Flying to Nagoya from Shanghai next week, first time in Japan. I guess I will stay there for two days and then go to Kyoto. Dunno if my budget allows me to visit Tokyo, since this is just a small spontaneous trip before my summer holiday starts proper next months.
If I stay for five days alltogether, would two days in Nagoya and three in Kyoto make sense?
Just got my plane ticket. Going to Japan with my gf from September 12th to the 26th. My best friend is teaching English just outside of Hiroshima, so we'll be spending a bit of time with him. But we're getting two-weak bullet train passes so that we can visit other cities too. Definitely going to Tokyo Disneyland. But beyond that our plans are mostly open!
just trying to finalise my budget, 10,000 yen a day should be ample spending money right (just food, basic site seeing and transport, do have a separate pool of spending money for buying stuff).
Flying to Nagoya from Shanghai next week, first time in Japan. I guess I will stay there for two days and then go to Kyoto. Dunno if my budget allows me to visit Tokyo, since this is just a small spontaneous trip before my summer holiday starts proper next months.
If I stay for five days alltogether, would two days in Nagoya and three in Kyoto make sense?
just trying to finalise my budget, 10,000 yen a day should be ample spending money right (just food, basic site seeing and transport, do have a separate pool of spending money for buying stuff).
Im not sure if I can share the location but when you exit at Iriya station and ask a police officer he must know it because they close the entire road for that market
I see you went to Sensoji Temple, akihabara, Tokyo Skytree and Tsukiji fish market.
Did you go to the Tsukiji Market tuna fish auction? I had to go there at 00:00 just before the subway closed and wait for almost 6 hours to see that. At 00:30 there was already 100 people waiting to see the auction (I was scheduled for the 2nd group). They allow a maximum of 120 people.
Yeah that's right! No we didn't go the the auction because we live near a fish market ourselves so we kind of know the drill, plus we didnt want to wait that long.
In my opinion the fish market itself has enough to see so I do not feel as if I missed out on anything.
There are a couple of new pictures in the album for those who are interested
I think the most expensive place I'm thinking of eating at is the Ristorante Massa and that was tops 90,000 yen (I want to eat at a restruant run by an Iron Chef ) other that that just looking for good food
I think the most expensive place I'm thinking of eating at is the Ristorante Massa and that was tops 90,000 yen (I want to eat at a restruant run by an Iron Chef ) other that that just looking for good food
How does booking Shinkansen work? Might go from Tokyo to Kyoto in August for a few days. I guess it's summer vacation then, do they usually get booked full in that period? (if I can't get a seat I might not bother...)
How does booking Shinkansen work? Might go from Tokyo to Kyoto in August for a few days. I guess it's summer vacation then, do they usually get booked full in that period? (if I can't get a seat I might not bother...)
But they're only for Kodama trains that takes about 4 hours instead of the faster ones that takes 3 hours or so.
If you don't mind flying, then it could also be cheaper than taking the Shinkansen with some of the discount airlines: http://www.flypeach.com/home.aspx
I think the most expensive place I'm thinking of eating at is the Ristorante Massa and that was tops 90,000 yen (I want to eat at a restruant run by an Iron Chef ) other that that just looking for good food
Whats Sakai's place? Only one I could find info on was Kobe's restaurant. Wouldn't mind tracking down Chen's as well.
Also I think JTB is going to fuck me over on the Studio Ghibli ticket I booked >.< I booked over a week ago on the 2nd, in the email it aid they will be in touch in 2 working days to confirm my date I choose. Over a week later and haven't heard anything, checked the site and the 5th is gone :/ Hoping I'm still good but worried they haven't been in touch or anything. Have sent them an email asking whats up and will call on Monday if I don't hear back.
Out of everything I want to do there, Ghibli Museum is number 1. Would be gutted if I missed that. Might have to ask Gromph who offered a few pages back to get me some if I'm having troubles.
But they're only for Kodama trains that takes about 4 hours instead of the faster ones that takes 3 hours or so.
