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Inner Pisces
Wander, Explore, Discover
From Sushi to Sumo: A Week-Long Adventure in Japan (DIY Itinerary & Budget Included)
During the first week of December 2022, my boyfriend and I plan to travel internationally to celebrate my birthday. We initially considered several countries, including Malaysia and Hong Kong, but eventually decided on South Korea. However, my boyfriend suggested that we consider Japan, as he loves anime and Japan is known birthplace of anime series. Intrigued by the idea, we agreed to consider Japan, despite being hesitant to apply for a tourist visa due to some requirements, such as Income Tax Return or ITR. Which we cannot fulfill since we worked as remote employees based in the other country or in other words we are not legally employed here in the Philippines. Nevertheless, we still decided to file the application and take the chance.
If you're interested in learning more about the step-by-step process for the visa application, click here The Ultimate Guide to Applying for a Japan Visa as a Freelancer
Tokyo, Japan
Mostly know that Japan is a modern and traditional city, and its vibrant culture is reflected in everything from its food to its fashion. Honestly, I'm not your typical food buddy, but you can surely enjoy their unique and delicious food here in Japan. Day or night the city looks like really bustling streets, towering skyscrapers, and unique neighborhoods, each with its own distinct character. And, visiting the winter season will surely excite you more.
What amazes me the most is their culture and values, they emphasize harmony, respect, and hard work. Isn't amazing that this was deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, and people are taught to show respect to others in all aspects of life. Honestly, I have heard a lot of bad feedback about Japanese, but all was a myth.
This can be seen in the way people greet each other, with a bow, and in the way, they interact with their elders and authority figures. They have a strong work ethic and dedication to excellence. This helped Japan to become a world leader in industries such as technology.
Preparation Before the Visa Application
Our first step was to secure our plane tickets and accommodation, which can be beneficial when applying for a tourist visa to Japan.
As we chooce the Cebu Pacific Airlines since we are used to it. Although there are several airlines you can choose, I highly suggest looking a cheaper flight ticket to reduce your overall trip expenses.
We booked our flight in December, assuming that our tickets would be costly. That's why I suggest booking your ticket 6 months or more in advance. Also, make sure that your ticket can be converted to a travel fund or rescheduled, why? It's because you haven't filed your visa yet if ever you got denied (hopefully not) you can still convert your ticket or reschedule.
We paid Php 23,625.00 each for our airfare, including the Travel Tax, Seat selection, 20kg check-in luggage, and Meal.
Please note that my expenses may differ from yours. They could be cheaper or more expensive than mine.
We booked our accommodation via Agoda(dot)com, we chose accommodation that has a free breakfast so we don't need to worry about our breakfast meal during our stay in Japan. This is also the cheapest that time, during December before we fly to Manila to process our visa.
Make sure to ask the Hotel management for the confirmed booking for visa application purposes. We spent a total of Php 13,303.61 on our entire stay in Japan.
After that, we take another flight good for 1 night only to Manila. We choose Universal Holiday agency to process our visa and they are located at Dusit Thani Hotel, Ayala Center, Makati City, 1223 Makati Metro Manila.
You have the option to send over your requirement via courier but as far as I know, the first priority was the walk-in applicants, and upon checking they will indicate on our application that we send our application in person, I guess that's a plus factor, rather than sending your application via courier. And for me its too dangerous to send your important documents via courier.
Application for the visa must not be later than 3 months. For example, if you are planning to go to Japan by June 2023 you have to file your application in April 2023. Because the expiration of a tourist visa is a maximum of 3 months. Multi Entry, Visiting Family, Studies, or Work-related visa is a different story.
So our story, we need to file our application earliest of December 2022. If you want to know the step-by-step tourist visa application, click here The Ultimate Guide to Applying for a Japan Visa as a Freelancer
After that, we gather all the requirements needed including the Visa application expenses. Again, my expenses may differ from yours. They could be cheaper or more expensive than mine.
Expenses
Plane Ticket - CdO to Japan
Plane Ticket - CdO to Manila (for visa application)
Japan Accommodation
Bank Certificate
Visa Application Fee
Accommodation in Manila
And any other expenses
Total
Php 23,625 (with return ticket)
Php 3,500 (with return ticket)
Php 6,651 (good for 7 days)
Php 600
Php 1,300
Php 1,050
Php 6,500
Php 43,226
Tokyo DIY Itinerary (w/ Budget)
This trip is special to me since I will celebrate my 27th birthday in Japan.
6AM - Flight to Cagayan de Oro to Manila
At around 3 AM in the morning, we reached the Laguindingan Airport to ensure we could park our car and complete the over-the-counter check-in process on time, as we had to be early.
Fortunately, our flight was on schedule and the check-in procedure was much quicker than during our previous trip.
TIP: One way to make your travel experience smoother is to pay for your travel tax in advance by including it in your plane ticket purchase. This will save you time and effort as you won't have to worry about paying for it separately at the airport.
