J's Solo date with 4 cities, 2014 Winter version

[joeson]

Initially, this winter trip was not a planned one. I hadn't planned for it after my summer trip in May; I had tentatively planned a return trip to Japan next year to catch the sakura bloom or the anime festivals. However, in early August, SQ decides to launch a promotional fare for Osaka in November/December 2014. and the rest, as they say, is history.

got my SQ ticket at ard $720; flying in and out of Osaka, or more accurately, Kansai International Airport. timing wise, maybe its cos I booked late, so I got stuck with the red-eye flight. flight details are as follows:

SIN - KIX: 30.11.2014, Departs SG at 1430 hrs, Reaches KIX 2130 hrs (local time)

KIX - SIN: 08.12.2014, Departs KIX at 2330 hrs, reaches SG at 0530 hrs (local time)

I decided to be ambitious this time and cover 4 cities in the span of my trip, after getting some advice to dmitiri_can and the rest of the friendly people on the sample itinerary thread. my brief itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Touchdown in KIX, check in at hotel: MyStays Sakaisuji-Hommachi
Day 2: Day trip to Kobe
Day 3: Osaka
Day 4: Osaka
Day 5: Morning: Osaka, Afternoon: Kyoto, check in at hotel: First Cabin Kyoto Karasuma
Day 6: Kyoto, switch hotels: Kyoto Itoya Hotel
Day 7: Day trip to Nara
Day 8: Kyoto
Day 9: Kyoto, Rinku Town, Night: Flight back to SG

Did preparation works as follows:
- changed money at Mustafa this time; S$1 ~ 85 Yen
- booked the respective hotels: MyStays Sakaisuji-Hommachi (Osaka), First Cabin Kyoto Karasuma and Kyoto Itoya Hotel (Kyoto)
- made reservations for Giro Giro
- booked Haruka & Icoca package online

Ok, review of the accomodations in the next post. this time I didn't choose airbnb for both Osaka and Kyoto because unlike Tokyo, the prices for the apartments in the two cities were on par with, or some, even more expensive than the hotels which I've shortlisted. As such, this meant that choosing the hotels would be a more convenient option, in the sense that there is housekeeping and breakfast provided for the similar price range.

 

[joeson]

Review of accommodations & food

MyStays Sakaisuji-Homamchi (Osaka):
This hotel wasn't too bad. although they term themselves as a hotel, I prefer to term it as a serviced residences. they had housekeeping services and daily breakfast in the mini cafe at the 1st floor, and the rooms were slightly larger than the normal mini sized ones you normally get in Japan. will upload pictures of it soon, once I sort out all my photos from my handphone and my camera. the room had the usual amenities: bathroom with mini bathtub, queen sized bed, TV, windows, mini fridge and a mini cooking area with microwave oven and a portable stove. hotel-wise, there's a laundry area with 2 dryers, 2 washing machines and 2 vending machines. price wise, paid $255 for 4 nights, but no breakfast, which costs an additional 1,000 Yen/morning. my advice is skip the breakfast: it's continental and japanese styled.

First Cabin Kyoto Karasuma (Kyoto):
Tried this capsule hotel for the fun of it, seeing that I've not tried it back in Tokyo. There's two kinds of rooms- the really capsule kind, where you lie down and cannot stand up in the room (they term it as 'Business Class') and the normal kind, which is like a queen sized bed, TV, a side table and lockable drawer to keep your valuables in (the 'First Class'). large luggages can be kept at the receptionist area, and the bathrooms (showers & toilets) are all shared. they provide night wear, towels, toiletries and slippers, so you don't need to buy/bring any of those, unless you have specific ones to be used. both classes of rooms do not have any doors, but are just separated by curtains from the main corridor. but the sleeping areas are gender-segregated and is connected to the reception area via a door which has card only access, so there's alot of privacy. only issues is other pple snoring in the other capsules, which can affect ur sleeping (it did for my first night there), but the reception has ear plugs for free.

Kyoto Itoya Hotel (Kyoto):
My 2nd hotel in Kyoto after First Cabin. was initially supposed to stay at Sakura Terrace, but a credit card problem with Agoda resulted in my stay there being cancelled on the last minute. Itoya terms itself as a boutique hotel and I agree with it pretty much; there's no facilities in the hotel except for bicycles for rental, daily housekeeping, a daily japanese breakfast and the interior decor of the hotel room is boutique-ish. nicest hotel out of all the 3 hotels that i've been to, but naturally, it's the most expensive one of all.

food-wise, I've sampled different kinds of foods there. have tried food trucks at the tourist attractions, the local fastfood and snacks like Matsuya, First Kitchen, eateries like Ichiran and Ippudo, and atas restaurants like Giro Giro and the Kani Honten crab restaurant.