If you don't mind flying, then it could also be cheaper than taking the Shinkansen with some of the discount airlines: http://www.flypeach.com/home.aspx
Whats Sakai's place? Only one I could find info on was Kobe's restaurant. Wouldn't mind tracking down Chen's as well.
Also I think JTB is going to fuck me over on the Studio Ghibli ticket I booked >.< I booked over a week ago on the 2nd, in the email it aid they will be in touch in 2 working days to confirm my date I choose. Over a week later and haven't heard anything, checked the site and the 5th is gone :/ Hoping I'm still good but worried they haven't been in touch or anything. Have sent them an email asking whats up and will call on Monday if I don't hear back.
Out of everything I want to do there, Ghibli Museum is number 1. Would be gutted if I missed that. Might have to ask Gromph who offered a few pages back to get me some if I'm having troubles.
I tried reserving tickets for Ghibli last week at Lawson and every single day and every single time slot in July was full! I had no idea it was this popular. I think reservations opened for August today so I'm gonna check tomorrow at a Lawson again and try to get a spot in August. I would be super bummed as well if I had to miss out on the Ghibli Museum...
I tried reserving tickets for Ghibli last week at Lawson and every single day and every single time slot in July was full! I had no idea it was this popular. I think reservations opened for August today so I'm gonna check tomorrow at a Lawson again and try to get a spot in August. I would be super bummed as well if I had to miss out on the Ghibli Museum...
Yeah, the July and August tickets used a lottery system. Hopefully there'll be some left for August. General ticket sales for August should have opened today.
Yeah, the July and August tickets used a lottery system. Hopefully there'll be some left for August. General ticket sales for August should have opened today.
I would but I'm deep in red numbers this month and living from borrowed money. I think you pay directly at Lawson after reserving the tickets and I'm not really financially able to pay up front for others ...
Yeah, the July and August tickets used a lottery system. Hopefully there'll be some left for August. General ticket sales for August should have opened today.
So, we are in Nagoya ag the moment where we are staying with our amazing couchsurfing host and his wife. We are having a blast up till now here in Japan!!
By the way, there are some new pictures in our album for those that are interested
Eheh.
There was advertising everywhere when I got here, was impossible to miss on it.
Sounds like you have quite a few things planned out to do before returning.
I'm mostly just going along the ride with other coworker's and the opportunities that appear.
Should be hitting Mount Takao this Sunday and then Disney Sea the day after!
If someone with actual knowledge of Japanese can correct/confirm my interpretation, that would be most appreciated.
Eheh.
There was advertising everywhere when I got here, was impossible to miss on it.
Sounds like you have quite a few things planned out to do before returning.
I'm mostly just going along the ride with other coworker's and the opportunities that appear.
Should be hitting Mount Takao this Sunday and then Disney Sea the day after!
Yep like UppercaseN already deciphered, it says the tickets are sold out and you should try another day/time.
And yay you're going to climb Mount Takao! That's not too far from where I'm at. If you're going by train, look outside the window when you stop at Hino and see the dreadfull hill I have to climb every freaking time I use the train. And what a shitty place it is in general, haha.
You get a paper receipt from the Loppi machine at Lawson (where you'll also pay), and then exchange that for a real entrance ticket at the Ghibli Museum (according to their site). So yes it is possible to buy scalped tickets. Be aware that the warning that Dani posted above does say that they also refuse visitors who bring scalped tickets, though I have no idea how they would find out and if they really care enough.
Damn. You could try again on Monday. If you're really lucky, then somebody who entered the lottery by phone and not on the internet didn't answer in time when they called back. Really tiny chance though
You get a paper receipt from the Loppi machine at Lawson (where you'll also pay), and then exchange that for a real entrance ticket at the Ghibli Museum (according to their site). So yes it is possible to buy scalped tickets. Be aware that the warning that Dani posted above does say that they also refuse visitors who bring scalped tickets, though I have no idea how they would find out and if they really care enough.
You use the Loppi ticket to enter and then you get an admission ticket (which has 3 film frames from a Ghibli movie on it) to the Saturn Theater which you can only enter once. They only stamp the Saturn Theater ticket, so you get to keep it.