Upon our arrival at NAIA, we proceeded straight to the Immigration counters. As we had recent travels and supporting documents such as return tickets and accommodation receipts, we were not asked any further questions by the Immigration officer.
I really love a comfy airport outfit, and I love my hoodie since it's from the "Yet to Come" merch of BTS! While waiting to our flight from Manila to Japan (1PM Ph Time Departure sched) I continue my work and take a quick nap.
While on the plane, make sure to prepare your Quarantine Fast Track, Immigration Form, and Customs Declaration. For less hassle just go to https://vjw-lp.digital.go.jp/en/
7 PM (Japan Time) Arrived at Narita Airport
The flight from Manila, Philippines to Tokyo, Japan takes approximately 4-5 hours and the time difference between the two places is +1 hour, as the time automatically adjusts to Japan time upon arrival.
After collecting our luggage, we proceeded to the Japan Immigration counters and bought a SIM card for internet access and a train pass card.
This is where you need to ready your forms or online quarantine, immigration and customs procedures.
And get your pocket wifi or simcard here at Softbank worth 10days or depends how long you need the pocket wifi or data connection and for your SUICA card, proceed to the JR Ticket machine. To get your SUICA it needs to deposit 1,000 yen and you can load your card. Mine was 9,000 yen + 1,000 yen.
Honestly, its quite difficult to ask questions here since most of the Japanesse dont know how to speak in English, so you need to be patient.
8:30 PM - Ride Keisei Train Line to Ueno Station
Google map is the key to a very challenging transport system here in Japan. You have to search your hotel location and find the nearest or most convenient station. Whereas, the nearest would be Ueno Station.
11:00 PM - Arrived at Kinsicho Station
Finally found our hotel location, and reminders if you are planning to go to Japan in Winter Season you need to be ready on your wardrobe or outfit from the airport because it's really freezing. We didn't expect the 2 degrees temperature from the airport (we thought it's tolerable) nah! it's like our thin jacket already got iced (haha I just exaggerate because the weather was new to me) and we didn't expect the city will drop to 0 degrees and almost -1 degrees. So, always check the weather forecast.
And their train has its own heater in every seat. So, somehow it saves us and keep us warm.
11:30 PM - Night Stroll in Kotabashi
Once we had checked into our hotel, we headed to the nearest 7/11 store for a late dinner. I was particularly eager to visit a convenience store as I had read reviews praising the quality of 7/11 stores in other countries with a lot of food variants, drinks and ice cream.
Expenses
Wi-Fi Simcard
Transpo will be calculated on later part
Dinner
Total
Php 2,672.70
-
Php 216.25
Php 2,888.95
Second Day
6:30 AM - Breakfast
One advantage of our hotel accommodation is it has a free breakfast offer. I also suggest getting accommodation that offers the same, so won't be able to think about your breakfast meal budget anymore.
8:30 AM - Ueno Station
We went to Ueno Station to get our Japan Wide Pass for tomorrows itinerary. We went here first since its the nearest from our location.
Japa wide pass helps us to travel outside Tokyo, this can be the cheapest way to buy bullet train tickets rather than buying tickets over the counter here at Japan.
Get your ticket on this machine
8:30 AM - Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Starbucks Reserve is a selection of the rarest, most extraordinary coffees Starbucks has to offer. To someone who knows us, we really love coffee and Starbucks was our comfort drink, and we can't start our day without a cup of coffee.
The ambiance really mesmerized me, they have their own roastery space and it's amazing that the coffee beans were passing through those tubes, they call it "Symphony Pipes"
If you love this pictures, please like and pin those image on my pinterest account
11:20 AM - Tokyo Tower
They says this tower is a symbol of post-war recovery in the center of the city. We booked our ticket here via look reservation. Unfortunately, the tour guide spoke in Japanese, which is quite difficult to understand but still it's nice.
I dont want to spoil our experience here, but one thing I suggest you need to make sure you wheres your way out.
2:30 PM - Suga Shrine Otokodan | 'Your Name'
The most iconic place of all–the steps of the Suga Shrine where Taki and Mitsuha finally find out each other at "Your Name" anime movie.
It's quite difficult to take some photos here without any photobomber, so it needs your whole patience and honestly don't have enough energy to take millions of photos since I'm already starving...
3:30 PM - Shinjuku | Omide Yokochō
Omoide Yokocho, is a maze of narrow alleys close to the West Exit of Shinjuku Station, The buildings are old and mostly run down, the food stalls were very traditional, and the visiting crowd multilingual. Tiny restaurants and open barbecue food stalls spill their smoke, noise, and greasy steam over alleys. This place is quite nostalgic since I usually see this in a movie they usually actors eat somewhat similar to this place.
and finally, we take our super late lunch, and it starves me a lot when I smell the food that sizzles.
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