Anyone been to Japan???

[mysticalangel]

Ello, am going to Japan for vacation in March. Anyone been to Japan? What's there to see/do ah?

[Net Rider]

The place I enjoyed most in Japan was Harajuku (or sounds like that) on Sunday when Japanese come out and perform rock music in the open. The whole street would be lined with these rockers, dressed for the part and some of them were very very good.
Mount Fuji is nice, sip tea up on the icy mountain. You must not miss the public bath houses, have a public bath in your birthday suit with dozens of others. Of course, the one you must not miss is Disneyland.

[totoro]

Ello, am going to Japan for vacation in March. Anyone been to Japan? What's there to see/do ah?

Japan is big... which part?

[aroki]

mystic,

if you not going with a tour, than get a japan rail pass. Must buy it in Msia at one of the travel agents b4 you leave for japan.various fare depending on the number of days u want to use it, min is 7days I think.marcopolo tour? google it. you can travel the whole country with this pass, really cheap.

Kyoto is nice,ancient capital..old temples, food is great. Hiroshima is great too. there is a temple there, one of the top 5 sites in japan.need to take a ferry there. Tokyo has lots to offer.harajuku is fun but only on weekends/sunday.you've got your visa I guess.

take care

[mysticalangel]

Japan is big... which part?

Going to Tokyo/Sapporo & Nagasaki

[mysticalangel]

mystic,

if you not going with a tour, than get a japan rail pass. Must buy it in Msia at one of the travel agents b4 you leave for japan.various fare depending on the number of days u want to use it, min is 7days I think.marcopolo tour? google it. you can travel the whole country with this pass, really cheap.

Kyoto is nice,ancient capital..old temples, food is great. Hiroshima is great too. there is a temple there, one of the top 5 sites in japan.need to take a ferry there. Tokyo has lots to offer.harajuku is fun but only on weekends/sunday.you've got your visa I guess.

take care

Yah, I got the visa already, got a good offer for airticket at the travel fair. There's so much to see/do in Japan but I only have 8 days...enuff not??

[aroki]

enuf for the 3 places!! But buy the rail pass, if 8 days is available,shinkasen take you to the places u want to go quickly.pass won't work on Nozomi, which is the fastest shinkasen. you can use it from the airport onwards, airport express to downtown tokyo. But you will need to go the any JR(japan rail) counter and get it verified so that you can start using it. They will need to see your passport. clocks start ticking from the time you get it verified.They usually have a counter for english speakers.

so plan accordingly if it is only 7 days pass. They have pass for 15days and/or 30days. sorrylah, have not been to Japan for one year now.Min rail pass fare is Yen28,000, this I remember. trip to tokyo/nagasaki/tokyo will close to that amount.so any other trip is bonus. you can use it for most of the places u want to go as JR link is wide. The pass will allow you to see more of the country. look at the map and plan your trip ahead of time.

[Sukhipanna]

It's a must to check out the electrical shops in Tokyo...can't remember the name of the area where one can find lotsa electrical shop! For those who are crazy over gadgets, these shops are a heaven on earth. There are so many colourful, funky and choices of electrical gadgets, ranging from irons (yup, their irons are very "kawai" - cute design and colour, PDAs, cameras and even those facial items - e.g. the gadget to suck out your blackhead (I got that in Tokyo), hair roller, eye lashes curler, steamer....you name it, they have it!!!!

Another place that my friends like is the pharmacy - where you can get beauty products at low price, but high quality. with many choices to choose from!!!

It was also eye opening to visit Tokyo's red light district. Frankly I was very surprised. Thought Japanese are a conservative society. But at the red light district, mmmm.....they prove to be more open than we Malaysians!! Something which I don't see here in KL....or probably I didn't know where in Malaysia to find such outlets.

Do have a wonderful trip! Don't forget to take photos and share with us at the Photo Gallery, yah!

[patrick]

Be very prepared for very expensive travel. Dont just jump into a taxi unless you have plenty of $$$ to spare. Hotels too are damn expensive. Check it out early and be very prepared.

What I like most of all about Japan is the people. They are ooooohh soooo friendly. I just adore them.

[tupai]

its a clean country...depending on season, it has crisp air and plenty of nature-eye candies.

