Japan in Oct. Any ideas?

Raymond Lin said:
Another tip when ordering food, if you are in an area where there is no English menu, take photos of the plastic food in the window, go inside and show them the photo. It worked for me in Kyoto.
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Most restaurants aren't really that large so I've just taken the waitress outside and pointed several times. Occasionally ended up with something that was a bit different than I expected as I thought the model was of one thing and it was actually of something else but I'd say I've only had one meal I'd class as bad in Japan.
 
memyselfandi said:
Most restaurants aren't really that large so I've just taken the waitress outside and pointed several times. Occasionally ended up with something that was a bit different than I expected as I thought the model was of one thing and it was actually of something else but I'd say I've only had one meal I'd class as bad in Japan.
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I’m trying to think of a bad meal, I guess the worst one was this bento box I bought for the train. It was some fermented fish or something on rice. Now I can stomach all kinds of fish but I really struggled to keep this down. It wasn’t bad I guess as it’s what it meant to be but I wouldn’t get it again.

Everything else was great, even £4 udon noodles from a station restaurant. Just full of salary men and me.
 
Once I know if I am 100% going I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. At the moment I need to find out if my mate can get an extra week off from work. If it's a yes then I'm going.

If it's a no, then I have the option still of going on my own and seeing him maybe for 2 days out of the 14 I am there.

Hopefully he gets the extra week off confirmed with work tomorrow.
 
opethdisciple said:
The Suica card and the Sim card I can buy over here in the UK and have it shipped to my address?

I have to go to a train station to top up the Suica card with cash tho right?
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You can buy the card online here or just buy it when you land, it is at every station so don't worry about that. You will need cash to top it up.

There is an app which works with NFC but the app is in Japanese and I am not 100% sure foreigners can activate it outside of Japan.
 
My understanding is that if you have an iPhone 10 then you can load your Suica card into Apple Pay and use, and top it up from there, but the other electronic options don't work with non-Japanese phones. Personally I just got my card from the machines out there (which you can switch to English in order to do so). If you are only going the once then you can cash in the card before you leave.

I do use an Android app to check the balance on my card over NFC, which also shows your journeys which is pretty cool. Opendisciple, pf course you should check that your phone is compatible with the frequencies used out there, and is unlocked, if you are going the SIM route. There are various SIM products available, some look a lot better than others and some of the "unlimited" ones can have pretty severe caps on the amount of daily data before you are speed limited. It is something you should research. A few send out the SIM to you internationally but a lot will only send to the hotel, allow pick up when you get to Japan or are just purchasable out there from the large electronic stores.

Raymond, the bad meal I had was in Kyoto and was a rice with chicken and egg dish. It just wasn't very good or well made. You are right though, normally even cheap food is pretty good.
 
Might be the case that the week I spend with my mate will be in Seoul.

Lon > Tokyo > Kyoto > Seoul > Lon

I was looking on Google how I get from Kyoto to the nearest airport. It seems to be that Osaka is the nearest city with an airport and that it's a good 1.30 - 2 hrs away driving.

Is this the case?

Maybe I'd have to travel down the day before and stay the night in Osaka so I'm closer to the airport.
 
opethdisciple said:
Might be the case that the week I spend with my mate will be in Seoul.

Lon > Tokyo > Kyoto > Seoul > Lon

I was looking on Google how I get from Kyoto to the nearest airport. It seems to be that Osaka is the nearest city with an airport and that it's a good 1.30 - 2 hrs away driving.

Is this the case?

Maybe I'd have to travel down the day before and stay the night in Osaka so I'm closer to the airport.
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Yes, the Kansai airport is the nearest international one to Osaka, take the train, don't drive. Motorways in Japan are tolls, it will cost you a fortune to drive on toll roads.
 
Ill be going to Japan in Nov and ill be on my 10th Trip. I first started in 2004.

I dont rate the Japanese Rail pass any more. It use to be good when the exchange rate was good.. £1 = 240 YEN.
However the disadvantages are 1) you cant take ALL trains 2) you feel pressured since once activated you have to use it within your allotted days and cant really soak the culture at a good pace.
Why rush to different citys taking snap here and just like a your journalist, its not fun.

Budget airlines have opened up within the last 6 years and are a good choice if you going to Tokyo to Fukoshima. I have taken a few trips in the past from Tokyo to Okinawa and Osaka for £50.

You can also get cheap buses and coaches if your on a budget.
 
sithlord said:
Ill be going to Japan in Nov and ill be on my 10th Trip. I first started in 2004.

I dont rate the Japanese Rail pass any more. It use to be good when the exchange rate was good.. £1 = 240 YEN.
However the disadvantages are 1) you cant take ALL trains 2) you feel pressured since once activated you have to use it within your allotted days and cant really soak the culture at a good pace.
Why rush to different citys taking snap here and just like a your journalist, its not fun.

Budget airlines have opened up within the last 6 years and are a good choice if you going to Tokyo to Fukoshima. I have taken a few trips in the past from Tokyo to Okinawa and Osaka for £50.

You can also get cheap buses and coaches if your on a budget.
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Well, it is useful if you planned a trip then work out where you need to go, how often then you know the prices.

Like I took an internal flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka, because that was £75, however to see places on the way up, there is no way it would be cheaper to get the flight up between Fukuoka to Hiroshima then Osaka and then Tokyo. It would take far too long in check in and check out.

It all depends.

If you going more than 3 places within 7 days (which is easy), you don't need to activate for the date you pick it up, you can post date it.
 
It depends if you want to go as many places as you can in a short amount of time.

That to me is not a holiday and not fun. Believe me I did it on my 3rd & 4th trip when the JR pass was the only sensible option.
 
sithlord said:
It depends if you want to go as many places as you can in a short amount of time.

That to me is not a holiday and not fun. Believe me I did it on my 3rd & 4th trip when the JR pass was the only sensible option.
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When I go abroad, not just Japan, It's not really "relaxing", if I want a holiday holiday, i'd stay at home and have a lie in. lol I tend to get up bright and early and go explore. Going to as many places as I can is what I do, especially when somewhere half the world away.
 
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