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My “Going to #Japan” Checklist. Let me know if I’m forgetting anything!
Tomorrow night I catch a plane and head west… really really far west. I’m flying to Tokyo, Japan for the Tokyo Anime International Fair next week. Before I go, though, I want to make sure I have all my proverbial ducks in a row.
Thus I turn to all of you on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet.
(And all five of you on Google+)
Please check my two lists and let me know what I’m forgetting/what else I need to know. Thanks!
BEFORE LEAVING:
- I called my cell phone company. My cell will work in Japan. Texting will work in Japan. My Internet will NOT work in Japan.
- I called my credit card and bank card companies. They have been notified that the strange charges in Tokyo aren’t from some hacker who hijacked my info.
- I registered on http://travel.state.gov/ and let them know where I was going. (Just in case; I’ve seen too many episodes of “Locked Up Abroad” for my own good.)
THINGS TO SEE:
- The team I’m going with plans on visiting Disney Tokyo Sea.
- I want to visit Tokyo Tower.
- I plan on visiting Shibuya Station.
- There is talk of trying to find time to make it over to Mount Fuji. This one is a “maybe” based on scheduling.
- Word has it that I may be visiting Sanrio Puroland (aka “the Hello Kitty Theme Park.”)
Any feedback in the next twenty-four hours would be appreciated. Thanks, folks!
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#2 written by Andrea 1 year ago
Mt Fuji is something I’ve wanted to do but never really had the time while there to do. List as follows:
-Harajuku/Yoyogi on a Sunday. Cosplayers and live music abound. Takeshita Dori is a shopping mecca, at least for me. Have a crepe!
-Ginza Candle – fantastic restaurant in Ginza with some of the best fried chicken I’ve had ever.
-Ebisu – Biergarten is very nice.
-Food.Food.Food – Don’t bother with anything westernized, as the food is awesome. Omurice, ramen, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc.
-Ikebukero – really cool at night.
-Marui – awesome department store and several of them have very nifty cafes in them.
-Omotesando – The Kiddy Land store has pretty much every toy ever. Floors upon floors. Really nifty!
-Odaiba – Pallet town has a lot of nice things, including the Ferris Wheel. There is also a shopping area with a pet store and other things (you can pick up a souvenir for Karma!). A lot of people bring their dogs here so it’s pretty cool.
-A theme izakaya/bar – Try to find one and go. There are several. We went to one in Shibuya that was themed like an elementary school with ‘tests’ and teachers and everything. Food is good, booze is cheap, etc. This has a list of a lot of theme restaurants: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/nov/27/tokyo-theme-restaurants-japan-food I actually knew someone who worked at @home cafe for a while.
-Akihabara in general. I’d avoid the first few stores off of the train station but further down you can find some awesome deals (and a lot of really nice, rare used games.)
-Tokyo Station, original side. You probably won’t actually go through Tokyo Station for anything other than passing through, but if you get a chance stop at it and take a look at the Historic Side for picture opportunities. It’s very nice architecturally and fashioned after a European train station.
-Edo Tokyo Museum – if you like history and are curious about the transition from Edo ->Tokyo, this is a very nice place to visit.I could probably go on, but I doubt you have any need to know where the 50+ j-idol shops are throughout Tokyo proper. XD Though, a stop at the AKB48 theater might be cool for the experience, if you can get tickets.
Oh, and don’t change your money until you hit Narita. And I would highly suggest shipping your luggage from Narita to your hotel upon arrival – it should be there within the day if not the next morning and it’s cheap, like 2000yen (at least it was to Kyoto/Fukuoka, probably cheaper within Tokyo) through Yamamoto Kuroneko. Logo is a black cat, hard to miss. The Narita Express is fine when it comes to luggage but trying to manage the Yamanote or any of the other lines off of the Yamanote with luggage? Yeah, no. Did it going home, never will again. You can also schedule them to pick up your luggage the day before you leave and it will be at the airport for you when you go.
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World tour i was on scheduled to go to Asia including a week in Japan. I did some web searching and addition to most of your list going to Akihabara. It’s the main shopping district for electronics and anime… I heard it a sight to see. Though the tour ended canceling the asia leg. I still want to see Japan one day.
Enjoy the trip.