Tag: tokyo travel

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Jaunted-Approved Hostels in Berlin, Singapore and Mendoza

May 18, 2012 at 1:18 PM | by | Comments (0)

If you're older than 24 and you're still staying in hostels, that's a big shhh no-no. At least that's what society would have you think, however; we'd like to officially come out and say that we're older than 24 and still. staying. in. hostels.

Deep breath. Though the reason for our hostel stays has evolved—they're now backups for when we blow all our budget early on in trips, with 5-star hotels—we're never ashamed.

Having done the whole backpack-around-Europe thing during college, we have a solid past dotted with hostel stays of all sorts. Dirty hostels? Don't get us started on Budapest. Party hostels? Ugh, Barcelona. Plain scary hostels? Look no further than London. Still we haven't given up on them, and we've discovered some real diamonds in the rough, places we'd happily return to (and soon). Oh yeah, and ALL WITH EXCELLENT, FREE WIFI INTERNET AND BREAKFAST. Here's three we've recently stayed at, and personally approve of:

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Tokyo's Going to Build Another Airport Terminal. Hey, Why Not?

Where: Tokyo, Japan
April 11, 2012 at 10:35 AM | by | Comments (0)

This hasn’t really caught on here at home, but overseas it seems that airports are seriously considering building airport terminals fully dedicated to budget and low-cost carriers. We already heard about the plan to do so over in Singapore, and, now it sounds like Tokyo-Narita is the latest to jump on the budget terminal bandwagon.

Airport officials see the writing on the wall, as new cheap flights are scheduled to do their thing to and from the metropolis thanks to carriers like Jetstar Japan and AirAsia Japan. All the bulldozers and construction crews will start doing their thing sooner than later at NRT as the plan Is to get things up and running by around 2015 or so.

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Visit the Legendary Sushi Bar Behind 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'

Where: Tokyo, Japan
March 30, 2012 at 4:54 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's hard to believe there's a movie that could even have Anthony Bourdain singing it's praises, calling it "thrilling and beautiful."

The movie that has foodies and travelers around the world talking is the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, from first-time director David Gelb.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the story of Jiro Ono, who is considered the world's greatest sushi chef, and his restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro.

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The Newest World's Tallest Tower Debuts in May with $37 Tickets

Where: Tokyo, Japan
March 7, 2012 at 9:44 AM | by | Comments (0)

There’s a new tourist trap set to debut in Tokyo before too long, as the city’s Sky Tree has recently been completed. It’s a couple months late, but we kind of consider that to be expected as this sucker is the world’s tallest communication tower. There’s all kinds of criteria about tallest this and tallest that, so we’re not going to argue semantics—it’s a pretty big building and the Tokyo Sky Tree is a neat addition to the city’s skyline.

The final bits and pieces were put into place at the end of February, and now the thing rises to like 634 meters—that’s like 2,080 feet—towards the sky. If you’re looking to build something similar in your backyard you can expect to need close to a billion dollars to do so, as the construction costs for this build were just around $800 million bucks.

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'An Idiot Abroad' Masters Both Tokyo Cat Cafes and Mount Fuji

Where: Japan
March 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

The final journey on Karl's Bucket List brought him to Japan to climb Mount Fuji.

Karl started the trip in Tokyo, where he paid £15 to pet cats (aww) and have a cup of tea at a Cat Cafe (a favorite past time among Japanese women) and then, keeping with the stereotypical theme, he tried out some Sumo Wrestling. Though he's wrestled before on the show, Karl seemed to get especially battered by these Sumo Wrestlers. He later told Ricky Gervais, "I got sweat in my eyes that wasn't mine, that was a first."

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Berlin and Tokyo are Next to Get Their Own Foursquare City Badges

January 6, 2012 at 4:26 PM | by | Comments (0)

And then there were ten. Ten city on location-based social network app Foursquare, that is. It began with Chicago (Windy City Badge), then London, Paris, Istanbul, Atlanta, New Orleans, Singapore and Sao Paulo followed. Today Foursquare has announced the addition of two more—Berlin and Tokyo—to round out the first batch of these city badges, which encourage users of the app to get out and explore both a metropolis' most famous sites and the locally preferred joints.

How to get the badges: First, follow 4sqCities, and just to be safe, it wouldn't hurt to also follow the individual city lists here: Berlin, Tokyo. Then travel to one or all of the cities and clickety-click to check-in to the places on the recommended lists. Five places earns the badge.

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JAL: 'We're Getting 787s Too, You Know'

November 10, 2011 at 3:14 PM | by | Comments (0)


Our shot of a JAL 787 being built at Boeing's HQ. Notice the lack of engines

It feels like just yesterday we were freaking out over the launch of the very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, by Japanese airline ANA. Well, their rival JAL wants everyone to know that they've got some Dreamliners coming as well, and they're taking them overseas to the US of A, and soon.

