I’m ready to go…
Starting to feel anxious, feel like cancelling the trip. Happens to me a few days before I depart Singapore to places very far away.
"I’ll get used to it.", that’s what I tell myself.
Upon arriving in Japan, my life in Singapore and Vana’diel would feel like a dream. And when I get back to Singapore, my days spent in Japan would then feel like a dream.
For the past few days, I’ve been busy preparing my schedule and looking up the places I want to visit. An advice for those planning to go to Japan too, look up the places you want to visit first and the distance from that place to your hotel.
Because Japan is sooooooo huge, you probably won’t be able to visit them all in a week. If you’re going to somewhere far, check up train schedules so you’ll know how long it will take to get there and what time you need to wake up.
I’ve been living in Singapore (Area: 704 km2) most of my life so I didn’t expect Japan(Area: 377,873 km2) to be so huge. I thought one could easily go from Tokyo to Okinawa anytime. But it seems that these 2 places are so far apart, you have to take a plane.
Here’s what I have planned so far for myself.
9th: Wake up at 3, check in at the airport at 5, depart at 6am, arrive at noon, probably check in to my hotel by 4pm. I’ll use the remaining time to visit the shrines in Asakusa which is near my hotel.
10th: Meeting 2 Japanese friends (J & Z) whom I’ve met in FFXI, in Akihabara. We’ll be visiting a maid cafe!
11th: Meeting Z, we’ll be going to Tokyo’s Big Sight. Tokyo International Exhibition Centre. There’s a cosplay event over there. And perhaps Meiji Shrine after that followed by dinner at Shinjuku.
12th: I’ll be alone, going to visit Nakano Broadway. Heard this is the 2nd Otaku Heaven. Number 1 being Akihabara. Then if I have time, I’ll go to Sunshine 60 at Ikebukuro. And Shinjuku.
13th: To Fuji Mountain! Actually, I don’t know how close I can get to it. But first, I’ll be heading to Fujiyoshida city. The nearest city to Fuji mountain.
14th: Meeting Z again. Going to Nikko. It’s about 2 hours of train ride towards north.
15th: To Kyoto! I’m going to visit Heian Jingu, Nanzenji and Kiyomizudera. I think I’ll be walking. Estimated 8 kilometres.
16th: Going to Saitama to visit a shrine that appeared in Lucky Star. The Washinomiya jinja. It’s about an hour’s travel by train. I don’t think I’ll be spending a lot of time there so I might visit Akihabara again in the evening.
17th: Maybe explore Ueno in the morning before I pack up and leave for the airport. My flight’s at 6pm and I’ll be back home by 1~2am.
I’ll write up more travelling advice when I get back. Of course, I’ll also blog about this trip.
I’ve prepared maps, which are actually screenshots pieced together from Google Maps, and put them in JPG form into my PSP.
