Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

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bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Hello Japan thread! I'm going to Japan in late December for three weeks, and I've never been there before. I'm also not used to cold weather or snow so that's something I'm going to plan for as apparently that could happen while I'm there, although I'm not planning to go skiing or do any snow related things. With that in mind, what kind of shoes should I take with me? Can I get away with comfortable sneakers, wool socks and those stud strap things? Or will I need to look at getting some kind of leather boots? I anticipate doing a lot of walking on this trip.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2023 04:48

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:48

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Great, good to know thanks! I already have some heattech stuff and one of those uniqlo down coats that I plan to wear everywhere like a wonderful puffy blanket.

I haven't put an itinerary together yet, just bought flights in and out of Haneda and plan on doing more reading before I figure out what to do and see.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2023 05:08

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

I live in Australia, I'm of small build and I'm just not acclimatised to winter weather. I start to feel the cold once the temperature drops under 15C or so. For me, 10C and under is puffy coat and beanie time.

I did a Christmas in Italy about a decade ago and while it got down to zero it refused to snow :argh:

I remember feeling the cold cutting through me even though I was wearing thermals. I also remember my feet getting destroyed because as cool as they look, Dr Martens boots aren't great for walking like 10hrs a day so I'm not going to be making that mistake again.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2023 10:38

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

I just started looking at hotels for our trip at the end of Dec and oh boy accommodation in Tokyo over the post Xmas - new years period seems to be eye wateringly expensive. Would it be a good idea to head straight from Tokyo upon our arrival and head to Kyoto or Osaka for a couple of days just to save some coin on accommodation (as it seems to be comparatively a lot cheaper to Tokyo) then return to Tokyo around the end of our trip and the prices have dropped down? Or is Tokyo super magic over new years and worth the cost of being there then?

# ¿ Mar 30, 2023 02:19

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

So our rough plan for our trip at this stage is to check into an airport hotel in Haneda (our flight gets into Japan at 8pm) and sleep, then the next morning take an early flight to Okayama and explore there for a few days, then train it back to Tokyo, stopping at Osaka and Kyoto for a couple of days each along the way. Then train to Tokyo and spend a week and a half there before flying home.

I've done some research online on pricing and it seems like it's a lot cheaper to fly from Haneda to Okayama than it is to train, is this correct? Or is there some kind of multi use ticket that I'm unaware of that I should be looking at? We're a family of 3 travelling together.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2023 22:05

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

field balm posted:

If you're doing all the travelling within 1 week you will be well served with a jr pass, might not be worth it if it's over 2 weeks. I think you need 4 shinkansen trips to make the 2 week pass break even but check it out anyway.

https://japanrailpass.net/en/

We're there for a little over three weeks. Looking something like:

28/12 - Haneda, sleep the night at airport hotel
29/12 - early morning flight to Okayama
2/1 Train to Osaka
6/1 Train to Kyoto
10/1 Train to Tokyo
18/1 fly home

Does anyone have any suggestions for cool stuff that would be worth checking out in Osaka/Kyoto or thoughts on the amount of time we're spending in each city? Neither of us are interested in visiting breweries or doing snow sports.

We'll be travelling with a theme park and pokemon obsessed tween so want to check out Disneyland, DisneySea, Universal studios. I like seeing art, botanical gardens, parks, temples, cute animals, and a little shopping. Mr bee likes technology, trains, baseball, and stuff to do with food.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2023 01:29

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

I'm ok with the first night in Tokyo - we're flying from Australia and by the time our plane lands in Tokyo it's going to be late, we're going to be tired, and not wanting to spend another couple of hours on a train or flight to somewhere else.

Mr bee and I both have driving licences, why would you need this to book a restaurant? Do you need to rent a car to get around Okayama?

# ¿ Apr 1, 2023 02:16

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Waltzing Along posted:

Go to Minoo falls. It's not a tourist spot and is pretty cool.

This looks like a lovely place, thanks for recommending it!

