What's NEX?

The Narita Express is an express train that brings visitors from the Narita Express to Tokyo and vice versa - meaning, it does not stop at any station anymore.  This is the fastest way to go to Central Tokyo coming from the airport.  I will share my personal experience with the service when I was in Tokyo last November.

The Narita Express is operated by Japaneast Rail, one of the many train operators in Japan.  You can buy a Japan Rail Pass before you arrive in Japan and that Rail Pass entitles you  to unli train ride from any JR operated trains in Tokyo, including the Narita Express.  The Japan Rail Pass though is a bit pricey and impractical if you will just stay in Tokyo. My companion and I did not avail of the pass when we went to Tokyo.

How then can we avail of the NEX?

The JR Ticket booth is located at the lower level of Narita Airport. You can queue up and buy a NEX ticket. It costs around 6040 Yen or approximately Php 3000 oneway. Yes, it is expensive. You can, however, get a discount if you buy a round trip NEX Ticket.  Round trip ticks cost only 8000 Yen - which means you get a 4000 Yen far one way for a 2000 yen discount each way.  Believe me, 2000 yen is a huge thing when in Japan. Dont worry because the lady in  the counter will be kind enough to offer you round trip tickets anyway. 

So, the NEX has reserved seating.  After ur pirchase of your ticks to Tokyo, it will have a seat number, a coach number and a platform number. This means you cant just sit in any coach.  You will see the platform number on the floor when you get to the station.  The coach assigned to you will automatically be the coach that stops at the platform. Once you enter the train, you can leave your baggage at the baggage area and lock it, or bring it with you to your assigned seat - but most people leave their luggage at the luggage area.

The train is on time and on point. It arrives at the station on the exact time that you see on the monitors, and leaves at the exact time printed on your ticket as if it is in sync with every watch.

Once you are on your way, you can relax, recline your seat to a comfortable angle, and yet still have nice leg room.  It doesnt feel awkward to recline since the person behind you will still have a lot of leg room. You can switch on your wifi, register, then surf the net for free. Well, to be perfectly honest, it is not the most reliable signal though - but at least it's there and that you can probably use it to check your next ride from Tokyo to your destination/hotel.

Your return ticket on the other hand, is an open ticket for 14 Calendar days - meaning, you should use your return ticks within 14 calendar days.  Well, most single entry Japan visa is good for 15 days anyway.  Lemme give an example.

If you arrived in Narita on January 1 and purchased a round trip NEX ticket, you can use the return tick until January 14 - meaning, if you will fly back to where ever from Narita, you can use your NEX return tick anytime from Jan 2 to 14.  Simple.

Reserved seating still apply for your return ticket.  To do that, you need to go to a JR East office for reservation.  What we did is, we went to the NEX office in the Shinjuku station to reserve our return seat to Narita.  In the office, you can select the day and time of the departure from your chosen station. In our case, we were scheduled to leave on the same day on a 10pm flight. We reserved our seat in the morning for a 6pm departure of the NEX from the Shinjuku to Narita.  Same thing applies, there were seat numbers that you need to follow.

There you go. That was quite easy and seamless. It was easy, really, as compared to reading stuff online. 

I hope this helps. Enjoy Japan! Enjoy Tokyo!

Wander: Friendship for Visa

Going to Japan requires a Visa.  My upcoming trip will be my first time in Japan and there is nothing more stressful than prepping and waiting for the result of the Visa application.

I previously have written the things I prepared to apply for my Japan Visa.  I mentioned that I went to Friendship Tours to submit my documents.  It was easy, breezy fast!

Friendship Tours is located on the 3rd Floor of Dusit Hotel in Makati.  If you don't know where that hotel is, well, it is just beside SM Makati.  If you dont know where SM Makati is, probably you know where the MRT Ayala station is. If you got there, the you should be able to find your way to the hotel.

If you have a car, you can park at Park Square, which is just in front of the hotel. 

There's gonna be 2 of us going to Japan. We initially went to Reli Tours as their application fee is just Php950 - but there was a long queue.  So while waiting, I decided to go out and check the neighboring travel agency and there I saw fewer people in Friendship Tours, which by the way, is just in front of Reli Tours.

We decided to go there instead.

Since we have not filled out our Visa Application forms yet, we took a number from a box and while waiting, we were filling out our application form. We were about 2 or 3 numbers away from the current number being assisted so we have ample time to finish filling out the form.  Pens were provided by the way, but I suggest you bring your own.

When it was our turn, we went to this cubicle and the lady assisted my companion first.  She handed us a paste so we can put our photos on the application form.  She also checked the documents if they were complete.  She inserted the documents in one of the pages of our passport and told us that she will also get the payment. Talk about a one-stop station!

Each of us shelled out Php 1200 for the application fee.  The lady informed us that it will take approximately 5 to 7 business days for us to get our passports back and that our application will be forwarded to the Japanese Consul on Monday - since we went there on a Saturday morning.  After the payment, she handed us a receipt (for the 2 of us) and advised us that they will text any one of us if the passports are ready for pick up.  We left and hoped for an approval.

Fast forward and on a Wednesday afternoon around 4pm, I got a text message that my passport is ready.  I asked my companion if he got a text and he also did.

Thursday morning at 9AM, we went back to their office and waited for 2 other claimants before us to complete their transaction.

We handed our receipt to the guy at the claiming station and he handed us our passports - opening at the page with our approved Visa.

Yey!

I checked the back of our passports and yes, there was a white sticker - which indicates a good news.  I have read in some other blogs that a white sticker indicates good news and a red sticker is the opposite news.

My friend said that the 2 others before us had red stickers on their passports and could be asking a lot questions why before leaving thus it took us a while to be assisted.

In any case, an approved visa means you can immediately leave with a huge grin and be more excited for the next stage of the trip - planning.

Was it worth it to pay 300 extra as compared to the other travel agency?  I would say yes. For the very short time we spent waiting for us to be assisted in submitting the application and documents and the fast result, we can never complain.

So maybe next time we apply for a Japan Visa on our next trip, we would consider Friendship Tours again.

Meanwhile - I still have a huge grin, this time planning where to go and what to do in Tokyo.