Stars seem to fancy the cold as some head for Tokyo and other ski towns nearby.
The Gutierrez family spent their Christmas in Tokyo with Ruffa, Richard, Raymond and their other siblings together with their children and parents Anabelle Rama and Eddie Gutierrez while couple Elise Joson and Mccoy de Leon decided to do a ski town trip to Shirakawa (two hours from Tokyo via train) to experience snow.
Japan is pretty beautiful during the months of December and January especially those who want to ski.
As for my daughter Lia, all she wanted to do was to shop around Tokyo and eat Ramen so, here are the best tips for those who want to explore Japan:
1. For those who want to go to ski towns from Tokyo, no need to fly to Hokkaido. There is a nearby ski resort resort one hour from Tokyo called Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort. Take The Joetsu Shinkansen line connects Tokyo with Yuzawa in just over an hour on the Tanigawa Express. Make sure you are properly dressed.
2. Japan has a ten percent tax free privilege for foreigners but make sure you dont open your sealed bag and consume in Japan or else Customs will charge you with consumption tax.
3. For make-up needs go to Matsumoto-Kioshi or Cosme or any drugstore will have Japanese make-up. I prefer Cezanne because its dirt cheap and good in my skin plus I dont get allergic reactions to it.
4. Donki or Don Quijote seems to be a favorite shopping place pf the Filipinos in Japan because IT HAS EVERYTHING from food, to clothes, to shoes, to make-up, to wellness items to medicated drugs to herbal supplements, to designer bags that are original, to hair care. Just name what you want and Donki has it.
Tip: Come at 7am if youre a morn ing person but if you are an evening person come late around 11pm. It’s open till 2am. there’s a big Donki in Shibuya. Make sure you have a picture in the famous Shibuya crossing.
5. Onitsuka Ginza has free engraving so you can put your initials in your new O shoes. It’s less crowded than the one in Shibuya which has a crazy amount of customers.
6. Top three instagramable places to visit near tokyo are Hakone (one hour by train from Tokyo) and Lake Kawaguchi (two hours from Tokyo via train) to get the perfect view of Mt Fuji. Both have hot springs and onsen spas which are amazing experiences. Kamakura is my top 3 destination to see the great Budhha and is only an hour away via train.
7. For those of you who want to visit Japan for the cherry blossoms, timing is everything. For the cherry blossoms on Ueno Park in Tokyo, visit on the last week of March or first week of April. Hop on a train and head for Hitachi Seaside Park for some tulips and Blue Nemophila and pink cosmos sightings. If you will come in October, there are the red Kochias.
8. Ramen and Sushi are everywhere including Lawson and family marts where you can actually buy healthy meals. Just don’t forget to purge yourselves after as there is a chance you can get tapeworm or other parasites by eating fresh sushi. @mrsrogers.hood sells an all natural parasite kit in Instagram so you can dispel all those nasty parasites taking away your energy and nutrition!
9. Lastly, you will need a visa to visit Japan. I would like to thank Flyers Hub Travel and Tours found on Facebook for expediting our visas in less than five days. They have offices in Alabang and Dagupan but we did all our transactions online.