Katipuneros Goes to Edo Wonderland (Day 3)

Edo Wonderland

• The first train leaves at 0715 from Asakusa, and it arrives at Kinugawa Onsen a few minutes before 0900. While the shuttle bus from Kinugawa Onsen to Edo Wonderland apparently leaves at 0900.



Breakfast on the train

•  At Kinugawa Onsen station, we had some free time before the bus came, so we checked the shops, and even tried the free foot spa.

Clock Tower with Foot Spa

Edo Wonderland Bus Stop

• The bus also stops at Tobu World Square (features miniature version of popular tourist attractions around the world), but we only opt for the Edo Wonderland.

We need to exchange our passes for tickets

Walking ahead to the Edo Period

• Edo Wonderland is basically a theme park where one can get a dose of atmosphere from the Edo Period. From all the set and props, to the costumes of the people there.
• They have a list of schedules for each attraction, also indicating that some attractions would only be appreciated if we understand Japanese.



Ninja Pose

• For our first stop, we watched ninja action in the Grand Theater. We didn't understand Japanese, but basically appreciated the action and fight scenes.

Sword Fight in the Street

• Walking while waiting for the next show, we found some Edo people "practicing" sword fighting... On a hindsight, I think it's actually interactive, and we could be taught to sword fight with them.
• At the Water Magic Show, we got some photos it while we waited for it to start. 

Waiting for the Water Magic Show

figuring out the map and where to next

inside the theater of the magic show (photos weren't allowed once the show starts)

• We had several minutes before the next Geisha show, so we went to the Ninja Trick House... They weren't kidding when there's a warning outside regarding the dizziness.

Entrance Hall is actually easy enough

this second room is where most of us got dizzy haha

on the second floor, I can finally get the hang of things

Ninja Trick House

• We also tried the Ninja Maze with the trap doors. But we couldn't solve it even if we went under, used our GoPros to cheat... It seems that there is no solution and they really closed some of the doors.
• So we just posed for pictures, and played with the props and games scattered abound.

• We actually missed the bus (well we didn't really look at the schedule of the bus from Edo to Kinugawa Onsen station), so we will probably miss our scheduled train. So we just took our time and took more pictures.
• We arrived at the station with about 45 minutes to spare, giving us more time for pictures around the station and a longer time for the foot spa.

• Supposedly, we wanted to get back to Asakusa Temple by around 4 pm so we can still see the temple, and shop around for souvenirs. Instead we arrived past 5 pm, where we just splitted up because some wants to go shopping while others were hungry.
• It was getting cold. We saw an authentic ramen hole-on-the-wall house with a vending machine inside, so we ate there. It was very small with only about 7-9 stools. We asked for the English Menu and ordered them appropriately outside, before sitting inside.

• Asakusa at night was still a sight to behold. Advantage was there were fewer tourists too. We can also see the Tokyo Sky tower from Asakusa

Notice the Sky Tower behind us?

Katipuneros Goes to Tokyo (Day 2)

Day 2 - JNTO TIC, Shinjuku, Shibuya, TMG

Sightseeing: JNTO Tokyo Tourist Information Center

• A must-do when in Japan is to try on a kimono, but if you tried searching for the rates, it's a bit expensive. But you can do it here for FREE! And their kimonos are soooo beautiful!

Kimono-wearing experience

Group Shot (with umbrellas and fans)

• They can also demonstrate origami, calligraphy, and Furoshiki.

Calligraphy

Furoshiki

• After spending about two hours here, we walked to TIC near Nihombashi station to buy the Tobu tickets for the following day.
• 

Food: Unlimited Sushi at Shinjuku

• We got off at Shinjuku station, and walked to this place.
• Price is higher for men compared to women. We had two hours to eat. They take in the order maximum of 30 sushi. We were 6, with 2 guys so we ordered 4x but we were soooo stuffed! Thanks Loi for the treat!

Godzilla also wanted unlimited sushi

Gift Gate Tokyo

• After which, we wanted to go to different places so we just met up after one hour. I went to Shinjuku Bus Terminal to pay for our reservations to Fuji, while they went shopping for rubber shoes and whatnot.

Sightseeing: Shibuya

• This is a rather over-rated crossing. We really didn't get what the hype was about haha But it was such a tourist-y thing to do haha
• Best view as they said was on the second floor of Starbucks (but we didn't go in anyway)



Shibuya Crossing



Preparing for the crossing



Group-fie



Shibuya 109

Sightseeing: Tokyo Metropolitan Building

• I know we were already in Shinjuku earlier, and we could have walked it but we wanted the nightsky of Tokyo so we went there after dark.
• We checked the schedule, and it was the 4th Monday so the South Observatory was the one opened (where you can view the Tokyo Tower)



Nightscape of Tokyo (with the reddish moon)



Watching Tokyo at Night



Outside the TMG building (parang KL tower lang ah)

• And that concludes our second day!
• We had breakfast via Lawson 100 yen store, lunch at the unlimited sushi place, and had a snack from Lawson again at night.
• Expenses: bought the Fuji tickets (4350 JPY) and the Edo Wonderland (6180 JPY) tickets

Katipuneros Goes to Tokyo (Day 1)

Day 1: Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Yoyogi Park then transfer to Akihabara

• We arrived in Tokyo via Jetstar at 0605 AM Narita Airport Terminal 3, but we needed to get to Terminal 2 Keisei Bus Ticket Counter (via their free shuttle bus), where we can buy the 48-hour bus tickets, and exchange our Tokyo Shuttle bus tickets.
• We bought sandwich for breakfast at the airport, before we rode the Tokyo Shuttle bus. The trip lasts less than two hours from Narita Terminal 2 to Tokyo station, where we rode the subway going to our Airbnb place in Ojima.
• After dropping our bags and whatnot, we were off to Harajuku!

