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[JulianImp]

Make sure you get the tax back/do tax free shopping if you buy it at a shop that offers that to tourists.

That's something you do at the airport before you take your flight back home, right? I've never done any tax-free shopping, so I have no experience with that kind of thing. Are there any noteworthy tax-free shops that might carry Macs and which I should consider checking out?

Also, thanks to both of you who told me about how MacOS works. It's a relief to know I won't be locking myself out of understanding 50% of what's said onscreen if I end up buying a Mac there.

Since I've been doing some more research on the TGS, I've heard there's a games podcast called 8-4 that throws a party every year a few days before the TGS begins, and that last year it was done in Roppongi. If I end up going there, how would I go about to return to my Sakura House room around Tokyo University? I've heard trains stop at around midnight, so I'd probably have to take a taxi (probably expensive as hell for that kind of distance, right?).

 

[fubarduck]

Since I've been doing some more research on the TGS, I've heard there's a games podcast called 8-4 that throws a party every year a few days before the TGS begins, and that last year it was done in Roppongi. If I end up going there, how would I go about to return to my Sakura House room around Tokyo University? I've heard trains stop at around midnight, so I'd probably have to take a taxi (probably expensive as hell for that kind of distance, right?).

In Japan, this is a common situation and there are two primary ways of dealing with it:

1) Stay out/party all night, catch the train home when they start running again at 5AM (there are after hours bars and clubs just to accommodate people doing this)
2) Rent a booth at a manga cafe for 200yen/hour and sleep in a comfy chair until 5AM

Taxis are prohibitively expensive, don't use them unless absolutely necessary.

 

[MikeHattsu]

That's something you do at the airport before you take your flight back home, right? I've never done any tax-free shopping, so I have no experience with that kind of thing. Are there any noteworthy tax-free shops that might carry Macs and which I should consider checking out?

No. You get it in-store when you buy it or at the information/service desk after if it's a really big store. You need to bring your passport. There's several big stores in Akihabara that offer tax free shopping on electronics. Go to the UDX building, on the second floor there's an info center with free maps. It shows the locations of some of the tax free shops.

In Japan, this is a common situation and there are two primary ways of dealing with it

There's also capsule hotels. More expensive than manga cafes though.

 

[Gromph]

That's something you do at the airport before you take your flight back home, right? I've never done any tax-free shopping, so I have no experience with that kind of thing. Are there any noteworthy tax-free shops that might carry Macs and which I should consider checking out?

Also, thanks to both of you who told me about how MacOS works. It's a relief to know I won't be locking myself out of understanding 50% of what's said onscreen if I end up buying a Mac there.

Since I've been doing some more research on the TGS, I've heard there's a games podcast called 8-4 that throws a party every year a few days before the TGS begins, and that last year it was done in Roppongi. If I end up going there, how would I go about to return to my Sakura House room around Tokyo University? I've heard trains stop at around midnight, so I'd probably have to take a taxi (probably expensive as hell for that kind of distance, right?).

You do in the shop.

If you plan to buy a mac, in the apple store ask for the tax exemption as tourist, they will put a paper in your passport and then immigration will check when you leave the country.

 

[Resilient]

That manga cafe thing is genius but planning which one you are gonna go to and then getting there while drunk is a tough task. Just Party Hard!

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Just checked into my ryokan in Asakusa. Wish I had come to the area sooner, seems like a cool place to explore.

 

[Ayumi]

Have you spent it there, out of curiosity ?

I live in Central Tokyo. We don't usually do much, aside from having a nice meal/getting drunk and go to the shrine January 1st. There are specific food we eat during NYE as well, which is really tasty!

 

[gembel]

I think I'm going to Japan again for next spring, going to Taipei first and then to Osaka.

Any idea what's the cheaper way to Hokkaido from Tokyo/Osaka?

Jetstar to Sapporo.. Only $50-70 one way

 

[Desmond]

Jetstar to Sapporo.. Only $50-70 one way

Damn. That's good.

