Finally Japan Here I Come!
^ The Above picture is the Grand Arc Hanzomon (The Hotel I will be staying at)
Finally like many before me, I will be able to go to Japan either Feb or Mar. I have already started a budget planning since I wanna make sure I don't spend everything in one with nothing left for the rest of the trip. I have began to pick up a new digital camera since the only camera I use is my Camera Phone XD.
The hotel I will be staying at will be the Grand Arc Hanzomon in Chiyoda, Tokyo. From what I could research I am lucky that i'll be surrounded by Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno, AKIHBARA!, and so forth.
What I plan to visit (still in progress):
Akihabara
Imperial Palace
Shrines
Ueno
Ikebukuro
Akihabara
One thing I am worried about is making sure to know which train to take to Akihabara etc.. I would like some shopping and shipping tips in Akihabara.
I took maps of all the places with me, but in the end i decided the best way was just to wander and get lost, just remembering where you've already been and keep going til you cover it all. Another thing is to go upstairs/downstairs in shops, you'll find a lot of the times different shops are in the same building, found quite a few rare figures by going into all these less obvious places.
And i'd suggest a trip to nakano broadway if you get a chance, lots of arcades and otaku shops, lots of mandarakes....LOTS....
Oh and also don't impulse buy, look around. I saw some things like an Asuka prize figure which would be 1 price in one shop, and then half that in a shop just round the corner.
Two pieces of advice:
1) Get the lonely planet guide for Tokyo. Not only does it have maps of the trains, it lists which trains to take to a particular place and other valuable info.
2) Get a Suica card at Narita airport for your train travel. Basically it is a card you put money on and swipe it at train stations to go in and out without having to calculate the fare. Cost of trip is deducted automatically from the total on the card. This video will help explain a few things about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3K6NLBxiYA