[Trip Report] First time solo travelling | June | Tokyo -> Osaka -> Tokyo and Pictures

M23 – It was a kind of chill trip. I didn’t feel forced to follow any specific itinerary I did before the trip. I just decided what I was going to do the day before, hehe.

(The links can be pictures hosted on imgur \[It is allowed, right? 😨\] or links to youtube or websites)

**Stay:**

In Tokyo/Minato, I stayed at [Hotel Tavinos Hamatsucho](https://hoteltavinos.com/en/hamamatsucho/) \- 9/10. I loved the hotel vibes. Everything is decorated in manga/pop art style. The location is great, with a [Family Mart](https://imgur.com/oAhcnkD) on the ground floor of the hotel. Across the street, there’s a [Sukiya](https://imgur.com/IJQUkX1) and a café. The hotel is very close to the pier, offering a [great view of Tokyo Bay](https://imgur.com/JlgLjqK). It’s a good place to breathe some fresh air and relax. Additionally, it’s very close to Takeshiba station (Monorail), and about a 7-minute walk to [Hamamatsucho](https://imgur.com/x4w7BLg) and Daimon Station.
Final price: Approximately 420 USD for 10 nights.
In Osaka, I stayed at [Hotel Lantana](https://www.lantana-osaka.com/en.html) \- 7/10. It’s a great hotel, comfortable, with good amenities, and relatively close to Juso Station. The area around the hotel is surrounded by love hotels and vending machines. There’s a Don Quijote and 2 konbinis close to the hotel.
Final price: Approximately 80 USD for 2 nights.

**Money:**
My travel budget was 250,000 yen (not including hotels, JR Pass, and flights). I tried to use the Wise debit card, but it didn’t work in most places such as konbinis, local stores, and big stores like Yodobashi and Bic Camera. Therefore, I mostly used cash. However, there was an English-speaking cashier at Bic Camera who tried hard to make my Wise card work, and she made it work, lol. In the end, I needed to use the magnetic slide thing (I didn’t even know it was still a thing, lol).

Overall, I spent approximately 150,000 yen.

**Travel time:**
June 3: Departed from Brazil (GRU) to Switzerland (ZRH).
June 4: Departed from Switzerland (ZRH) to Japan (NRT).
June 5: Arrived in Japan (NRT) at 8:45 am, so it took almost 30 hours of traveling, haha.

**Language:**
I’m a native Portuguese speaker, so, no use there.
I’m kind of advanced in English, and I have no problems maintaining a normal conversation, it was enough to survive there as a tourist.
I know very little Japanese, mostly from songs and anime. With some body language, I could understand about 20-30% of what people were trying to say.

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**Transportation:**

Suica + JR Pass + Google Maps

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**Itinerary:**

(The walking distances are measured by Google Maps history.)
**June 5 / Walked approximately 5.6km:**
When I arrived at Narita, it was easy to get around.
I obtained my Welcome Suica Card and withdrew around 50,000 yen from the 7-Eleven ATM.
I asked for help on how to get to Hamamatsucho. I believe I took the Keisei Narita Skyaccess and arrived at Hamamatsucho via the Daimon Station.
I went to the hotel. Since the check-in was still closed, I left my luggage there and visited the Kyu-Shiba-rikyu garden. I stayed there until 3:00 pm when the check-in was available.
After resting for a bit, I went to Shinjuku to visit Map Camera store and do some sightseeing.

**June 6 / Walked approximately 5.0km:**
I accidentally took the wrong metro line and ended up in Shinagawa instead of Akihabara, haha.
But then I corrected my route and arrived at Akihabara. I explored the surroundings, [visited stores](https://imgur.com/iSboNsq), and [enjoyed the anime culture](https://imgur.com/S9NCqAq), etc.
However, I didn’t know that stores in Japan (at least in Tokyo) usually open at 10:00 a.m., and I arrived there at 8:00 a.m. Oops!
At 15:00, I went back to the hotel because I was feeling exhausted due to the travel and jetlag.

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**June 7 / Walked approximately 5.2km:**
I went to Shinagawa to explore and eat (no specific reason).
In [Shinjuku](https://imgur.com/SfiM5nK), I visited stores, enjoyed some sushi, [saw the godzilla](https://imgur.com/qE7KTPT) and purchased my first camera, the Sony A6000, from Map Camera. (\~70K yen with Tax-free)
In the evening, I headed to Yurakucho, where I vibed with street artists at the station. I also visited Bic Camera to buy a camera bag for my A6000 and ended up [purchasing a CD](https://imgur.com/ekBRwJq) from a street artist I really liked.