 

[gembel]

low cost airlines are great option in Japan, there are Jetstar, Peach and Skymark.

Jetstar is cheaper than going on Shinkansen lol

 

[scarlet]

Jetstar to Sapporo.. Only $50-70 one way

It seems I can get Taipei - Osaka - Sapporo around 1000 usd, that's awesome!

Thanks

 

[WasMachinator]

got back last week from 2 weeks of Japan goodness!

to the person who recommended visiting Minoh Brewery, thx! Those beers are damn great

..

I will post some photo's when I've got some time. But damn, Hiroshima on the 6th was impressive, those candles, those lampions. Just wow..

 

[SGRU]

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

 

[scarlet]

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

Hostels and yes it's safe to roam at night

 

[Gromph]

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

www.agoda.com

Check prices there.

This is one of the most safe countries in the world, fell free to roam at night

 

[TransTrender]

I'm flying out to Japan next week. I'm staying for 2 weeks focusing on Tokyo and a day or two in Kyoto.

I have an old Canon Power Shot point and shoot from 2008 and I'm looking for a compact but leaning toward enthusiast type camera. My researching has brought me to this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00889ST2G/?tag=neogaf0e-20

My alternative is my Samsung GS3 and in most cases it takes a better picture than my old Canon.

Suggestions? Should I pick one up for my trip?

 

[TransTrender]

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

Nothing wrong with Airbnb and their equivalents.

 

[Ayumi]

Just bought a new camera! Will start taking pictures of stuff around Japan and put on flickr or something.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Just got back from Fujiyama.

Now I gotta throw away my knees, my upper ankle joints and my cervical vertebra.

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

Check out Toyoko Inn. Good price, service and nice rooms.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/


They serve breakfast (Asian and Western) and that's it. Perfect for discovering the city.
Roaming around at night should be pretty safe. I haven't had any problems thus far. You just have to check out, when the last underground train goes. Or else grab a cab.

 

[WasMachinator]

We are going to Tokyo next month, from the 5th to the 11th. Can't wait!

We already have the flight tickets but... We can't find a room, all are too expensive or for smokers. We don't even know where to stay.

Our idea is to see as much as possible during the day, have some dinner, rest for a while and, at night, take a walk and have a drink. Where should we stay? Is it safe to roam around at night?

We have a tight budget, any ideas?

check the khaosan hostels, they are quite good . Mainly shared dorms though.

 

[SGRU]

Thanks guys!

We still haven't found a room that fits our needs. Either too expensive or too cheap (no window, shared bathroom...). We even found a room described as "very noisy"... At least they are honest!

So we'll have to raise our budget a little bit. Can you tell me a good zone to look at? District, neighborhood, whatever is called in Japan.

Some of the rooms were listed as "tax included". How much are the tourism taxes in case we book a room without it included?

BTW, does the subway work 24 hours?

 

[midramble]

check the khaosan hostels, they are quite good . Mainly shared dorms though.

I second this. I always stay here. Met my current GF while staying there. She's staying there now hahaha. Also a lot of my friends work there. The new one Khaosan world is quite nice. Buddy plays Jazz guitar there from time to time and other friend bartends.

 

[JulianImp]

The flight has been booked! Now I'll have to wait until tonight for the Sakura House staff to get back to me regarding my reservation (gotta make the deposit), and once that's done I'll have put most of the hard work behind me.

I'll be arriving to Japan on September 8th, and will be returning home on October 19th. I'll be staying at Sakura House until Oct 7th, and from that point onwards I'll probably go to Kyoto and do more sightseeing for the remaining days I have left before my departure. If anyone has any reccomendations for hotels and hostels I could stay at during the Kansai part of trip and once I return to Tokyo, I'd appreciate it (oh, and a ryokan or two would be nice, in case my budget is still comfortable enough on those last two weeks).

I'll probably be buying a 7-day JR Pass for the week after I leave Sakura House so that I can go to Kyoto, travel using the pass around there (probably visiting Osaka as well), then travel back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen on the day the pass expires, and finally spend the last few days leading up to the 19th around Tokyo.

