JAPAN 9 DAYS Series | Tokyo Day 1
So in my post, JAPAN 9 Days Itinerary: Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto-Osaka, I shared with you our skeletal itinerary in Japan.
In this post, let's break it down a bit.
Starting with TOKYO.
We flew via Cebu Pacific via 5J 5054 departing Manila 5:20AM. That meant, we were at the airport as early as 2:30AM. Since Cebu Pacific is considered a low cost carrier/budget airline, travel tax of Php 1,620 is not included in the airline ticket we purchased. So before checking in at the Cebu Pacific counter, make sure you already paid the travel tax at their designated counter. Also, good news! To save you the hassle in queuing, Travel Tax payment can be done online.
Cebu Pacific landed on time at Narita Airport at 10:30AM. Once we were done with immigration and baggage pick up, we hurriedly looked for the HIS counter to pick up our rented Pocket Wifi. We rented it out via KLOOK.
Before entering the NEX line, we stopped and purchase our SUICA cards. We did not purchase JR pass for our trip. We only used Suica, Hakone 2 Day Pass, 1 way Shinkansen Odawara-Kyoto and Icoca for our 9 day trip.
We got on our NEX Train at 12:23PM. Yep, it almost took us 2 hours to finally get out of the airport. So take it into consideration in planning your 1st day itinerary. Don't overdo it. 1st day will mostly be spent on traveling, getting all your tickets and eating!
If we have chosen our accommodation in TOKYO central or UENO area, KEISEI Skyliner is definitely the best choice. KEISEI is much cheaper than NEX, plus they have a promotion that gives you 1 day Tokyo Metro Pass. However our AirBnb is located in Shinjuku, and we want to have a direct train trip and skip lugging around our big luggage. Remember that not all stations have escalators and elevators, either way you really have to carry your heavy luggage down and up the stairs.
Upon arriving at Shinjuku Station, we wanted to buy our Hakone 2 day pass already but the counter we chanced upon only sells "on the day" passes. So we just looked for the subway line to our AirBnb.
For more info, about our AirBnb in Tokyo. Check this out https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12978549
We arrived early for our 3PM check in time. The cleaner is not yet finished but he allowed us to leave our luggage in the room. We spotted a nice restaurant in the area so we went for late lunch first. By 3PM, we came back and settled.
Having not enough sleep and tired , we decided to take some rest before heading out at 4PM.
Our first stop when we headed out, SHIBUYA!
What can you see in Shibuya. Of course, HACHIKO! There were not many people when we arrived, so taking a photo with the statue and the cute Neko was not a challenge.
Shibuya at night.
My sister wanted to see some cosplayers at Harajuku. So from Shibuya, we took the subway to Omotesando, then walked our way to Harajuku area.
Disappointed that there were no sightings of cosplayers (we were there on a weekday), and the area is definitely not for budget shoppers like us, we came back to Shibuya - stroll around and ate Ramen for dinner at Ichiran. We came early, around 6PM so there was not queue at that time. But when we came out (maybe after an hour), there was a long queue from the basement floor up to the streets. Oh my! The ramen at Ichiran is perfect! You should give it a try.
Full and satisfied with our dinner. We called it a night. We could've strolled some more in the Shinjuku area but we were all tired and sleepy.
In this post, let's break it down a bit.
Starting with TOKYO.
We flew via Cebu Pacific via 5J 5054 departing Manila 5:20AM. That meant, we were at the airport as early as 2:30AM. Since Cebu Pacific is considered a low cost carrier/budget airline, travel tax of Php 1,620 is not included in the airline ticket we purchased. So before checking in at the Cebu Pacific counter, make sure you already paid the travel tax at their designated counter. Also, good news! To save you the hassle in queuing, Travel Tax payment can be done online.
We went down and looked for the JR counter selling NEX Tickets one way to Shinjuku station.
Before entering the NEX line, we stopped and purchase our SUICA cards. We did not purchase JR pass for our trip. We only used Suica, Hakone 2 Day Pass, 1 way Shinkansen Odawara-Kyoto and Icoca for our 9 day trip.
We got on our NEX Train at 12:23PM. Yep, it almost took us 2 hours to finally get out of the airport. So take it into consideration in planning your 1st day itinerary. Don't overdo it. 1st day will mostly be spent on traveling, getting all your tickets and eating!
If we have chosen our accommodation in TOKYO central or UENO area, KEISEI Skyliner is definitely the best choice. KEISEI is much cheaper than NEX, plus they have a promotion that gives you 1 day Tokyo Metro Pass. However our AirBnb is located in Shinjuku, and we want to have a direct train trip and skip lugging around our big luggage. Remember that not all stations have escalators and elevators, either way you really have to carry your heavy luggage down and up the stairs.
Upon arriving at Shinjuku Station, we wanted to buy our Hakone 2 day pass already but the counter we chanced upon only sells "on the day" passes. So we just looked for the subway line to our AirBnb.
For more info, about our AirBnb in Tokyo. Check this out https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12978549
We arrived early for our 3PM check in time. The cleaner is not yet finished but he allowed us to leave our luggage in the room. We spotted a nice restaurant in the area so we went for late lunch first. By 3PM, we came back and settled.
Having not enough sleep and tired , we decided to take some rest before heading out at 4PM.
Our first stop when we headed out, SHIBUYA!What can you see in Shibuya. Of course, HACHIKO! There were not many people when we arrived, so taking a photo with the statue and the cute Neko was not a challenge.
Shibuya at night.
My sister wanted to see some cosplayers at Harajuku. So from Shibuya, we took the subway to Omotesando, then walked our way to Harajuku area.
Disappointed that there were no sightings of cosplayers (we were there on a weekday), and the area is definitely not for budget shoppers like us, we came back to Shibuya - stroll around and ate Ramen for dinner at Ichiran. We came early, around 6PM so there was not queue at that time. But when we came out (maybe after an hour), there was a long queue from the basement floor up to the streets. Oh my! The ramen at Ichiran is perfect! You should give it a try.
Full and satisfied with our dinner. We called it a night. We could've strolled some more in the Shinjuku area but we were all tired and sleepy.
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