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Stringent posted:Right, he says Hawaii is worse than Ohio, not that Ohio is better than Hawaii. he said Hawaii < Ohio I quoted it for posterity
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Jan 24, 2019 12:16
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just fyi when you throw me under the bus for talking to you about this, just remember that you brought this up, not me
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Jan 24, 2019 12:17
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Brought what up?
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Jan 24, 2019 12:18
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Stringent posted:Brought what up? exactly. g'night
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Jan 24, 2019 12:18
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In a desperate attempt to make any of this relevant to the thread: I, too, hate Ohio - but only because I'm not a morning person.  Actually, has anyone been to Snow Town Yeti at Mt Fuji at the very start of their season in mid-October? We're considering popping out there for a half day just for the views. We know it's a tiny resort and we're not there for hardcore snowboarding or anything (we'll be renting all the equipment since it's just a side-trip), but just wanted to check if anyone had been and what they thought of it.
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Jan 24, 2019 12:25
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The Great Autismo! posted:did you also have a difficult time accessing your favorite Netflix shows yeah ok, gaijin not adapting, fine. With all our Japanese friends here in Europe the reasons they move heaven and earth to not have to go back to Japan are: -Insane working hours (mostly this) -Glass ceiling (if you're a woman, that glass does seem to be dual) -humid and ice cold house in winter/humid hot summers. but I'll tell them they're wrong next time they bring it up, if you like. Also, my entire adult life people here have been renovating their houses so the country could make the 'Kyoto norm', after the treaties signed there in the late 90ties I think? And it's kinda funny that nobody in Japan itself seemed to have done that.
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Jan 24, 2019 12:26
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mrfart posted:yeah ok, gaijin not adapting, fine. I see you’ve met forums troll TGA. Anyway this is legit; just got back from a visit to the old country, Japanese spouse has not stopped bitching about the cold.
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Jan 24, 2019 18:15
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mrfart posted:yeah ok, gaijin not adapting, fine. I don't think they are wrong about long working hours and societal norms that can feel suffocating, I was just making a joke about you complaining about how humid your room was
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Jan 24, 2019 19:11
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History Comes Inside! posted:I don't speak a word of Japanese other than parroting thank you back at shop assistants and I was fine. Oh it’s not for me, it’s to appease the mom side of the equation. That one guy’s wife is basically my mom, I mean...and what she says goes  (Honestly tempted to lie and say I got something.)
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Jan 25, 2019 23:03
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Kyoto has so much tourist information available on arrival. My stepmom & grandma easily booked a bus that loops around the major temples in the city, and a day trip to Nara.
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Jan 26, 2019 00:08
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quick I have 1 day in Kyoto in March somebody give me a interesting thing to do that isn't the Hub. *technically only the afternoon b/c I already have plans in the morning.
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Jan 26, 2019 00:11
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Pollyanna posted:Oh it’s not for me, it’s to appease the mom side of the equation. That one guy’s wife is basically my mom, I mean...and what she says goes Get her a pocket guidebook with standard tourist phrases in it. VVV I would've suggested she use a smartphone, except I assumed her comfort level with that kind of technology is low because of blatant ageism. VVV Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Jan 26, 2019 |
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Jan 26, 2019 00:31
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Just get google translate and a data card to google image search poo poo. There’s a lot more to tourism than this basic level of mundane stuff. Man just go to Hawaii and call it exotic. You don’t even need to change currency
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Jan 26, 2019 03:50
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caberham posted:Man just go to Hawaii and call it exotic. You don’t even need to change currency hawaii is actually p exotic fwiw
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Jan 26, 2019 10:14
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peanut posted:Kyoto has so much tourist information available on arrival. My stepmom & grandma easily booked a bus that loops around the major temples in the city, and a day trip to Nara. Sounds like I know where to point her. I’m sure I can get her excited with an audiobook or something. Pththya-lyi posted:Get her a pocket guidebook with standard tourist phrases in it. She probably won’t even need this, TBQH. She’ll be too scared to speak to anyone other than her own family.
