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zmcnulty posted:Sounds to me like he never had a passport/his old one expired and he is getting a new one (in the US). But he's already overseas in SEA from his posts, which is why it's rather perplexing. If Japan immigration is thinking his passport is fake that's mondo hosed.
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Oct 19, 2018 06:00
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harperdc posted:Where are you flying into, when are you arriving and what’s your budget? If it’s next week the answers are going to be different than if it’s in December or some time in 2019. And you say “what’s not mega bucks” but also “I wouldn’t mind treating the wife for that first night” so budget needs to be accommodated. We land at Narita in the morning on the 5th of November now so we have a full day to fill as well as the extra night. Budget wise I'd pay like 20-30k jpy if it was a really nice place, I know you can spend double or even triple that for guaranteed 5 star luxury madness but that's unnecessary since other than hopefully having a really nice bed we'd probably be too tired after 16 hours of flights and then a day wandering around the city to appreciate the majority of the bells and whistles that spending way too loving much on a hotel room brings. I'm already breaking our budget rearranging travel around the trip (we have to finish the trip and only then we can look to get the airline to compensate us for loving up our plans, so I have to be out of pocket anyway for now) so that much extra isn't really a big deal at this point.
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Oct 19, 2018 06:35
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History Comes Inside! posted:We land at Narita in the morning on the 5th of November now so we have a full day to fill as well as the extra night. Budget wise I'd pay like 20-30k jpy if it was a really nice place, I know you can spend double or even triple that for guaranteed 5 star luxury madness but that's unnecessary since other than hopefully having a really nice bed we'd probably be too tired after 16 hours of flights and then a day wandering around the city to appreciate the majority of the bells and whistles that spending way too loving much on a hotel room brings. In this sort of case I’d recommend to find a hotel close to Tokyo Station or Shinagawa Station, take the Narita Express in from the airport, and try to drop bags or check in early. Those are both fairly central and you can head out to wander fairly easily, and also get to your main booking as well the next day, and both stations have good hotels at and below your price range in the area. If you want to be cheaper, Toyoko Inn is my usual budget/business hotel recommendation (they usually run ~6,000 yen/person/night). Near both Shinagawa (Prince) and Tokyo there are also 4* that run a bit more and would top out your budget.
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Oct 19, 2018 09:23
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Stayed at Toyoko inn last trip. Good hotel. Can't complain. The morning breakfast they serve is good stuff
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Oct 19, 2018 12:25
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Okay, I've revised my itinerary for my Japan trip in December somewhat, and it looks like this now: Nov 30: flight arrives in Tokyo Dec 1-8: Tokyo (8 days) Dec 9-10: Nikko (2 days) Dec 11-13: Kyoto (3ish days, early AM train from Nikko on Dec 11) Dec 14-15: Nara (2ish days) Dec 16-18: Osaka (3 days) Dec 19: flight->HK I think I'll not do Himeji this time, and save it for a future western Japan trip. There's just not enough time I think, unless it's worth dropping Osaka down to 2 days? It's definitely front-loaded with Tokyo, but that city has so much going on even 8 days seems like no time at all. I've booked hostels in Shimokitazawa for Tokyo, and in Horie for Osaka (though I still know very little about what to do in Osaka). I haven't really looked at Kyoto yet; anyone have suggestions for a cool/similar area to stay in there? For Nikko: I'd really like to chill somewhere with access to a hot spring to relax after Tokyo, anyone have suggestions for a place to stay/visit that won't break the bank? I've discovered that a lot of the things I want to bring back are super breakable (tea cups/pots, bottles of sake/whisky/vinegar, etc). I have no idea how I'm going to transport this stuff through 2 flights back across the ocean without breaking everything... 
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Oct 19, 2018 22:27
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Wrap 'em good and keep them in the center of your checked bag, surrounded by clothes and stuff. I've never had a problem with sake breaking, the bottles are pretty solid. I also always seal in a ziploc just in case of leaks. Take stuff like tea cups in your carry on.
