Japan

Hello ladies,
Has anyone been to Japan? We are seriously considering going there, but not sure if 14h flight is something I can really deal with Please share your experiences

Re: Japan

Please go!

I sent you an FM.

Re: Japan

it was awesome.

worth the jet lag and then some!!!!!!!! I will not lie, for ME the flights were horrendous. I don't sleep at all on planes so the flight going had me awake basically for 36 hours (we left Wed morn NY time and arrive Thursday night, 8 pm, tokyo time. I never slept. insanity.) and the direct flight from Tokyo to NY was equally awful. 14 hours of nothing. dh (bf at the time) was asleep...though I did hang out with the nice servicement enroute home from their stay in Okinawa ) but yeah...totally and completely worth it.

we spent 3 weeks there in 02. we went to all 3 main islands and visited as much as we could.

it is a BEAUTIFUL place. incredible really. Tokyo is insane, but really cool. we spent a good amount of time there in between visiting other cities. the trains are PUNCTUAL and it's so easy to get around.

Sapporo is the northern most main city. lovely. there is a nature preserve near by that you can visit. stunning natural beauty.

of course, there are the "main attractions" Mt. Fuji, and you mUST MUST MUST go to Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki. it's really an incredible experience and as sad as I felt, I wouldn't have missed that for the world.

I am wracking my brain trying to think of more...we saw so much in our time there.

from Kyoto we visited the Golden Pavilion. gorgeous and so peaceful.

we visited many shrines there.

the people are so interesting. we were always treated very well and they tried so hard to help us (even when the language barrier proved almost too great we were once sent to a Hot Dog stand when trying to find the Hard Rock cafe )

it is also EXPENSIVE. get very familiar with noodle shops and sushi bars. we spent over $100 on lunch the first day b/c we had no idea what we were doing (it was eel over rice for 3 people in a nice looking place )

If I think of anything more I will edit this post. but I highly recommend it. I'd love to go back one day.

Message edited 9/18/2009 11:11:02 AM.

Re: Japan

it is on our short list of places to go - but we are thinking of waiting for the kids to get older so they can come and enjoy it with us. (plus DS loves shin kan shen - bullet trains)


as for the flight:

I will say that I did go a little crazy on my flight from SFO to Beijing (13 hours) - I have written in my journal that I can see how people can go crazy on a plane - and I had 3 seats to myself.

The jetlag does take some getting used to - I fell asleep the first or second night at the Beijing arcrobat show

Coming back I did TKO (Stopover in Japan from China) to JFK and the video wasn't working and I was in a middle seat btween 2 people who didin't speak English- I thought I would die - but Tylenol PM knocked me out for 11/13 hours.

Re: Japan

One of my FAVORITE countries in the world, I've been there twice.

GO
GO
GO

You won't regret it for a second. Loved Osaka.. best city in the country. Also did Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Kyoto.

If you are there during baseball season, a Japanese baseball game is a MUST DO experience... nothing short of magical!

Message edited 9/29/2009 4:16:19 PM.

Re: Japan

Long flights are really not that bad. Bring a book, watch a movie and take a sleeping pill of some sort. In the past few years we've done abour 6 long haul flights (14 hours plus). You get used to it the more you fly! Go to Japan and then write a trip report! Haven't been but would love to someday soon

Re: Japan

Posted by BunnyWife

Long flights are really not that bad. Bring a book, watch a movie and take a sleeping pill of some sort. In the past few years we've done abour 6 long haul flights (14 hours plus). You get used to it the more you fly! Go to Japan and then write a trip report! Haven't been but would love to someday soon

Re: Japan

Posted by melbalalala

Posted by BunnyWife

Long flights are really not that bad. Bring a book, watch a movie and take a sleeping pill of some sort. In the past few years we've done abour 6 long haul flights (14 hours plus). You get used to it the more you fly! Go to Japan and then write a trip report! Haven't been but would love to someday soon

ITA - My longest was 16 hours.. since then a 14/12/10 hour seems like nothing. A 7.5 hour jig over to Europe feels like a breeze.

2 words: "Simply Sleep" pills made by Tylenol!

Re: Japan

Definitely go!

Japan was one of my favorite trips. It's expensive though.

Tokyo is like Times Square on steroids. It gets a bit tiring though. It was one big blur of ridiculous shopping, fast trains, and sushi.

My favorite was Hakone, the hot spring resort area. We took the train down from Tokyo. It was beautiful and terribly romantic.