 

[Crexzz]

Kyoto Itoya Hotel (Kyoto):
My 2nd hotel in Kyoto after First Cabin. was initially supposed to stay at Sakura Terrace, but a credit card problem with Agoda resulted in my stay there being cancelled on the last minute. Itoya terms itself as a boutique hotel and I agree with it pretty much; there's no facilities in the hotel except for bicycles for rental, daily housekeeping, a daily japanese breakfast and the interior decor of the hotel room is boutique-ish. nicest hotel out of all the 3 hotels that i've been to, but naturally, it's the most expensive one of all.
.

mind elaborating more on the problem? i use agoda as well, would be good to know how to prevent such from happening to me.

btw, camping for peektures

 

[joeson]

mind elaborating more on the problem? i use agoda as well, would be good to know how to prevent such from happening to me.

btw, camping for peektures

hmm.. i used my standard chartered credit card to reserve my room at sakura Terrace initially, for the period of 6-8 December. so everything was ok, den on the 4th, when I was having dinner, I decided to check my email.

agoda sent me an email on the night of 3rd, around 11plus pm, telling me that they are unable to charge to my card for my booking with Sakura Terrace, and told me to furnish them with another credit card detail.

and on the afternoon of the 4th of December, I received another email from agoda, telling me that as I didn't reply to their email on the 3rd, they have cancelled my booking with Sakura Terrace with immediate effect and no penalties would be imposed.

naturally, i was pretty shocked when i saw both emails, and emailed agoda quickly (on the 4th) another credit card detail just in case they can revoke the cancellation. in the meantime, i went online to find a replacement hotel, which wasn't easy, seeing that it was late autumn season in Kyoto and it was the weekend period. the main majority of the hotels that still had vacancies were either too out of budget for me (The Westin Kyoto, for eg) or abit inconvenient to travel to (Lake Biwako). thankfully i found Kyoto Itoya, which was reasonably priced.

so yeah, that was the drama that I experienced in Kyoto. from this experience, I'd say that it is always important to check your emails, even when you're on a holiday.

 

[Crexzz]

hmm.. i used my standard chartered credit card to reserve my room at sakura Terrace initially, for the period of 6-8 December. so everything was ok, den on the 4th, when I was having dinner, I decided to check my email.

agoda sent me an email on the night of 3rd, around 11plus pm, telling me that they are unable to charge to my card for my booking with Sakura Terrace, and told me to furnish them with another credit card detail.

and on the afternoon of the 4th of December, I received another email from agoda, telling me that as I didn't reply to their email on the 3rd, they have cancelled my booking with Sakura Terrace with immediate effect and no penalties would be imposed.

naturally, i was pretty shocked when i saw both emails, and emailed agoda quickly (on the 4th) another credit card detail just in case they can revoke the cancellation. in the meantime, i went online to find a replacement hotel, which wasn't easy, seeing that it was late autumn season in Kyoto and it was the weekend period. the main majority of the hotels that still had vacancies were either too out of budget for me (The Westin Kyoto, for eg) or abit inconvenient to travel to (Lake Biwako). thankfully i found Kyoto Itoya, which was reasonably priced.

so yeah, that was the drama that I experienced in Kyoto. from this experience, I'd say that it is always important to check your emails, even when you're on a holiday.

that's bad. now having second thoughts on their "pay later" option for hotel bookings.

 

[joeson]

that's bad. now having second thoughts on their "pay later" option for hotel bookings.

hmmm... I'd say its partly my fault too cos I didn't check my emails reguarly.. but who would check their emails on a holiday???

 

[evilerniex]

that's bad. now having second thoughts on their "pay later" option for hotel bookings.

i tot usually for the pay later option, they will not charge to ur card. card is only used to make a reservation. i usually pay by cash when i arrive, even though i book using card

 

[cormet]

i tot usually for the pay later option, they will not charge to ur card. card is only used to make a reservation. i usually pay by cash when i arrive, even though i book using card

mine was charged a few days before the actual day.

 

[joeson]

i tot usually for the pay later option, they will not charge to ur card. card is only used to make a reservation. i usually pay by cash when i arrive, even though i book using card

OMG YESS! precisely! that was what I thought initially too! I was so shocked to see the email from agoda about my room cancellation! :/ same, I'll "chope" the room using card, but pay cash upon check out.

 

[Crexzz]

i tot usually for the pay later option, they will not charge to ur card. card is only used to make a reservation. i usually pay by cash when i arrive, even though i book using card

That's one of the option available , but the rates for some hotel actually differs if you choose to pay at the hotel.

but i usually pay online with my credit card, cuz UOB card gets additional 7% discount off the total price


btw @joeson - not uploading any pictures?

