Thundergod, Hinjew and myself (Fallout) met up at the restaurant La Verita tonight for some fine dining and to go over a few things concerning the trip. We discussed the possibility of spending our entire trip in Tokyo and only visiting a few select cities (Osaka, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, etc.) with a bullet train, or renting out a car to drive out. These options did not satisfy our needs for the following reasons:
We’d be missing out on a lot of Japanese culture by not visiting the rest of the country.
We’d get way too bored in Tokyo, eventually (11 days is too long).
The bullet train does not go directly to every city from Tokyo.
The lack of major roads/highways connecting certain cities, would slow us down tremendously. We’d be wasting a lot of time.
So far, we’re still going with the idea of staying one night in Tokyo upon our arrival, and flying the following morning to a city west of Japan. There, we’re going to rent a car (more of a SUV or van) to drive back to Tokyo. This way, we get to see a lot more in Japan, not feel pressured to to follow a schedule of sorts, have the liberty to stay in a city as long as we please, and spend a considerable amount of time in Tokyo at the end of the trip (4-5 days). The only problem we’re foreseeing is not finding a large car, or a rental company that will be able to serve our needs. See, we need a car we can rent west of Japan, and then drop it off in Tokyo right before leaving. We’ve got a bit of researching to do in the next few days.
Wow, UPS is crazy fast. It took only 48 hours for the travel book to arrive from Hong Kong. I was only talking about the LUXE city guide just yesterday even, and here it is. I can’t believe how much faster stuff arrives from the other side of the world compared to ordering from the States. Okay, well, I did pay 25$ for the shipping… so this type of service was to be expected I guess. Nevertheless, I love receiving stuff sooner than expected.
The book is mainly about the city of Tokyo and its happenings. Our current itinerary allows us a full four days to spend in Tokyo at the end of our trip. An alternative itinerary would be to spend a full 11 days in Tokyo and have an excursion or two to Kyoto, Nagasaki or Hiroshima by car (or bullet train).
I have yet to read the guide as I’m currently at work, but I will be doing so later tonight once I get home. For now, you guys can glimpse at the cover on the left.
Here I was, thinking it might take a week or two for the license to come in. As soon as I stepped into the CAA/SAAQ outlet, a kind woman served me immediately and told me I needed to have the pictures taken at a Jean-Coutu (which was next door, thankfully). Without wasting any time, I went next door and got the pictures taken (waited about ten minutes to have them developed). As I type this, I haven’t shaven in a few days, so the photograph definitely makes me look like a shady character. Hopefully the Japanese police won’t stop me.
Once the pictures were taken, I went back to CAA only to be greeted with a huge lineup. Fortunately, the service was fairly quick, and it only resulted in me waiting in line for about ten minutes or so. This time, another woman greeted me, and told me to fill out a short document. “Where are you headed?” she asked me while I was busy filling out the form. “Japan” I responded, with a smile across my face.
While I waited for the woman to finish her side of the paperwork, I asked her how long it would take for me to receive the international license. The woman, laughing, handed me this little booklet and said “this is it”. I was hoping the permit would fit in my wallet.
The total cost of getting the license was 25.00$. The permit was 15$ while taking two pictures at Jean-Coutu was 10$. The website said it would be 20$, so perhaps going in to the CAA to save 5$ is not that bad. Total time taken to obtain the permit from start to finish was about half an hour.
So far, I am the only one out of the group to have the license. Hinjew messaged me a few minutes ago and mentioned that he’s getting a haircut before going for his. The main driver of the trip, Thundergod, hasn’t gotten his yet. I have a feeling he’s going to forget. 🙂
I checked CAA’s website on how to obtain an international driver’s license for Japan, and it’s actually quite simple. Straight from their website, they require:
the applicant must be 18 years of age or older
photocopy (front and back) of a valid Canadian provincial driver’s license
2 passport type photographs
fee payment of $15.00*
complete and sign the CAA IDP application form (no other form is acceptable)
Luckily for me, a CAA office is down the road from where I work. Now, I just need to get two mugshots of myself along with a photocopy… hopefully it won’t take too long for the ID to come in, as I only have 11 days to go!
Since we’re going to drive in Japan, I’m thinking we’re going to need some special documents first (since the driving experience is inversed…). I did some quick research on how to get an international driving permit in Japan, and it’s not that difficult. Basically, if you’re from either Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you can pick up a driver’s license without taking an exam. You just need to show up to the local license center, show a translated copy of your current driver’s license, prove that you lived in your own country for over 3 months and take an eye test (source).
Thundergod and Hinjew are considering getting one of those CAA International Driver’s Licenses here in Montreal. If I’m not mistaken, it goes for 20$ a pop. Since it’s so cheap, I will be getting one too sometime this week in case it eases the process of driving in Japan.
I spoke with a friend the other day, and he mentioned a popular travel guide for trendy folks who want to do it all, dubbed LUXE City Guides. Supposedly, this isn’t your grandmother’s travel book: it’s written for individuals wanting to do the fun stuff in a city and visiting trendy social spots. Checking out the website made me buy the book in a heartbeat. It costs 10$ USD (which is peanuts) but with a 25$ shipping charge to Montreal from Hong Kong. UPS tells me that the book is coming in this Wednesday, so I’ll keep you guys updated on what I’m planning to do in Tokyo very soon.
There is a good chance that we may not come home once we’re in Japan.
At the time of this post, there’s literally 12 days before we leave the city of Montreal, and we have no idea what we’re going to do once we’re at our destination. In fact, we’re not entirely sure how to get back with our current itinerary.
The current idea is to spend a night in Tokyo once we land and then fly to Fukuoka (I think) on a cheap flight the next morning. There, we plan to rent a car and drive back to Tokyo, spending the night in a major city every few stops and somehow try to catch a glimpse of that city’s offerings. That’s about 1100 kilometers (685 miles) to drive in 11 days. None of us have any experience driving on the opposite side of the road. In fact, none one of us has an international driver’s license right now.
We also have no idea what to do in every city we stop at. Sure, we know all about Hiroshima, Tokyo’s capsule hotels and umm… yeah, we’re going to end up winging this trip. Hopefully by next week, we’ll have a set itinerary to follow.
