Too many commas right? Hahaha! Tamagawa comma Ota comma Tokyo comma Japan comma. I just noticed it myself after reading my post title again. Anyway, Tamagawa is the place where we stayed in Tokyo last month. Keio-Tamagawa is the nearest train station where me and my friends stayed in Tokyo for more than 2 weeks. We went to different places in Tokyo. I actually forgot all the places we’ve been to. All I can remember is we went to Disney Sea, Shibuya—where a lot of people cross the street—,if you’re a Fast and Furious fan, this is where Han died. Shibuya is also a place where you can buy a lot of make-ups and cosmetics, like the Loft, Don Quijote, Shibuya Hikarie, and Seibu. Shinjuku—a major commercial and administrative centre, the central business district of Tokyo—it’s like Makati or BGC of Japan, the world’s busiest train station is also located in Sheeeeeeeenn-dew-keh (that’s how they pronounce it, shin is stressed longer compared to ju and ku). Chiyoda—The anime center of Japan, where you can find everything about your favorite anime characters!!!, Roppongi—this place is like the high-end part of Tokyo, like Gangnan in South Korea, and a whole lot of other places, nice places in Tokyo!
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Anime Heaven of the World
Chiyoda, Tokyo Anime Center
Rail Transit Routes in Tokyo. This is suppose to be not in landspace but this image will consume a lot of space, that’s why I just posted it in portrait mode, just download it and make it portrait to read properly if you can read Nihongo. Haha!
One of the many Tokyo Shuttles
One of the things that I learned from visiting Japan is Sumimasen. Yep, it’s the most useful word that can help you travel around places in Japan. Hahaha! It simply means “excuse me”, sometimes it’s used as “I’m Sorry”. We also use sumimasen to ask for directions and ask for a favor for a local to guide us and answer our questions. Even if we really don’t speak Nihongo, we can get around Japan by just talking to local by saying “sumimasen…” then say “where” then point your finger to your map. Most of them do understand the word “where”. But if they don’t understand, you can use the word “doko”. Like Keio-Tamagawa doko, it simply means, where is Keio-Tamagawa station. You can google list of common phrases and words if you need to know more.
One of the attractions in Disney Sea, Tokyo
A Bridge in Disney Sea
A castle in Disney Sea
Antique Ship View in Disney Sea
So why is my post title starts with “Living like a local…”? Even if the first two paragraphs of my post is not actually talking about living locally. It’s all because we’re actually living like a local in Tokyo via Airbnb. Hahaha! We booked an apartment near Keio-Tamagawa because it’s the cheapest one that we found in that booking site. Most of the hotels in Tokyo are very expensive. It ranges from $200 to $500, or more, in USD. Even if you search for a hotel discount or vouchers, it’s still relatively expensive than booking an apartment at Airbnb. It’s waaaayyyyy cheaper actualy, like 10x or 20x cheaper than booking hotels. You can find rooms for as low as $50 USD. Yes, it’s that low!
Our Airbnb apartment in Keio-Tamagawa
Nearest train station in our apartment
Kitchen Origin, one of the nearby shops outside our apartment
Tokyo is a heaven for shoppers and travellers like me. You’ll find lots of places to visit and 2 weeks is not enough. The only downside is that it’s quite expensive to shop and travel in Tokyo, compared to the rest of cities in Southeast Asia. I’ve been to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and other cities nearby and Tokyo is the place where I spent most of my money, and I only bought a few stuff with me, like two luggages with a few “pasalubong” for my friends and relatives in the Philippines. When I went to Singapore and Bangkok last year, I bought a lot of souvenirs, like more than twice that what I bought in Tokyo last month. So if you’re planning to visit Tokyo this year or anytime next year, make sure to prepare a budget of at least $5000 USD to enjoy the guilty pleasures and things that you want but you really don’t need, in Tokyo, haha!
I could have aaaaallll daaayyyy to talk about Tokyo and places to visit in Tokyo but probably it will be in my next series of posts. Pretty long blog posts like this are really tiresome to read. So from now on I’m going to make my posts short and simple. If you want to read the next upcoming posts, you can subscribe to this blog via e-mail. Just enter your e-mail, press subscribe, confirm your subscription by clicking the link that will be sent to your e-mail, then you’re done!
That’s all for today!