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Oct 19, 2018 22:41
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If it comes in a cardboard box, stuff the box with socks. Get some giant zip-lock bags to reassure yourself about spills. For big bottles, wrap them in pajama pants and don't let them clink together. Cardboard box-adjacent is fine.
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Oct 20, 2018 00:45
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If you are in USA try ordering wine sleeves https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Skin-Wi...ASIN=B00GIX531O And wrap around them with some clothes, so it should be more than enough. Oh and when you check your bags, declare them as fragile, it won’t help much but at least it’s free to do so. Good itinerary. As for budget nikko onsens, I just did a quick map check and it seems kinugawa onsen is the place to be. It’s around 10000 yen a night and the usual onsen experience being a failed onsen venture of the 80s. Taking a train would be one hour but it’s not that far because getting around anywhere in nikko takes that time. Definitely doable if you are renting a car. Not so much value if it’s only solo traveling.
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Oct 20, 2018 00:54
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Also at least at the Fukumitsuya store if you tell them you're bringing it on a plane they'll wrap the ever loving poo poo out of each bottle individually.
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Oct 20, 2018 01:09
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I just buy liquor at airports and carry it if I can
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Oct 20, 2018 01:32
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Good ideas about packing everything, I wouldn't have thought to use wine sleeves. I'm probably going to end up getting something from Fukumitsuya if they're as good as Grand Fromage is saying, so getting them to pack it is a pro suggestion.  While on the subject, my girlfriend really likes unfiltered sake, and I want to bring her some back as a Christmas gift. Do they do a good unfiltered one?caberham posted:As for budget nikko onsens, I just did a quick map check and it seems kinugawa onsen is the place to be. It’s around 10000 yen a night and the usual onsen experience being a failed onsen venture of the 80s. Hmm, that does seem pretty nice and the price is doable, but the train ride does make getting out to the national park like 2 hours each way with the connections. I'm traveling by myself and I'll be using trains/buses. That's a tough call, but I guess, like you said, it would take a little while to get anywhere out there. That said, the first day I'm in Nikko I'll be coming in by train and the check-in for that onsen is 3pm, so if I wanted to do the temples the first day (which I likely will so I can spend the entire second day in the national park), I'll need to find a locker or something where I can store all my poo poo before catching the train out the onsen in the evening. If I could just use some hot springs without being a guest at these various places that would be the ideal, since I really just want to soak in a hot spring and relax for a little while. But failing that, that one you posted seems like a good bet.
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Oct 20, 2018 01:44
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Keret posted:Good ideas about packing everything, I wouldn't have thought to use wine sleeves. I'm probably going to end up getting something from Fukumitsuya if they're as good as Grand Fromage is saying, so getting them to pack it is a pro suggestion. They do, though I'm not sure they have it at the Tokyo stores. I had it at the brewery in Kanazawa. You have lots of options for shopping though, and any real sake store will let you taste. I also bought some stuff at Asano, which is a sake store near Osaka Station that luckily had an English speaking dude on staff. If you end up somewhere without English speakers it's fine though, Japanese store staff are generally pretty patient with you using google translate and it does Japanese-English decently enough to be understandable nowadays. E: And if you happen to speak Korean I know from experience you can get around Osaka and Kyoto just fine with that. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 01:53 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 01:50
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Keret posted:For Nikko: I'd really like to chill somewhere with access to a hot spring to relax after Tokyo, anyone have suggestions for a place to stay/visit that won't break the bank? We stayed here when we went last year: http://www.heikenosho.co.jp/ 6,500 per adult per night, the food was good and they have like 6 private baths. Was a nice place, especially if you like kitschy old ryokan like I do, only problem was it probably more or less requires a car to get out there.