Like April 22, 2012 soon. If you've been dying to try the new plane and have been waiting for a oneworld airline to fly it, or just to experience it in the spring, then JAL has some airfares that may work for you. It's not a "sale" so much since the prices aren't cheap: from $1,500 roundtrip in economy between Boston and Tokyo-Narita or $6,500 in business class. Buy it before January 31, 2012 for travel between April 22 and September 30, 2012. We're thinking it would make an awesome holiday gift...!

Here's all the details to make it happen.

{Photo: Jaunted]

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Inside the United Business Class Lounge at Tokyo-Narita Airport

Where: Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM | by | Comments (0)

Everybody's talking Tokyo, and with good reason. The country is psyched to begin restarting tourism, autumn over there is magical, and the ANA 787 Dreamliner just completed her maiden revenue flight out of the city. So when you do take that dive and head to Japan, you'll likely spend some time in Narita International Airport. If you're flying United and holding a Business Class, ticket or Star Alliance status, then you'll want to know about the United Business Lounge.

We recently spent some time here after bumping ourselves up to Biz, and gave the sizeable lounge a good once-over:

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Inside a Day Room at Tokyo's Narita International Airport

Where: Tokyo-Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 21, 2011 at 12:05 PM | by | Comment (1)

You've had a long flight, or maybe you're about to have a long flight, or maybe—horror of horrors—both. You've got some sizeable layover time at Tokyo-Narita Airport and you're desperate to have a shower, take a nap or work in peace and comfort—or all three things. If you're flying economy you don't have the option to crash in a lounge, but luckily Narita is a large (and awesome) enough airport to offer Shower rooms and Day Rooms, and we just tried them out!

Our story involved a long flight to NRT from Bangkok, an 8-hour layover and another long flight back to the States in economy. Typically we'd enjoy the airport like an amusement park, but we were under the weather and sleepy. Although the day rooms may be reserved online up to one month in advance, we just walked in and plonked down our credit card for five hours in a single room.

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This Should Be Enough Reason to Hightail It to Tokyo

Where: Tokyo, Japan
October 13, 2011 at 2:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

Everyone and their moms are talking about Japan's big plan to give away 10,000 roundtrip plane tickets to international tourists willing to visit (and blog and tweet) about Tokyo. It hasn't been approved yet, but that doesn't mean anxious travelers around the world are going to stop daydreaming about cherry blossoms, gadgets, cosplay and, of course, fresh sushi.

We're disappointed that Japan needs to resort to nearly dragging tourists to visit when there's so many reasons to skip a vacay in Mexico or the Caribbean and hightail it instead to the Land of the Rising Sun. Our favorite impetus to up and go? It's got to be the food, specifically the stand-up sushi counters found around the city, but most easily located in Shibuya.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Japan's Beloved Okonomiyaki

Where: Tokyo, Japan
August 26, 2011 at 10:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

You like pancakes, right? Who doesn't like pancakes?! That's what we thought. No one. Everyone likes pancakes, but this love can be tested on a visit to Japan when confronted with a specialty called Okonomiyaki. Not only is it a quirky word that's fun to say, it's also a quirky meal that's fun to make...on a personal tabletop grill.

Okonomiyaki is a seafood pancake, prepared with batter mixed with a variety of seafood, which is then grilled right before you at a traditional okonomiyaki-specializing restaurant. There's a whole street in Tokyo—Monja-dori in Tsukishima—dedicated to both this and the non-egg-based similar pancake called Monjayaki. For our visit, our sights were clearly set on a heaping helping of okonomiyaki with a tall, frosty glass of Kirin beer.

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Visiting the Rockabilly Gangs of Tokyo's Yoyogi Park

Where: Tokyo, Japan
August 22, 2011 at 6:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

Harajuku. What does that word conjure up in your mind? Chances are it's Gwen Stefani, or girls dressed as Gothic Lolitas, but the correct answer is an area of Tokyo, in which cosplay is smiled upon and the Rockabillies rule the roost.

Make sure your trip to Tokyo includes a wide-open Sunday, and pray the weather is nice. Walk towards the entrance to Tokyo's famous Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Jingu shrine near Harajuku Station, and you'll encounter a plaza dominated by three distinct gangs, each dressed as if they just stepped out of the film Grease. They have 1950s poodle skirt and greaser Americana nailed down to the last detail, from the brands of handkerchief they stick in their Levi's pockets to the way they comb back their hair. It's all so cool.

The Rockabilly gangs don't just stand around and hang out, either. They each have their own stereos and CDs mixed with vintage tunes for dancing—some of it choreographed and much of it polished from countless hours of studying old American films. All in all, this is a scene that goes on for hours (we stayed for nearly three, taking 100s of photos) and which you won't find anywhere else in the world.

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