Japan

Japan Travel Review

By: Howie Chan

Many of you who are reading this, will probably have travelled to Japan before, but if you want to have a trip that is as fun as mine, be sure to follow the tips below!

If you are to go on a trip or a holiday, invite your friends and family to go with you, always. In Hakuba, a snow village in Japan, we rented a house, which is probably the best part of the trip. Every day, when I woke up, I would see my friends jumping around, eating cup noodles or playing PUBG (their favorite video game). Another thing we would do is sing off-key versions of songs on the car. We rented three cars, because this time we have many more people to transport. Driving was also really fun, since that meant we could go anywhere, if we wanted to. Anyway, singing was another great thing about having friends and family to accompany you on holidays. Of course, having snowball fights aren’t as fun with parents than with friends.

In addition, another benefit of having a house with friends and family is that you can cook your own food. We spent two nights at the house just cooking food bought from Aeon, hot pot, meat, lettuce, kimchi, etc. Even the kids had to cook food, none of us were experienced, and there’s a first time for everything, right? The food we cooked wasn’t bad, and while the parents were eating we (the kids) got to sneak in some iPad time. The meat was okay, it was soft. Udon and noodles were average, but, as you know, average in Japan means good. The hot springs were another fun thing with friends. With more people, you could actually have people to talk to while bathing, swimming or playing in the water (which is one of the things you don’t want to do at hot springs, but we did it anyway), and of course, relax the stress from the consistently used muscles. Every night we would go to the hot springs, because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t have the strength to ski/snowboard the next day.

Another important tip is to eat. A lot. One of the places I enjoyed eating at was at Tsukiji. Although it is no longer a fish market, the sushi there is delicious, either fresh or cooked. Because we went to Tsukiji so many times, the chefs there already recognize us, and they were delighted to see us again. We took a few pictures with them.

Lastly, shopping! From a kid’s point of view, I think this trip was a good 30% of me shopping, not just parent shopping. Gundam Base Tokyo is definitely a must if you are either a Gundam fan, or just sightseeing. It is in Diver City, where there is a giant Unicorn Gundam at the front which changes colors every once in a while. In the Gundam Base, there hundreds or thousands of model kits to see, as well as Gundam merchandise, a museum, and many world championship Gunpla (Gundam made without model kits, people make them themselves). Big Camera was a major player that contributed to the 30% shopping status. It is my favorite shopping site, and it is a chain department store that is all over Japan. The items there are appealing to kids and parents, as it has (almost) everything you want: from LEGOs to soap, from Thermoses to toilets.

In short, if you want a bright and brilliant trip to anywhere, all you need to do is recruit others to accompany you, eat good food, and find a shopping spot that you like. I hope these recommendations will help you.

Hope you have a great holiday,

Howie