{"id":3477,"date":"2023-11-26T17:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T22:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/?p=3477"},"modified":"2023-11-26T17:41:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T22:41:41","slug":"japan-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/?p=3477","title":{"rendered":"Japan 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been almost 5 years since I last step foot in Japan! I can’t believe how much time has passed since the pandemic started and how overdue this visit has been. I was lucky I had a full 8 days in Japan this time, but even though I majorly tried to cram everything in, it was definitely not enough time to do everything I wanted. Luckily I was able to meet friends, eat all the foods I was craving, maximize the value of my JR Pass, and take advantage of the cozy fall weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason I was traveling in November was to coincide with the delegation heading to Kariya for the homestay program. However it was still a coincidence I ended up on\u00a0the same flight with the rest of the group, as I had booked my ticket months in advance. Flying with Air Canada is also a hit or miss these days, as our flight out of Pearson was delayed two hours due to an unscheduled maintenance issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight itself was fine \u2013 AC Premium Economy did have nicer seats, but it really wasn’t worth paying extra for it as the perks were minimal. However\u00a0I was surprised by the new in-flight texting option. That really came in handy during the flight as I was able to coordinate my dinner plans for that evening while still flying. (Side note: I cancelled because of the two-hour delay.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

After landing in Haneda it still took\u00a0some time to get to the terminal. We were quite far from the gates so we had to load onto buses to take us to the terminal. While the rest of the delegation waited to hear updates for their connecting flight to Nagoya, I headed out on my own to go through immigration and customs. One of the new things I found on this trip was the adoption of QR codes and electronic form submissions. I’ve been so used to submitting paper copies that it didn’t occur to me that I could have pre-filled\u00a0the forms online. They still had paper forms available,\u00a0so it wasn’t a hassle either way, but next time I’ll\u00a0definitely remember to\u00a0take advantage of the new system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I collected my luggage and made it out to the arrival hall, I headed straight to the JR East Travel Service Center\u00a0to exchange my voucher for the JR Pass. I was so happy I purchased my voucher before the prices went up astronomically. Buying the pass at just\u00a0\u00a529,650\u00a0was such a steal \u2013 I pretty much got my value’s worth from the first three days I was using it. I was also lucky there was no line up in front of the office, so I was able to get everything done quickly. Next was waiting for the bus to take me directly to Oimachi Station, where I was staying for my first night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I finally made it to Oimachi by\u00a09pm and got checked in at my hotel with their new self service machines. (Again, amazed by how things have become automated in the past 5 years.) I was hungry but didn’t want to venture too far for food, so I ended up eating champon and gyoza at a restaurant next to\u00a0the station. It was hardly the best meal I had on this trip, but for\u00a0\u00a5910 I’m not complaining. I was just grateful\u00a0I made it to Tokyo in one piece. =)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been almost 5 years since I last step foot in Japan! I can’t believe how much time has passed since the pandemic started and how overdue this visit has been. I was lucky I had a full 8 days in Japan this time, but even though I majorly tried to cram everything in, it was definitely not enough time to do everything I wanted. Luckily I was able to meet friends, eat all the foods I was craving, maximize the value…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3477"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3483,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions\/3483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenny-chan.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}