Just returned from a trip, sharing my trip report and lessons learnt. What a rollercoaster.
**21 Dec – Arrive at Tokyo**
Arrived in the late afternoon. Travel from Narita to Tokyo is pretty straightforward with many choices, but one of them is Keisei Skyaccess which is about \~ 1000yen++ and uses IC card. Otherwise expect to pay \~ 2600 yen or 3000 yen for Keisei Skyliner or NEX. Both are equally convenient.
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Suica Pasmo isnt on sale in Tokyo. But I have my own.
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Weather was \~ 11C daytime 5C night, coming from a warm 32C weather in SEA, this was quite cold for me. Had Joto curry in Shibuya. Very nice reasonably priced place of katsu curry. Their curry has a particularly peppery flavor.
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**22 Dec – Domestic Flight from Tokyo to Hakodate**
Morning had time to kill. So I went to Tokyo tower. Did the tokyo tower stairwell climb (600 steps) with great pain. Essentially pays the same entry ticket price but you get to climb the staircase for a small card that acts as a certificate of your suffering. View was great.
Went to Haneda by monorail and it was smooth and straightforward. Really loved ANA’s check in system there. Self baggage check in was straightforward and boarding ticket on phone app makes it so much easier for me. My country was still using physical tickets and check in counters with massive queues.
Arrived in Hakodate in the late afternoon to a light snowfall. It was fucking cold even with all my layers up. Bus from Hakodate station only accepts exact amount in cash, no IC card.
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Checked into the hotel next to the JR station. Walked towards the bay, ate at Lucky Pierrots. Go for their no.1 burger set (Chinese chicken burger + lucky pote + drink), loved it. Took a bus to the mt hakodate ropeway. View was fantastic, but full of tourists. But I got what I wanted. Dinner at Hakodate beer.
**23 Dec – Hakodate**
Woke up to a sunny morning. Took the tram to Goryokaku tower. Went up for great view on a clear sunny day.
Took the tram from Goryokaku all the way to the other end, towards tachimachi cape. In winter, the roads are closed at the cemetery path. Just walk pass them and enjoy a quiet serene walk to the cap where u get treated to a nice view of the coast. Except in my case the snowfall became much heavier and the wind was howling at the cape, while trudging through about 20cm of snow.
At noon, walked towards Motomachi old town and explored the churches and old districts, then went back down to the bay. Had lunch at California Baby, a restaurant near the hakodate seafood market near brick warehouse mall. Their signature food is Cisco rice, which is 2 sausages with chili sauce over buttered rice. Portion was big but isnt as heavy as it looked, so i really enjoyed it. Shopped a bit nearby before going back to hotel to rest, then went back out to Hakodate bay area christmas tree.
There’s a fireworks show at the christmas tree every evening at 6PM. Ended the night with beer and back in the hotel to stay warm.
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**24 Dec – Ferry from Hakodate to Aomori, then Shinkansen to Morioka**
Checked out in the morning, took a bus to Hakodate ferry terminal, and waited for my ferry. The Tsugaru Kaikyo ferry costs \~ 3600 yen in winter and takes 3hr45mins to traverse to Aomori. On this date, there was barely anyone on the boat, so it was very nice and free. I took the standard ticket which is free seating in any of the open rooms. Protip, buy a meal and bring it up into the ship, the ship’s vending machine bento sucks.
Landed in Aomori in the late afternoon. Aomori snow was piled up really high, so most of the sidewalks are unwalkable, making me having compete with cars on the road. A bit scary on that part. Took a bus after a long walk to the Aomori JR station, then activated my Tohoku JR pass for 5 days. Also bought a Suica card here (why would there be a nationwide IC card shortage except for Aomori for suica)
Went to Shin Aomori station and took a shinkansen to Morioka. Checked into my hotel, bought some famichikin xmas set and enjoyed a dinner overlooking a rather heavy snowfall in Morioka town. What a lovely white christmas.
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**25 Dec – Morioka / Hiraizumi / Geibikei**
Went to Hiraizumi in the early mornings, walked and explored the two temples. It was a nice quiet walk. Unfortunately the lakes were frozen so it didnt make for a nice view I guess, but was a scenic place to visit.