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Oct 20, 2018 02:22
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Stringent posted:We stayed here when we went last year: http://www.heikenosho.co.jp/ That place looks rad, but yeah it's pretty far and sadly booked the days I'll be out there. Related, I found this place, called Hatcho no Yu, while looking and holy crap, it looks beautiful. It's likewise out in the middle of nowhere (like 2.5 hours by bus from Nikko station) but I'm seriously considering just going out there and being really zen for a couple of days in the snow and mountains. https://www.8tyo-no-yu.co.jp/index.php/topic/home_en
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Oct 20, 2018 02:39
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Keret posted:That place looks rad, but yeah it's pretty far and sadly booked the days I'll be out there. If that's an option I think you'd be crazy to pass it up.
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Oct 20, 2018 04:00
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Onsen expert here and the best ones in the Nikko are up in the mountains in oku kinugawa, oku shiobara, and yunishigawa, followed by oku Nikko, followed by Nikko, followed by kinugawa. Kinugawa should from an onsen perspective remind you of everything wrong with the 80s
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Oct 20, 2018 07:23
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Can you elaborate because my time in hakone sucked. It was called Kara Kara and caters towards the international weaboo crowd or newbies. Serving me powdered miso soup 
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Oct 20, 2018 08:12
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I think I've decided that I want to try to stay at that onsen in the national park I posted, but it's going to be...interesting logistically. I won't have a ton of time on the arrival/departure days, but I should be able to have a couple of hours coming in and like 4 hours on the leaving day to do stuff in Nikko itself, then the entire middle day to just chill out in the mountains/hot spring. The bus that goes out to the onsen leaves from Kinugawa-Onsen station at 1:25pm, so I'll need to be at Nikko Station around 12:30pm the day I arrive I suppose. If I leave crazy early in the morning from Shimokitazawa, then I should be in Nikko around 9:30am which will give me like 2ish hours to check out the shrine/temple complex. Then, on the leaving day, I'll be in Nikko around noon, so I was thinking of taking the entire afternoon to see the national park/lake/whatever I missed on the first day. Both times I'll have to ditch my bags at the Nikko train station for a while so I hope that's not too much of a pain in the rear end. The problem now though is that, although I could take an evening train from Nikko to Kyoto at the end, it'll be dark by the time I reach Tokyo so I won't be able to see the ocean/coast or Mt. Fuji from the train, which I was hoping to do. Maybe I'll just stop in Tokyo again for the night and sleep somewhere close to the train station, then take a morning bullet train down to Kyoto on the 12th and hopefully not lose much time there. Also, by effectively adding one day to the Nikko leg, I'll have to pull one from somewhere else. I could go down from 8->7 days in Tokyo I guess, but I really want to see as much I can there. The only other option is to take one day from either Kyoto or Osaka (3->2). Choices! Wish me luck in navigating the local Japanese buses out into the remote wilderness. 
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Oct 20, 2018 15:26
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You could also make Nara into a day trip from either Kyoto or Osaka. Would save some hotel logistic time at least.
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Oct 20, 2018 15:35
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If you have a spare hour anywhere while you’re in Nikko, a quick wander up the Ganmangafuchi Aybss is really relaxing.
CottonWolf fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 15:42
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Ditch Osaka entirely imo.
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Oct 20, 2018 16:03
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Stringent posted:Ditch Osaka entirely imo.
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Oct 20, 2018 16:05
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Stringent posted:Ditch Osaka entirely imo. But then how will I live out my fantasy of walking around asking everyone "How's business?  " in broken Japanese.  Anyway I'm probably just going to push everything forward a day after Nikko and make Osaka 2 days so I can have one day for the north side and one day for the south side.
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Oct 20, 2018 16:14
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Me and GF are travelling to Tokyo tomorrow and we'll be staying 11 nights - is there something that is a "must" see? At the moment our plan is to mainly eat and drink stuff and visit some museums, arcades and stuff.
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Oct 20, 2018 16:46
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Sorbus posted:Me and GF are travelling to Tokyo tomorrow and we'll be staying 11 nights - is there something that is a "must" see? The Hub.
