Sometimes traveling can get away from even the most seasoned adventurer. Not that I’m seasoned or anything, but I’d like to think I could get from point A to point B with minimal issues. As you might glean from my previous post, titled “Grounded in the Good Old U. S. of A.” which chronicles my having missed my original flight from the U.S. to Japan, I got off to a rocky start with this trip. Ending up in Hiroshima while trying to find my way to Beppu, only added to the sorry state of affairs but this story has a happy ending anyway.
For those of you who have been following along with my escapades through this blog, at Edufire or through Twitter, you know I’ve been planning this trip to Japan since my first voyage last year, but more seriously since December 2008. There’ve been some ups and downs but I rejoiced like a child at Christmas when things finalized and all became reality.
Unfortunately, it seems some force of the Universe had different plans and 4 days into the trip saw nothing but a plague of mishaps. Since this blog (as my son reminded me) is not meant to whine, vent, rant or rave, but is a place to lay out my mistakes so that others can learn from them, I’ll go ahead and bare my soul so that you may become wise to the best way to travel to Japan.
Let’s start with the domestic side of things and how I got “grounded” in the good old U.S. of A … read more…
Over the past several weeks I’ve been searching dilligently for accommodations for our upcoming stay in Japan. While the list of options is quite long — hotels, hostels, spas, resorts, and ryokan — I find that space is still somewhat limited in the Land of the Rising Sun. This is something that came as a bit of a surprise to me last year so I thought I’d share some of my findings with you. Depending on situation, Japanese accommodations can be a tad bit small by “Western” standards. You are hereby advised.
After culling through what seems like a million websites advertising Japanese accommodations, I found myself reading with interest, the ratings and comments left by myriad vacationers and visitors. By far, the biggest issue with potential for complaint or that caused people to leave lower scores for certain accommodations was a lack of space. Most of these lower ratings were left by visitors traveling to Japan for the first time while seasoned vacationers to Japan typically advised about the smallish rooms but still left more positive feedback. read more…
Japan is a country full of options. No matter the situation, there always seems to be a million answers. Transportation is no exception.
As the time draws near for our 2-week “natsu-yasumi” (Japanese for Summer vacation), I find myself inundated with research into transportation choices. Information abounds in regards to the Japan Rail Pass (see more information here) which is a pass available outside Japan and only to foreigners/visitors for transport on Japan’s network of shinkansen, or “bullet” trains. My son and I will be using our passes to travel from Tokyo to Beppu, Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka and Nara. The rail pass is an economical solution for long-distance trips and for travel further outside city centers. There is, however, the question of how to travel within Japan’s humongous metropolitan areas. read more…
Saturday, June 13, 2009 dawned a bright, pretty day if not a bit humid. To be expected around this time of year in the Gulf Coast area. The atmosphere hung heavy with a heat index rivaling that of the Serengeti. But nothing would stop us from making that trek to our local library in order to turn in our passport application. Trek we did. Turn it in we did. But have we received a passport? Nope!
Several weeks have passed and the fear of not receiving my son’s passport in time for our trip has gripped my heart like a vise. Religiously I’ve checked The U.S. Department of State’s Travel webpage (direct link here), hoping that by some miracle the status has changed from “currently being processed” to “already sent it to ya, now stop clicking our links!!!”. No such heavenly happening had taken place as of this morning. So, with shaking hands and thumping heart, I called the dreaded toll-free phone number (1-877-487-2778) and waited a surprisingly short amount of time before speaking with a customer service “agent”. read more…
Just a quick post because I’m excited about the full day of Japanese language learning I will experience on edufire today (Sunday, June 28, 2009)
10:00am Japanese Dialogues w/Korey Keen
11:00am Japanese Together From Scratch (Episode 2) w/Marzia
1:00pm One Step Closer To Speaking Fluent Japanese w/Ginny Kim
3:oopm Veteran Japanese Beginners Class w/Ginny Kim
And let’s throw in some Social Marketing, just to round things out a bit…
4:00pm Learn Advertising via Bum*vertising w/Koichi
You should come join me. Take individual classes or choose as many as you want for the low-low (low) price of $29.00/month with the eduFire Superpass.
Just kidding!!!
But if you’re from a small town as I am, the idea of driving in Japan is pretty intimidating. First off, there are millions of people and literally, thousands of cars on the roads at any given time. Japan is a busy place and often, folks are in a hurry to get where they’re going. The impact of a rushed society on traffic can be absolutely harrowing. Not to mention the hordes of pedestrians crossing the roads, as well as sharing the streets with motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles.
Last year, I took this video of a street crossing in Shibuya. I was waiting for friends in a Starbucks coffee shop right across the street from the infamous Shibuya station where the statue of Hackiko, the faithful dog sits at the exit.
As you can see, there’s a lot to contend with while driving in Japan and it can be quite an undertaking. Not surprisingly, most foreign visitors rely on walking and public transportation rather than renting a vehicle to drive themselves. If you are amongst the brave of heart, however, you can apply for an International Driving Permit in the U.S. which gives you permission to drive in Japan.
One of the first things to know about Japan is YOU NEED YEN TO GET IN! It’s illegal for vendors of goods and services (public transportation, stores, restaurants, etc) to accept payment in foreign currency so it’s always a good idea to have a at least a little Japanese yen on you when you arrive. Besides that, Japan’s tourist industry is a hard cash industry and is highly centered around the country‘s own currency, so for foreigners visiting (especially for the first time) it’s important to understand WHEN to YEN. Questions concerning cash that should be rising to the forefront of your mind as you prepare for your trip should include:
- WHAT does Japanese yen look like?
- WHO’s going to help me convert my home country’s currency to Japanese yen?
- HOW should I convert my home country’s currency to Japanese yen?
- WHEN should I convert my home country’s currency to Japanese yen?
- WHERE should I convert my home country’s currency to Japanese yen?
Just might be the weather depending on the time of year you decide to travel. Last year I arrived in Tokyo on November 9th and the weather was just right. Not too hot, not too cold and with just the right amount of crispness in the air to suit my tastes. Seems like autumn had come a little early to Japan last year and I was there just in time to enjoy the fall foliage and myriad color changes (see photo at left).
Just as with just about anywhere on Earth, the weather in Japan goes through seasonal changes and it’s important to understand what the climate might be like while you are there. There’s nothing worse than packing for the wrong season!!! Since I will be traveling this year in August, let’s start with Summer!!! (we’ll cover other seasons in other articles). read more…
I’m Payton - I’m 15. My friends call me BabyBeeZy but you can call me P-BeeZy. My mom is kinda old but not, like real, real old and this is her blog. She’s pretty cool but sometimes she’s totally weird. Like this morning. It’s Saturday so I’m sleeping in while she’s running “errands” around town. She always does this on Saturdays. Sometimes she just goes and goes like the Energizer Bunny. So anyway, she calls and says for me to get ready cause I need to go for my passport. She’s gung-ho for me to go to Japan with her this year. To be honest, I’m kind of excited but don’t tell her I said so.
So back to the passport … read more…