This part was one of my biggest pain points in this trip. To get to Geibikei, you need to ride the 1hr long ofunato line from Ichinoseki (which has a Shinkansen stop point). The train comes every hour. So I waited for a train for 30 mins, rode for 1hr, sat on the geibikei cruise (very nice scenic cruise, no kotatsu nabe though, you have to reserve for that) for 90 mins, then waited 45 mins for the next train, then sat on the train back to ichinoseki for 1hr, then sat on the shinkansen back to Morioka for 30 mins.
Had dinner in Morioka amidst heavy snowfall again. The Jajangmen + chitantan is very nice albeit unusual meal.
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**26 Dec – Shinkansen to Sendai**
Took a train to Sendai. Temperature immediately +5c. Bright sunny day. Couldnt ask for anything better. Sendai is a big city like Tokyo so it was immediately more lively.
Checked into hotel, took the loople bus to Zuihouden and Sendai castle site and Osaki Hachimangu Shrine. Watch out for the chickens in the shrine, they’re quite cute.
In the evening, had beef tongue in gyuutanyaki tsukasa, a short walk from JR station at Aobadori avenue shopping street. The beef tongue was simply divine. So chewy.
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**27 Dec – Matsushima boat ride and exploration**
Took the train to Shiodome Marine Gate, took the Basho cruise boat up to Matsushima. Got lots of views from the comfort of the boat, it was nice.
Matsushima itself was a very nice walk too. From the Zuiganji temple museum visit, to the Fukuurashima island walk. Had lunch in Matsushima seafood market (order Kaisendon at the 1F, bring it up to 2F to eat at the tables) Seems to be quite popular with locals. Kaki Fry (fried oysters) is also a thing here and it was OK. I probably didnt like oysters much.
Went back to Sendai by train in the late afternoon, and then just went for a bit of shopping in Tokyo. Had hitsumabushi unagi at Tokyo Marunouchi building, it was also divine.
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**28 Dec – Yamadera day trip / back to Tokyo**
Checked out of hotel, and took a train from JR Sendai station to Yamadera (Senzan line, 1hr ish train). Very scenic place. Climbed the 1000 stairs up to the top of the mountain, where you are greeted with amazing views of the valley and the mountains surrounding.
Made it back in time for the train (once every hour) and then went back to Sendai, before leaving for Tokyo. Tokyo was nice and warm at 15C temps.
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**29 Dec – Tokyo**
Met up with a friend here where we shopped around in Ikebukuro in the morning, visited the pokemon center, etc. Then went to Shimokita for a nice stroll and lunch. After that, went to Yokohama for the gundam factory (scheduled to close in 2024 apparently). The gundam show, even though i know its a moving statue, stirred quite a lot of feelings within me. Felt like a kid again to see a giant robot start moving.
Took a long train from Yokohama to Ariake to meet up with my friends at Ariake Gardens food court for dinner and some pre-Comiket discussion.
I’m going for AM tickets in the morning, and early access tickets on day 2.
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**30 Dec – Comiket day 1**
This is where the fun begins.. I guess.
Woke up at 4AM, took the first bus to Shijo Mae station from Shimbashi, then took the first train on Yurikamome line towards Ariake station.
Learnt that the comiket queue system starts from the stations itself, so if you come from Yurikamome station you get sent to the east side queue which is in the east parking lot of tokyo big sight (TBS).
Queued at 6.12AM, they sent you to a location where you basically remember where u are in and have to come back by 10.30AM. I spent hte next 4 hours just chilling around.
Line moved again at 10.30AM, and we entered at 11AM. Most of the circles I wanted to visit already finished their stocks for small acrylic keychains, which is a bummer. Went around shopping after getting what I want from some circles.
Met up with friends afterwards, compared and traded goodies. Then we went for Yakiniku at Diver city.
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**31 Dec – Comiket day 2**
Now this is where the suffering starts.
I had early access tickets, so I tried out the first train this time. From Shimbashi station to Yurakucho, then to Toyosu, then to Ariake station. The first trains where jam packed with other weebs. since 5am first time.