Lunch in Ichiran Harajuku

Ichiran Harajuku for Lunch

Ooh, our first vending machine experience!

We were ushered inside, where we had little cubicles of our own to enjoy our meals

Sightseeing: Meiji Shrine

• This is walking distance from Ichiran Harajuku



at the gate of the shrine

Barrels of Sake Wrapped in...?

washing and cleansing ourselves before going in

real wedding taking place at the shrine

actual shrine behind us

prayers and wishes

Sightseeing: Yoyogi Park

• We went to Yoyogi Park, found people dancing (Elvis), playing with hula hoops, guitar, and whatever talent they had.
• We didn't stay long because we were looking for the event that was supposed to take place in front of it.



There's the event!



Shaved Ice



Passed by the Sumo? Tournament (tickets were already sold out)

Sightseeing: Takeshita Street in Harajuku

Entrance of the Kawaii Street

Must-Do: Neoprint!

Sightseeing: Akihabara

Electric Town

Land of Anime

• We retired early because we were tired from the previous night (only slept 4 hours at the airplane).
• For food, we bought sandwich at the airport, ramen for lunch, shaved ice as snack, dinner at the convenience store.
• Expenses: 2 pcs of 48-hour subway tickets (2400 JPY), Tokyo Shuttle bus (900)

Katipuneros Goes To Tokyo (Overview)

This is a vacation that my college friends and I were saving for the last 3 years... And yet, our budget was only PhP 30,000 each for 1 week in Tokyo, Japan. How is that possible?

Well, breakdown of our expenses are as follows:

1. Air transportation
• Airfare - PhP 8,500 via Jetstar (bought in the February travel fare)
• Visa Processing Fee - PhP 500 (pre-paid also in the February travel fare. Original price PhP 1,200)
• Airport Tax - PhP 1,620 (paid upon departure at NAIA)
2. Accommodations
• Tokyo Airbnb - PhP 4,380.83 (we got a weekly discount and 2 wifi routers are included)
• Fuji Airbnb cancellation fee - PhP 123 (we preferred to sleep at an onsen instead)
• Fujinoyado Ohashi - PhP 2339.33 (we had 2 rooms with matching yukatas, access to an onsen, and had an authentic Japanese breakfast)
3. Land Transportation and Tour = PhP 7378.80
• Round-trip airport shuttle bus - 1800 JPY (originally priced at 2000 JPY)
• 2 pcs of 48-hour Tokyo subway pass - 2400 JPY (we travelled worth 4330 JPY)
• Fujigoko Enjoy Ticket - 4350 JPY (originally 2050 + 1200 + 1750 JPY)
• Tobu Edo Wonderland Tickets - 6180 JPY (originally 1550x2-way + 4700 JPY)
• Miscellaneous Fuji and Tokyo Transportation - 800 JPY + 490 JPY
• Entrance to Seiko Healing Village and Kimono Rental - 750 JPY
4. Food - 11,737 JPY = PhP 5164.06
5. Shopping - excluded

TOTAL: PhP 30,006.02 (we computed JPY to PhP by 0.44, though the actual rate is 0.42 to 0.43)

For our basic itinerary:

1. Day 1 (Sunday) - Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Yoyogi Park then transfer to Akihabara
2. Day 2 (Monday) - JNTO Tokyo Information Center, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Metropolitan Bldg (night view of Tokyo)
3. Day 3 (Tuesday) - Edo Wonderland, Asakusa Temple
4. Day 4 (Wednesday) - Fuji: Lake Yamanakako, Hanano-miyako park, Oshini Village, Lake Kawaguchiko
5. Day 5 (Thursday) - Sai-ko Healing Village, Lake Saiko, Muse Museum, Herb Hall
6. Day 6 (Friday) - became a shopping day because it was dark and rainy (we went back to Asakusa, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Akihabara) 
7. Day 7 (Saturday) - Nezu shrine, East Garden of Imperial Palace, Ameyoko Shopping

Things to note

• I really read a loooooot of information, so that must have really helped. 
• Most parks and attractions doesn't have entrance fees, but you have to take note of their locations (closest subway stations), closed days and times. 
• Meguro Parasitological Museum - closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
• Imperial Palace - closed on Mondays and Fridays
• Tsukiji Market - closed on Wednesdays
• Tokyo Metropolitan Bldg - different observatories may open until evening on 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month
• Edo Wonderland and Disney - probably best visited during the weekdays
• A lot don't understand or speak English either, so you better have a translator, the internet, or very very good in charades.
• Useful applications for me were Google Translate, Google Maps, and Hyperdia (shows the schedule of the subways)
• For food, we just bought food (they were on sale at night) before we go home for breakfast. For lunch, we usually get lunch sets (which were big to share for two). Lunch is usually cheaper than dinner too. We tried the ramen houses, street food, vending meal machines which were all part of our eating experience in Tokyo :)
• For shopping, they have tax-free promotion for tourists once they reached 5,000 JPY so we also made note of that.
• For money, well I have left over yen from my Osaka trip and my friend paid me in yen.
• When I was in Osaka, I just withdrew money using my Metrobank ATM card. It was soooo convenient, and exchange rate wasn't that different. There was just a service charge of 3.50 USD (around 170 PhP), but the exchange rate charged to me was 0.4167 while the actual exchange rate was 0.4125
• I personally used my credit card in shopping since their rates is not that different from the exchange rate (and still local bank promos still apply, like BDO Amex Rebate Card and BPI Starbucks)
• My friends had USD with them (exchanged while we were in the Philippines), which they exchanged to JPY.

I will try to detail the places we've been and add pictures next time.
For now, I'm just happy to share what I can. (I wasn't able to share our Osaka trip last March.)