I'm so thrilled right now! I only hope the flights won't shake too much, since I'm kind of wary about that kind of thing for some unexplainable reason.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

About an hour left on my flight home. Hell of a trip. Lots of stuff I wanted to do but didn't get to for one reason or another, definitely would be interested in another trip sooner rather than later. Full write up photo album will probably not come for another few days.

 

[SGRU]

We've just booked a room in a hotel in Chiyoda...

It looks good.

 

[scarlet]

The flight has been booked! Now I'll have to wait until tonight for the Sakura House staff to get back to me regarding my reservation (gotta make the deposit), and once that's done I'll have put most of the hard work behind me.

I'll be arriving to Japan on September 8th, and will be returning home on October 19th. I'll be staying at Sakura House until Oct 7th, and from that point onwards I'll probably go to Kyoto and do more sightseeing for the remaining days I have left before my departure. If anyone has any reccomendations for hotels and hostels I could stay at during the Kansai part of trip and once I return to Tokyo, I'd appreciate it (oh, and a ryokan or two would be nice, in case my budget is still comfortable enough on those last two weeks).

I'll probably be buying a 7-day JR Pass for the week after I leave Sakura House so that I can go to Kyoto, travel using the pass around there (probably visiting Osaka as well), then travel back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen on the day the pass expires, and finally spend the last few days leading up to the 19th around Tokyo.

I'm so thrilled right now! I only hope the flights won't shake too much, since I'm kind of wary about that kind of thing for some unexplainable reason.

I thought you can only buy it outside Japan?

 

[BronsonLee]

I thought you can only buy it outside Japan?

This is correct. Buy it before you go. There's time restrictions as to when you can; look them up.

You buy it, you get sent a ticket via FedEx, you exchange it at the JR Station for your JR Pass.

 

[Ayumi]

Met Batara Eto at a bar in Roppongi last night. He called me crazy and kept highfiving me for all the sex-jokes I told. He thought I was 19 (I'm 25!). Best freakin' day ever.

 

[Gromph]

Met Batara Eto at a bar in Roppongi last night. He called me crazy and kept highfiving me for all the sex-jokes I told. He thought I was 19 (I'm 25!). Best freakin' day ever.

The co-founder of mixi?

 

[JulianImp]

I thought you can only buy it outside Japan?

This is correct. Buy it before you go. There's time restrictions as to when you can; look them up.

You buy it, you get sent a ticket via FedEx, you exchange it at the JR Station for your JR Pass.

Indeed, I'll be buying the JR Pass through the internet, but then I'll have them mail it to my Sakura House room directly. The reason is twofold: For one, it's cheaper, and then there's also the issue that mail takes a while to arrive to Argentina, so I don't want to deal with the pass arriving once I'm already gone.

 

[DCharlie]

Since I've been doing some more research on the TGS, I've heard there's a games podcast called 8-4 that throws a party every year a few days before the TGS begins, and that last year it was done in Roppongi. If I end up going there, how would I go about to return to my Sakura House room around Tokyo University? I've heard trains stop at around midnight, so I'd probably have to take a taxi (probably expensive as hell for that kind of distance, right?).

Just a note - the 8-4 party isn't an open door party - it's basically a "by invite" party so you can't just find the location and turn up.

 

[Ayumi]

The co-founder of mixi?

Yeah! He's a really laid back dude, pretty funny too.

 

[MikeHattsu]

BTW, does the subway work 24 hours?

No. There's no trains from like 00:00ish-05:00. Plan accordingly.

 

[JulianImp]

Just a note - the 8-4 party isn't an open door party - it's basically a "by invite" party so you can't just find the location and turn up.

Yeah, I figured as much. Still, I'm currently seeing if I can do anything about that...

 

[distantmantra]

No. There's no trains from like 00:00ish-05:00. Plan accordingly.

My wife and I did a drunken mad dash for the final train one Saturday night at JR Shinjuku. That was fun.

 

[Gromph]

Speaking of.

