I know it’s a month late but I’m finally sharing with you my Tokyo experience.

ICYMI, my friends and I had an 11-day trip to Japan. The first four or five days were spent in Tokyo. Here’s a summary:

DAY 1

Narita Airport
Tokyo
Akihabara
Tokyo Skytree/Sumida

It takes 45-min to an hour to get to the city center from Narita airport.

There are lots of options on how to get to Tokyo from Narita. You can either go by bus, train, taxi or private car. Of course, taking the taxi or renting a car would cost you an arm and a leg so I suggest you take the bus or the train.

Taking the bus would be the cheapest option. There are lots of buses going to Tokyo from Narita Airport and the fares range between ¥900 and ¥1,500. You can get a bus guide/pamphlet at the airport.

If you want to ride the train, you can easily hop on one too. You can either take the Keisei Liner train or the JR Narita Express (NEX) train.

We first grabbed a meal before heading to our Airbnb to leave our bags. Our initial plan was to go to Asakusa and Ueno but my friend’s aunt decided to meet us and treat us dinner in Akihabara.

After our dinner, we went to see the Illumination at Tokyo Skytree. We then called it a night.

DAY 2

Tsukiji
Hie Shrine
Tokyo Imperial Palace
Odaiba
TeamLAB Mori Building
Ginza

We started early in Tsukiji. If you must know, Tsukiji is a fish market but you can find A LOT of other food options aside from seafood.

I’m not a big fan of sushi or uni so my apologies if I will not be able to tell you which stalls or restaurants serve the best sushi or uni in the area.

My Tsukiji favourites include grilled EEL, Strawberry Daifuku with Custard, and Japanese White Strawberry. You can also try their King Crab – yuuuum!

After Tsukiji, we TRIED to visit the Imperial Palace. I did not really know why I missed the part where it said ‘closed on Mondays’. I was either sleepy or disoriented while making our itinerary! Haha! We strolled for a bit near the Imperial Palace East gate then went to Hie Shrine.

I shared a photo on my Instagram about this place but most of my friends weren’t able to guess where it was located. It’s like Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari tori gates but smaller and steeper.

After spending some time roaming around the temple, watching families and people have their portraits taken by pro photographers or people throwing coins, praying, and washing their hands [aka people watching], we went to Odaiba.

(Correct me if I’m wrong) Odaiba is an artificial island situated in Tokyo Bay. It looked different and more futuristic than any other parts of Tokyo.

We got to Odaiba via the Rainbow Bridge riding the futuristic Yurikamome train. Of course, part of the reason why we went there was to see the huge Gundam Robot but I found myself admiring the coastal area too.

Many people visit Odaiba’s seaside park to have a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from the Daikanransha Ferris wheel or interact with the robots at the Miraikan science museum. There are several outlet malls too.

Similar to the US, Odaiba also has its Statue of Liberty although smaller in scale and the bridge resembles the iconic golden gate.

We were really in the mood to walk that day. From Odaiba seaside park we walked towards Aomi station which I think is 4 or 5 stops away from Daiba station. Aomi is the closest station to get to TeamLAB Digital Museum.

The same Team who manages the Art and Science museum in Singapore manages several installations in Japan, with two situated in Odaiba. We reserved the tickets ahead paying ¥3,200 each. When we got there, on-site tickets were sold out!

You can reserve your tickets here: https://ticket.teamlab.art/

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the digital museum until it was dark and time for dinner.

From Odaiba, we moved to Ginza where we had our dinner at a random restaurant which name we can’t remember because it was in Japanese. They served really good ramen and tsukemen. We wrapped the night exploring Ginza, walking in the cold while eating ice cream. Because, why not?

DAY 3

Tokyo DisneySea

Need I say more?

Tokyo DisneySea is a 176-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Chiba, Japan. It was the ninth park of the twelve worldwide Disney theme parks but the only Disney park with an aquatic theme.

There are seven themed areas or “ports of call”. The entrance to the park is the Mediterranean Harbor, which opens up to six more nautically themed ports: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island.

DAY 4

Yamanashi:

Kawaguchiko Lake
Oishi Park
Maple Tunnel
Aokigahara Forest

When I said we first spent four or five days in Tokyo I meant we had a side-trip someplace else. We went to Yamanashi, another prefecture in Japan, where you can see Mt. Fuji closely!

I will talk more about my Mt. Fuji experience in another blog post, so keep posted!

After spending most of our day in Yamanashi, admiring the majestic Mt. Fuji, we decided to go back to our Airbnb. Our initial plan was to explore Shibuya but we got really tired from all the train rides and walking. So we decided to throw our white flags for the day! Hah!

