Tokyo: Tips + Itinerary

It's a year late, but as I've promised, I'm sharing our Tokyo travel itinerary. Believe it or not, I still get a lot of messages and inquiries from my Osaka + Kyoto self-guided family itinerary up to now. A lot of moms message me about how thankful they are that they found my online guide and how helpful it was to them.

It is with the same spirit of sharing that I am also writing about our Tokyo trip. Hopefully, you will all learn something from it. I hope you can have the same fun experiences like we did, and avoid our travel mistakes.

But I'm also doing this so the kids and I have something to look back on a few years from now. I realized that in a few years, my kids are all going to be grown, and I just want them to be able to look back on something from their younger years. I don't even know why I'm turning sentimental all of a sudden.

I'm glad that my eldest is now old enough to help with planning. I just took it easy and shared planning duties with her.

In the end, she was the one who input all our travel details into the TripIt app. 

Just for extra measure, aside from having our passports, airline tickets, itinerary in my digital folder and in my email, I also have a printed copy with me.

 These slim type accoridon folders are perfect for holding travel documents neatly into sections which can be identified easily. You can get yours from ShopSueyStore

Here are screenshots of our working TripIt itinerary. We tried to follow it, but in reality it just served as a guide. It's really best to be allow for some spontaneity, making changes as you go along your trip.

Japan Airlines

We flew JAL for this trip and we were very satisfied with the in flight service.

Prior to flying, I already heard so much good reviews about the in-flight menu, and I heard right! The food they serve is exceptional for airline catering standard.

They also have a drinks menu. A good variety at that! Juices, soda, coffee, tea, wine, beer, sake and various liquors — were available. They even have an exclusive JAL drink, the SkyTime yuzu citrus fruit juice drink only offered through Japan Airlines.

All passengers end the meal with a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream.

I love it when our chosen airline still use metal cutlery

The in-flight meal is actually impressive. Masarap sya!

may menu card pa na kasama

JAL makes sure that passengers get quality meals by offering new in-flight meals designed by 6 young chefs fresh off RED U-35, Japan’s largest culinary competition.

The new in-flight meals are a variety of Japanese, French, Italian and Chinese cuisines. There’s also a special menu for children on board, a menu for vegetarians, for those with allergies who are avoiding certain ingredients, for the health-conscious passengers, and for those with special religious dietary needs.

*During our trip, JAL only flew Manila-Narita, but starting February 2019, JAL has opened up a direct flight from Manila to Haneda.

Airport Transfer

Most travelers recommended that the easiest and most convenient way to get to downtown Tokyo from Narita airport is by the Narita Airport limousine bus! They also said that they bought their tickets through Klook, but I just went to the webpage directly and ordered the multi voucher from them. You can select the appropriate voucher for your own need here.

PHP2,174 for a round trip ticket for one via klook as opposed to only paying PHP1,932 for one round trip ticket by ordering from the webpage directly. It's just a few pesos, but we are a family of 5, and expenses could easily pile up during a Japan vacation so I save however and whatever way I can.

Here we are waiting for our bus to arrive.

There weren't a lot of passengers on board.

The seats were comfortable with enough legroom to stretch our legs. The limousine personnel helped everyone with our luggage. all we had to do was just present our tickets and go in the bus. Sadly, the free wifi was not working.

For more details on the bus schedule and hotel drop-offs, check out the Narita Airport limousine schedule.

Air BnB

We chose to look for an Air Bnb within the Shibuya district. We have 3 teens and we figured that this area known for its youthful vibe is a good fit for our family. The teens can go around on their own, while the older ones can choose to rest back to rest. There are a lot of places of interests in a safe walking distance away.

Our home in Tokyo for 10 days

Wi-Fi

It's ironic that for a country as modern as Japan, free access to WiFi is so hard to come by. Having said that, one of the most valuable things you can have in Tokyo is a pocket Wi-Fi device.

I paid Y6,990 (around P3,200) for 10-day rental of the premium pocket wifi offered by Global Advanced Comm. Although they can deliver to us, our Air BnB host advised us that she won't be on-site to pick up the item. I just claimed the package at Narita terminal 2 by presenting my passport.

Pero guys, di gumana the whole time. We emailed them to complain. We tried restarting and resetting to no avail. In the end, we decided to ask for a full refund because we were not able to utilize it. I do not recommend!

I sent back the package via the post office. It's a good thing there was one near us.

Tax-free shopping

One of the good things about shopping in Japan is to be able to purchase items tax-free. Usually, a minimum purchase of JPY5,000 will entitle you to this exemption.

Here's the simple procedure:
1) Show your passport upon purchase
2) Pay and sign the tax-free agreement provided (this will be attached to your passport)
3) Display your passport at customs when leaving the country
More Tokyo posts in the coming days!

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