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Jan 26, 2019 23:11
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Question: I'm going to Osaka/Tokyo in April with a friend and we want to check out Universal Studios Japan. Is it better to order tickets in advance or should we just buy them at the gate? Also is the express pass worth it when we're going on a regular weekday? I've heard tales of the legendary 3 hour queues to get on a ride and I'd like to avoid that if its possible..
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Jan 26, 2019 23:18
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ntan1 posted:quick I have 1 day in Kyoto in March somebody give me a interesting thing to do that isn't the Hub. It's just an office building. Not really worth the detour at all. It's not like you can meet Haruhi or anything
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Jan 27, 2019 02:00
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Sleep in and eat brunch.
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Jan 27, 2019 02:03
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Archer666 posted:Question: I'm going to Osaka/Tokyo in April with a friend and we want to check out Universal Studios Japan. Is it better to order tickets in advance or should we just buy them at the gate? Also is the express pass worth it when we're going on a regular weekday? I've heard tales of the legendary 3 hour queues to get on a ride and I'd like to avoid that if its possible.. I've never been to a Japanese park, but generally the best way you avoid long ride lines at a theme park is by showing up a good while before the park opens - 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how crowded the park is going to be that day - and riding the most popular rides within the first couple hours. By the time the big crowds show up in the late morning through early afternoon, you should've gotten the high-priority stuff out of the way and spend the middle of the day relaxing. The last two hours of operation are also a good time to ride popular rides. If you plan things out, go on a lower-crowd day, and are willing to be flexible, I don't think you should need an express pass. Here's a guide to planning your trip to USJ that seems pretty legit. It does recommend getting the express pass, but as I have said you may not need one.
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Jan 27, 2019 02:37
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Pththya-lyi posted:I've never been to a Japanese park, but generally the best way you avoid long ride lines at a theme park is by showing up a good while before the park opens - 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how crowded the park is going to be that day - and riding the most popular rides within the first couple hours. By the time the big crowds show up in the late morning through early afternoon, you should've gotten the high-priority stuff out of the way and spend the middle of the day relaxing. The last two hours of operation are also a good time to ride popular rides. If you plan things out, go on a lower-crowd day, and are willing to be flexible, I don't think you should need an express pass. Unless you're going to the last two hours of operation, or even want to risk it as there may be a chance you *could* miss out as well, then an express pass is essential unless you want to be in line for 1-2 hours for a ride. Even then the express ticket only gives you the option of picking the only 2 of the most popular rides there which you HAVE to be there in line in the express line at the specified time period. If you don't you will miss out and have to get in line with everyone else in the normal line. If you're going by yourself rather than as a group you could possibly drop that waiting time to an hour or less for certain rides.
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Jan 27, 2019 04:34
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I'm flying out in a week for my first trip overseas. Starting to freak out a little bit especially since my plans are a lot foggier than most of the other itineraries I've seen. Can I get some feed back for my itinerary, I posted it over on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/ak8m9i/itinerary_feedback_for_solo_first_timers_4_week/), let me know if linking out is verboten and I can re-type it all with BBcode formatting.
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Jan 27, 2019 05:06
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Stumbling Block posted:Unless you're going to the last two hours of operation, or even want to risk it as there may be a chance you *could* miss out as well, then an express pass is essential unless you want to be in line for 1-2 hours for a ride. Even then the express ticket only gives you the option of picking the only 2 of the most popular rides there which you HAVE to be there in line in the express line at the specified time period. If you don't you will miss out and have to get in line with everyone else in the normal line. We went to USJ without an express pass, were at the gates 2 hrs in advance, the gates opened 30 minutes early, we sprinted straight to harry potter, and the line was only... 45 minutes. By midafternoon the lines for some stuff were at 220 minutes. This was a Sunday but still. Got a lot of reading done! Also if you're willing to split up, the single rider line was often half the length and sometimes they put you next to each other anyway.
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Jan 27, 2019 05:25
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xiw posted:We went to USJ without an express pass, were at the gates 2 hrs in advance, the gates opened 30 minutes early, we sprinted straight to harry potter, and the line was only... 45 minutes. By midafternoon the lines for some stuff were at 220 minutes. This was a Sunday but still. I was there in the middle of the working week so the wait times aren't as bad as the ones you noted. That said by the middle of the afternoon I noticed that 2 of the most popular rides, The Jurassic World and the Harry Potter one had a wait time of over 2 hours, and the single lines were practically the same, so be mindful of that. They were better in the morning though so if you want to do that do it then. That said, we were so tired by the end of the day the group just wanted to head off an hour after sunset, didn't even want to wait for 2 more hours for the fireworks display.
