brb Japan lol

[Aresef 112]

Yeah, so I'm flying to Tokyo next week, from 1/6 to 1/14. It's gonna be awesome. I think I have everything in order. Emergency contacts, phone rental, passport, credit card... But I can't shake the feeling I'm forgetting something. Seriously, last night I had a weird dream about neglecting to exchange currency, going to an ATM in Tokyo and having it spit out American money at me. Is there anything I should keep in mind that I might not have thought about? Are there any tucked-away places I should check out? Anybody living out there wanna meet up or something?

(Also, side note, I'm hitting Anime Japan Fes on 1/11. 4/5 of JAM Project plus Ichiro Mizuki and Mitsuko Horie. WIN.)

[evaunit01berserk 0]

But I can't shake the feeling I'm forgetting something.

Edited December 30, 2008 by evaunit01berserk

[alabaster 0]

Check on your credit card to see whether it charges any fees for overseas transactions; if they are reasonable, then use your credit card whenever possible to get the best exchange rates. More places in Japan accept cards than used to.

If I were going just for me, I'd carry only a few hundred in US cash, and change over about $200 at the airport when you first arrive. The rates aren't bad, and you'll need some cash when you first arrive. Traveler's Cheques aren't really that useful, IMHO -- not worth the hassle.

I found it more useful to withdraw via ATM to get the rest -- Citibank ATMs will generally provide English screens. Even with fees, it was less of a pain, though you will want to take out hundreds at a time rather than $50 or so. That way you're paying the fee only once (and a smaller percentage overall), getting a decent exchange rate automatically, and the whole thing's in English.

On your last day, use up as much of your spare change as you can -- you won't be able to exchange coins on your return.

Try to save your better-looking 5- and 50-yen coins, however. When you get home, hit a craft store and buy some silk necklace cord, and voila -- you've got shiny good luck foreign coins to give as souvenirs.

Anytime someone hands you free tissue, TAKE IT. Many public loos don't have bath tissue.

Get a man-bag or messenger bag or backpack for your travels, and bring it empty (or empty it into your suitcase when you arrive); use it for running around the city to collect your purchases, store a bottle of water or green tea, etc.

Explore fearlessly, with your berlitz mini phrasebook or lonely planet guide in hand.

DO get a SUICA or PASSMO pass for your subway ramblings.

DO visit the 99 or 100 yen shops. DO visit a Mandarake store if you can find it. While Akiba is awesome, Nagano has a geek mall that is to die for if you're into collectible otaku swag. Lower Shinjuku, near Shibuya, has some interesting adult shops if you're into that sort of thing.

Try weird food.

Take pictures.

Enjoy it.

[tstidm1 0]

Arserf, Please blog about your experiences. Japan's flight is so expensive I will never be able to go unless I give up Otakon (and all cons) for a couple of years (especially with the yen under 100 to 1 dollar).

Edited December 30, 2008 by tstidm1

[Aresef 112]

Snip

Edited December 31, 2008 by Aresef

[alabaster 0]

Arserf, Please blog about your experiences. Japan's flight is so expensive I will never be able to go unless I give up Otakon (and all cons) for a couple of years (especially with the yen under 100 to 1 dollar).

It's just part of the cost -- and you can still find some great buys. A friend found a flight for about $850 last month, which is pretty good. Depending on your timing and willingness to put up with airport hell, and with a creative agent, you might do well.

One tip for the cost-conscious is to fly to the west coast on a cheap fare, and take advantage of the less expensive flights to Japan from San Francisco or LA. Still, there's always some sort of risk tradeoff, and at my stage of life (late 30s), my time and comfort are more valuable than saving $100.

[Aresef 112]

I'm actually doing that on the way back. I'm flying direct Tokyo to Dulles then flying to LA for another week to visit family. LA to Baltimore, I'm flying Southwest for $130. Yee-haw.

[rdottriz 0]

If you ever plan on staying for an extended period of time I would highly suggest Leo Palace 21 Corporation (www.eg.leopalace21.com/index.html) -- pretty good rates and nice places. The women are MUCH more beautiful in person :-)

[Aresef 112]

At the hotel. I'll be Youtubing a video diary. Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/aresef

[Aresef 112]

The clock says it's 7:33 here. I've been up for most of the past 22 hours by my math. I'm sitting here in a McDonald's in Asakusa typing this up. Commercialism is funny like that. Here are my notes from the trip...

Got to the airport at 8:15... counter opened a few minutes later, so yay

Tweeted up Tee Morris, found out he was at the airport, so I met up with him before he flew to CES

Five Guys on the concourse. Win, but couldn't finish my fries.

Flight took off a little late. They needed a United crew to bring the de-icer. I saw the dudes outside my window. Makes me want to switch career paths. Imagine sitting on a giant kinda cherry-pickerish sort of thing blasting water at stuff. It looks like so much fun.

ANA service... awesome! SOOOO MUCH FOOD!

Bok Choy stuffed with rice, potatoes, carrots, small salad, Pepsi Nex (read: apparently diet, but they're too cool to stick a t on the end in Japan),

Ice cream was more ice than cream. Took a little while to actually thaw enough to be worth trying to eat.