**June 8 / Walked approximately 7.1km:**
I returned to Shinjuku to do some shopping.
From [Yoyogi station](https://imgur.com/Cfm4NNr), I went to [Yoyogikamizoncho Park](https://imgur.com/ye067Ny), which was a nice place to [relax](https://imgur.com/ElzpEuT) and t[ake pictures.](https://imgur.com/yY5lQ04)
I visited the [Harajuku](https://imgur.com/BS7RAkC) \- [Fender Flagship Tokyo store](https://imgur.com/Kqy5uRQ), even though I knew it hadn’t been inaugurated yet. I wanted to see the silhouettes of the artists I like on the front of the store.
I explored [Takeshita Street](https://imgur.com/k2amJ0I), although it was [crowded with tourists](https://imgur.com/9Aby5ow) and tourist traps.
I also went to Shibuya to experience the famous [Shibuya crossing](https://imgur.com/Ziibdzd), enjoy the [view from the Starbucks](https://imgur.com/2wbiW2M), take pictures with [Hachiko](https://imgur.com/iavkQWz), and visit Tower Records to [buy CDs](https://imgur.com/FGCBoDx).

**June 9 / Walked approximately 4.9km:**
Feeling unwell, I went to Tomod’s drugstore in Hamamatsucho and bought Bufferin. I also wanted to rest as the next day was going to be busy.
I went to Shinbashi to eat sushi (unfortunately, I tried natto sushi, and it was horrible, sorry, haha).
Later, I took the monorail to Ginza. However, I didn’t enjoy Ginza very much as it’s not my kind of place, to be honest.
I considered going to the [Skytree](https://imgur.com/zKO1Bq6), but eventually decided against it and returned to the hotel.

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**June 10 / Walked approximately 800m** (probably a little more):
This was by far the most anticipated day of my trip: [TOKYO ISLAND 2023](https://imgur.com/FfgCDsw).
After having breakfast at the hotel’s Family Mart, I headed to Tokyo Teleport Station to catch the shuttle bus to Umi-no-Mori Park. The park is located in the middle of nowhere and serves as the venue for Tokyo Island, a festival featuring [music](https://imgur.com/V4Hg8fr) (2 stages), [food](https://imgur.com/j80bTrI), [camping](https://imgur.com/0hZ1CwB), [dinossaurs](https://imgur.com/KP0VJID) ([really](https://imgur.com/W6aWr6U)), and [outdoors activities](https://imgur.com/nSaIH0V) in general. As far as I remember, Umi no Mori Park is an artificial forest island.

And there I met a internet friend who helped me to buy the ticket.
During the festival, I watched to [ano](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lec–FlSJ4)’s concert and my all-time favorite band: [SCANDAL](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-57qaUKGas).

It was an amazing experience, although I ended up with some sunburns hehe.
After SCANDAL’s show, we went to a Japanese BBQ. It cost around 5,000 yen for the [meat](https://imgur.com/lIDt44K), 300 yen for the soft drink, and 800 yen for the [WILD PACK sauce](https://imgur.com/FskeXz1) from [WILD STOCK](https://www.youtube.com/@wildstock3034) (expensive? yeah, but damn, it was good). Tomomi, SCANDAL’s bassist, was also present.
Following the BBQ, we explored the island, participated in activities, and enjoyed the view of [Tokyo Bay](https://imgur.com/2SJwoxZ). At night, it was time for [Hanabi (fireworks)!](https://imgur.com/KkNByci)
For about 10 minutes, we had fireworks display accompanied by some great background music. It was truly perfect 🙂
Although the festival was scheduled to continue throughout the night, we decided to leave at 9:30 pm because the weather forecast predicted heavy rain. Since there were hardly any covered areas for those who weren’t camping.
Before heading back to the hotel, I took a stroll along the pier, got an ice cream, and enjoyed the nighttime view of the city.
Overall, it was undoubtedly one of the best days of my life so far.

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**June 11 / Walked approximately 1.7km:**
Feeling a bit tired, I didn’t want to walk too much. I headed to [Akiba](https://imgur.com/j7Y7sIl), where I had some food, captured pictures of the [crowded sunday streets](https://imgur.com/IBFWWSI), visited various stores, and purchased some camera accessories. Then I returned to the hotel.