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Jan 27, 2019 06:32
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captkirk posted:I'm flying out in a week for my first trip overseas. Starting to freak out a little bit especially since my plans are a lot foggier than most of the other itineraries I've seen. Can I get some feed back for my itinerary, I posted it over on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/ak8m9i/itinerary_feedback_for_solo_first_timers_4_week/), let me know if linking out is verboten and I can re-type it all with BBcode formatting. You will be traveling during plum blossom (ume) season so it's probably worth your time to look into a good location to see them: https://tokyocheapo.com/lifestyle/outdoors/plum-blossoms-in-tokyo/ Since you have a lot of time in Tokyo unaccounted for you should go to Teamlab Planets or Teamlab Borderless. I went Planets on this thread's recommendation, and now Borderless is at the top of my list for my next Tokyo trip. Since your tattoo is small, you should just get some waterproof bandaids that will cover it. You should fit a trip to Himeji Castle in that itinerary somewhere. It's a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka if you go by Shinkansen. It's also on the line between Hiroshima and Kyoto, so you could stop there in between and store your luggage at the lockers in the station while you see the castle.
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Jan 27, 2019 07:12
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teddust posted:Since your tattoo is small, you should just get some waterproof bandaids that will cover it. Can you link me to an example of the waterproof bandaids you're thinking of? But I assume if I want to try using a waterproof bandaid I should clear that with the onsen?
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Jan 27, 2019 07:23
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captkirk posted:Can you link me to an example of the waterproof bandaids you're thinking of? But I assume if I want to try using a waterproof bandaid I should clear that with the onsen? Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/All-Health-A...rproof+bandaids I would just wear it and say nothing. I don't have a tattoo so I haven't been in this particular situation, but generally with rules like this you will get "no exceptions" if you ask about it, but the actual enforcement is much more lax.
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Jan 27, 2019 08:10
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captkirk posted:I'm flying out in a week for my first trip overseas. Starting to freak out a little bit especially since my plans are a lot foggier than most of the other itineraries I've seen. Can I get some feed back for my itinerary, I posted it over on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/ak8m9i/itinerary_feedback_for_solo_first_timers_4_week/), let me know if linking out is verboten and I can re-type it all with BBcode formatting. you'll be fine, this looks great and cool, enjoy your holiday and make sure you post updates with how much you're enjoying everything. Japan f'in owns
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Jan 27, 2019 09:29
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Your plan seems perfectly fine except I still don't know why everyone plans a blank week in Tokyo. I mean, there is definitely a week's worth of stuff to do in Tokyo, but don't dedicate a third of your trip to it if you don't have any idea what you want to do.
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Jan 27, 2019 09:49
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Archer666 posted:Question: I'm going to Osaka/Tokyo in April with a friend and we want to check out Universal Studios Japan. Is it better to order tickets in advance or should we just buy them at the gate? Also is the express pass worth it when we're going on a regular weekday? I've heard tales of the legendary 3 hour queues to get on a ride and I'd like to avoid that if its possible.. We did this in 2017 around the same time. As with any theme park anywhere in the world, if there's a ride you HAVE to ride then get it on an express pass anyway just to save yourself the inevitable wait for at least one go. Book them in advance and I'd recommend also booking VIP entry: https://www.klook.com/en-GB/activity/1326-usj-vip-wristband-harukas-300-observatory-pass-osaka/ You have to pick that up the day before you're going at the latest, and it gets you up to the observation deck in Harukas 300 too which has some cool views. You will be given a wristband for each pass you've bought and a printout with a website and QR code, you have to go to the website to find out what time VIP entry will be for your visit. Either way get there as early as you can, we were there by 7am and first in line by the absolute skin of our teeth. Just show the wristbands to a park staffer and they'll point you to the right door. The VIP pass gets you into the park 5-15 minutes before they open the main gates for the absolute horde of people that will be there, although if you're not there good and early you will be part of a smaller horde waiting to get in through the little VIP entrance. It doesn't sound like a lot of time but if you're there first thing you will have enough time ahead of the pack to get straight on the first ride of your choice, which should obviously be the one you want to do the most (and then you can do it again later on with your express pass). We were first in line for VIP, made a beeline for Harry Potter, did that in under 10 minutes and then at that point it was already almost an hour waiting for anything else just after 9am because holy poo poo I've never seen so many people at a theme park, on a random Wednesday. We ended up just walking around looking at stuff until the times on our express pass came up, and also found out you can buy more express pass tickets from one of the gift shops right at the front of the park. History Comes Inside! fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Jan 27, 2019 |
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Jan 27, 2019 10:24
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I just booked our tickets on ANA (hooray for mileage rewards!) for two weeks starting November 11th. I've started looking at hotels, but the prices/availability seemed high/low respectively. After reading up on it I gather that many hotels in Tokyo don't start showing availability until six months out. So I guess I'll start looking again in earnest in May or so. Does this sound right, or is there some special reason I'm unaware of that November would be booked up already? It's definitely after the rugby World Cup, so I've avoided that chaos.
