It’s confirmed, we’re staying in Tokyo for another full day. A few minutes before we actually went out of our lodging in Asakusa, Enaka Central Hostel, we checked our phone for our flight schedule and found that it has been rescheduled. Instead of a midmorning flight, we’re having our flight from Tokyo to Manila via Cebu Pacific at midnight due to the typhoon that just passed Japan. We cannot be more happy with this news!

A JAPANESE FAMILY ENJOYING A VISIT TO MEIJI SHRINE

Quickly gathering our wits, we immediately formulated a plan. After visiting nearby prefectures like Nikko in Tochigi and Hakone in Kanagawa, a quick day tour of Tokyo was indeed in order. We consulted the Klook app for cheap Tokyo tours, but it was way too late to book one then. So, we did what we usually do best, do a Tokyo walk, DIY style.

It was on our last day in Japan when the rains stopped. We woke early, needing to catch our flight back to Manila via Cebu Pacific. With backpacks hoisted, we checked our flight on our mobile phone for the last time before heading out the door and, tadaaah, it was cancelled due to the recent storm and rescheduled for later that evening! You can just imagine our joy with that news; it means we suddenly have an extra full day to explore Tokyo on our own! Hurrah for cancelled flights! C went back to our dorm room, while I checked out the roof deck of our hostel—it was fully dry, at last!

ASAKUSA AT NIGHT

The previous night, we transferred to a second lodging. Coming from Wired Hotel Asakusa, our next accommodation was just a few minutes walk away, ENAKA Asakusa Central Hostel (now, Samurai Hostel Asakusa). We found this via Agoda, and it was the cheapest hostel we could find that’s within striking distance from where we were.

We mostly spent the light of days outside Tokyo. On our first day, we rested, tired from the flight from our unbelievably cheap flight from Manila to Tokyo via Cebu Pacific. But on our second day in the city, we woke early to catch a train to visit Hakone, hoping to have a glimpse of Mount Fuji amidst dreary weather. On the third, we scrambled across Asakusa for a day trip to Nikko. It’s all well and good, but how about Tokyo? Don’t we want to see Tokyo?

Of course, we did. We saw Tokyo after dark.

We really didn’t have much of a choice but to stay indoors, it was raining cats and dogs outside Tokyo. It was our first day in Japan and the weather wasn’t really cooperating. Good thing, we actually have something to do indoors a few hours after our arrival. Eat.

TAKING THE TRAIN FROM ASAKUSA

Walking from Wired Hotel Asakusa, then taking the subway from Asakusa to Roppongi Hills—thank you Klook for the very affordable unlimited subway pass—we took shelter at Grand Hyatt Tokyo’s expansive and warm lobby. A few minutes later and we were led to the sixth floor.

Raining, it was always raining. It was almost midnight as we splashed through the wet sidewalks of Asakusa, avoiding puddles and hugging ourselves against the one-digit coldness of the evening. We arrived at Senso-ji Temple, surprised to see the oldest Buddhist temple this side of Tokyo sans the usual throng of picture-takers. It was almost more than four years since I went here alone one rainy morning; it’s still raining now, but this time, I have friends to share the downpour with.

WE BOOKED OUR VARIOUS TRAIN TICKETS VIA KLOOK

Scoring an unbelievably cheap flight to Tokyo via Cebu Pacific, we arrived in Narita Airport all excited and pumped up. We were rarin’ to go but we still have to redeem our Klook vouchers for 4G Simcards (PHP882.00, 3GB good for eight days) we would use to surf the net while in Japan, Tokyo Skyliner train tickets (PHP990.00, one way) which we would use for the ride from the airport to the city, and most importantly our Unlimited Tokyo Subway Pass (starts at PHP382.00 for a one day pass)—this one is heaven sent, traveling around Tokyo is expensive, but with this, it became a lot cheaper. Like really, a whole lot. It was a breeze booking all these prior to our trip, we just fired up our Klook app on our phone, and it was easy as saying arigato gozaimasu.

If you’re gonna ask me what I would remember the most during my three-day jaunt in Japan, it would probably be the rain. It poured days and nights the whole time we were in the so-called Land of the Rising Sun. But it was not a deterrent for exploration. Drenched and soggy, we still braved the streets of Tokyo and Kanagawa as much as time would allow.

