Konichiwa!: Japan Trip Live Blog

By Kin Enriquez -

Continuing with my "live" blog for my trip to Japan. I have to create a new post as the page might be too heavy with photos already.


Dec. 6. 10:30 am, Khaosan Tokyo Kabuki
So it's Day 3 now. I actually overslept and woke up late so that means Hakone is out of the picture. I am also reluctant to go there, as it might take a while, and I need to change hostels today too.


11:30 am, Khaosan Tokyo Ninja
After checking out of Kabuki I took the subway ang went across the Kanda river to check in the other Khaosan hostel, the Ninja. The actual check in is not earlier than three pm so I just paid and left my luggage, and go someplace to kill some time.


12:30 pm
I took the subway again and went to Tokyo SkyTree, which is the highest tower in the world. The 634-meter tower is also a new Tokyo landmark. There was actually a long line in for the tickets, and it took me about an hour to get one.


1:30pm, Tokyo SkyTree observation deck
All I can say is, the view of metropolitan Tokyo at 350 meters is spectacular.


5:00 pm,  Akihabara
I went back to the hostel after SkyTree, and I went out again as soon as I got my room key. Next stop is the gadget mecca, Akihabara. As a gadget freak this place is like heaven to me. I thought I can control myself from not buying anything but I failed.

Akihabara has a lot of other "interesting" shops too. I spent almost five hours exploring the neighborhood.

9:30pm, Khaosan Tokyo Ninja
I'm back in the hostel to rest. Got an early day tomorrow, as I am traveling to Kyoto.


Day 4
12:03 pm, Tokyo Station
I checked out of the hostel around 10 am and proceeded here to activate my Japan Rail Pass which I will use for traveling to other cities. First ticket I got is for a Shinkansen (bullet train) ride from Tokyo to Kyoto. I was so thrilled. Rail is my second favorite mode of transportation, after airplanes. And Japan's Shinkansen is renowned for its efficiency and technology.


The train - the Hikari 700 series model - left on time, and the trip to Kyoto took less than 3 hours. At the station I strike a conversation with an old lady who mistook me for a Japanese. We were Bledsoe to converse through gestures, singular English words and Nihonggo, which I only guessed what she meant. I was able to tell her where my seat is and where I'm going. On her stop she actually stopped by my seat to say " Sayonara " to me.


We passed by Nagoya and several smaller cities along the way. I saw a town with snow too just outside Nagoya so that bodes well for Nagano/Hakuba leg of this trip.


4:00 pm Gion Ryokan  Q-Beh
I arrived in Kyoto just before 3pm and it actually took me a while to figure out which bus to take (Bus 206, dummy), and I didn't find the hostel right away. I was able to check in around 4pm. The hostel is built like the old-school ryokan, so it was very quaint. I love it.


5:00 pm
After resting and charging my phone battery I set out to explore the neighborhood. I dropped by a small eatery and ordered a bento. I didn't realized I'm so hungry.


5:30 pm
After a late lunch/early dinner I went to the old districts that looks like you got transported back to the samurai era. There were temples in the area too but I didn't go in because it was already dark and I can't take pictures anymore.



7:30 pm
I went back to the hostel to rest, but I went out again about an hour later to look for hot food. I can't find any ramen place close by so I ended up in Starbucks to get a hot chocolate to warm me in this cold evening. It will be an early bedtime for me tonight as I will be early tomorrow,  I will go to Osaka and I want to be back by afternoon.



Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2014 at 11:52 PM

    How badly did you fail? Ilang gadgets nabili mo? :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kin EnriquezDecember 14, 2014 at 9:51 PM

      I bought several accessories and toys, plus one Bang&Olufsen headphones, which is a major purchase :)

      Delete
  2. DiegoDecember 8, 2014 at 3:04 AM

    Hi mate, looks like you're having a great time. Pity about Hakone, but do try to make it there one of these days - great views, nature, and history all rolled into one (with Mt. Fuji as the cherry on top IF the weather's good).

