#Japan w/ My sister

30 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

granite delta
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So uh, my sister's gotten me to accompany her to japan for a 1 week visit :p It'll be her first time visiting the country, and it'll be my second.

She's really into Hatsune Miku merchandise & events, and likely many other things she has never told me. We've already booked our flights and our hotel on set dates, so now all that remains is planning out the logistics & excursions. The plan is a little bit rough right now, so i'd love any feedback and ideas yall may have!

Some of the details i am happy to elaborate on, while others i would rather not. Please do ask either way

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DAY 0:
Our outgoing flight runs overnight(we're from the uk lmao), landing us in Haneda airport as you might expect.
DAY 1: OK I pull up
I don't expect us to do very much after landing. After speedrunning through immigration and gunning down the checklist in arrivals(SIM card etc), we will head immediately to our hotel.

I am not 100% confident on which method of transport would be more suited for us, after all it does depend quite heavily on where our hotel is located. I am split between taking the optimal train route, or taking an airport limousine bus to a nearby hub and then ANOTHER train for the remainder of the trip (feels rlly weird to take 2 methods of transport idk)

The only point of reference I have is from my last trip: I took the Tokyo monorail all the way, changed to the yamanote line, and hopped off at Akihabara where my previous hotel was located. Luggage was a nuissance on these trains, but not unbearable.

I believe my sister is intending on bringing significantly more luggage than she can handle within those busy stations, and is bringing back home even more.(I'll barely have any) We are considering luggage delivery, but i'm quite skeptical on if it'll work out or not LET ALONE its price... aaand speaking of price, taxis seem quite unreasonable.

After reaching our hotel, we'll finally begin to go about our business: food. If we have the energy, i've already picked out a resturant i have previously visited that's positioned somewhat far from our hotel.

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DAY 2: Tourism Heat-Death Speedrun Any%
I don't know what yall would think, but on day 2 i am planning on taking my sister to as many hotspots in tokyo as we reasonably can. We have our sights set on Ikebukuro & Nakano to name just a couple. We would dine on-site wherever we end up, usually from a shortlist of resturants we will have written up in advance.

Last time i was there, i experienced a great deal of fatigue while traveling the city after 4 or so hours had passed, being forced to retreat back to the hotel at least twice. This is a SERIOUS issue i need to address for myself and i feel it could make or break the trip.

DAY 3: Akihabara
Akihabara, Akihabara, and more Akihabara. Both of us are extremely fond of the electric city and have set aside practically an entire day just for it. There is little else that needs to be said. Still, in the event that we do feel tired of the area, we may stop by Ueno to pass the time.

DAY 4: the real fun begins
Me and my sister will finally go our separate ways, taking longer excursions to places that either of us want to visit solo. I don't have a clue what she has up her sleeve aside from possibly Harajuku, but I need to decide on something for me. I'm currently planning on meeting up with friends if any are around, but if none are present I might instead visit one of several bucket-list locations i either wrote down as backup, or missed out on during my previous trip. Could potentially be: Mount Takao, Izu Peninsula, Mount Mitake, Enoshima

DAY 5: A personal errand
Day 5 will play out similarly to day 4, where-in we will both go on daytrips on our own. There is a certain place i must visit, not for any particular reason... but just because i can.

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DAY 6: wrapping it up
This'll be the last full day that me & my sister get to spend abroad, so we'll mostly be keeping this day flexible for whatever we have in mind: last minute souveniers, second chances on anything missed on prior days, etc. etc.

The last time i visited, i started my last full day in Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, before retreating back to Akihabara to visit stores i had previously overlooked.

DAY 7: god damn, it's already over?
Practically no spare time today. straight out the front door of the hotel, towards the airport. We'll likely use the same method of transport to get to the airport, as we did to leave it.

flint nimbus
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For helping with fatigue, cafe breaks is maybe a good idea.

granite delta
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That is something i pretty much lacked last time i visited. I do intend to if i find any good ones

flint nimbus
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Enoshima is pretty great

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Yeah, there are tons of nice cafes!

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I recommend trying Tabelog

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for finding such things

granite delta
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I'm well aware of tabelog, used it once or twice in the past. I'll be sure to check back on it soon enough!

flint nimbus
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dope!

analog vigil
# granite delta I'm well aware of tabelog, used it once or twice in the past. I'll be sure to ch...

When was your last trip?
Your itinerary sounds like a lot of fun!

Tabelog just started an app that's available for apple and android. 🍙

E-sims are really handy and I used them on our trip last year. I could turn it on after we landed but were still waiting to get off the plane, so having internet access right away was nice. Plus 1 less stop inside the airport!
I used Saily last time, but there are tons of options, and for a 7 day trip, I don't think they have much difference so just price match and see which one works for you.

For finding places to stop and get off your feet, I would usually use Google maps and search "Coffee near me" and see what is in the area. We find some lovely spots like this.
You can further filter results by "open now" and distance once the results come up.
That's my go-to for finding breakfast spots too.

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Depending on how much luggage you will be carrying and how far away your hotel is, I would definitely consider this option.

analog vigil
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I completely understand bringing an empty suitcase to fill up with goodies!
I will usually pack a normal carry-on (filled with my clothes and whatnot) inside my larger luggage, then check that bag.
Then I will carry a back pack on the plane with my necessities and 1 day of clothes just in case.

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This is my Favorite new thing I bought for long flights last year.
I can use my earbuds on the plane with this.
That way I'm not needing to deal with wire headphones. It's the best. Just make sure it's charged and pair your headphones/earbuds before you go on the plane.

image.png
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actually this one is way cheaper and probably works just as well

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granite delta
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Aaand yup, i JUST heard about airplane bluetooth adapters recently. Last time i tried bluetooth i couldn't get it to work tho

analog vigil
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I don't know how old your phone is but it's worth checking out unless you just prefer to do the physical one.
It's up to what you're most comfortable with at the end of the day.

granite delta
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Samsung A2x group do not support esims last time i checked

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A25 current, A27 future.

quiet moon
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If your old is A25, then yea, no esim. But A27 deffo has one (as did A26).

granite delta
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the A26 has esim support...? and mind, A27 is not out yet.

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I looked it up, and found that it doesn't support it natively.

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99% chance i'll just pick up a pre-ordered sim again, then.

brittle bough
quiet moon
granite delta
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We shall see when the time comes