I did a bit of a search but didn't find the answer so hopefully someone here might be able to help. While I was booking some accommodation, I read a hotel review where the author was having a big whinge about being "body shamed" and "discrimination" because they weren't allowed to use the hotel spa due to having tattoos. It wasn't clear to me from the review whether they were talking about the hotel's indoor pool, or the beauty spa/massage services.

While I don't have any tattoos on my face, neck, or my hands, I've got them all over my arms, legs and back. I wasn't planning to visit any onsen or hot springs but the review did make me curious - am I going to be violating some Japanese social norm if I try to use an indoor hotel pool? Should I try to avoid rolling up my sleeves in sacred places like temples? If I need to be mindful of my tattoos showing that's fine, I'm not bothered by that as it'll be winter so I'll be wearing long clothes anyway. But having a heads up on whether or not I'm going to potentially be in situations where tatts out is going to piss people off would be useful.

bee fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Apr 1, 2023

# ¿ Apr 1, 2023 06:58

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Thanks everyone for the tattoo advice. Sounds like it's something that will be a non issue, particularly since we'll be travelling in winter and I'm a cold frog who will be super covered up anyway!

# ¿ Apr 1, 2023 22:33

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

We're flying from Haneda to Okayama the morning after we arrive in Tokyo (our flight to Tokyo is long and lands late at night). At the time we figured out our itinerary and booked accommodation, it was more economical to fly there than take the train and that was before the price hike announcement.

We're training it back from Okayama through Osaka, Kyoto then back to Tokyo so it may be better value for us to buy a long pass.. Or we might not have lots of options? Gotta do the maths on that one.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2023 03:47

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Wonton posted:

Tbh I don’t see the need to go from Tokyo to Okayama immediately

We're travelling at the end of December and over new year, accommodation in Tokyo is stupid expensive at that time. When I did the maths on doing Tokyo at the end of our trip (mid Jan) instead of at the start it saved at least $200 a night in accommodation costs. Japan is one of the more expensive places I've planned to visit so I'm trying to make my paltry $ :australia:

stretch as far as I can.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2023 10:31

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

slinkimalinki posted:

There will be some garden stuff in sept/oct (red spider lilies etc) and there's some good autumn festivals (kishiwada danjiri, nagasaki kunchi etc) so you can definitely have a great holiday if you plan it right.

Aaaaaa this makes me kinda sad I'm going in Dec/Jan but at least I get to go at all

# ¿ May 23, 2023 08:30

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Kaddish posted:

Edit - I knew there were Din Tai Fung locations in the US but didn't realize there are also Tim Ho Wan.....learn something new every day.

Din Tai Fung are everywhere, we have them in Australia and I've been to one in Singapore. Pretty sure there's a Tim Ho Wan in Melbourne too

# ¿ May 26, 2023 23:46

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Speaking of food, any recommendations for 'you need to book months in advance, but it's totally worth it and the $$$ to eat there' places for a date night? We're visiting Tokyo, Okayama, Kyoto and Osaka so I would love to hear about awesome restaurants in any of those places please

# ¿ May 28, 2023 00:19

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

My soap free plan is just to keep a little bottle of sanitiser in my handbag and top it up as needed.. seems better than having to carry around a cold, damp cloth on my travels.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2023 12:06

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Are train tickets between cities something that I should be booking in advance? I'm travelling in Dec/Jan, in case that's relevant.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2023 07:43

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

We're flying from Haneda to Okayama, then taking a train to Osaka on the 2nd Jan. We got burned once trying to train from Berlin to Prague when we booked a train ticket but not an actual seat so I'm a little wary of something like that happening again

# ¿ Nov 26, 2023 08:44

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

^^ Thanks! Will definitely keep that in mind.

Gabriel Grub posted:

Hope you are ready for almost everything to be closed between about Dec. 29 to Jan. 4.

Yeah, I've done a bit of research and apparently there's a few things that stay open in and around Hiroshima over the new years period so we'll busy ourselves with a few day trips

Thanks for the heads up though!

bee fucked around with this message at 09:43 on Nov 26, 2023

# ¿ Nov 26, 2023 09:41

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Do they sell chai lattes in Japan? If you're a person who doesn't drink coffee, what are the hot milky alternatives?

