One week from today we will be boarding our plane to Japan!
We have decided to backpack it through our trip, which will be a first for me. Buddy already purchased his new backpack, which I also like and will be ordering sometime today (the female version). Because we will be traveling by bus and train throughout our trip, we thought backpacks would be the easiest type of luggage to deal with.
Last night we had a good chat with a friend who spent a period of time living in Japan - he had some great tips for us! The one that resonated with me the most was "in everything you do, just lead with your heart and you will be fine." I hope that's how I live in my day to day existence, but what a beautiful reminder it was.
The past few days I've been finalizing some of the day tours we plan to take while there - one is called "Dynamic Tokyo" and takes us to the observatory on Tokyo Tower (Japan's version of the Eiffel Tower), to a traditional Japanese garden and tea ceremony, into the Imperial Palace, on a river cruise through Tokyo Bay, through a visit to Kannon Temple in Asakusa, and then a drive through Ginza (the famous high-fashion shopping district).
Getting more excited by the day!!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Japan-o-rama!
As of midnight last night, we FINALLY have all of our lodgings in Japan booked and confirmed! What a relief!
Here is our itinerary: two nights in Tokyo at The New Otani in the Akasaka region, then travel to Mt. Fuji and Hakone with one night at Fujiya Hotel in Hakone-machi, then on to Kyoto where we'll spend three nights in a ryokan called The Three Sisters Inn (this is traditional Japanese-style lodging where you sleep on the floor on tatami mats and a futon!). After Kyoto we have one more night in Tokyo at the Shinjuku Prince Hotel right in Kabuki-cho!
Buddy and I had fun looking at all the options, but it's really overwhelming. I'm sooooo glad that we made the decisions and now we are done. We did most everything over the internet, with the exception of the ryokan. It was recommended in a guide book we're using and we found great reviews online, but they don't even have a website. So Buddy called Japan to make the reservation (plus some email exchanges to finalize it) and we were both nervous for some reason. It was pretty funny - my heart was beating really fast and Buddy was sweating like crazy. I hope that's not how we feel when we're actually in Japan! :-)
We also purchased our Japan Rail passes to get us around the country on the bullet trains, and we've narrowed in to a couple of day tours that we might want to book. All in all things are coming together and it's very exciting!!!!
Here is our itinerary: two nights in Tokyo at The New Otani in the Akasaka region, then travel to Mt. Fuji and Hakone with one night at Fujiya Hotel in Hakone-machi, then on to Kyoto where we'll spend three nights in a ryokan called The Three Sisters Inn (this is traditional Japanese-style lodging where you sleep on the floor on tatami mats and a futon!). After Kyoto we have one more night in Tokyo at the Shinjuku Prince Hotel right in Kabuki-cho!
Buddy and I had fun looking at all the options, but it's really overwhelming. I'm sooooo glad that we made the decisions and now we are done. We did most everything over the internet, with the exception of the ryokan. It was recommended in a guide book we're using and we found great reviews online, but they don't even have a website. So Buddy called Japan to make the reservation (plus some email exchanges to finalize it) and we were both nervous for some reason. It was pretty funny - my heart was beating really fast and Buddy was sweating like crazy. I hope that's not how we feel when we're actually in Japan! :-)
We also purchased our Japan Rail passes to get us around the country on the bullet trains, and we've narrowed in to a couple of day tours that we might want to book. All in all things are coming together and it's very exciting!!!!
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