So, we are in Nagoya ag the moment where we are staying with our amazing couchsurfing host and his wife. We are having a blast up till now here in Japan!!
By the way, there are some new pictures in our album for those that are interested
And yay you're going to climb Mount Takao! That's not too far from where I'm at. If you're going by train, look outside the window when you stop at Hino and see the dreadfull hill I have to climb every freaking time I use the train. And what a shitty place it is in general, haha.
That's the plan anyway, people want to do it but now I need to actually get them to go <.<
Did you get to climb it yet?
I'll be sure to look away and squint to try and see you at the hill!
Talking of Hino, the Tama Zoo is near by right?
A friend of mine went there and said it was worth going, so I was considering stopping by there at some point if I have the time, do you have any thoughts on the place?
Thanks for the link!
I can read Katakana!...Sort of, it'd be easier it was hiragana, Katakana annoys me.
Anyone have any experience with duty free? I bought a bunch of gunpla and stuff at sofmap and they stapled a little receipt into my passport but now what? Do I have to keep the stuff in my hand luggage or is it okay to put them in my suitcase, I take it they check to see if you have the stuff.
Been here since last Friday and had a fantastic time but looking forward to getting back to my tiny Scottish town lol
Was able to get everything sorted out with JTB, wasn't able to get the 5th for Ghibli like I wanted but now have it looked in for the 8th, so will just need to leave from the Inokashira Park Zoo for the Robot Restaurant for the meet up thingo.
Was able to get everything sorted out with JTB, wasn't able to get the 5th for Ghibli like I wanted but now have it looked in for the 8th, so will just need to leave from the Inokashira Park Zoo for the Robot Restaurant for the meet up thingo.
Hey Japan travelling GAF, just want to ask if, on average, would 30000 yen be enough of a food budget (3 meals a day) for 7 days (Osaka - Kyoto - Tokyo)? Thanks.
Hey Japan travelling GAF, just want to ask if, on average, would 30000 yen be enough of a food budget (3 meals a day) for 7 days (Osaka - Kyoto - Tokyo)? Thanks.
The first route was pretty accessible, the pah was entirely paved, with ample of space and protections on the sides.
The start can be rough due to the very high inclination, but when you get to the area with the funicular and ropeway there's very little climbing, and most it is done via stairs. That's where all the Temples were at too.
So if you don't want to do much climbing you can just skip the majority of it by using one of the means of transportation offered and still see the temples and then head to the summit.
No I'm not sweating that much, I just put my head under water when I got to the top due to the heat.
Going down we took route 4 until half way down, and then Route 1 again for the lower half. We wanted to check the bridge and then do another route, but the bridge
Route 4 felt more like actual hiking, with no paving or side protections, somewhat narrow paths, lots of roots and the ground/wood could be slippery.
On a more personal level, unfortunately I didn't sleep much due to stress and was having an anxiety attack due to that, ended up taking an anti-anxiety medicine on the train to Takao, which helped but didn't make away with the anxiety, and unfortunately due to this I couldn't really eat much at all, all this circumstances were likely the reason why I was also having a headache.
I considered going back while at the train but ultimately I decided to try and see how I felt after I started moving, the best way to defeat anxiety and panic attacks is to abstract your mind, and I was hoping that the trip up would do so.
So that was my biggest challenge going up the mountain, thankfully I was in somewhat better shape than I thought (even if far far away from ideal), so it went fine. I was a bit worried when I realized that Route 4 was actual hiking, so I had to take extra care there, but thankfully everything went well.
I would had liked to check some of the other routes, but since I wasn't in the best conditions I decided to leave it to next time. Thankfully the people with me were also tired so it wasn't hard to convince them to skip doing some extra routes.
So while I consider Takao a very accessible climb, and even though it might not have been the best of ideas to have climb it in those conditions, I'm extremely happy that I actually went ahead and did it, and I think it was an important step for helping me dealing with my anxiety issues going forward.