# ¿ Dec 17, 2023 09:16

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Grand Fromage posted:

Assorted tea is your alternative, matcha lattes are common enough if you want milky. Also just about every hot drink vending machine sells royal milk tea which is pretty good.

This sounds exactly like what I'll need! Royal milk tea sounds very similar to the milk tea I had in Thailand and I really enjoyed. Thank you

I'm headed for Tokyo in less than a fortnight now and I'm starting to get super excited.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2023 10:04

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

What kinda cool goony stuff can I buy in Japan that is difficult to find anywhere else? I've already got some high quality nail clippers, chefs knives and a tiny cooking whisk on my shopping list.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2023 20:35

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Thank you!

# ¿ Dec 22, 2023 08:23

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Yeah I guess I'm more interested in getting good quality things otherwise difficult to find at/from home (Australia) and don't mind spending a little coin to do so. I tend to avoid buying lots of plastic thingamabobs that break five minutes later, although that being said sometimes some of the stationery you can get at Daiso or Miniso appeals to me. I wouldn't go off on a mission looking for it though.

# ¿ Dec 24, 2023 02:48

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

I've arrived in Okayama! Yes, many things are closed as it's new years but I wandered around the castle and Korakuen gardens today and enjoyed it very much. The good thing about the new years period is that all the shops have sales so lil bee and I are enjoying just walking around and looking at stuff

Also I have spent an absolute fortune on booking Shinkansen tickets getting from here back to Tokyo holy poo poo :aaaaa:

# ¿ Dec 30, 2023 09:12

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Went and had the Donki experience this morning as it was raining and it seemed like a good bad weather activity. Lil bee managed to hone in on the Pokemon cards in the toy section and was luckily distracted enough by that not to notice all the vibrators on the shelves behind them :psyduck:

bee fucked around with this message at 12:52 on Dec 31, 2023

# ¿ Dec 31, 2023 04:29

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Waltzing Along posted:

Sex/porn > guns/killing

Hard agree. Am on the way to the Peace Park in Hiroshima right now and I'd rather be answering questions about sex toys than the ones my kid is probably about to ask me about what happened during the war.

Ugh, worst snipe for new year new page. Hope everyone's new year is a peaceful one.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2024 01:42

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Navaash posted:

you jinxed it!!!!!!!

Dammit, it's been 35 years since I got earthquaked too. We were walking from the Shukkeien Garden to Hiroshima station when it happened and didn't feel anything. Didn't even realise something was up til we got on the Shinkansen and there was a delay warning on the info screen thingy.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2024 11:12

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

slinkimalinki posted:

I gotta say, that's turning out to be an unusually strong jinx

I'm here for two more weeks

Disasters aside, random things I'm loving about Japan so far:

Abundance of crows
High quality snack availability
Orderly lines of people waiting
Heated toilet seats
Shinkansen, I wish we had these at home

I'm struggling a bit with how busy it is but I guess that's what you get coming here during the holiday period. We're going to universal studios on Friday and we've booked the fast pass but I'm sure it's still gonna be insane.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2024 22:01

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

I had paired wines with my dinner last night and I've woken up feeling very green. Is Oota Isan any good? Pray for bee :cry:

bee fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jan 7, 2024

# ¿ Jan 7, 2024 00:22

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Ah, I got some of the bad tasting chalk stuff from the drugstore. I don't expect anything short of an IV full of maxolon to actually cure a hangover but after washing the chalk drink down with a can of coke and a banana I'm feeling a bit better.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2024 05:33

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Thanks all. I don't usually drink much or often on account of being prone to bad hangovers and on this occasion I only had the equivalent of about 3-4 glasses of wine, with water in between. But one of them was sake which I rarely have the opportunity to drink so I reckon that's what got me, and just mixing drinks.

Mos Burger with a ginger ale for dinner and I'm feeling almost human again! It's not intentional but I've had a track record of visiting a new country and needing to discover what local treatments are available for random ailments. Makes for some memorable experiences if nothing else.

