11/15/2010 (Mon) -> Narita airport -> JFK New York
Our flight was 3:00 PM, so we didn’t have to get up that early in the morning. We said goodbye to my brother and my sister-in-law as they left for work. Our big suitcases had already been picked up and delivered to the airport, so we only had one small suitcase and stuff we bought the day before.
All Ghibli goodies!
Oh yeah before we left home, Derek decided to eat the ice cream.
The ice cream was hard enough not to fall off, but it was still creamy!
We left the home around 10:00AM, and headed to Nippori to catch a Keisei Skyliner.
On the way to Nerima station, we noticed this. 
Man, this guy is in a serious trouble. An ad for "stop diarrhea immediately strip" on a train.
Slick Keisei Skyliner
We won this at a Seven Eleven (they were doing an ad campaign). It's a jelly drink called Perfect Plus which promises you "sokkou genki" (immediate health) containing 1500 mg amino acids and 1000 mg citric acid and 100 kcal.
It didn't taste bad but "drinking jelly" just felt weird.
When we got to the airport, we dropped our rental cellphone off at the post office at the airport, and picked up our luggage at the Skyporter counter.
Hugh Jackman is super "Dry"! - At Narita airport
Beyonce sells Crystal Geyser, dancing
I’d post video of the commercials which Hugh Jackman and Beyonce are in, but those videos seem to get deleted frequently so I suggest you search them on your own on Youtube. (They’re not as funny as the ones of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford or other celebrities though.)
Before we passed security I decided to drink the self-heating sake I got at a convenience store the day before. I kind of wanted to put it in my suitcase and check it in to bring it back to the U.S., but I was worried that they’d find it suspicious.
Instructions on how to make hot sake
It also explains how it gets heated up. How educational!
The bottom of the can
Take the plastic cover off
And push it in really hard.
And open the top
You can't see the steam in the photo, but it was really hot and steaming!
We were surprised how fast it heated up and it got really HOT. We learned one thing from this. A lot of hot sake from a can = sake fumes hitting your face like a pepper spray. I sipped a little bit and noticed the strong sake smell coming in from my nose so I tried not to breathe in from my nose while drinking. But I forgot to tell it to Derek… As soon as he tried to take a sip, he inhaled the sake smell, choked on it and sprayed it all over the place. It was just so comical we laughed really hard.
After we drank all the sake, we went in the metal detector and walked to our gate.
Sad news for match box collectors
Looong line to the gate
We wish we got food BEFORE we passed the metal detector though… There was NO DECENT food stand after the metal detector. They only had a sandwich stand and souvenir store. No rice balls or anything like that. T_T Next time I go back to Japan, I’ll make sure I’ll get food before going through the metal detector.
And the rest was, well, not as exciting as on the way to Japan.
Toasting with white wine
Dude looking sad to leave Japan
Menu for the meal on the flight
My meal: Bibimbap, crispy chicken and veggie, salad, bread and brownie
Derek's meal: Chicken curry, crispy chicken and veggie, salad, bread and brownie
Snack
Menu for the pre-arrival meal
My meal: Yakisoba, fruits and bread (it was more like a bun)
Derek's meal: Spinach quiche, mashed potato, sausage, fruits and bread (it was more like a bun)
We arrived at JFK around 2:00 PM, picked up our luggage and took a cab home. My cat, Inari, seemed to be surprised to see us after being gone for two weeks. She came out slowly, sneaking under the furniture with her tail down. But within 15 minutes or so, she realized that it was really us. It was really cute that she didn’t leave my side for two weeks straight after we came back.
Kitten bus and Cat train on a real cat!
Inari wearing a cat bus hat! (she was not as amused as I was.)
Ghibli goodies from Japan
Keychain, magnet, ear pick, everything Ghibli!
Magnet card stands, metal Laputa robot plate and Totoro wind chime
Laputa robot and Ohmu plant pot
Totoro themed photo frame
Ready for 2011!
I wrote these posts mainly for myself so I’ll have some kind of record for our awesome trip. So I was very surprised and glad that people actually took their time to read my super long posts! I’ll compile all the info I wrote in my posts and answer as many questions as I can!
