|
Just had some of the Kirin 6% beer(red can). It's not very good. I have had much stronger beers that didn't taste of alcohol as much (up to 9% that still taste like a good craft beer). Not sure how asahi premium manages to taste much better at the same percentage. The premium malts "master's dream" was pretty good though (I would say fantastic but it might just be in comparison though).
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 11:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:26 |
|
|
If you're a breakfast lover like me I've got two recommendations. World Breakfast Allday in Omotesando. A cosy little hole in the wall that specializes in serving breakfasts from around the world. I ate a Malaysian breakfast there in May which was pretty good. And Egg in Ikebukuro. Specializing in, you guessed it, eggs. They also have a paper tablecloth and a glass of crayons on every table. My friends drew a bunch of dicks on my spot while I was in the bathroom.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 12:06
|
|
|
Pththya-lyi posted:-If a man in a Buddhist monk robe tries to give you a medallion, don't take it
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:04
|
|
|
Bofast posted:Could someone explain this to me? I don't recall hearing about it before. I was in Harajuku walking with my six month old son in one of those chest carriers and one of these "monks" offered me a token. The boy was grabbing at it so I was like OK sure. He then asked for my address, and I was like, hell no you can't have my address. He proceeded to rip the token away from my boy and started yelling at me. I smiled, but if I hadn't had a baby strapped to me, holy poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:08
|
|
|
Stringent posted:I was in Harajuku walking with my six month old son in one of those chest carriers and one of these "monks" offered me a token. The boy was grabbing at it so I was like OK sure. He then asked for my address, and I was like, hell no you can't have my address. He proceeded to rip the token away from my boy and started yelling at me. I smiled, but if I hadn't had a baby strapped to me, holy poo poo. Oh. Yeah, sounds like something to avoid.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:10
|
|
|
Basically, if you're approached by one and feeling froggy, just curb stomp them and no one will mind and everyone will feel they had it coming.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:11
|
|
|
Pththya-lyi posted:Lonely Planet guides are pretty good for that sort of thing because, while they do talk about tourist stops, they also deal with places to hang out and things to do that aren't specifically for tourists, like bars and nightclubs, concert venues, neighborhood parks, etc. They also have general information that's useful - the local legal system as it might relate to you, history of the city or region (including recent history up to the time the current edition's been published), different ways to get around, culture and etiquette stuff, how to place a call out of the country, where to get help if there's an emergency, etc. I recommend them. The quoted post led me back to this, and congratulations, that's as comprehensive a tourist list as I've seen. You are a gentleman and a scholar sir.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:15
|
|
|
Were they Chinese tourists? I recently saw a bunch of sketchy scammers and they are the same gimmicky scammers as the ones you find in mainland China
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:16
|
|
|
Just use wiki travel or whatever basic internet guide. TOO TOURISTY?? Omg guess you aren’t cool enough to find cool places on your own because tourists probably wanna do touristy things when they go to x foreign country the first time
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:17
|
|
|
I’m actually broke brained because I fly across the sea to meet people for dinner
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:18
|
|
|
Stringent posted:The quoted post led me back to this, and congratulations, that's as comprehensive a tourist list as I've seen. You are a gentleman and a scholar sir. I'll add these: - get a SUICA or PASMO card, not just for easier public transport use, but also for konbini and drinks machines - said drinks machines are everywhere - not all of them take SUICA cards, so have a ton of coins (you will anyway) - free and usually clean public toilets are everywhere - konbini are also good places to get rid of your trash as there are few public trashcans other than directly on train platforms beyond the ticket gates For eating out, we checked Google Maps for nearby places with a good score and mentions of an English menu as we don't speak Japanese. Some places also have pictures or plastic displays of the food so you can just point. Hope not all of this is far too obvious to mention.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:23
|
|
|
Those are all helpful. Also the most commonly used food app in Japan that isn't tabelog is Foursquare so you may have some luck there. Don't use Yelp.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:28
|
|
|
Oh yeah please bring your atm card and take out cash, don't expect to use a credit card anywhere but hotels. Cash is good and fun.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:35
|
|
|
All the tips are good. I used convenience stores for breakfast extensively. And vending machines as a dumping ground for coins. They don't take 1 or 5 coins usually, so use them in stores to get better change. Or be smarter than me and use your metro card at the store and have no change  .I stayed near Asakusabashi Station in Tokyo. It was pretty convenient, one seat from Haneda was nice when jetlagged.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 14:13
|
|
|
gschmidl posted:- konbini are also good places to get rid of your trash as there are few public trashcans other than directly on train platforms beyond the ticket gates Oh yeah, I've carried the remains of my Pocari Sweat bottles for what felt like miles! Usually there are some next to the machines but not guaranteed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 14:58
|
|
|
Oh yeah, absolutely no tipping, and no opening taxi doors by yourself.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 15:24
|
|
|
There are a bunch of really good bakeries, so that's an option for breakfast that isn't Mr Donut. As someone pointed out earlier, don't get Honkirin (red can Kirin).