Japan used to be an unreachable dream that I thought would totally remain as a such. I’m totally indebted to Sony Philippines for picking me to follow Sony Alpha’s new camera ambassadors; Pilar Tuason, Manny Librodo and Pepe Diokno to Japan.

I’ve been using a Sony NEX5n camera since winning it from the KLM-DPP On Assignment: Europe a few years back and the Sony A77 and other lenses (I so love the E 10-18mm!)provided by Sony for this trip perfectly complimented it.

Subarashii Japan!

  
   P O S T C A R D S
   Impossible Japan

   D A Y  O N E  |  T O K Y O

   Manila – Japan
   Of Geishas and Kaisekis
   The Old and the New at Toranomon’s Konpira Shrine
   Almost Paris at the Tokyo Tower

   D A Y  T W O  |  T O K Y O  &  K A N A G A W A

   Rainy Morning to Atago Shrine
   Old Castles and Unending Rains 
   Rushing Lunch at Yumoto Fujiya Hotel
   Reveries on Cemeteries
   Mists and Trails at Hakone’s Fujiya Hotel 
   Secret Temples
   Braving Tokyo’s Underground
   Rainy Nights at Shibuya Crossing
   Two Nights at Tokyo’s Okura Hotel

   D A Y  T H R E E  |  T O K Y O

   Buying Memories at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street
   The Oldest Buddhist Temple in Japan
   Mementos and Souvenirs

The rain lashed and tried to tear away the umbrella from my hands as I approached the massive Hozomon Gate that precedes the Sensoji Temple. I was on a buying spree for souvenirs to bring back home at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street when I chanced upon its red gates. I still have a few hours left before my plane leaves for Manila and it’s only with good fortune that my last destination before leaving Japan would be Tokyo’s largest Buddhist Temple and not to mention, the country’s oldest.

I watched from the comfort of Hotel Okura’s breakfast nook as a transparent umbrella whipped off a salaryman’s hand on his way to work outside the streets of Tokyo. The rain had worsened on our third and last day in Japan. It wasn’t a good way to start the morning at all.
My original plan was to check the nearby Imperial Palace by foot. I’d like to savor Tokyo on my own slow terms. I wanted to see its side streets, its small stores and its ordinary life unfold by walking through its thoroughfares. But it looks like I’d have to come up with a quick plan B.

One of the things I really like about being sponsored on a trip is that I get to stay at really posh hotels. It’s something I usually don’t have the luxury for when traveling on my own since they cost as much, or probably more, than my whole trip expenses combined.

Sony Philippines was generous enough to host us at one of the nicest hotel around Tokyo, the five-star Okura Hotel in the city’s Minato ward. The area is pretty quiet for my taste, being surrounded mostly by office buildings and foreign embassies (49 embassies to be exact). Good thing it’s just a hop away from various train terminals so getting around through subways isn’t a problem at all.

The freezing night air blasted through the open gates of Shibuya Station. The weather had been sour through our whole day jaunt at Hakone and it remained the same when we returned to Tokyo. The rest of the guys wanted nothing but a bowl of ramen and the comfort of their soft hotel bed afterwards, but I was thinking of other things.

My mind is flashing images of multi-colored skyscrapers, swarms of chic Japanese citizens walking across a vast crossing and Blade Runner-esque neon Japanese billboards. I’m thinking of Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing.

Red, orange, blue and green lines intertwine like roiling snakes in a pit. It’s Tokyo’s underground rail system and not unlike deadly vipers, they’re scaring the heck out of me just by looking at them.

I really didn’t have a choice though; to get from one place to the next, it’s either the trains or the taxis. Both are expletively expensive, but the underground is considerably cheaper by miles. So the rails it is.

The first thing I noticed during my first incursion inside the Tokyo Subway was the almost zero absence of English translations for the signboards. There were a few, but they were sorely lacking for a tourist lost in Japan’s Hiragana and Kanjis. Asking around also proved futile as most Japanese don’t know how to speak in any other language beside their own.