**June 12 / Walked approximately 2.5km (probably much more, lol):**
Took the Shinkansen to Osaka.
Visited the [Tsutenkaku tower](https://imgur.com/9d2baw7) and enjoyed the [view](https://imgur.com/Wc5zK5H) from there.
The [Ebisu Higashi area](https://imgur.com/rLUTawY) had its fair share of tourist traps, but it was still a pleasant experience, hehe.
Checked into the hotel and explored the Juso region, which I really liked due to the abundance of food options.
At night, I ate ramen and gyoza at a random local restaurant.

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**June 13 / Walked approximately 14.1km:**
And once again, I accidentally took the metro in the wrong direction, going from Juso to Tonoyaka without any stops. I almost stayed on the metro to go to the Cup Noodles Museum, but it would have taken too much time.
Eventually, I corrected my direction and headed to Osaka-Umeda Station. From there, I walked to a hostess club called [スキャンダル](https://imgur.com/aDv5r2t) (Sukyandaru), which is where the band SCANDAL got its name from. It may sound odd, but that’s the origin of their name.

Afterward, I made my way to [Osaka Jo](https://imgur.com/IR9mPWR) Park (or garden, I’m not sure). While in the garden, I had a fun encounter with a Japanese couple who approached me in English, asking where I was from and engaging in a random conversation. It was a nice and unexpected interaction.
I took pictures of Osaka Castle, [Osaka-Jo Hall](https://imgur.com/9sFnid1), and [Shiroten Street](https://imgur.com/yZMn1Q7), which are all significant places related to SCANDAL. I also tried takoyaki and bought some souvenirs.
In the evening, I once again found myself on the wrong train. I intended to go to [Dotonbori](https://imgur.com/AL3ivKa), but instead, I ended up at Awaji Station. Eventually, I made it to [Dotonbori](https://imgur.com/tNVuewM), but I didn’t feel very comfortable there. It was [packed with tourists](https://imgur.com/fEczepz), noisy, and the river was so dirty that it reminded me of my hometown, hahahah.
Nevertheless, I walked around a lot, enjoyed the music of a street bassist, visited a less crowded Don Quijote store to purchase some souvenirs, and then returned to the hotel.

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**June 14 / Walked approximately 12km:**
By this point, I was starting to feel a bit down as my trip was coming to an end. I checked out from the hotel and went to Don Quijote to buy some random items.
Then, I took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and rested for a while at the hotel.
Afterward, I walked to [Senso-ji Temple](https://imgur.com/pzVn04W) (I forgot to take pictures of the whole thing lol) and then headed to [Tokyo Tower](https://imgur.com/TRSFnBg).
I arrived at Tokyo Tower around 5:00pm and purchased a 3,000 yen ticket to the highest observation deck. I took numerous [pictures](https://imgur.com/3QcWzos), but unfortunately, the ramen I had at the bottom of the tower wasn’t very good. I left the tower when it was [already dark](https://imgur.com/SanxUBt).
Next, I took a bus to Yurakucho to do some shopping at Bic Camera and then returned to the hotel.

**June 15 / Walked approximately 650m:**
It was time to check out. I took the Skyliner to Narita Terminal 1, aaand the trip came to an end. 🥲

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**Bonus: June 16 / Walked 0m:**
Due to the conflict in Ukraine and Russia, the airplane was unable to fly through their airspace on the ZRH -> NRT route. Instead, it flew over the Black Sea, Mongolia, China, South Korea, and finally Japan.

The NRT -> ZRH route was also altered. The plane flew north and headed towards Alaska, passing over the Bering Strait solely to avoid Russian airspace. The upside was that we had the opportunity to see the [Arctic Ocean](https://imgur.com/PoAXXER), North Pole, and [Greenland](https://imgur.com/ki13ue7), which was incredibly beautiful.
Upon arriving at Zurich airport, I felt like the poorest person in the world when I realized that a 500ml caramel macchiato at Starbucks cost around 10 CHF (equivalent to 60 BRL, my currency), while back in my home country, that amount of money could cover a week’s worth of food expenses, haha.

**Here are my impressions as a tourist:**
I absolutely loved Tokyo. Everything was efficient, the streets were clean, people were polite, and the food was excellent (except for natto sushi). There were so many things to do and explore.
And maybe, just maybe, I liked Osaka even more. Despite the presence of tourist traps, I found the people to be friendlier, and I had the opportunity to engage in conversations with some locals, which was enjoyable. The food in Osaka was also really amazing.

Yes, I could go to more places, experience more different things and food, but I didn’t want to force me to ‘make the trip worth’, but in the end I had a very pleasant experience, it was above my expectations.

Will I go back to Japan? Of course, I will, maybe go study there for some time, idk yet.