when we seemed lost. They initiated conversations
and told us the right way to go. We have encountered three good souls in Kyoto.
One old woman who seemed too old to still be going out all by herself, one
middle-aged lady and one school boy. Thanks for your help!
We rested for a bit and went out to search
for a place to eat. A restaurant called Yayoiken looked appealing so we went in
and ordered our food through another vending machine. People were standing up
to get themselves extra rice, so we thought, maybe rice is unlimited here! We
were right! Soon after finishing our rice, Ryan stood up and made his way to
the rice refill station. I refilled mine too! The rice cooker was filled with
tasty-looking Japanese rice, making you want to get some more! After dinner, we
went to a grocery store nearby to buy chocolates and other food items for
consumption in the hotel.
The next morning, I woke up at around 4am
to get ready for our trip to Tokyo. I looked like a maniac trying to pack everything
in a hurry. I woke up Ryan and asked him to get ready as well. Check-out went
super fast and before we knew it, we were at Kyoto station trying to get
tickets to Shin-Osaka station. Unlike the other day, I had to line up at a
ticket booth to get the tickets instead of purchasing it from the ticket
machine. We took the 7:25am train and in about 40 minutes of standing inside
the train, we arrived at Shin-Osaka station. We were too early for our
Shinkansen train schedule at 9:13am so we had breakfast at an overpriced coffee
shop outside the Shinkansen gates. We shared one sandwich and one cup of hot
chocolate priced at 980 yen!!! I could buy this set in the Philippines for only
200 pesos! We stayed there for a few minutes before going to our designated
platform to wait for our train.
Since we were so afraid to be left by our
train, we left the coffee shop and went to our designated platform. We waited
for another half an hour until we saw the train staff waiting with us which
meant, we’re about to board the train. True enough, the train arrived and we
hurriedly got inside our car and found our seats. Sadly, we were seated on the
right side. Mt. Fuji is best seen if you’re seated on the left side, Tokyo
bound. The train staff told me that our train will pass by Mt. Fuji at 11:21am
and so I set an alarm to wake me up in case I fell asleep. At 11:15am, I stood
up and went all the way to the back of the train which had a bigger window. The
train moved so fast but I think I was able to see parts of Mt. Fuji. Soon
enough, we arrived at Shinagawa Station, the nearest station to our hotel.
My research told me that the hotel is
located only 5 minutes from Shinagawa Station but I was dead wrong. It was all
the way up a steep road with lots of other “Prince” hotels. Ours was at the
farthest part and pulling our luggage all the way up to the hotel was really
tough. We entered another “Prince” hotel and were greeted by a very polite
middle-aged woman who guided us to our hotel passing through the garden shared
by all the other “Prince” hotels. To our surprise, the hotel was huge! Check-in
time was originally at 2pm but we were given a room as early as 12:30pm. We
loved the room! It was gigantic compared to my expectations of Tokyo hotels.
The room had a balcony!!! I was super happy! Walking up that steep road made it
all worth it. The front desk staff said that they offer free shuttle bus
service to and from Shinagawa Station. I was relieved! We rested for a few
minutes and before we knew it, we were on our way to explore Tokyo for a day!
Due to our budget constraints, I never
imagined I would be able to come to Tokyo. Cebu Pacific previously didn’t offer
direct flights to Tokyo so we booked tickets to Osaka instead. I learned that
Shinkansen tickets were expensive so I tried to research on buses from Osaka to
Tokyo. I found out that it will take so many hours for us to reach Tokyo so I
crossed it out. Thanks to Japanican, they offered a 30% off on hotel and
Shinkansen packages so I immediately booked it for only 16,200 pesos for 2
persons including roundtrip Shinkansen tickets from Osaka to Tokyo with one
overnight stay at a prestigious hotel, Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa.
We started our day in Tokyo with a late
lunch. Our lunch cost around 2,700 yen for 2 at a restaurant in Shinagawa
Station. It was expensive but we were really hungry and we didn’t want to waste
time picking a restaurant. We then took a train to Asakusa. We entered a
tourist information office and met a very accommodating tourist information officer
who provided directions to all the places we wanted to see and even called
shops to confirm if they had the products we needed to buy. I asked Ryan to
take a photo of us so I would never forget her. We went to the viewing deck on
the top floor of their office and saw the new Sky Tree. I was actually looking
for a real tree when I realized that it was a tower. Hahahaha! Stupid me. We
roamed around Asakusa and bought some souvenirs for ourselves then we headed to
Don Quijote to buy a few bars of Tokyo Love Soap.