    Great shot from the Sky Tree. I went there close to sunset, which was a good compromise as it allowed me to have a daytime view and (just minutes later) an amazing nighttime view, with the whole city spreading out in all directions like a sea of lights. Of course, the light was fading fast so the daytime view wasn't as good as yours. I'll have to go back there sometime to get better day shots, at high noon or thereabouts.

    Mm, Akiba. You went for the gadgets, I go there for the anime/manga. Almost a nightly ritual whenever I'm in Tōkyō. I'm careful to steer well clear of the, er, mature stuff of course (thankfully, in your typical store that tends to be isolated in a separate floor or relegated to the basement so it's easy enough to avoid).

    Good stuff mate - keep 'em coming.

    Cheers and happy travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kin EnriquezDecember 14, 2014 at 9:54 PM

      thanks Diego. yup I enjoyed exploring Akihabara, even the stores selling the mature stuff, lol. I will try the Hakone/Fuji next time I will be in Japan (not sure when will that be). If I have a longer time, I'd like to try to climb some part of it too.

      Delete
    2. DiegoDecember 15, 2014 at 2:13 AM

      "If I have a longer time, I'd like to try to climb some part of it too."

      Coincidentally, I've got plans to climb it myself - during the 2015 climbing season if all goes to plan. I even have the flight booked already. (^_^)

      Actually, my main targets for that trip are the 3 major summer festivals of the Tōhoku region (which, by a splendid coincidence, are usually held during the best season for climbing Fuji-san). I'm not 100% sure yet that I'll do the climb, but if it goes through, I'll likely do it with these guys:

      https://www.fujimountainguides.com/

      Cheers.

      Delete
    3. Kin EnriquezDecember 16, 2014 at 4:55 AM

      Cool!

      Aside from Mt Fuji I also wanted to exlore Hokkaido, and maybe Fukuoka.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Golden Tara of Agusan

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
One of the main reasons why I am always drawn to museums when I travel is that I would want to see, in real life, the fascinating things that I've only read in books or have seen in the films, such as archaeological artifacts or the paintings of Van Gogh and Dali . Museums give you access to all that. I majored in History when I was an undergraduate in the University of the Philippines. As such, I am always excited to see artifacts and historical curiosities that I encounter during my travels. But sometimes, they also make me sad, like when I saw the Golden Tara of Agusan in the Field Museum in Chicago.  The reverse of the Golden Tara The Golden Tara is a gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan deity discovered in 1917 in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, in southern Philippines. Weighing about four pounds, the 21-karat gold statue depicts a woman deity sitting cross-legged, ornamented with a headdress and various accruements in the arms and legs....
Read more

Off the Beaten Track: Mapun, Tawi-Tawi

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Guest post by Mara Ione Sarail Mapun? Where is that?” I get this question a lot when people ask me about my hometown. I’d ramble on and on the island (its location and the culture and the pretty spots...) but since the place is not really in any of the Philippines tourist spots and is in the middle of nowhere, I might as well talk about Atlantis instead. But the island does exist.  Mapun Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu) is an island municipality in the Sulu Sea on the southwestern extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah. Or from the way I see it on the Philippine map, the island is located on the Philippine’s “armpit”. Mapun is a volcanic island. The picture above shows Mt. Nanggoy, an inactive volcano near the Sapah Lake. The most popular tourist attraction in Mapun would be the three crater lakes on the west part of the island. Legend says that the three lakes were once volcanoes that erupted together. The first two, Danao and Singuwang, b...
Read more

How To Track Your Travels with Google Location History

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Ever traveled to a place then forgot the name of that small shop that sells the best tasting cronuts you've ever had? Or have you ever wanted to retrace your steps in your travels, down to the smallest alleyways you passed along the way but couldn't? Here's a travel tool that enables you to do that - so well that it's cool and scary at the same time: the Google Location History. I use the service - which you need to enable on your mobile phone and Google account - to look back at my travels and generate some cool maps that retrace my steps during my trips. Google Maps, by itself, is an incredibly useful app already; I cannot count how many times I've used it when traveling to find my hostel, the nearest subway station, that cronut place. Having location history enable, made it cooler and more useful. Take a look at these examples: The top photo shows my movements around Singapore during my trip there in September, It basically showed my movements in t...
Read more