Ohayou, Japan! (Day 7) + How We Planned For This Trip

Ohayou! It's me again and I'm back for our Day 7 blog in Japan. And this is our last day in Japan actually which all sums up to going back to our homeland, Philippines. 😊🇵🇭

Alright! So, let's the blogging roll!

Here are my friends, just checked-out from M's Inn Hotel (Kyoto) heading to Osaka.

And we rode a bus again, like the usual, going to Kyoto Station.

And let me just share this kind of small thing that I appreciate in Japan, their bus seats have more efficient handles like this. 👌🏽

Then, briefing muna. Char! I can't remember why the girls' faces are like this. Hehehe.

Hello, Kyoto Station! OMG. This is real, iiwan na namin ang Japan. 😭

It's a bitter-sweet morning leaving Japan. My gahddd! 😭

Here we are now at the train that will lead us to Osaka. And we bought a one-way ticket from Kyoto Station which we inquired about a night before this day. 

After 1 hour and 15 minutes (approximately) of train ride, welcome back to Osaka na kami.

Just found this cute bullet train miniature. Hihi.

AND MY GAHDDD. TERMINAL 1 DAW. Nasa airport na talaga kami. 😭

Pika pika!

STORY TIME: We were 7 hours early from our boarding time. We got settled here at Kansai Airport at 12PM, while we board at 7PM. Maybe you're wondering by now what we did during the 7 hours of waiting. Okay, here we go!

FIRST: Leave our luggages at the coin lockers since we'll be going out of the airport after eating lunch. Will our luggages fit the locker? YES! One of our friends had an extra-large sized luggage and it did fit, believe me! Haha.

This was my medium luggage. And thanks to Ivy for lending me her cute luggage cover and the my bag tag was from my mom! Hehe. Thanks, ma! Love you! 💕

A locker slot is available once you see this sign in green. The instruction on how to operate it can be found at the center part of this locker section. It's like an iPad mounted on the locker door.

After successfully loading our luggages at the locker, we just roamed around the airport and looked for a restaurant to eat at.

Meanwhile, here are these bugoys fooling around. LOL. 😉

  

After we scouted for restaurants, I decided to just buy my meal from Lawson. LOL. Wala na kasi akong pera. 🤣

While on solo lunch, here are some stuff that I stumbled upon. Haha.

Pens and washi tapes! OMGee!

I freaking love the movie adaptation of this! 😍

I've bought this Japan flag sticker in replacement for the patch that I was dying for.

Japanese books. 😍

And then.. here's my very posh lunch. Haha.

Bento meal - Chicken Karaage with veggies and rice from Lawson.

And a desserttt! This super heavenly chocolate Mochi is super yum yum! 🤤🤤🤤

After we all ate lunch.. I decided not to go out the airport anymore because I have no money already! Hahaha. My goodness! Sudden change of plans! Haha. That's why I just chilled with these boys while they sleep. LOL.

 

I was trying to catch some sleep too but IDK, I just couldn't.  I was pretty bothered with the Japanese man beside me. I kind of want to comfort him because he looked so depressed and sometimes, I would hear him whispering to himself. All I felt that time was sadness and pity. And I was just shrugging the feeling off because I'm a complete stranger to him and I'm not even sure if he can understand English. Anywaysss.. I just people watched while waiting for our friends, who have went to Rinku Outlet Station to check-out some shoes, bags, etc. on a lower price. 

FAST FORWARD.

By 6PM, we started to check-in already for our flight.

After checking-in, we went straight to the Immigration Area which I'm kinda nervous of. Haha. I was bothered being asked by the immigration officers about my purchases in Japan because its receipts are stapled in my passport. Haha. Paranoid much! Thank God, the Immigration officer didn't ask about it! They'll just instruct you to drop those receipts and you're done. Haha. 

As for passing by the immigration booth, it was so so smooth! You will just have to scan your passport then you're good! Wala ng pa-interview katulad dito sa Pinas or in other countries. Haha. My goshhh.. I love you, Japan talaga!

MOVING ON..

After the checking-in, the immigration and all, we decided to buy some drinks from Starbucks and buy some last-minute pasalubongs.