We took a train to Shibuya and finally, I
was able to cross one item off my bucket list, and that is – meet Hachiko! I
watched the film and I knew in my heart that my life could not end without
visiting his statue. Then I entered Shibuya 109 only to feel bad about not
being slim enough to fit into the cute outfits only meant for really sexy Japanese
body frames. I really wanted to buy a coat but nothing fit me. I went out of
the mall empty handed. We then went to Harajuku and walked all the way to
Shinjuku. We walked along a very long and boring street but it was a good
opportunity for Ryan and I to enjoy our walk and talk without distractions. We finally
found an area packed with restaurants. The challenge has always been deciding which
to choose. We ended up eating at a place similar to Pepper Lunch. We sat next
to a middle-aged couple with a young girl who burnt her finger with the hot
plate. She cried a lot while her dad laughed discreetly.
Time was running out and we had only a few
hours left for the night. I wish we had more time in Tokyo but our tour package
didn’t give us any option for an extended stay. I wanted to squeeze in a visit
to the Tokyo Tower because I remember my mom telling me how cool it is. We got
there in less than an hour before its closing time. I was relieved that we were
able to go up the tower and enjoy its night view. My palms were sweaty looking
down at the glass floor, similar to the one in Macau, but that one is much
bigger. Ryan even stepped on it! I would never dare to try it myself. Soon
enough we were on our way down and there it was – Tokyo Banana! We bought four
boxes and walked to the nearest station to return to our hotel. We were dead
tired.
On our way back, I asked directions from a
couple standing next to a vending machine, only to realize they were super
drunk. They were overly friendly and asked a lot of questions about which hotel
we’re staying at saying Shinagawa area has all the expensive hotels. I felt awkward
because they might be those kinds of people who take advantage of clueless
tourists. I even thought they would come with us to our hotel. I was beyond
scared. The woman gave me a bottle of Yakult saying it’s good for digestion. I
didn’t drink it. I was paranoid. But in my mind, I felt they were just drunk but
genuinely nice. We finally arrived at Shinagawa station and to my relief, they
bid us goodbye with big smiles. I ran off with Ryan still making sure they weren’t
following us. We reached our hotel at around 11pm and ate Tokyo Banana. It was
the perfect way to end a very hectic day. One day in Tokyo will never be enough.
I was snoozing before I knew it.
The following morning, we had breakfast at
the hotel and took some pictures in the adjacent garden. We had only two hours
left so we hurriedly got ready, packed our bags and went ahead to check-out. We
reached the station an hour before our departure time back to Osaka so we
waited and bought ourselves a Starbucks tumbler with a free drink. As we sat
waiting to board our train, an old lady stood beside our seats. Ryan got up and
offered her his seat and she repeatedly thanked him. I love her!!! She seemed
to be a really lovely granny so I took a picture of her as a souvenir.
After three hours, we reached Shin-Osaka
and hopped on another train to Namba where we will be taking another train to
the airport. Ryan had to buy something and I waited at the station. It took him
a long time to come back but the wait was worth it because in his hands was a
box of my favorite Takoyaki.
We reached the airport and lined up to
check-in our baggage. We met a nice Filipina while in line. I spent all my
remaining money on chocolates. Royce is really cheap in Japan! Ryan wanted to
buy a drink from the vending machine but I had no more money. The nice Filipina
we met in line offered us coins and bought us drinks. We were asked to board
the plane a few minutes earlier than the original schedule. By this time, I
knew that our vacation is over. We will be back to our original lives not as
carefree as the week we spent in Japan. Back home, we have real
responsibilities and new challenges to face – especially for me since I will be
taking on a new job. I was scared to go home but this is my reality. I could
always escape from it by going on vacations like this but we still have to save
a lot for the next one. Japan is a beautiful place. I had an unforgettable trip
following the end of my career in a Japanese bank. I will definitely go back,
hopefully with a baby girl in our hands. J