Full flight, except for the lucky bastard in center row with two seats hugging his pillow... douche.

In flight entertainment- watching Ghost Town, Never seen it before.

Break the Chain and some Go-on music on here. Woot.

Editing in airplane movies sucked. "Get the [GOSH DARN] ____" bad. "They removed his organs... want to see his organ?" bad.

Got, by my calculations, two or three hours of sleep judging by the flight time the screen is giving me. Coupled with the early wake up call I gave myself this morning, the math works out. I'll try to stay up until 9ish tonight or just as long as I can. Then I'll take it from there. This whole jetlag business shouldn't hit me all that bad. I hope.

Oh, and I wish I could fly ANA everywhere. Yummy food, nice flight attendants, good movies...

Halfway through the flight now. Probably should have rearranged my carry-on before getting aboard. My snack bars, camera, maps and DS are up in my backpack, while my laptop (dur) and iPod are down here. Protip: Don't bring snack bars and stuff. You don't need them. Honestly.

Maybe I should have brought the Comanapricil. Unfortunately I'm seated near nobody I could imagine as Oprah. One of my third grade teachers. But not Oprah.

Really hoping some of you out there get that joke.

I can see Russia from my houseairplane.

Really smooth flight. Nice landing. Wish I could have gotten the chance to meet up with Pat, but they were kind of whisking us through Customs-- you couldn't go elsewhere unless you had an international connection.

The exchange rate here was like 6 yen higher to the dollar than Travelex gave me. Damnit. Protip: Screw what people say. You don't need yen right when you land. Just have a huge wad of cash (the exchange office at Narita doesn't take cards).

Also, the JR Pass people were cool too.

On the Narita Express train right now. This thing is so fast and comfy. All I need is a snack bar, a power port, and a nicer pillow and I'll have full license to say suck it, Amtrak.

I am a vegetarian. Worked out damn well on the plane (I got my food first! :-p) but now I'm on the ground, I can't really stick to it, if only for this week. Some of this stuff, I don't really know what's in it till I take a bite. One word: Onigiri. Salmon inside rice inside nori. A mystery if ever there was one. A damn tasty mystery.

I get the feeling you need a Suica card for *everything* around here. Even the fl-- train attendant coming around accepts Suica as a payment type for her stuff. It's like if DC had their Metro's smart card able to pay for everything. Then again, DC doesn't have as many vending machines. :-p

So I got to the hostel, collapsed in the bed for a bit, took a shower, then took a walk. It was quite refreshing. It's a good bit warmer here than B-more.

I've figures out my natural defense against jetlag-- not sleeping until a reasonable local time, just keeping the batteries running until then. I'll collapse at 10 or so and set my alarm to wake up at 6.

The culture shock is also setting in to an extent. I can count the number of foreigners I've seen since leaving the Narita train on one hand (hostel residents excluded). I do feel a little bit lonely, but that will probably change in the morning when I roll out to Asakusa.

I got the fries here at McDonald's. They're crispier and greasier than ours, in case you're wondering.

Japan is a fun place. But you know what'd be more fun right now? Sleep. That's right, sleep.

[motoki-O 23]

Aresef-

Do you remember if the exchange offices at Narita had better rates for USD travelers cheques than USD cash?

[alabaster 0]

I did TELL you that you shouldn't change over any money yet -- just bring a few hundred to change at Narita. Honestly their rates weren't any worse than anywhere else (perhaps a penny or two difference).

You *will* need cash to get around, and get used to the feel of a pocket full of (actually useful) coinage. Protip: ditch your yen whenever possible. They don't weigh much, but they take up space and you can't use them in vending machines, so what's the point?

Regarding the loneliness/culture shock thing....you will really begin to notice it when you start to explore. My first trip, it was *extremely* odd for the first day or so, because I was extremely conscious of seldom seeing anyone that wasn't Asian, or particularly tall. (I'm blond and 6'5", so I stick out like Gojira when I'm in Japan.) I'd come to enjoy that "stranger-in-a-strange-land" moment, but after my third trip there the novelty had worn off -- but then so had the "nobody here looks like me at all" moment, so it kinda broke even.

[kaki 0]

Aresef-

Do you remember if the exchange offices at Narita had better rates for USD travelers cheques than USD cash?

[Aresef 112]

I did TELL you that you shouldn't change over any money yet -- just bring a few hundred to change at Narita. Honestly their rates weren't any worse than anywhere else (perhaps a penny or two difference).

You *will* need cash to get around, and get used to the feel of a pocket full of (actually useful) coinage. Protip: ditch your yen whenever possible. They don't weigh much, but they take up space and you can't use them in vending machines, so what's the point?

Regarding the loneliness/culture shock thing....you will really begin to notice it when you start to explore. My first trip, it was *extremely* odd for the first day or so, because I was extremely conscious of seldom seeing anyone that wasn't Asian, or particularly tall. (I'm blond and 6'5", so I stick out like Gojira when I'm in Japan.) I'd come to enjoy that "stranger-in-a-strange-land" moment, but after my third trip there the novelty had worn off -- but then so had the "nobody here looks like me at all" moment, so it kinda broke even.

Edited January 8, 2009 by Aresef