Cherry blossoms fell like snowflakes along the sidewalks of Tokyo along with the incessant drizzle. It was our second day in Japan and the country’s weather was apparently not on our side.

My no-sleep plan was put on hold as rain started to pour after our Tokyo Tower night shoot. I was able to rest for two hours before my alarm blared its muffled tones below my pillow. Like a zombie, I groggily went to the window and fully awakened to a gray Japanese morning. It was still raining.

I told myself that I won’t sleep while in Japan. I’m absolutely serious. We only have three days in Tokyo and the first and last days of those three aren’t even whole days. Time is of the essence and I probably won’t die of sleep deprivation if I forget about closing my eyes for two nights. Err… I wouldn’t, right?

I originally planned on walking all the way to Shibuya where Tokyo’s iconic crossing is on my first night in Japan but the sky was foreboding of rain. The megalopolis that is Shibuya is about an hour away by foot so I scrambled for a Plan B.

One of the things I really like about Tokyo is their appreciation of history. You’d think that since the city’s real estate is highly valued, they’d tear down every old useless structure they have and supplant it with glitzy office buildings. Well, politicians do that in Manila, but not in Tokyo.

Along with Sony Alpha’s camera ambassadors Pilar Tuason and Manny Librodo, we strolled down the streets of Toranomon after our very Japanese banquet at Sakura Jaya restaurant en route to Hotel Okura. It was quite cold as we navigated the sidewalks, stuffing our bare hands inside our jacket pockets.

Face immaculately white, hair tied in traditional Japanese fashion and garbed in beautifully colored kimonos; the geishas gracefully entered Sakura Jaya’s Kasuga room. A sweet smile formed on her shockingly red lips and dimples punctuated her doll-like face. It was my first day in Japan and I’m actually meeting a real geisha; my plain sun-kissed face across her porcelain-white one.

I dream of Japan. I dream of white-faced geishas. Rains of blooming sakuras. Graceful white donjons and temples framed by poetic tree branches. The bright lights of Blade Runner-esque cityscapes. The snow-capped Mount Fuji on the horizon. Cosplay girls. Sumo wrestlers. Samurai warriors.

I awoke and saw nothing but blue skies and streaks of clouds from my window. I was flying 28,000 feet above the fringes of the North Pacific Ocean, halfway between Manila and Japan; it was almost unbelievable.

Not a month ago, together with some travelers, we were just discussing the impossibility of Japan for budget backpackers. This country is definitely not easy on the wallet.

Our plane flew lower and cruised over the coast of the Japan. Being picked by Sony Philippines to accompany its three brand ambassador in promoting their newest camera line was surreal. But seeing the microchip-like landscape from my window made me realize that this is no dream.

Incomprehensible Japanese words echoed through the cabin as we slowly dove down to Chiba’s Narita International Airport. Winter has just passed but I can see some white-topped trees dotting the landscapes below; my first real view of the sakuras.

Snailing past the immigration officers, we train-transferred to Narita’s main building, quickly exchanged dollars to yens and bought a ¥3,000.00 bus ticket. Tokyo awaits us.

“Please do not use your celphone while inside the bus as it might disturb the neighbor” a recorded voice announced through the PA system. Silence is probably more golden in Japan. But I really don’t mind, phones were the farthest thing on my mind. My eyes were transfixed on the unique Japanese scenery rolling before my window.

An hour later and we alighted at the three-degree temperature of Tokyo. I wasted no time after dumping my bag in my room. And together with S, an old friend from Manila, we quickly went out and tried to unwrap what Japan was all about. I pinched myself; I can probably stop dreaming now.

I distinctly recall a recent conversation I had with some fellow travelers about Japan and how financially impossible it was for ordinary backpackers like us. Over beers we mulled how one traveler we know spent more than a hundred thousand pesos for a two-week stay in the land of sushi and Hayao Miyazaki.

Those thoughts were running in my mind as I was training my camera upwards, over blooming cherry blossoms and the colossal Tokyo Tower. I cannot believe that not a month has passed since that exchange and I am now actually in Japan.

MY UNENDING GRATITUDE GOES OUT TO SONY PHILIPPINES FOR MAKING THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE, POSSIBLE.