The Rose&#39;s Grove

Leaving the 29th (well, technically late on the 28th, but that's just the bit that gets me to CA for the flight to Japan, so it doesn't really count) and I will! It'll probably take me forever to actually post them, like usual, but I will eventually!

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That was nice of the boy :D I've been looking at those for a while.

Enjoy Japan! We look forward to hearing your report for our own trip soon ;)

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Right now I can tell you this - buy your Japan Rail passes in advance. It's possible to order them close to time (there's an office downtown, and if you don't want to pay for expedited shipping they're happy to let you pick them up - I can give you the email and phone number of the office when you want them so that you don't have to hunt), but it's a pain trying to get it all worked out at the last minute. And if, like me, you really intended to get just the regional pass, it is seemingly impossible to do on short notice. :P

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We've decided that we're going to stay in Tokyo for the duration of the trip, and thus not get a J Rail pass (thus cutting the cost of our trip by some 600$). On the next trip, we plan to do more of a "train tour" through the county and we'll definitely be getting our passes then.

Thanks for the advice, though--it'll come in handy for our next trip :D

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Also, IIRC, the J Rail pass said we just printed out vouchers and could pick them up at Narita airport?

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No idea about that, but I'm pretty sure you're still going to want the JR East pass, if you're just staying in Tokyo. The city is HUGE (about 5 times the size of Seattle) and the train, from what I've heard, really is the best way to get around... Anyway, the East pass is only about $125, but there's a lot more restrictions on how it's ordered.

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I think the voucher one was for the "everywhere" pass, and cost like 283 Yen.

The nice fellow who sits next to me lived in Japan for a while (and his wife grew up there) and says that the expensive passes are probably overkill for our needs (and JR isn't the only train line in Tokyo), but I'll look into it :)

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I think what he's talking about is that you exchange the pass you buy in the states for a pass in Japan. The pass you get here isn't actually the pass. ...because that would be too simple, apparently. :P

That makes sense. Personally, I'd rather have a pass than deal with cash for the trains.

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Okay, I'm replying up here because commenting down there breaks the layout. LOL

This is the pass I'm talking about. It's all of Japan access.

I hear you on the cash... not my favorite way, either. LOL I'll look more into it. There's also subway systems (which seem to be cheaper, although you have to buy passes by the day >_<) and other fun.

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Yeah, there's a smaller pass that only covers Japan East (ie, Tokyo and surrounding) that costs less than half as much, but on short notice I wasn't able to *get* that one. This whole "you can only purchase outside Japan" thing strikes me as very nonintuitive.

Aaanyway, I've already purchased mine, so... *shrugs*

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I suspect the "only outside of Japan" thing is probably to keep them for the tourists and enforce whatever prices they use for the locals. I can think of other ways to do that, but...

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Oh, that's my understanding as well. It's just annoying.

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Do you know which days you'll definitely be in Tokyo? Can I still come down and visit for day? There will be internet in your hostels, so there's time to make more detailed plans, but thought I'd at least ask which days to focus on, assuming you're not too insane with packing and prep to notice this. :)

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Yes! We're going to be there from the 30th of October to... er... the 4th of November, I believe. (The 30th is arrival-day, though).

It would be awesome to see you!!!

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Wee! I'll give you 2 options then.
1. I come on Sunday
2. I come Monday night and leave Tuesday evening.

Either one works for me, but I need slightly more warning about Tuesday so I can get a room.

How do you and your ex-roomie feel about small eels?

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Yay! Either works for me - if you're up for staying overnight, I'm more than happy to have you over, but I do understand if that's too much hassle.

I should be specific - we don't have any solid plans for any of our days. We pretty much just have "things we want to do" and an understanding that some of those (museums, etc) cannot be done on Mondays.

Not sure, really, but I'm sure it'd be something we'd be willing to try (working on the assumption this is a food-question rather than, I don't know, a pedicure-question). K will try pretty much anything, and I'm willing for any seafood that isn't octopus or sea-mammal. They're too cute to eat. ;)

Edited Date: 2009-10-23 09:26 pm (UTC)

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Okay. I'll figure out which day after I get through the school festival today. I'll also try to dig up a picture of the eels I'm talking about and email it to you. The restaurant itself is awesome - 2 blocks from the hostel, couple hundred years old.

And any interest in the temple dedicated to the 47 ronin? Totally random, I know, but I need to run a Christmas shopping errand over there. I can always split off from you briefly though.

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Okay, cool. One thing I forgot to say, though - we didn't get in at the hostel you recommended! We're over at Khaosan-Tokyo Ninja (http://www.khaosan-tokyo.com/en/ninja/). I hope that doesn't complicate things too much?

(Also, yes! I think I remember exactly the place you're talking about, and I remember marking it as a thing we might want to try!)

As for the temple to the 47 ronin, we're totally up for that. I'm all about getting my history geek on, while I'm on this trip. ♥

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Okay, I dilly-dallied for a bit before having an epiphany about which day is best. I'm going to be there on Tuesday. I'm still figuring out if I'll come Monday night or Tuesday morning, but either way, Tuesday is the day.

I'm happy that you're up for both the temple and probably the restaurant. I don't think the temple is all that big, but I could be wrong. Last time, I got there after it appeared to be closed, so we were very cautious about exploring. And the eel restaurant is my favorite in Tokyo, so I'm more than happy to go there with you. If you haven't been to Sensoji (Temple) in that area yet, we should definitely do that too.

Okay, the last update will come when I know which day I coming, and then we can figure out how to meet up. (!)

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Okay, the results are in. Cost vs. amount of time gained means I'll come Tuesday morning. It's just the easiest thing to do. I can get to Tokyo Station by a little after 9:00 am. That's not to early or too late, is it? And then I can just head over to your hostel. Looks easy to find. Downside: last train to Sendai leaves at 8 pm.

I'll let you just get over to Japan now. Safe travels!

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