#DestinationNippon: We were [almost not] off to Japan!

I’m actually embarrassed to say that I own a blog, but I hadn’t actually updated it for the longest time!!! In fact, when I opened this, I saw that my last post was after my mom had died in 2015. Since then, I’ve always said, “I’ll write about this,” but quite couldn’t muster up enough energy to do so even if I always had an idea of what to write about.

This time, though, I was determined to write a series of articles about our trip to Japan. Why? Because I 💓💓💓 our Japan trip, and I would like my memories to be etched not only in photos but in my blog where I can write more about things we saw, felt, tasted… This can also serve as a sort of reference for anyone who wants to go on a tour, or just as simple reading material for anyone who wants to know about what we did and experienced in the Land of the Rising Sun.

First off, let me tell you that we almost didn’t make it to Japan. We were really and originally aiming to go to Tokyo Disneyland in December, because we wanted to experience cold weather. It didn’t matter if there was snow or not, as long as it was colder than in the Philippines. Disneyland sounded fun too for someone like me who grew up watching Disney, although I haven’t really grown in height and I keep watching Disney movies … My husband C also wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday abroad, as well as the 12th birthday of my niece Kaye, whom we've been raising as our own. 

So we started planning early enough, around June (if I remember right)… But when I started scouting for how much Disneyland would cost, and the schedule, I always kept running across articles that said December would be the peak of the peak seasons and that schedules were full.

Disheartened, we thought of Hongkong Disneyland… But we didn’t know how long the violence in the streets would last and feared for our safety, so we turned our sights to Singapore’s Universal Studios. I got in touch with a former colleague who is now SG-based and asked for an itinerary.

At one of the kiosks
during the Klook event

Suddenly my husband said we would be going to Japan. Someone had told him that I might have seen such articles or full bookings because it was too early, and that I should try at a closer date, say three months ahead. So I got in touch with my high school classmate’s travel agency and asked if it was possible, and I was told yes!

We also decided to go to Universal Studios in Osaka for our plan B. And then, lo and behold, our original plan of a three- to four-day vacation turned out to be seven days, and we decided to do both Osaka and Tokyo.

We got excited with this!

This got me moving on the planning. I asked the travel agency for an itinerary in Osaka, and then Tokyo. But then we decided to attend a Klook Travel Fest at the World Trade Center. We went on a Saturday and looked at the countries with packages, asked a few questions, and grabbed some brochures. Upon returning home I looked some more through the brochures and website for Japan and marked a few, then convinced my husband to return the next day to book personally so that I could ask questions first.

On Sunday, we did return to the World Trade Center. While I was asking some questions about booking, the assistant said they would be having a big sale at around noontime but with limited slots. So we decided to stick around. We carefully finalized the selections of the packages I was considering and added them to my cart. With credit card details ready and typed in, I waited for the sale time – and when it came, all I had to do was click buy and – voila! The big discount (more than P12,000) was effected.

Hooray! This was our first sign that yes – we would finally be going to Japan! 

And our tour would be DIY. What a learning, adventurous experience it would turn out to be!

(Next: Requirements to complete)