Sailor goes to Japan!

[Sailor Sexy]

Yes, after years of saying how I've gotta go, gotta go, I finally got my act together and booked a travel package to Japan. I'm pretty stoked about it, as this will be one of those events that I always remember. It'll basically be a 10 day escorted tour. Normally I'm not real big on tour groups, but from what I understand, this is supposed to be a small tour group, and I felt that for my first time out there I probably could get a better feel for the place if I'm with a guide who not only knows the area infinitely better than I could, but hopefully will be interested in showing these sights to us. This is a basic rundown of what the tour is going to be like:

July 11th - Leave Boston at 9:30 AM, change planes in Chicago, continue flight to Los Angeles. This is where the package officially leaves from. Take off from LA and head to Narita airport in Tokyo.

July 12th - Arrive at Narita at 3:30 PM (I know there are time zone adjustments, but damn, that's still gonna be one brutal flight). Here I will check in to the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. Seems as if this time is basically ours to do with as we please. In order to stave off jet lag, I'll force myself to stay awake until normal sleep hours. It's rough, but no sense in screwing up my trip by being all out of sorts for more than one day. Time's a wasting after all!

July 13th - Here's where the tour pretty much kicks off. We'll be touring around Imperial Palace Plaza, and then off to Asakusa, where we'll go through the Nakamise Arcade and then on to Asakusa Kannon Temple, and then to the Meiji Shrine.

July 14th - A free day in Tokyo. There is the option to join a tour group going to Nikko to see the Toshogu Shrine, but let's face it, I'm an otaku, and that can only mean that this day will be spent mainly in Akihabara. It would be a crime to come to Tokyo and not go there, it really would. I expect a good part of my souvenir budget to be blown here. Mmmm, full body pillows (don't ask)

July 15th - The tour goes to Tsukiji, namely a fish market. As I live on the coast, I don't expect much from the morning here, but I'll go with an open mind anyways. After that, it's off to Mt. Fuji. From the sounds of it, we'll only be ascending to the halfway point, but that's fine, just being there is an experience in itself. Then there's a cruise on Lake Ashi, and then we ride a cable car up Mt. Komaga-take. Staying the night at the hotel in Hakone, the Hilton Odawara.

July 16th - We'll drive to Mishima, and from there we'll board the Bullet Train to Kyoto. This too was one of those things that I absolutely needed to have in this trip. Of the things that I must do/see, Tokyo Tower, Mt. Fuji, Bullet Train, traditional inn. Yeah, it's pretty touristy, but hey, I'm a tourist, it's not like I'll be mistaken for a local anyways. Anyways, once we arrive in Kyoto, those that are just going by the tour package will go to their hotel, but this night also has the option of staying in the Yoshi-ima Ryokan, which is a family run traditional Japanese inn, located in the Gion district. This will include a Japanese breakfast, dinner, and tea ceremony. I'm already spending $7000 on this vacation, so what's a couple hundred dollars more for the kind of hotel experience that I have long envisioned?

While we're in Kyoto, there will be a pretty large and famous festival going on, the Gion Festival, which apparently runs pretty much the entire month of July! This is another one of those things that just had to be experienced, since when I think of summer in Japan, I think of festivals!

July 17th - Here we'll be exploring in Kyoto. We'll go to the Kinkaku-ji, Heian Shrine, and Sanjusangendo Temple. Then we'll head over to Nara to visit Todai-ji Temple, Kasuga Shrine, and Deer Park (naturally, good to see that anime doesn't lie to me all the time). Then we'll head back to Kyoto for the night, and no doubt getting to see more of the festival. I really hope there's takoyaki :D

July 18th - We'll be visiting the towns of Inari, Uji, and Momoyama. We start the day in Inari where we'll go to a hillside temple which is surrounded by gardens and 1000 Torii gates. Then we'll head over to Byodoin Temple, but the part of the day I'm looking forward to will be when we go to Momoyama to visit the Gekkeikan Okura Memorial Sake Museum. What's so great about a museum about alcohol? Why, the sampling of it at the end! How can I say no to having a nice drink of sake?

July 19th - On this day we'll be heading out to Arashiyama, via the Arashiyama River heading through the Hozu rapids. I'll have a good chuckle if someone gets motion sickness. Sailors are cruel like that :) Once we arrive, we'll visit Tenryu-ji, which is the head temple of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. We'll spend the better part of the day exploring here, after which we'll return to Kyoto.

July 20th - This is another big day for me. We'll be heading to Karasuma-Imadegawa where we'll get an exclusive visit inside the garden grounds of the Imperial Palace. As I understand it, this is normally closed to the public, so I'm really looking forward to this. Then we'll head on to Kano Shojan for a traditional tea ceremony. We'll go around the Nishiki Market, and then return to our hotel.