Overall I would say that Takao is an accessible climb (as long as you stick with Route 1), with the biggest challenge being the high level of inclination of the first 30 minutes, but since those can be skipped I would say most anyone can go up to the very top of Takao, even if it means having to skip halfway of the route. I'm interest in going back and checking some of the other routes, but at a time where I'm having a better day.
So I'm going to Japan in August, staying for 21 days. How much money do you guys think per day would be a solid amount for food + basic spending money? Mostly going to be in Tokyo.
Hey Japan travelling GAF, just want to ask if, on average, would 30000 yen be enough of a food budget (3 meals a day) for 7 days (Osaka - Kyoto - Tokyo)? Thanks.
So I'm going to Japan in August, staying for 21 days. How much money do you guys think per day would be a solid amount for food + basic spending money? Mostly going to be in Tokyo.
You'll need to buy bottles of drink that are about 100-200 JPY each, unless you bring your own bottle and drink tap water all the time. Should be about 2-4 of those a day.
Breakfast would be about 500-1000 JPY
Lunch would be 1000-1500 JPY
Dinner about 1500-3000 JPY
Transportation would be 500-1500 JPY each day if you're staying within the city.
You'll need to buy bottles of drink that are about 100-200 JPY each, unless you bring your own bottle and drink tap water all the time. Should be about 2-4 of those a day.
Breakfast would be about 500-1000 JPY
Lunch would be 1000-1500 JPY
Dinner about 1500-3000 JPY
Transportation would be 500-1500 JPY each day if you're staying within the city.
If you really want to save money, you can easily eat Lunch and Dinner for about 500-1000 JPY per day, plenty of cheap restuarants around (particulalry chain ones like Sukiya and Matsuya, where you can eat decent meals for those prices) or Bento's (500 yen for a full meal).
Also don't order drinks, those are what really rises the prices, stick with the free water glasses.
I've been surviving with 1500-2200JPY yen a day for meals for months now that way, including breakfast (200-300 yen), Lunch (400-700), Dinner(400-700), something in between those two (200-300 yen) and something before sleeping(200-300 yen).
Given I've had to move the day I go to Ghibli and the Park Zoo, I now have on my schedule 3 days in a row. Something I've wanted to do since I find out about it in Japan is go to the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. I'm a huge fan of Dinosaurs and the place looks freaking awesome. Really really want to go check it out. Now the catch is its just over 5 hours away from Tokyo by train.
So I could go to it now, possibly spend a day out that way and then travel back to Tokyo, but I did want 3 days free in Tokyo to do some extra things. The other option I have is travel out there really early in the morning and then travel back as late as I can. But 11 hours on various trains on one day would be tiring.
If I had an extra day in Osaka would def do the day trip up to Fukui to hit is up, but time is tight in Osaka for me.
Anyone checked out the Dino Museum, is it as good as I'm thinking or just building it up.
Also awesome thing I found out about it, you go walk through the whole Museum via Google Maps street view
If you really want to save money, you can easily eat Lunch and Dinner for about 500-1000 JPY per day, plenty of cheap restuarants around (particulalry chain ones like Sukiya and Matsuya, where you can eat decent meals for those prices) or Bento's (500 yen for a full meal).
Also don't order drinks, those are what really rises the prices, stick with the free water glasses.
I've been surviving with 1500-2200JPY yen a day for meals for months now that way, including breakfast (200-300 yen), Lunch (400-700), Dinner(400-700), something in between those two (200-300 yen) and something before sleeping(200-300 yen).
I would think one would like to try as many different dishes as possible when there on vacation as well, not just have beef bowl and curry rice all the time. It's a bit different if you live there of course.
I would think one would like to try as many different dishes as possible when there on vacation as well, not just have beef bowl and curry rice all the time. It's a bit different if you live there of course.
Finally booked a hotel for Osaka. Not a luxury hotel, but figured I'd do something a little "modern" to make up for slumming it up with a few GAFers on the first leg of the journey. Also, its literally right on top of the Shin-Osaka station, so that should make it pretty convenient.
