In Search of Yen
March 19, 2009 - 19.08
As the departure day for my Japan trip draws near, I’m in the final stages of preparation. Earlier this week, I went to the Nippon Travel Agency to purchase the 14 days JR pass. Today’s goal was to do currency exchange. Last time, I went to Japan from Hong Kong and had my aunt help me obtain the Japanese yen. I believe she got them from a bank. It was quite a simple process. It was not the same here.
I’ve kept an eye on the exchange rate for several places including HSBC, TD Canada Trust, and Kingsmark (a currency exchange shop). Normally, the rate at HSBC is the best, with Kingsmark following closely. TD rate is pretty crappy. When I told my dad that, he mentioned that’s probably why they are still making a lot of profits in today’s economy. Anyway, since my dad has an HSBC account, we headed to a nearby branch to ask for some yen. But we were greeted with the reply that they don’t carry any Japanese yen at that branch. The teller directed us to a currency exchange shop in a nearby mall. In the back of my mind, I didn’t think that shop could beat the HSBC rate. So instead, we heading for a different HSBC branch, the Chinatown one. We figured they’ll have some since there might be more Chinese people heading to Japan. But unfortunately, the Japanese yen they have is only available to those with a Japanese yen account. They could only provide a cheque for us, which is pretty useless to me since I’ll have nowhere to cash it in. If we wanted cash, they’ll have to make an order which will take at least 3 days. The teller added that it might be better to leave 7 days as a leverage. That’s already too late for me. We asked her if the main branch will have Japanese yen in cash. After checking with some person in the back, she replied with a ‘no’. She told us to go to a currency exchange shop, which seems to be our only option at that moment. Lastly, she said we can also exchange at the airport. As the stingy traveler that I am, there’s no way I’ll do that. Airport exchange rate is never favourable. I only see it as a last minute resource.
Leaving Chinatown, we head to the Burnaby branch of Kingsmark, a shop which my parents have done exchanges at. I’ve never went to a currency exchange shop before. So it was kind of a new experience. The shop itself is pretty plain. The doors are guarded with metal rails. The counter area is enclosed with some glass with metal rails. There’s only a small area without glass to speak to the staff. It kind of reminds me of these pawn shops I used to see in Chinese movies. Anyway, we asked the staff for some Japanese yen. Turns out, they sold a lot already and there wasn’t enough for us. I asked if they’ll restock by tomorrow and she told us to call in first. Then she said there might be enough at the Richmond location. Another staff called and confirmed there’s enough. Off we go to Richmond. The Richmond branch of Kingsmark is a bit more decorated. There are some plants as well as coins and stamps on display (items which they also sell). So after almost 4 hours and driving across 5 cities, I finally got my Japanese yen. The conclusion from today’s currency exchange trip is that the Japanese yen isn’t as readily available here as Hong Kong. Next time, I should do this earlier.
Route: North Vancouver -> West Vancouver -> Vancouver (Chinatown) -> Burnaby -> Richmond