Evilore will be in Japan for 2 weeks in September.

No dates in Tokyo set.

Who is up for a GAF meeting with the owner and the system engineer behind the servers?

Let me know and i will create a thread when i know the full details.

 

[JulianImp]

Speaking of.

Evilore will be in Japan for 2 weeks in September.

No dates in Tokyo set.

Who is up for a GAF meeting with the owner and the system engineer behind the servers?

Let me know and i will create a thread when i know the full details.

I say do it! I'd love to attend to a GAF meeting during my trip since it's extremely unlikely we'd ever get one in Argentina.

 

[Gromph]

I say do it! I'd love to attend to a GAF meeting during my trip since it's extremely unlikely we'd ever get one in Argentina.

We can talk in Spanish too if you want

Added to the list.

I wanna know potential numbers to see where to go. I accept advise.

 

[Ayumi]

I'm usually extremely outgoing once I'm comfortable around the right people, so I'd be up to hang out if there were at least a few of you (the more, the safer I feel, I guess).

Coming back from my vacation at the start of September, then I have nothing to do so I'm free during the day as well as the evenings.

I'm fluent in many languages but I don't speak Spanish.

 

[RapidCancel]

A few of the places I'm staying are with Airbnb. Used them before for many holidays. They are great.

Sweet, thanks. I think I'm going to be using this for my stay this time. Was it pretty easy to do?

 

[Gromph]

I'm usually extremely outgoing once I'm comfortable around the right people, so I'd be up to hang out if there were at least a few of you (the more, the safer I feel, I guess).

Coming back from my vacation at the start of September, then I have nothing to do so I'm free during the day as well as the evenings.

I'm fluent in many languages but I don't speak Spanish.

Don't worry, i will gather a big crowd so you will fell confortable. We will talk English and the people who drink drunk-something I can talk Spanish, English and Japanese (Levels on that order from High to low)

Counting you in too.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Akihabara..
Hnggggg...

 

[Anung]

Its very straightforward! We're staying at a flats owned by a couple in a few days.

I arrived here safely last night. Flight was brutal. Not jetlagged at all. Staying in Kamata tonight.

 

[Desmond]

Speaking of.

Evilore will be in Japan for 2 weeks in September.

No dates in Tokyo set.

Who is up for a GAF meeting with the owner and the system engineer behind the servers?

Let me know and i will create a thread when i know the full details.

If it's somehow the first week of September, I'll be up for it. Only time I'll be in Tokyo that month.

 

[bodyboarder]

Any suggestions for hotels in hakuba, main purpose of the trip is snowboarding?

Failing that should I be looking at other locations. Hakuba appealed as it's fairly near/quick from Tokyo transport wise.

 

[DCharlie]

Speaking of.

Evilore will be in Japan for 2 weeks in September.

No dates in Tokyo set.

Who is up for a GAF meeting with the owner and the system engineer behind the servers?

Let me know and i will create a thread when i know the full details.

If it's during the daytime/lunchtime during the week i'd be up for a spot of luncheon

Nights are basically out - too many kids to take care of

 

[Desmond]

Can I prebook Shinkansen tickets online? I need to go to Kyoto from Tokyo on the 9th of September.

 

[gembel]

Anyone here reside in Japan?

I need someone's help to buy Fujiko F Fujio museum tickets from Lawson for January 2015. Tickets will be available in November.

 

[AllenShrz]

Speaking of.

Evilore will be in Japan for 2 weeks in September.

No dates in Tokyo set.

Who is up for a GAF meeting with the owner and the system engineer behind the servers?

Let me know and i will create a thread when i know the full details.

I live in Tokyo so if I'm free which ever dates you guys make it, I'll join.

 

[AllenShrz]

Any suggestions for hotels in hakuba, main purpose of the trip is snowboarding?

Failing that should I be looking at other locations. Hakuba appealed as it's fairly near/quick from Tokyo transport wise.

It depends on how many days, if you intend to visit many resorts or just focus on one.


Can't wait for the this winter season and snowboarding all weekends.