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Oct 21, 2018 00:52
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Honestly, no, there aren't any must-sees. Come see and experience Tokyo, definitely, but it's more about the whole package rather than any specific tourist attractions. Take any one of them in isolation and they're kind meh but when you put them all together you'll see why so many people come here.
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Oct 21, 2018 01:38
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Sorbus posted:Me and GF are travelling to Tokyo tomorrow and we'll be staying 11 nights - is there something that is a "must" see? lazy
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Oct 21, 2018 02:40
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I heard of this food called "sushi" you might want to try.
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Oct 21, 2018 02:57
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Grand Fromage posted:I heard of this food called "sushi" you might want to try. Challenge: if a vegetarian person were to make one exception and have a legit sushi experience (for a not totally outrageous sum of yen) one time and one time only, where should they go?
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Oct 21, 2018 03:32
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Keret posted:Challenge: if a vegetarian person were to make one exception and have a legit sushi experience (for a not totally outrageous sum of yen) one time and one time only, where should they go? Stringent will post a link to answer this. He found one for me that was the best I've ever been to, and I know he also went yesterday so he remembers the name. It is pricy but not the absurd top level, well worth the cost IMO. E: Lucky me I still had the link in an open chat thread. https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13189458/dtlmap/ You have to use the Japanese site to make a reservation online, but I'm sure there's a Japangoon willing to call 'em if you ask nicely. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Oct 21, 2018 |
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Oct 21, 2018 03:34
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Grand Fromage posted:Stringent will post a link to answer this. He found one for me that was the best I've ever been to, and I know he also went yesterday so he remembers the name. It is pricy but not the absurd top level, well worth the cost IMO. A-firm.
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Oct 21, 2018 03:52
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Stringent is god tier level when it comes to Japanese food
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Oct 21, 2018 07:54
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so are you!!!!!!
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Oct 21, 2018 13:18
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Not really sure where else to ask this but if we’ve had to book alternative accomodation due to a hotel being gross (blood stains, filthy etc) is there anything we can really do if the hotel refuses to refund us the money? In Australia I think we have a fair trading board or whatever we can contact but I don’t know if anything exists here. I mean I’m not expecting to get it back but at the same time it sucks blowing like A$600 on accomodation that had good reviews. Could have eaten a lot of good food with that money.
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Oct 21, 2018 13:42
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keirharder posted:Not really sure where else to ask this but if we’ve had to book alternative accomodation due to a hotel being gross (blood stains, filthy etc) is there anything we can really do if the hotel refuses to refund us the money? In Australia I think we have a fair trading board or whatever we can contact but I don’t know if anything exists here. I straight up have no idea about this. It sounds like you should call the police, 119 on your phone?
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Oct 21, 2018 13:50
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Ask for a room change first. If there are no other rooms and the room is actually gross as in unhygienic with blood stains or something similarly bad then claim travel insurance for another hotel
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Oct 21, 2018 14:44
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keirharder posted:Not really sure where else to ask this but if we’ve had to book alternative accomodation due to a hotel being gross (blood stains, filthy etc) is there anything we can really do if the hotel refuses to refund us the money? In Australia I think we have a fair trading board or whatever we can contact but I don’t know if anything exists here. I had to threaten to call my credit card company after booking a room in a sex hotel in Singapore. Tried three separate rooms. Bedbugs - pubes in the bed - poo poo on the toilet seat.
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Oct 21, 2018 14:51
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hi guys I'm thinking of going to the country Japan in December. any thoughts or recommendations of what I should do? tia
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Oct 21, 2018 16:34
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which year
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Oct 22, 2018 00:43
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Thanks guys, actually managed to get a hold of Expedia who contacted them and they’ve agreed to refund us except for the cleaning fee (lol). Never really experienced this here before, the problem we had was that it was more of an apartment stay than a hotel with no reception etc. I have to say the Korean food at Tsuruhashi in Osaka was much better than food I had at similar markets in Seoul. Was nice not being treated like a pain in the rear end too, even if I am a pain in the rear end.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:01
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