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 15:47
|
|
|
Phone posted:There are a bunch of really good bakeries, so that's an option for breakfast that isn't Mr Donut. Just go to a store and get one of every alcoholic drink, then sit down on the side of a major commercial area (without blocking traffic) to people watch, and boom, best day in Japan.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:00
|
|
|
Bofast posted:Could someone explain this to me? I don't recall hearing about it before. IIRC they try to extract a "donation" of several thousand yen from you in exchange for the "gift" of a cheap plastic medallion. They show you a book with "donor names" as proof that they're legitimate - if all these other people donated, it must have been for a good reason, right? Real Buddhist monks will happily take donations if you go to them, but they don't go out hustling for money, and they don't just target foreigners. A man tried to give my husband and me a medallion at Sanja Matsuri last year, but I'd read about the scam, so we knew to refuse him. He looked like such a nice old man, too!  Stringent posted:The quoted post led me back to this, and congratulations, that's as comprehensive a tourist list as I've seen. You are a gentleman and a scholar sir. Aw, thanks!  gschmidl posted:I'll add these: I forgot to mention the cards! Yeah, it's way easier than buying a ticket every time you use the train, and there's even a tiny discount for using a card. You can turn in the card at the end of your trip to get your remaining cash and deposit back, or you can keep it as a souvenir! Other tips people have posted are also good. E: One more thing: write down and/or print out the address(es) of your hotel(s) in English and Japanese so you can show it to people if you get lost and/or need to take a cab. Do the same thing for your country's embassy or consulate. Always have your embassy's information handy when you travel abroad! Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:20
|
|
|
Osaka has a lot of breakfast places, if you go make sure to get those fluffy soufflé pancakes and also omu rice
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 19:57
|
|
|
gschmidl posted:Oh yeah, absolutely no tipping, and no opening taxi doors by yourself. except when you have 3 people and one person sits at the front. The front door doesn't open by itself. Btw I expect to use a credit card everywhere except at restaurants who are small and sometimes minshuku. About like 3 years ago all of the credit card systems were unified and things became a lot better. also I'm brokebrained like caberham, so much that the immigration dude this time while entering had to flip through like 16 pages of Japan tourist stamp + visas and was like "drat you come to Japan a lot".
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 23:17
|
|
|
Okaeri～
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 23:34
|
|
|
Pththya-lyi posted:-Breakfast places are rare, so plan accordingly Someone tell me why Japan is so bad at breakfast when p much all other parts of Asia are very to extremely good at breakfast.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 01:57
|
|
|
Breakfast is v good here but cafes don't open until 10am lol
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 03:59
|
|
|
So I started a bunch of places for Tokyo Good food in tokyo https://www.google.com/maps/placelists/list/1tLjJSa6MpiuIeWTBsF1RwPSjynQ?hl=en Hope this helps Magna Kaser posted:Someone tell me why Japan is so bad at breakfast when p much all other parts of Asia are very to extremely good at breakfast. We need to spend a romantic night in an onsen and wear matching yukata for some grilled fish and rice. I do like the salted fish and seaweed. Also Japanese rice porridge, the consistency is different.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 04:20
|
|
|
If anyone is going to japan they really should see some Tokyo goons. Yes there are a lot of them and they are fun but they are busy city folk with their own social schedule. Just make lots of repetitive posts like me and PM people and badger them to hangout and bring souvenirs. People like to dunk on stringent and all but he’s a super cool guy and when he gets drunk that twinkle in his beady eyes look super cute. And of course shout out to my Tokyo goons who always help me out with translation stuff and food suggestions.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 04:25
|
|
|
So my a super cool Melbourne goon is accompanying her girlfriend for some academic conference. We plan on being in Tokyo from July 6 - 10. They will be on their way to OSAKA so I’m just there for a weekend. Who wants to hang out? Hamburger time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 04:27
|
|
|
Do you use the metro debit cards on bullet trains or just local city metro?
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 05:55
|
|
|
Yawgmoft posted:Do you use the metro debit cards on bullet trains or just local city metro? you technically can, but usually it's better to either A. get the JR pass as a foreign tourist or B. just directly by the tickets/fare you need from the kiosk/ticket office.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 06:50
|
|
|
peanut posted:Oh yeah please bring your atm card and take out cash, don't expect to use a credit card anywhere but hotels. Cash is good and fun. I'm not sure how true this is anymore, over the past few years I've tried to go all in on credit cards to take advantage of rewards and was surprised at how easy it is now. I think the whole "you can't survive without cash" is an outdated tip. For sure smaller local stores will be cash only, but more or less all chains and mid-sized restaurants seem to have credit card support these days. You should still definitely carry a decent amount of cash though!
