Japan 2015 – Day 1 Recap

Ah yes. My spring trip to Japan! I’ve been to Japan once before in 2011 and it really helped this trip around. It was my friend’s first time to Japan so I was able to guide us around pretty good. I am now pro at the Yamanote Line. Sorta. I am going to journal out my trip here on my blog as tips for you guys and of course for me to document back to! I’ll try to give you folks specific details as much as I can.

First off, my plane tickets were a crazy good deal. I don’t know about you folks but I thought $645 was a great deal for a round trip ticket. I was watching the ticket prices every day and this one looks like it got added late so I got it for a good price and was able to pick some good seats! Yen was also awesome – I was able to get them for 121, it was much higher than like the 80 I got a few years back. This is a great time to buy yen!

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Ready for take-off!

150404-02Chicken Dinner – small but good!

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150404-04Small snack pack before we landed! It’s a ham egg salad sandwich. That was interesting.

150404-05We got our luggage and headed towards the train ticket kiosk. Our JR pass would not be validated until later in our trip so we took the Keisei Skyliner and transferred at Shinagawa Station to jump on the Yamanote Line to make our way to our apartment. The Keisei Skyliner ticket was pricey, about 2,500 yen.

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150404-08Did Jenny say apartment?? Yes! We opted for an apartment rental over a hotel. We booked pretty late so the hotel options were slim. It was okay though because this apartment was great! Two beds, quiet and safe neighborhood, close to the subway and on the Yamanote Line! All great stuff! The bathroom was insanely small….the shower allowed us basically to stand up straight and in one direction. Hahaha…the biggest perk?

150404-09Pocket WiFi came with the apartment rental! We could carry this around everywhere we went! No getting lost with google maps (just super long winded walks…more to come on that later…) I booked my apartment from airbnb.com.

4 responses to “Japan 2015 – Day 1 Recap

  1. jalna

    Oh oh oh oh!! $645!! Pocket WiFi!!! I would even pick a junk apartment if it came with pocket WiFi. LOL. What a great traveler you are!!! Me, I gotta go with tour groups ’cause I dunno how to do things on my own. Plus I stay old. It’s easier. I just love this post. Maybe I can copy what you did if we ever decide to go on our own. Looking forward to more! Hey, and thanks so much for the binchoutan charcoal beans!! I’m gonna try um tomorrow AFTER my sisters eat um first.

    • Jenny

      Yes! But your trips are making me so jealous! I need to get more cultural activities into my trips so I think I’m going to a consider a tour group! Did you know you can rent a pocket wifi in Hawaii before you head off to Japan? The rates looked reasonable too! There was a flyer for it at the JTB office! I think I will go for that next time!

  2. N

    Oh I am waiting for updates breathlessly. Like Jalna I no can go without a tour or my mom who can read Japanese. The train schedules is like gibberish to me. You so brave! Not that I’ve been to Japan in decades…but maybe one day one last trip to the homeland.-N

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