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Jan 27, 2019 14:31
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It's just too early. November should be quiet overall, wait until September to book hotels.
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Jan 27, 2019 15:19
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peanut posted:It's just too early. November should be quiet overall, wait until September to book hotels. Will do. Thanks.
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Jan 27, 2019 15:34
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sale on Banksy art posted:Your plan seems perfectly fine except I still don't know why everyone plans a blank week in Tokyo. I mean, there is definitely a week's worth of stuff to do in Tokyo, but don't dedicate a third of your trip to it if you don't have any idea what you want to do. Honestly for the whole trip I basically picked how long I thought I might want to stay in each area and then backfilled everything. Tokyo's blank because it's the end of the trip and I'm hoping I will have time to figure it out before I get to Tokyo!
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Jan 27, 2019 15:39
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I’m trying to figure out the logistics of watching the sumo tournament on tv. I’ll be in a mix of Airbnb’s and hotels for three weeks. Is this something simulcast on tv or is it just highlights similar to what we get on NHK? Should I be going it bars to watch like I would any sports here in North America? I can manage to figure it out when I get there but I figured I’d ping you guys to see if you have any info.
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Jan 27, 2019 16:19
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teddust posted:You will be traveling during plum blossom (ume) season so it's probably worth your time to look into a good location to see them: https://tokyocheapo.com/lifestyle/outdoors/plum-blossoms-in-tokyo/ Get out of Tokyo for a day, see some plum blossoms in Mito https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6201.html One of the three great gardens of Japan.
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Jan 27, 2019 16:36
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Martytoof posted:I’m trying to figure out the logistics of watching the sumo tournament on tv. I’ll be in a mix of Airbnb’s and hotels for three weeks. Is this something simulcast on tv or is it just highlights similar to what we get on NHK? Should I be going it bars to watch like I would any sports here in North America? The last two hours of every day (when the top category guys are in) is broadcast live by NHK, 4-6 pm. The earlier part of the day is on NHK BS I *think*. Highlights later of course but it’s all live. Every hotel should have NHK broadcast, it’s a toss up on the BS but likely, and the Airbnb’s should have regular NHK too *unless* you’re staying with a persnickety foreigner who has “only” a computer monitor to own the NHK guy. Otherwise NHK is an over-the-air channel, all TVs should get it though some apartment buildings you need to plug the TV in with a coax cable to get the antenna from the roof.
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Jan 27, 2019 23:21
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Cool cool cool, that’s good news. Thanks!