And we all bought:

ROOOYCE! My gosh! Ang mura ng Royce sa Japan! It's 360 pesos only! 🤩🤩🤩

Then surprisingly, there are more interesting KitKat flavors at the airport. Hihi.

Like this Melon KitKat.

 And these flavors too! Grapes, Sake and Peach flavor. Hihi.

AT THE BOARDING GATE NOW.

We weren't able to eat dinner actually because wala na pa lang mga kainan beyond the Immigration gates. Badtrip! Haha.

Kaya snacks snacks na lang muna. 😉

Trying out this Fanta with the help of my friends' coin donations! Hahaha. Langya.. pulubing-pulubi na ako! 🤣

After some commotions and some complaints from our fellow Filipinos, we finally got boarded! Haha.

Hello from my plane seatmates. The 3 of us didn't get separated since we flew to Japan. Thank you, JetStar! Haha.

And this is where our Day 7 in Japan ends. 😬

Now, time for our DAY 7 EXPENSES:

(in Philippine Peso)

815.00 - train to Osaka airport

400.00 - coin locker

230.00 - Bento Meal

54.00 - bottled water

70.00 - Mochees (mochi)

165.00 - Japan flag sticker

55.00 - Washi Tape

360.00 - Royce chocolate

50.00 - dry ice for Royce chocolate

2,199.00 - TOTAL

But wait! I'm not going to end this blog yet because I want to share to you all the preparations we did for this trip (which is I'm very proud of!). Hihi. 😬

Are you ready now? 

Alright!

PRE-JAPAN PLANNING:

(in the sequence of what we actually did)

1. Book roundtrip tickets to Japan.

2. Pencil book hotels.
(We know that Airbnb's are cheaper but we were advised by our manager that booking a hotel is safer when applying for visa. Yes, our manager was that supportive to us! Hehe. We love you, madam!)

3. Apply for Japan visa.

4. Book our tours, transportation tickets, WiFi and others.

Among all of these 4 items, the 4th one was the heftiest of all! Haha. We had a hard time meeting each other since we only report to office once a week. Plus the fact that we are always busy at work, that we couldn't allot time to talk about our Japan itinerary anymore. Huhuhu. 

Thank goodness for technology! Because we were still able to meet each other despite of not seeing each other personally. (Hello, Skype!) Haha.

So there, we'll do conference calls, update our Google spreadsheet, share screens and all. And if you're wondering whether it's the 11 of us who would show up during our online meetings, nope, we didn't do it that way. Usually, it will just be the 3-4 of us. And I have no complains because it will be a total chaos if it was all, the 11 of us. Haha.

Truth be told, we've spent so many sleepless nights planning our 7-day itinerary in Japan, because none of us have been to Japan yet. And what/who helped us a lot in our planning was our office friends who have been to Japan already. Plus the YouTube Japan vlogs, the influencers that we follow, etc.

All in all, it was trust, patience, cooperation, volunteering, and a lot of googling that helped us survive Japan. Haha. I couldn't imagine myself doing all those hardwork alone! Kaya grabe, I'm so grateful for my helpful Japan friends! Hihi.

REALIZATION.

Our family and dearest friends do know how we got tested by this Japan trip. Again, I'll be mentioning this - our original flight to Japan got cancelled because it was the landfall of the typhoon, Tisoy. A day before our flight, Cebu Pacific had notified us that our flight got cancelled. So the night before our flight, we were all panicking of what to do. Our only choice was to book a new flight with another airline. If not, then everything that we have prepared will be put into waste.

My gahd! Thank goodness to the join forces of our credit cards, we were able to book a new flight! Tuloy na tuloy pa rin ang Japan namin! Haha.

And if we didn't push through last year, wala, hindi na talaga kami matutuloy with all what's happening right now. Thank, God we didn't give up! I gotta tap my Japan friends for their fighting spirit! Hehe.

And as I end this blog, I want to thank my dearest Japan friends again who made the trip such a light, fun and memorable one! Just so you know, I'm really looking forward for our Tokyo trip! Kahit pangarap pa lang yun. Hehe.

Praying for better days ahead! Soon, we will all get through this COVID-19 pandemic!

Stay healthy and safe everyone! 💕

My love and prayers,

Dona