First time going to Japan and spent the whole trip in Tokyo. I posted my itinerary a few weeks back and just wanted to do a post trip report.
-Flew into Haneda using Delta and was lucky enough to have enough points to fly Delta One, so I had my own lay flat cubicle and had a nice nap, got there not grouchy and tired. Had the QR code for immigration, so skipped the paper forms, skipped some of the line and customs was easy enough. Spent maybe 30 minutes there. Hardest part is that at one point, you have to walk up to a kiosk and scan your passport yourself. It then assigns you a lane and you then walk through that lane while a camera picks up your face and makes sure it matches the pic in the passport. I sat there trying to figure out the whole process before getting it.
-Had booked Tobu Levant Hotel in Asakusa and knew they had a limousine bus stop at the hotel. So before the trip, I also booked limousine bus tickets for the trip to the hotel and the trip back to the airport. The hotel also had a free shuttle to Tokyo Disney/Disney Sea. Read up on luggage allowance for the limousine bus and brought in two full size suitcases and a backpack. Did not have a carry on. Had some clothe in 1/2 a suitcase and kept my electronics and medication in my backpack. Also had a crossbody bag where I kept my passport, cash, wallet and battery for my phone. I made sure to always put my passport in there and not my pant pockets and that thing stayed glued to my chest the whole trip. Was about 1200 yen per ride and not having to pay for taxis or having to navigate the railway system with big luggage was a blessing.
-Got to the airport around 2pm and went to the 7-11 atm. Made sure I let my bank convert the exchage and did not let the atm do it. Got about 70k yen. Went to the JR ticket machine and bought a PASSMO card for the maximum of 10k yen, mainly because the atm just gave me 7 10k bills, an employee was standing there to answer any question and spoke some English. Put that PASSMO card in my Android phone case and it scanned fine at the gates. My phone NFC did not mess up the PASSMO card and it read fine through my case. This made is so easy, as I always had my phone with Google Map on and never had to worry about digging up my IC card when I got to a gate, just set my phone on the reader and bird chirp.
-Went down to the bus stops and found my stop easily enough. They had an employee there to help load luggage, showed him my QR code to make sure I was at the right place and waited until 5:45pm for my bus. It was brutally humid and I should had stayed in the airport with the A/C, but I was too nervous about missing my bus.
-My Itinerary was Disney Sea, Sky Tree, Sensoji, hitting up all the Pokemon Centers to buy cards for my nephews and niece, a car meet at Daikoku. Day trip to Fuji five lakes, Team Lab Planets, small world museum.
– The Pokemon centers would cover my visit to Shibuya, Tokyo Station, Ikebukuro, so I walked and shopped around. Did Team Lab planets, Diver City and Small World Museum in Odaiba. Went and saw the Godzilla head in Shinjuku, shopping in Akihabara, Nakano Broadway.
-Tried to keep it simple, but the Fuji tour got cancelled. Car meet was nice, fully packed on a Sunday night, got to see all the Fast and Furious replicas and some Initial D classics. Disney Sea was gorgeous and so cheap (I live in Anaheim), went 9am to 9pm. Saw bunch of people dressing up for Halloween, almost a cosplay event. I picked a Tuesday thinking it would be slow, but it just happened to be 9/23, a national holiday, oh well. Sky Tree was cool, and I decided that I would only do one observation tower, so I skipped all the other ones.
-Sky Tree mall was huge, and I see how it's smart to put a bunch of shops at all the major railway stations. This makes it so easy to get anything without a car. It also makes it a pain to find that one entrance Google Map wants you to find when that entrance to a railway station could be anywhere from a street corner to what looks like a mall entrance.
-Only went to combinis to get cash or when there was nothing else around, like at Daikoku parking lot. Got all my snacks, onigiri, boxed sushi at supermarkets. Only bought stuff at the Donqui in the airport to use up the last of my paper money. Read enough to make sure this would be the most efficient use of my money. Got my nail clippers at a drug store, my stationary at 3 coins and Loft.
-Bought all my attraction tickets beforehand, expect for Small World Museum. That was the only place that didn't take AMEX that I visited, but I had brought 4 back up credit cards both Visa and Mastercard, so not an issue.
-Ate at several Yakiniku places and found it interesting that all you can eat places would sometimes be cheaper than a la cart places, food was great everywhere. Had ramen in a department store, made sure to pick one with a line of people, it was great, but cash only. Had all you can eat Shabu-shabu/sushi and also went to Kura sushi. I pretty much watched a bunch of Youtube videos and picked the restaurant left me drooling, two channel in particular SoySauceStories and Samaurai Junjiro.
-I brought a UV umbrella with me and took it everywhere. I was somewhat worried about the weather, as I kept checking the forecast and it showed rain everyday of my trip. It barely rained, got so lucky. Used to the umbrella for the sun and when I saw no guys using it, I felt apprehensive about it. Then I got over it, basked in my portable shade and did all of Disney Sea with it.
-I tried to avoid rush hour on the subway, but it was not possible at times. I'm 5'7 and 265lbs, so I take up a lot of room and after a week in Tokyo, I'm a little glad to be home, I sort of missed riding alone in my SUV to get to anywhere. Goal for my next Japan visit is to lose weight. I'll fit in better and I'll be fitter to walk everywhere and climb all those stairs. Already working on my Delta credit card sign up bonus for my flight for next time.
by high1227