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Jan 28, 2019 01:11
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captkirk posted:I'm flying out in a week for my first trip overseas. Starting to freak out a little bit especially since my plans are a lot foggier than most of the other itineraries I've seen. Can I get some feed back for my itinerary, I posted it over on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/ak8m9i/itinerary_feedback_for_solo_first_timers_4_week/), let me know if linking out is verboten and I can re-type it all with BBcode formatting. Don't worry about not having a to-the-minute itinerary like a lot of dorks going to Japan have. that said, I just was in Hokkaido last month and have a couple tips for you which you can take at your own discretion since I'm a big goon who basically only likes to eat food and walk around cities and look at random things when I go places and you might want to do other things: 1. imo Otaru does not have a lot going on besides super good sushi for really reasonable prices. the canal is like whatever? I dunno. It was nice little town and snowy when I was there so walking around was nice, but it was a little town in the end. i admit i missed he aquarium, maybe that is cool. you should plan time for sushi if you want to as well since most of them will have lineups. i went to this place called Masazushi and it was v good and only had a short line (I got there at like 11am and there was a huge lineup by the time I left). You'll see a lot recs for another place called Isezushi which is either booked months in advance or you can just walk in on, depending which reviews you trust, so you could also try your hand there. But actually the best thing I ate in Otaru was this bowl of a lot of crab right in one of the very small (even by japan standards) restaurants by the canal called Sawasakisuisan Kaisenshokudo. pic of crab bowl:  2. go to the yoichi distillery. this was the best one of these I've been to in japan cuz it's basically a place you show up to and drink whiskey. the tour, the whiskey sampler, etc... are all free and then you can just wander around the grounds. also they have v good whiskey if that's a thing you like!!! it's like a 20m trainride from otaru as well. what i did was go to otaru in the mid morning -> wander around, eat -> go to yoichi -> wander around, drink -> back to otaru -> more wandering, more eating -> back to sapporo in the evening. the whole thing will probably be like 90min tops (the distillery is like a 2min walk from the yoichi train station) including transit unless you get stuck waiting for trains so plan around those if you want. also fun fact: the train was full of white people with tons of ski gear going to some aussie run ski place past yoichi so weirdly that train from otaru to yoichi was probably the most crowded train i've ever been on in japan which was v unexpected for me! 3. here are just some suggestions for places to eat in Sapporo. Sapporo is like one of the best food cities I have ever been in and everything rules, but cuz it's good and in japan this normally involves some queuing depending on time of day and what place. some places I liked: Suage Soup Curry - this place is really really good. I ate here twice. I went at sort of weird times in the afternoon around 1:30 and there was no lineup, but im guessing if you go like 11-12 or at night it'll be bad. soup curry GARAKU - this one had longer lines and better reviews on most sites I found, but I liked Suage more. It was still fine tho.the cheese rice was good. Sapporo ramen republic - this place has like 9? 11? super duper good ramen places. I ate at different shops here a few times, all were good. this lamb place, DARUMA - Sapporo apparently really likes grilled lamb. I forget why I chose this place but it was really amazing lamb. Staff was great, a drunk salaryman who spoke decent English was extremely friendly and wanted to share which lamb was best, etc... this kind of place is also cool cuz you cook it yourself a la korean bbq. DONT eat at the Sapporo beer garden. it seemed v ovepriced and had a huge wait when I checked it out. The beer museum and sampling areas themselves are great tho and is already on your itinerary so just stuck to that. The beer garden restaurant is sort of attached but not part of that whole package. Anyway these are just some quick recommendations! enjoy your trip and hokkaido is the best. Ailumao fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Jan 28, 2019 |
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Jan 28, 2019 01:29
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I was looking through my old pile of stuff from my last trip to see if I still had my Suica card and I found a bag full of loose change. Is there anywhere handy in Tokyo or Haneda Airport where I can just dump in a bunch of coins and have it spit out some notes, or at least bigger coins, for me? I really don't want to have to put some poor Family Mart employee through the pain of counting a bunch of 1 yen coins for me to buy a sandwich.
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Jan 28, 2019 10:09
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Question Mark Mound posted:I was looking through my old pile of stuff from my last trip to see if I still had my Suica card and I found a bag full of loose change. Is there anywhere handy in Tokyo or Haneda Airport where I can just dump in a bunch of coins and have it spit out some notes, or at least bigger coins, for me? I really don't want to have to put some poor Family Mart employee through the pain of counting a bunch of 1 yen coins for me to buy a sandwich. Pay with cash at convenience stores and use the small change to make it exact change. Or just use that change when the convenience store is slow without a huge line. The only “pour cash in and it’s useful” spots are...ATMs for people with actual bank accounts.
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Jan 28, 2019 10:22
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