Thursday, February 18, 2010

Vacay time...what to do?

I have two sets of holidays thorughout my time here in Japan. A week at the end of March and three weeks in August. In terms of being a teacher, it's not that much annual leave. That being said, I want to make the most of it.

My plan from the beginning was the fly to New York during the longer break. I would see the sites, wander around the MOMA and hopefully met some authors and bloggers that I know quite well. I would still love to but cash wise it seems a little bit of a stretch. Fingers crossed that an exceedingly cheap flight pops up and a clean but affordable hostel is free. Who knows?

I have also flirted with the idea of flying to China or another nearby Asian country and doing a tour. All ideas at this point.

However, it is the March break that is giving me fruit for thought. It will be a solo trip as both colleagues are out of commission so I will be on my lonesome navigating foreign cities and even foreigner transportation. I have decided that Kyoto will be the destination, thinking that a week there might be nice. But I have been assured that a week would be too long and that I could do it well in three days.

Okay then, what to do with the rest of the week?

Osaka isn't that far away from Kyoto and I was planning on visiting it anyway. This just saves me from paying for the Shinkansen (bullet train with expensive fare) an additional time. So I am currently checking out Shinkansen, train (normal) and bus times/fares for my week. It's all coming together quite well.

Kyoto is lots of walking, temples and other cultural marvels. Osaka's considerably more cosmopolitan in terms of tourism. I do want to visit Osaka Castle and the History Museum but Universal Studios (yes I know I am lame) is calling my name. I will be visiting Osaka again later in the year with a colleague who's very culturally tuned so I could reason that a visit to US won't be an option with her so I should go in March. Who knows?

I also yearn to visit Disneyland in Tokyo.

I am currently compiling a list of places I want to visit before my time here is over. I am five weeks in and haven't done that much. Tokyo to a small degree but that's about it.

The Hiroshima trip is three weeks away and is costing me a bundle. The transport alone is well into the hundreds and then there's accommodation, etc. Ugh.

But it's all worth it. I am stretching my wings and becoming a global citizen. I am expanding my outlook and learning to say penis in different languages. How cool am I? :)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know it's confusing.
Don't whinge about leave I haven't had any leave in 27 months.

Carrie said...

Disneyland Toyko...oh please!! I'd love to see pictures, especially of DisneySea. Those parks look so very cool, but of course, I'm a true Disney nerd, so these things excite me.

Anonymous said...

Disneyland IS very cool....they have hamburgers in the shape of Mickey Mouse, but you do need someone to go there with.

kate.o.d said...

you should defo go to new york. it's brill. i stayed here:

http://chelseacenterhostel.com/locations.htm

clean-ish but with a really nice vibe: friendly people, like a big sharehouse. excellent location. (oh, i stayed at the lower east side one, around the corner from the tenement museum, awesome for history nerds such as myself) and it's also right near ludlow for great music and walking distance from greenwich village and washington square park.

Lisseut said...

Hey just some suggestions as I lived in Kobe for a year. Kyoto isn't far from Osaka on the normal express train, so I wouldn't bother with the shinkansen. Universal Studios is in Osaka, and it's a pretty awesome theme park, if u like that sort of thing. Himeji castle is also only about an hour away (maybe a little bit longer) by train, and it is the best castle in Japan by miles. Hope this helps :)