Skip to main content

Japan japan...6 days to go

Yes! 6 days to go before our family trip to Japan! I can’t tell you how excited I an about this! I’ve been on several trips but this one I know would be quite special since we’re doing this as a family, yes all three kids including!
So being the super anxious person that I am, I can’t stop thinking of what else to do and plan for. I’ve read dozens of articles about japan tours and to dos but I can’t seem to finish my detailed IT for our 5-day trip. Is it the jitters, the excitement, or both, I don’t know all I know is that I just want to share this feeling and probably the prep experience. This piece might be useful for semi-OC moms like me who just needs to plan, plan and plan ahead about everything. So here’s the list of my prep journey and I hope it helps on your future trip to Japan...
1) Tickets! Let me tell you first and foremost that I am not an affluent person. We’re a middle class family of 5 and I work as an officer in a large company but I cannot afford to buy 5 round trip tickets to Tokyo at full price! No way! Not it if I can help it with my Getgo points! I got our tickets about 6 months ago during a getgo points sale. In total I paid 5,000 points and only a bit north of  P11k! Yes your read it right only P11k for the 5 of us, roundtrip to and from Narita. When I tell people this, they either think I am exaggerating things or I’m just flat out lying. But it’s totally true! So you guys need to take th getgo seat sale seriously from now on because it’s the best thing that happened to travel junkies like me.
2) Visa! Got our tickets last March but held on to get our Japan Visa til Sept. Why because getting a visa is really not that difficult! I have read horror stories from those who have been declined and believe me when I tell you that I doubted myself several times up to the last minute before we claimed it from our travel agency. It was such a huge relief when I finally saw our visa pasted on our passports. So you might ask for the list of requirements and procedures right? Well I won’t even try to  to list them anymore because you can type in “Japan Visa Requirements” in google and you can find hundreds or blogs and articles about them. But one important thing I can share with you is that you need to have a stable source of income and a reasonable amount of money in the bank. I only showed 100k per person using our joint account. So I guess it varies depending on what you need for your travel.
3) Hotel accommodation!. I booked a good 3-star hotel in May, with a free cancellation option.  Got it for 60,000Yen, less than P30k for 4 nights, nice catch right.  Sure thing! Because when I checked for hotels now cheapest of the range dibs from P50,000 to P100,000!  And the hotel that I chose is already fully booked.  Great planning right?
4)  Entrance to activities! I came to terms with this already, this is something that I can either purchase by faith online or risk on the day of my visit.  I decided, with my husband's encouragement to just take a risk on the day of our visit.  Of course we plan to go to Disneyland and to the famous science museums but I don't know if we can make it to the other great spots in Japan like the Harry potter studio in Osaka.  I don't even know if we can make it to Osaka at all.  You see, with 3 kids on my heals I doubt if we can go further than Tokyo.
5)  Yens!  I regret buying yens later that I should have.  I wanted to see how the exchange rate will pan out once the ber months came in.  I'm not sure if I was able to gain more because of the waiting.  But anyway I just changed about 160,000 yen for our trip which is right smack my budget including accommodation.  I will have a liquidation for you when I get back, hopefully we wont be able to spend all the yens that we have.

With only a few days to go, I really can't get my mind off our trip.  I'm sure my husband is equally excited as I am.  I have my detailed IT ready, I have all what we need for documentation.  We have the money and the plan.  All that's left is for time to fly for us to finally enjoy this momentous occasion...

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments! God bless!

Popular posts from this blog

Number 1 Restaurant: an unsolicited review

I just had to write about this great new family resto we've been liking since we found it! I'm not sure if they have other branches but I do pray they expand soon. I'm talking about a place called Number 1 Reataurant located at SM East Ortigas. First of all, I don't even know what type of restaurant it is because of the wide and i mean wiiiide array of choices that it offers. It's like a Jollibee, Tokyo tokyo, Bonchon and Mang Inasal rolled into one! Amazing! Second, the food is good. I can't say it's exceptional but it more than ok for a fast food joint. And lastly, the price is awesomely affordable! For a family of 5, we've been able to order for all of us a total of 5 dishes for only P577 drinks included! With the taste, spread and price, Number 1 resto is definitely something worth mentioning! Can't wait til our next visit!
Post a Comment
Read more

Milleneals were able to save during the pandemic and they need to invest now

I got invited by people from Vista Residences to talk about Investing Tips for Millleneals.  This will happen on Dec 1 via their Official facebook account.  Please see here to registration link. https://www.vistaresidences.com.ph/  https://www.facebook.com/VistaResidencesOfficial/posts/3825522130801187 As I was mulling over the topic for my talk, I needed to do some research on this generation which has been misjudged and misunderstood by the older gen, including mine (Gen X).  But as I conclude my deck, I realized that every generation has gone through that stage in life where self-realization is a foremost need.  Sometimes more than financial stability, the need to find the self is I think one of the most important ideals for the said Gen Y.  This is evidenced by its high level of patronage of travel promos and DIY get away trips by most of the middle class even those belonging to the lower middle class.  I remember one of my staff in the office tel...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balik Probinsya Program: Preparing for the new normal

Vista Land supports the Balik Probinsya program by offering several affordable house and lot packages in hundreds of locations nationwide. The government recently extended the ECQ in Metro Manila and critical areas of the country to May 15, 2020.  While the rest of the world continue to battle the dreaded virus, PH has more worries ahead.  the economy is on the brink of collapsing and people's lives are also on hold because of fear and  uncertainty.  The different Department of the government each has its own contribution to the Task Force that is helping each other to solve the crisis.  But left out in the picture at least for now are the economists that would like to push for more detailed plans on how to revive the economy after the COVID crisis. DOH on the other hand is still on the limelight sharing it with the DSWD in making sure that the spread is controlled and that people would have food on their plates everyday. Short term stops are on its way ...
1 comment
Read more