When we got to the west side queue this time (Starts from Kokusai Tenjijo station rinkai line), everyone was just scattered around aimless. It took until 6am before a staff member directed everyone to start queuing at the Aomi bridge. Oh right, it was also raining nonstop at 5am to 9am.
Queued at aomi bridge from 6.30 to 8.30, then moved into the TBS upper west side area from 8.30 to 9.30 after getting our bands, then entered the west hall at 10.30 as early acccess. Immediately went for the more popular circles and got what I wanted. Spent the rest of Comiket shopping before giving up at 1PM.
The crowds on comiket day 2 are extremely rough. The middle of the halls are where people bulldoze their way forward towards wherever they want to go, so they will just shove at you and you might get your nice goodie bag ripped from your arms if you’re not careful. Damn these horny otakus.
Power napped in the afternoon, before having dinner at a standing udon restaurant at Shimbashi with another friend. Spent the new years just chilling at his place before sleeping back in my hotel. Watching new years start on NHK’s kohaku uta gassen seems like a very nice way to start the year, considering Shibuya banned all new years celebration this year and I didnt want to fight the crowds at temples.
**01 Jan – New years in Tokyo**
Woke up to a nice morning. Went to Tokyo Daijingu for hatsumode, queue was all the way until iidabashi station. Then went over to Ikebukuro for some sightseeing and shopping before meeting my friends for a karaoke session in Joysound. In the afternoon, we went back to Akihabara where we did some shopping.
Was at Yodobashi Akiba shopping for luggage when the earthquake hit. Building shook but it was more wobbly than hard jolts. Tokyo only got magnitude 3 quakes, but i immediately got a headache and my legs were wobbly after that. Saw how bad it was on the news afterwards.
**02 Jan – Flight home**
Parted ways with my friends in the morning. Had a simple doutur coffee breakfast, before going to Tokyo station to shop for omiyage sweets. Checked out and went to Haneda in the early afternoon for my flight. My flight was at 6PM. Saw the plane crash at the terminal. All departing flights were delayed by several hours. All arrival flights were rerouted to other airports immediately. My own flight was delayed 2 hours. I was shook throughout the flight.
Landed in one piece at midnight, family thought I was dead. I was actually interviewed upon landing by a local news station, but i think they didnt use my video.. I hope. That, was really scary for a start to 2024.
Lessons learnt:
1. It’s fucking dry in winter. My skin was cracking and peeling off. My native country is 70+% humidity but it drops all the way to like 30 and below in Hakodate. Buy skin cream next time.
2. Even with a humidifier in room, its still extremely dry. Sleeping was difficult.
3. Daylight is a precious commodity in winter. The sun rises at 7.30AM and sets at 4.30PM.
4. On another hand, malls and shops open at 9/10AM and close at 8/9PM. A remnant of covid times. There’s literally no time to shop after eating dinner.
5. Leave enough wiggle room and time for rural train travels. Shinkansens are fairly frequent, but rural wanman trains are extremely slow and rare. So its not uncommon to spend 2-3 hours just travelling.
6. Prepare a mobile stool or chair for comiket. It helps.
7. Actually be rough on comiket day 2, because those otakus will not be merciful on you. To avoid the hall center moshpit, usually its advised to go around from the outside.
8. Don’t actually be too early for comiket queues. Since C102 there has been reports of “penalty queues” for the earliest of peoples where they go in later than the people who arrive afterwards. In day2, a few people from east were sent to queue in the west side and forgotten about until 9AM. So many people were pissed and vented on Twitter (didn’t hear a peep in real life about the queue problems, as expected of otakus). Only be early if u absolutely have things you want.
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I enjoyed the holiday very much. My heart goes out to the people on the west coast of honshu heavily affected by the earthquake. I was watching the NHK report of it live on my phonescreen at Yodobashi, and I’ve never heard the announcer actually shout on TV “Run, Run now, Your life is important” in such a seriously and urgent tone. Apparently it’s a lesson learnt from the 311 great tohoku disaster where the announcers were said to be too calm in the face of such a disaster. Also to the people affected by the Haneda plane crash. And apparently there was also a big fire in kitakyushu and stabbings in Akihabara on the 3rd of Jan. My god.
by rain4kamikaze