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 11:34
|
|
|
That's accurate yeah.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 11:37
|
|
|
Always have cash, I know people who are act like they're allergic to cash and every single one of them ends up with a story of their card being declined on vacation and being hosed. Don't be one of those idiots. But yeah Japan doesn't stare at credit cards like some sort of weird alien artifact the way they did the first time I went all the way back in the depths of 2012. Smartphones had even become the majority over flip phones the last time I was there. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 11:43
|
|
|
Stringent posted:That's accurate yeah.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 12:34
|
|
|
caberham posted:So my a super cool Melbourne goon is accompanying her girlfriend for some academic conference. We'll probably be in Tokyo a week or so, then we'll set off riding our bikes North-ish for two months. I'm up for meeting up or some bike riding if anyone wants to accompany us while we try to navigate a way out of the city. Is following a river the best way for me to get out of Tokyo without getting ran over or having to stop to look at a map every block?
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 14:03
|
|
|
CopperHound posted:I will also be visiting with MY GIRLFRIEND, but we arriving at NRT on the 10th. I'm happy to meet up with you. There is no good way out of Tokyo unfortunately. You should check the forums out here: https://www.tokyocycle.com/bbs/portal/
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 14:24
|
|
|
Grand Fromage posted:Always have cash, I know people who are act like they're allergic to cash and every single one of them ends up with a story of their card being declined on vacation and being hosed. Don't be one of those idiots. But yeah Japan doesn't stare at credit cards like some sort of weird alien artifact the way they did the first time I went all the way back in the depths of 2012. Smartphones had even become the majority over flip phones the last time I was there. Yep, this is the right strategy. It's nice that card are supported more, but having cash on hand* is always the way to ensure you're fine. *how much cash? I would recommend at least 10,000 yen. I usually carry at least that much. 10,000 can cover dinner, or some drinks, or a taxi without needing another ATM run. Sometimes all of the above.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 14:31
|
|
|
harperdc posted:Yep, this is the right strategy. It's nice that card are supported more, but having cash on hand* is always the way to ensure you're fine. Getting some of those into 1000 yen notes ASAP is also helpful because a lot of kiosks will only take 1000 notes, maybe 5000.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 20:20
|
|
|
There's a handful of caves around Yamanashi that my buddies and I would like to get to, but have no idea about the area. Are there tour buses that would get us around the Saiko bat cave, Narasawa ice cave, Motosu wind cave and Caverna de Omu? Theoretically we could walk the entire thing but that wouldn't leave us a lot of time in each cave most likely. I can't imagine public transport is super regular around there. They're all in the area of Aokigahara foest, which I've been told is an interesting place outside of all the suicides. I really don't fancy snuff tourism as it seems kinda disrespectful, but if it's worth visiting for other reasons and am in the area, I might like to squeeze that in too. Also, one of our group seemed pretty excited about some ninja-themed experience near Akame 48 waterfalls. Their description sounds like it would either be a fun day out or definitely something designed for 6 year olds and we'll look like a bunch of weirdo creeps, but I'm not sure which. Anyone done it? edit: I was surprised that last time I visited in 2016/2017, I barely had to use cash - so many restaurants and shops were able to take card. Life became so much easier when I didn't need to worry about having so much money on me at all times.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 21:08
|
|
|
I mean, anything with ninja activities in it probably was originally designed for kids, but possibly could be cheesily fun in a 'company offsite' kind of way. Pics below. http://www.akame48taki.com/asobu/ninjanomori.html#tuite For Yamanashi, if you are going to places without public transportation you might as well rent a car. There are two ways to do this: 1) Rent car in Tokyo, drive to Yamanashi and then drive and return in Tokyo (calculate tolls, compare them to taking public transportation, and note that if it's your first time driving in Tokyo can be a little confusing) 2) Train out towards Yamanashi, rent car there and return there and take train back. I personally enjoy driving out of Tokyo, but some people hate it. ntan1 fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jun 16, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2018 23:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:26 |
|
|
Question Mark Mound posted:There's a handful of caves around Yamanashi that my buddies and I would like to get to, but have no idea about the area. Are there tour buses that would get us around the Saiko bat cave, Narasawa ice cave, Motosu wind cave and Caverna de Omu? The Bat Cave, Ice Cave, and Wind Cave are all serviced by busses operating out of Kawaguchiko. I don't know about Caverna de Omu, Google isn't turning up anything. This page is pretty useful: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6911.html The Wind Cave and Ice Cave are close together, Bat Cave is a bit further north. Hiking from Wind/Ice to Bat will take about an hour, and you can get a nice view of Fuji from Koyodai.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2018 01:39
|
|