I've got a kendo lesson booked for tomorrow so am looking forward to not being ill for that

Busy Bee - the terminal we landed at in Haneda just prior to new year's didn't have Suica cards for sale there, we got told we'd need to go to another terminal to get one, but no indication that they were sold out. We ended up just going to the JR station and getting Icoca cards and they've been just fine for getting around with. Also I was delighted to discover that the duck on the card is actually a platypus :3:

bee fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jan 7, 2024

# ¿ Jan 7, 2024 10:54

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

We were in Hiroshima last fortnight and after I cried myself out of the Peace museum we went to Shukkeien Gardens, which was real nice. We also checked out the castle. You could go eat some okonomiyaki too.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2024 13:06

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Big thanks to the goon who talked up 7-11 egg sandwiches. I finally got my hands on one today and it was the best fuckin egg sammy I've ever had.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2024 11:41

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Ohhhh poo poo I literally saw one ten minutes ago and almost picked it up then decided to go with the OG. I'll get one before I leave for sure!

# ¿ Jan 13, 2024 07:04

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Saladman posted:

Somehow it was even more depressing than slot machines in the USA, probably because the people playing pachinko were often aged 20-50, and not >90 years old like slot machine users in the USA.

If this depresses you, don't ever go into a RSL club or the gaming rooms in Australian bars

Speaking of sad things, we saw the go karts go past in Shibuya today and if I was driving and had to look out for these idiots I'd be pissed. The random dirt bikes at home are bad enough.

bee fucked around with this message at 12:01 on Jan 13, 2024

# ¿ Jan 13, 2024 11:59

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Had some great ramen yesterday sitting outside a little shop in a Harajuku back street. Towards the end of our lunch a guy appeared about 3m from where we were eating and sparked up a ciggie right in front of a no smoking sign. There was a tarped-in smoking area about 6m away a bit further down the street.

At least if this kinda thing is gonna happen it was on our last day! I have to admit though that I was pleasantly surprised not to be encountering much secondhand smoke on this trip at all, as my experiences with that throughout almost everywhere else in Asia have been vastly different. I mean yeah, people in Japan obviously do smoke but at least it seems that most of them will try to move away and not smash everyone else around them with it.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2024 11:12

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

When I was in Kyoto I went to a kendo lesson in a 400 year old hall and it was really enjoyable. You get to have a crack at slashing through a tatami mat with a samurai sword at the end of the lesson.

The teacher was a lovely guy who I recommend, you can book with him here:

https://www.airbnb.com.au/experiences/1128057?c=.pi80.pkbWVzc2FnaW5nL2V4cGVyaWVuY2VzX21lc3NhZ2U%3D&euid=420a81d4-34a8-98ae-fecf-d7ec8f2628b2

# ¿ Feb 1, 2024 23:41

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Ooo that reminds me, my travel tip is to look up what dates are public holidays or other days of local significance during your trip and consider how that might affect your plans. I really wanted to go to Miyajima but didn't realise that it wasn't do-able on New Year's day because everyone wants to go to visit the shrines on that particular day and the crowds are insane. My kid and disabled partner wouldn't be up for standing in queues for hours on end so we noped out.

But that day we just did other things in Hiroshima, and put Miyajima on our list of things to do next time we go to Japan. Also I had more than one time where I thought that I'd go do x, but x wasn't open because it was a Monday. Luckily there's so much to do in Japan it didn't ruin my day, but it's still worth keeping in mind.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2024 05:58

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Yvonmukluk posted:

Would it be possible to do Mitajima and Hiroshima as a daytrip or would you suggest staying for a day or two?

Possible but if I went to Hiroshima again I'd want to stay there for at least two days.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2024 20:19

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:48

bee: Dec 17, 2008; Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

Yvonmukluk posted:

Also: I was looking at that Kendo class, but given I wear glasses that seems like it might be a problem.

One of the guys in my group wore glasses and took them off for the sparring part where you wear the helmet. This bit only went for about 15-20 mins, the majority of the lesson you're learning techniques and movements.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2024 21:09

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