Mei ManuelKonnichassu!
Well! Keeping things hot here in my blog is nice and all and I might not be able to do it for a while since life has finally returned back to normal for a while. So, while I am still recovering from all the madness, I will blog!!!! Hopefully I do not post this guide late again! Hahahaha! Like the last time I did a series post! Hahaha!
For today’s series entry, I shall take you back to Japan and post the first leg of my Japan 2018 trip! Yup! You heard me right! Like what I said in my last ONE OK ROCK-related entry, I was actually working on my funds and backlog before I fly to Japan to watch the Nagoya leg of the ONE OK ROCK 2018 Ambitions Dome Tour. I just got back from the trip last week and while I could still remember things, best I write them now before I forget. Hahaha!
Please note in advance that I will divide the posts into various entries since they are photo plenty! And yes, the hashtag was devised by my crazy kouhai Faith. It stuck coz I also don’t want to think of a hashtag for the trip’s posts in Instagram.
To business!!!! Read the captions below every picture for the stories behind them!
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My flight to Japan was actually scheduled on a Friday and around the afternoon. My dad was the one who took me to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 since he had business in Manila that day. He did ask me why I didn’t pick a flight which was in Clark International Airport, which was closer to our place. Unfortunately, there isn’t a flight to Nagoya and back yet from Clark so I had no choice but to select the one that leaves out of NAIA 3.
When Dad dropped me off, I immediately went over to the TIEZA Travel Tax branch to pay off my travel tax. Every Filipino travelling out of the country must pay a travel tax before they can check in to their respective airlines. I didn’t pay my Travel tax online when I purchased my tickets from Cebu Pacific since I was still assessing then on when I should return back to the country. Fortunately, the lines for the travel tax were not that much and you can pay either cash or credit/debit card. They also have a branch in selected shopping malls across the country if you don’t want to pay in the airport and an online website. Although I must admit I tried paying online through their site but it was down when I tried. Something to note about TIEZA!!!
Here’s a photo of me while waiting for check in. I got a flight from Cebu Pacific as noted above and fortunately, my MNL-NGO flight was one of their sale tickets. Unfortunately, I was unable to check-in online using my mobile phone for some reason. Man, I wonder why.
This next photo is me with my friend Mai, whom I actually know since the first ONE OK ROCK concert in Manila. Ironically, we never conversed back then in person for some odd reason, then we were both in the Nagisaen concert, but never met. Most of our chats were online, until we ended up looking for flights to Nagoya and later on agreed to take the same flight so we finally met! Lol, we also had lunch in Tapa King. Man, I miss Taft all of a sudden.
Our gate was in the far end of NAIA 3… which was deja vu since the last time I rode a Cebu Pacific flight, our gate in Narita and in NAIA 3 was also in the far end of the terminal. It had a nice view of Resorts World Manila though.
Our gate, yay!!!
Here’s a photo close up of my carry-on luggage from Travelex Luggage. This luggage is actually just 2000 pesos and could be bought in any Landmark department store, Travelex store and even in Zalora or Lazada. Although cheap, they got quite a lot of variants for you to choose from and amusingly, it looks great. This one is one of their newest designs for small carry-ons and while it looks small, don’t let it deceive you. I was able to fit my entire wardrobe for 6 days in this and my toiletries!
The stickers were from my last Japan trip and they are by B-Side Label. They got some cool stickers and I thought of getting some Nagoya-related ones in the trip (Which I later didn’t manage to get). The green sticker is from my alma mater. I have some of my school’s old sticker designs and why not put it on my new luggage? Hahaha!
Here’s a picture of my ticket for the trip. I was also in 16F on my last plane ride. Nice for picture taking and sleeping. The number is also important to me since its the birthdate of my mum.
Me in the plane. Yeap, wearing some shades here coz it was too sunny! It also doubled as a eyemask. Hahaha!
The plane took off an hour late since there was high volume of planes leaving NAIA around the same time as our flight. Here are some of the pics I took!
We got to Nagoya sometime around 9 pm (Japan Time) due to the delay and man! I remembered my first trip to Nagoya since their airport is in a man-made island. Ah memories. Sadly I wasn’t able to see the full island since I arrived at night.
After a quick dash in the airport for immigration (even helped a fellow Filipino explain to the marshals about her Arrivals card), I travelled to get my WiFi from Global WiFi/ Ninja WiFi, which branch closes at 10 pm. I was fortunate enough to get it :)) The review will be posted after the entire series!
Since it was my first trip back to Nagoya after a while, I mostly reserved some of my tickets online so I don’t have to worry about it. In this picture, you can see my train ticket from the main station of Chubu Centrair Airport to Meitetsu Nagoya Station in the city. Chubu Centrair is at least an hour and a half away from the main city and a standard one way ticket to there costs 1280 yen if it isn’t the First class train. In my case, I got it for just 800 yen! You can reserve your tickets with HIS-Japan and they even offer roundtrip tickets from Chubu to Nagoya and back!!
Touchdown at Nagoya Station, I headed off to the subways to reach the Sakuradori line. Lucky for me, I saw this display for the Ready Player One film. There’s a security guard beside it and even joked with some of the passerby.
Empty ticket stalls in the subway… figures coz the last trip was around that same hour. This place is usually packed during work hours. I headed to the Sakura-dori line since it had the station which was close to my hotel of choice.
After a 10 minute ride from Nagoya Station, a brief walk in the effin cold Nagoya streets and a quick check-in in Japanese, I finally got to my room at Meitetsu Inn Nagoya Nishiki. The hotel is actually a business hotel and was recently renovated. I stayed in the same hotel when I watched the ONE OK ROCK Special Live in Nagisaen but I didn’t spend some time enjoying the amenities of the hotel. Now I did!
Here’s a photo of my room. By comparison to the last time I was in this hotel, the rooms were smaller and I barely had space between the bed and the desk. True improvement. Best part, had a great view of Nishiki and Nagoya TV Tower!
For some odd reason, I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom. Hahaha!
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That wraps up Day 1 of #yourmeiinapril – the Nagoya 2018 Experience! Day 2 will be divided into two parts because it has to be divided that way. Hahaha!