July 21st - And this concludes the tour. From here it's another long plane ride home. I really have to make sure I get an aisle seat at least. I wonder how much more expensive business or first class is?

Anyways, there is a good reason why I'm making this topic, other than to brag of course. I know there are several people here who have been to Japan before me, and so I would like to get some feedback as to what to expect, things I should definitely do/see, experiences you would say shouldn't be missed, ect.

My only regret is that school will be out of session, so no girls in sailor suit uniforms :( Yes, I'm a pervert and proud of it!
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~Uguu!~

[Calvin]

[Thor McOdin]

If you have a mileage program, you can usually score a roundtrip business class ticket at 45,000-60,000 miles. Other than that, the tickets are usually a bit more and usually sell out pretty quickly. Still, you can hope that the flight overbooks and the flight personnel have no choice but to move you up for free!

As for jet lag, take it from me, Sailor, it is going to hit you no matter what you do. Sleep on the plane? Jet lag. Stay up all night before the flight? Jet lag. I lived in Korea which is in the same time zone as Japan. I live in the Mountain Time Zone right now and since daylight savings is no longer upon us, Japan and Korea are a whopping 16 hours ahead of me (14 for you in Boston). However, if it helps any, I have found that getting some sleep on the plane (and then going to bed at a decent hour in the Orient) will usually halt the effects of jet lag after the first or second day. You should probably avoid being a night owl, though. I tried that once and I was a very ornery person the entire day.
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Not all ninja codes are brewed equally. Here at Shinobi, we use the choicest Bavarian hops that are ripened to perfection. One sip and we will have you saying...nothing.

[Gil-galad]

I would definitely go first class, buddy. It's worth it on trans-oceanic flights. They're so long that coach is almost unbearable. Flying across the Atlantic in Coach is doable, for sure-- and much most efficient. But for the Pacific, the cost for First Class/Business greatly pays off in the long run. Afterall, you don't want to be sore and tired when you finally do get to Japan-- you want to be ready to go off and have some fun. :D And it does seem like you'll do just that. I'd love to travel to Japan someday-- but it's too expensive for me, really. I was looking into traveling in Southeast Asia, in Thailand and Vietnam-- as that's much cheaper.
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[Splendid Monkey]

Sounds like a great trip, Sailor! Wouldn't go for first class, though. Just make sure you get up and move around a bit from time to time and you'll be fine.

As for the jet lag: it affects different people to a different extent. It never bothered me much but some people get thrown off balance for, like, a week. I was never able to sleep at all on airplanes but like Thor said: there's no avoiding the effects of jet lag. Be they big or small for you.

Hope you have fun in Japan and I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiences on Suikox! :P
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So long! I gotta go do wrong!

[Yohn]

Sailor, if you don't eat meronpan, I'll drive to where you live and kick you in the shin. :/
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"And as the lion slaughters man, I am the wolf and you're the lamb." ~Blind Guardian

[Sailor Sexy]

haha, no worries Yohn, meronpan is high on my list of things I MUST have :D I mean, I can't pass up something that's been in like a bajillion different anime, now can I?
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~Uguu!~

[fuji]

That's awesome dude, very glad to hear it. Now... you had always said that people should take you in their suitcase, the caveat being, you'd do it for them.

Well.... here I am. I even have my own suitcase, with wheels. When are we going?

Oh yeah.... before I forget... TAKE PICTURES!!
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______ "We're still flying"

___ "That's not much"

"It's enough"

[Ujitsuna]

There goes Japan... :(

Sounds great! I hope you enjoy yourself there!

[Sage]

You can dig up my topic in Highland for what I did on my trip and see if any of that interests you. I doubt you have a moronic travel companion like I did so there's one plus...

As for jet lag, it didn't affect me in Japan. It hit me real hard when I got back to the US though. Just another possibility for you.

The coach seating on the plane was not actually all that bad to me. Of course, I had an aisle seat so I wasn't crammed in the middle between some of my closest Japanese friends, so it may be different for different people. Get up at least once to stretch your legs and you should be fine. I didn't sleep on the plane at all and I was fine.

You've hit the big things: meronpan, shinkansen, Akihabara. If people try to speak English with you randomly, and if they are not cute girls, then just say something that doesn't sound remotely English.

[Tullaryx]

SSF will be like an advance scout for me when I finally decide to re-visit the place. I was way too young to appreciate most of the plsces I visited. I don't think I even went to Akibahara, but then I was with the parental units when I went.

I shall have a list drawn up of all the thing you can pick up for me, SSF.
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[Leb]

Sailor is going to Japan?

You poor bastard.

[Marshmallow]

Looks like you'll be in Japan during the tail end of my trip. I'm going in April and staying til July for my Study Abroad trip.

Wishin' you the best of luck.