Thank you!
Anna
I was born in Japan, lived in New York for a while and now living in San Diego, California. I love creating things with my hands in my free time whether it’s making character bento or stuffing stuff! And now I'm working for 
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Anna, these were extremely entertaining and engaging posts. I have enjoyed reading every single one! They’re the perfect travelogue – lots of pictures, good descriptions, and lots of helpful tips!
I’m glad you had such a great time! Now I can’t wait to visit Japan myself!
Thank you again for posting such neat stuff!
Anna! What a glorious travelog! This was severely enjoyable to read. I’ve been to Japan a couple of times for a week each but it’s fairly clear that I need two weeks to truly enjoy myself. It was nice to see all these pictures of my favorite places BUT! I didn’t know about that special authorized Ghibli store OUTSIDE OF THE MUSEUM! Best revelation ever. Anyway, all those capslock shoutings aside, this was wonderful. Thank you
Hello! Lurker coming out the the woodwork here. I have really, really enjoyed your entire series about your trip to Japan. i read every single wonderful post and I’m kind of sad it’s ended. The photos are really amazing, but I also love your writing and how you have described everything with really helpful detail. My mom grew up in Japan but left in the 1950s when she was 12, so there is a lot about Japan for adults and modern culture that she isn’t familiar with and wasn’t able to show us when I visited ten years ago. I got to see a whole different side that is really difficult to get through tv shows and travel guides. Thank you! Lisa
Thank you so much for posting about your trip Anna! I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about it! I learned quite a bit from all your posts, and have filed some things away for myself in the future when I have the time and money to go to Japan. My dream vacation!
Your (and your fiancee’s) photos are sooo amazing, and the food looked so yummy. I love all your Ghibli stuff, it’s awesome!
many thanks for these posts i really liked to read them and i wished i would have enough money for a trip to japan ^^ and thank you for these pictures! ^-^
Just wanna say, Thank You for the wonderful posts, definitely will look them up Again when i’m planning for a trip to Japan! They are truly insightful and more practical than ‘official’ guides. On a side note, i’m wondering if it’s worthwhile learning japanese just for a trip to japan, because it seems like the experience will be much more enjoyable if one can understand the language…
Thanks for the virtual trip to Japan. The choice of pics were good and very informative. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
Seriously, thank you so so much for sharing your trip!
It was really informative, detail-oriented, easy-to-follow, *insert awesome post-describing adj.*, and just a true joy to read. Thank you thank you!
Molly,
It started out more like my journal about the trip so I wouldn’t forget all the details but I’m so glad that you enjoyed them. (especially because I started to think that each post was getting really long ^^:) I hope you can visit Japan someday!
Geoffrey,
I’m glad that you enjoyed my posts! I was also surprised that Donguri Kyowakoku isn’t known in the U.S. as it should be! Not only do they have larger variety of Totoro goodies but the store’s logo is designed with Studio Ghibli style! When you say it’s a gift, they’ll give you a note for your gift with Totoro and Makkurokurosuke on it! (I’ll take a photo of it and put it on my blog later!)
Lisa,
There are still so many things I want to do in Japan, I’m already making a list for the next trip!
I’m flattered by such kind words! I’ve only been been back to Japan about 5 times in the past 16 years, and every time I went back to Japan, many things had changed and many things had stayed the same, so even I was a bit nervous before we went to Japan this time.
Sam,
I’m glad that you enjoyed my posts! I understand. You definitely want to have enough time to enjoy your vacation. We thought 2 weeks were enough for us, but it went by so fast we wish we had a couple more days… (or even more!) I’m compiling some info and links I posted here in another post later, so hopefully it’ll be useful to you someday!
neko,
I’m glad that you enjoyed my posts! I know a trip to Japan can be expensive, but there are many ways to save money on food, places to stay, things to do, etc… I’ll try to come up with some tips on how to save money when traveling to Japan on my next post!