FORGET these:
- disneyland...you WILL discover that the japanese fave pasttime is Queueing-up. The Q goes for miles! with signage telling you (2hours),(1hr30min), (1hr), (45min), (30min), (15min)...pphew! then you see the entrance...Kids will go KRAZEE!

- restaurants & pub/cafe with sign that says "Chinese/Foreigners NOT welcome"

- Rush hour train : unless you like to be groped. seriously...they do. NOT me lah, of course...the salary men grope the salary ladies.

Otherwise, join a local tour and be ferried around e.g. to Mt Fuji and be gloriously rewarded with such scenery.

enjoy yrself. arigato for the op to explain a bit.

tupai-kawasakisan

[catwoman]

i have nvr been there but heard dat d pace of life there is much much faster esp in tokyo.... imagine, if u thk pace of life in singapore is faster tn msia, n pace of life in hongkong is faster tn singapore, tn just imagine, pace of life in japan is even faster tn hongkong!!! its a real expensive place.... my bro was there years ago.... kept complaining about d price of things, esp after conversion rate.... finally, he stopped converting d currency.... it wz 2 traumatic.... hahahaha....

[mysticalangel]

It's a must to check out the electrical shops in Tokyo...can't remember the name of the area where one can find lotsa electrical shop! For those who are crazy over gadgets, these shops are a heaven on earth. There are so many colourful, funky and choices of electrical gadgets, ranging from irons (yup, their irons are very "kawai" - cute design and colour, PDAs, cameras and even those facial items - e.g. the gadget to suck out your blackhead (I got that in Tokyo), hair roller, eye lashes curler, steamer....you name it, they have it!!!!

Another place that my friends like is the pharmacy - where you can get beauty products at low price, but high quality. with many choices to choose from!!!

It was also eye opening to visit Tokyo's red light district. Frankly I was very surprised. Thought Japanese are a conservative society. But at the red light district, mmmm.....they prove to be more open than we Malaysians!! Something which I don't see here in KL....or probably I didn't know where in Malaysia to find such outlets.

Do have a wonderful trip! Don't forget to take photos and share with us at the Photo Gallery, yah!

Yah, they have really cute colorful electrical products wor...hehehe...

[mysticalangel]

Be very prepared for very expensive travel. Dont just jump into a taxi unless you have plenty of $$$ to spare. Hotels too are damn expensive. Check it out early and be very prepared.

What I like most of all about Japan is the people. They are ooooohh soooo friendly. I just adore them.

Thanks for the warning. Yah, hotels are expensive *sob*

[mysticalangel]

its a clean country...depending on season, it has crisp air and plenty of nature-eye candies.

FORGET these:
- disneyland...you WILL discover that the japanese fave pasttime is Queueing-up. The Q goes for miles! with signage telling you (2hours),(1hr30min), (1hr), (45min), (30min), (15min)...pphew! then you see the entrance...Kids will go KRAZEE!

- restaurants & pub/cafe with sign that says "Chinese/Foreigners NOT welcome"

- Rush hour train : unless you like to be groped. seriously...they do. NOT me lah, of course...the salary men grope the salary ladies.

Otherwise, join a local tour and be ferried around e.g. to Mt Fuji and be gloriously rewarded with such scenery.

enjoy yrself. arigato for the op to explain a bit.

tupai-kawasakisan

Thanks for the suggestionlah. Disneyland in Tokyo. Nolah--been there when I was 12. Besides I liked the ones in Florida better.

Is the local tour expensive???

[mysticalangel]

i have nvr been there but heard dat d pace of life there is much much faster esp in tokyo.... imagine, if u thk pace of life in singapore is faster tn msia, n pace of life in hongkong is faster tn singapore, tn just imagine, pace of life in japan is even faster tn hongkong!!! its a real expensive place.... my bro was there years ago.... kept complaining about d price of things, esp after conversion rate.... finally, he stopped converting d currency.... it wz 2 traumatic.... hahahaha....

Aiyah, I love life in the fast lane. The faster the better. Somehow I find KL not fast enough lor. As for price conversion, I've learned in my travels never to convert the rates else cannot enjoy to the fullest. As long as within my budget I think still okaylah. I don't want to have more debts than I can afford to pay when I get back.