DAY 5

Shinjuku Gyoen
Meiji Jingu
Yoyogi Park
Harajuku Takeshita
Hachiko Statue
Shibuya Crossing

Last day in Tokyo!!! Short but sweet!

We spent the last day exploring Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya, the most ‘touristy’ spot in all of Tokyo!

But before we went strolling in the streets of Tokyo, we battled with our large bags and the hundreds of people in the train station. We first had to leave our bags in Shinagawa and reserve our Shinkansen seats going to Osaka.

We started in Shinjuku Gyoen Park. Originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period, Shinjuku Gyoen is now a national park under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment.

The 58-hectare garden houses more than 20,000 trees. The garden has three access gates: Shinjuku Gate, Okido Gate, and Sendagaya Gate and is open from 9:00 AM until 4:30 PM. Admission fee is ¥200.

It’s a beautiful park! I can imagine how it would look like during spring! Ahhhh! More reasons to go back to Tokyo then.

From Shinjuku Gyoen, we walked our way to Meiji Jingu Shrine and Yoyogi Park. Meiji Jingu is so calming with all the big trees and the sound of the birds chirping. The Meiji Shrine is the Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken. The shrine doesn’t house the Emperor’s grave but you can find it in Fushimi-momoyama, Kyoto.

Yoyogi Park, one of Tokyo’s largest city parks, is just adjacent to Harajuku where we had our lunch. Part of our food list was this Gyoza place in Harajuku. They serve Gyoza for only ¥290! Lucky for us we did not catch the lunch mania where the queue gets really long.

Friendly Tip: Either line up 30 minutes to an hour early or late to avoid long lines.

After Harajuku, we walked all the way to Shibuya to find Hachiko’s statue and of course cross the ever famous Shibuya Crossing! We grabbed dinner at a famous Japanese restaurant chain, Genki Uoebei, a conveyor sushi restaurant, before we headed to Shinagawa to take the shinkansen going to Osaka.

DAILY EXPENSES

DAY 1

¥1,000 Airport Bus

¥380 Yoshinoya

Free Dinner (Thank you, Tita Pinky!)

¥528 Family Mart

Total: ¥1,908 = ₱896.76

(Exchange Rate as of Nov 26, 2018 ¥1 = ₱0.47)

DAY 2

¥175 Corn Fritter 350/2

¥350 Strawberry 700/2

¥100 White strawberry 500/5

¥100 Eel 200/2

¥100 Egg Tamago

¥250 Mochi Stick

¥500 Daifuku – Custard Cream

¥320 Shimbashi – Daiba Single Ticket

¥380 Aomi – Shimbashi Single Ticket

¥254 Tomod’s

¥648 300 Shop

¥380 Baskin&Robins

¥850 Tsukemen

¥151 Coke

¥223 Asahi

Total: ¥4,781 = ₱2,247.07

(Exchange Rate as of Nov 26, 2018 ¥1 = ₱0.47)

DAY 3

¥1,296 Shake Shack

¥160 Shin-kiba – Maihama

¥160 Maihama – Shin-kiba

¥280 Disney Line (Maihama to Disney Sea)

¥280 Disney Line (Disney Sea to Maihama)

¥300 Disney Ice Pop

¥780 Disney Food

¥200 Water

¥440 McDonald’s

Total: ¥3,896 = ₱1,831.12

(Exchange Rate as of Nov 26, 2018 ¥1 = ₱0.47)

DAY 4

¥1,140 Fujikyo Rail to Kawaguchiko

¥1,140 Fujikyo Rail to Otsuka

¥1,000 Bus Pass (500 paid by my friend, her treat daw for arranging the trip)

¥350 Strawberry Ice Cream

¥300 Souvenir

¥972 Fuji Tempura Idaten

¥497 7/11

¥890 Ichiran

¥648 Simcard 3240/5

Total: ¥6,937 = ₱3,260.39

(Exchange Rate as of Nov 26, 2018 ¥1 = ₱0.47)

DAY 5

¥600 Coin Locker

¥230 Lawson

¥200 Shinjuku Garden

¥490 Harajuku Gyoza-Lou

¥340 Souvenir

¥98 Water

¥566 7/11

¥862 Uoebei Genki

Total: ¥3,386 = ₱1,591.42

(Exchange Rate as of Nov 26, 2018 ¥1 = ₱0.47)

TOTAL: 9,826.76 PHP

JAPAN TRAVEL QUICK LINKS

11 Days in Japan With ₱30K Pocket Money

What Tokyo So Long?

A Day Trip to Yamanashi Prefecture

Experience Japan: 6D6N in Kansai

What You Should Know Before Applying for a Japan Visa

Quick Tips When Visiting Japan

Feel free to leave comments or message via e-mail if you have any questions. If you like this article and want to see or know more about my #JaFUN trip, or other trips and tips, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

xo,