Bubu,
Learning Japanese is not necessary since many signs are also written in English in big cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, but it can’t hurt to learn it of course. Even if you can’t speak Japanese, a little phrase like “sumimase~n” instead of “excuse me” before you ask someone for directions can make other person feel more comfortable to talk to you. But you can definitely enjoy Japan even if you don’t speak Japanese! The key is to plan ahead! So you don’t waste your precious time figuring out where to go or where you are.
Fuchsia,
Thank you! We took more than 4000 photos between both of us, and after deleting duplicates and super blurry photos, we narrowed down our collections to about 3200 photos! So check out my flickr if you’re interested to see even more photos!
Judith,
I can’t say this enough but thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Hi Anna
. Second time posting in your blog (1st time: the heart shaped egg 
) Thanks so much for posting your journey to Japan. It’s really fun to read the whole series. I was excited whenever you posted a new entry, esp the food and museum 
. I wish I will go visiting Totoro one day. The ramen and sashimi looked delicious 
. The trip to the forests were interesting as well even tho I dun think I will ever visit any place like those because I’m scared of insects 
.
It’s a bit late, but congratulations on your engagement!!! Hope you and Derek will be happy ever after
.
I’m very sorry for the late reply everyone! I finally found some time for myself and I thought it’s better late than never, right?
Tom,
I’m glad that you enjoyed my Japan trip post! I think everyone should visit the Ghibli museum at least once! It’s such a magical place. Also thank you for your kind words on our engagement.
Skammie,
We kept almost all our receipts and Derek was keeping the records every now and then. It was kind of fun going through them later, remembering how much fun we had in Japan. And yes! The bento blog will resume… sooooon!
BunnyBlue,
I hope you’re feeling better now, but I can’t be happier that my super long trip posts could help you pass time in the hospital. And yes, my ring does rock! I’m not a jewelry person but that’s what makes it more special to me.
A,
Glad that you enjoyed my trip posts! It was the BEST trip to Japan for me. Probably because Derek was with me this time. We already can’t wait until the next time we go to Japan!
お疲れ様でした！Echoing what everyone else has said here, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this super detailed travel blog! With all the tips and everything little thing that you add, it is definitely very informative. And your style of writing, along with all the photos, made it a joy to read! I know you will probably do another post on costs, but what shocked me was how did you manage to keep a record for every single meal that you had?! It must have been so much work! haha. Anyway, while I am kinda sad that your travel entries have ended, I look forward to your bento blogs again! =)
Dear Anna ,
I’d don’t think I can ever thank you enough for detailing your trip. For most of your posts I was stuck in the hospital with a nasty infection , and reading about your trip brought much joy on the days when my friends and family had to work and leave me all by my lone-some. A belated congratulations to you and Derek on your engagement , your ring ROCKS! Thanks again for all your posts!
Hey Anna! I don’t think I’ve ever commented on any of your post this year, even though I love your website to pieces. It really adds a smile to my face whenever I’m feeling sad with all your adorable bento boxes. Anyway I wanted to say that your trip to Japan makes me feel like I’m on an adventure with you there, and I’m incredibly jealous (but happy for you! ) that you had an amazing time
You have definitely inspired me to go there again!
If you don’t mind me asking, how much in total was your trip?? I’m going there around June to visit my family and I want to know about how much money I would spend. Thanks in advance!! ♪( ´▽｀)
Thank you so much for these posts! I stumbled upon this website, and it is a total gem. I hope to see your next trip soon!
Reading these posts was so much fun — I’m exactly the same way when it comes to documenting everything! Thanks for writing; it brings back memories of my own travels to Japan and gives me ideas for my bucket list
Hi Anna – thanks so much for sharing your detailed posts and pictures…especially the tips!!! We are going to Japan this upcoming week for only 5 days so this is super helpful in getting us prepared and figure out what we want to do in those (short) 5 days… Neither my husband or I speak or read Japanese….we will be bringing a phrase book and trying to use the “thank you” and “excuse me” and “sorry” phrases but otherwise will it be hard for us to get around? Thanks so much!
I assume you already went to Japan and came back… but I hope you had a great time!!