 

[joeson]

Day 1

Ok, enough of my complaints about agoda, here's my trip report proper!

Day 1 was pretty much a wasted day; hung around in Changi in the morning with friends before checking in the SQ flight at around 2pm. Maybe I was comparing it with Scoot, but I felt the leg space on the SQ flight was smaller than that of Scoot's, not too sure why. onboard flight food was good though; pardon me as I didn't take any photos of the food. was hungry after watching movies and taking a nap.

touchdown at KIX.

flight touched down at Kansai International Airport at around 920pm. quickly disembarked and caught the monorail from the gate to the main arrival hall, getting my checked in luggage and going to the JR West Office to pick up my Haruka and Icoca package, which I bought online a week before.

[note: the office closes at 11pm, and is 2nd floor of the main building, the Arrivals hall is on the 1st floor.]

walked over to the Kansai Airport station, which is a separate building across the airport, there's a bridge linking it, which is exposed, so it's cold at night, especially with the wind blowing!

since my hotel was in kitahama, I took the Limited Express Haruka which departed at 2216 hours; changed subway at Tennoji to Dobutseun-mae station, then to Kitahama. the hotel was a 8 mins walk from the station, so by the time i reached my hotel, it was already past 11pm. quickly checked in, got my wifi device set up, then went to the nearby Lawson's for a supper.

hotel room interior

hotel exterior, taken the next morning using my handphone camera.

after i'm done with supper, went back hotel and crashed. that was the end of Day 1.

 

[joeson]

Day 2- Kobe day trip

My initial plans were to go Nara today and Kobe later on in the trip. But a quick check on the map made me realize that Kobe was nearer to Osaka, and Nara was nearer to Kyoto. as such, I swapped the itineraries for both cities, and left for Kobe on a day trip. perks of being on a solo itinerary is that i can modify my itinerary on a whim. haha.

breakfast was settled at the Lawson's (I love the selection there!) nearby, then I made my way to Kobe. went to Umeda station first to buy stuffs:

- Hankyu 1 day tourist pass (for my travels to and fro Kobe)
- Osaka 2 Day Amazing Pass

After that, took the Hankyu line to Kobe Sannoyima. there are many lines available that travels between Osaka and Kobe, so it's pretty much up to you and your budget. for me, since I didn't have a JR pass, I opted for the 1 day tourist pass that Hankyu railways offers: unlimited travels on all Hankyu lines for one day.

Reached Kobe around 10 plus; the trip took half an hour only, since I took an express train that stopped at a handful of major stations. don't ever take the local trains for such journeys, as it will stop. and stop. and stop. and stop. at every single station.

went to Kitano area first, famous for the elaborately designed houses in the nieghbourhood, such as this, the weathervane house:

weather wasn't too good; was abit cloudy and i missed pretty much the whole of the autumn period. so the leaves weren't in full bloom anymore:

chanced upon a couple that was getting ready for their wedding photoshoot at a shrine on the top of Kitano, at the town square overlooking the city:

headed back down to the city centre after some sightseeing and buying the Starbucks tumblr at the Kitano outlet, which was located within a heritage building. didn't exchange for my free drink, because i was going to have a kobe beef meal. no pictures of the meal, because I accidentally deleted those photos! anyway, I had my meal at Wakkoqu, the Shin-Kobe outlet. It was really good; their lunch menu is very affordable at around 5k yen per pax. Comprises of starters, soup, salad, 130grams of Kobe beef that will be teppanyaki-ed according to how you want it, vegetables, coffee/tea and dessert (i had lime sorbet).

after lunch, it was time for a quick trip to Kobe Harbourland: passed by the Great Earthquake Memorial, Kawasaki Museum & Maritime Museum (which was closed, boo.), and the Kobe Tower. Didn't go up the tower because I was going to Mt Rokko in the evening.

Kobe Tower

The earthquake memorial at high tide.

Chinatown at Kobe.

Proceeded to Mt Rokko in the evening for the night view of Kobe, voted as one of Japan's 3 Best Night views. more of it in the next post.

 

[cormet]

Nice how was the kobe beef? Went there for lunch without reservations and couldn't get in

Did you use the city loop bus too?

 

[joeson]

Nice how was the kobe beef? Went there for lunch without reservations and couldn't get in

Did you use the city loop bus too?

omgg the kobe beef was goooooood. i'm like thinking about it now as I type the entry. wasted i deleted the photos accidentally.

I made a reservation after seeing on forums that its a must if you want to eat there.

nope, didn't use the city loop bus cos I thought the subway would be sufficient.

 

[joeson]

Day 2- Kobe: The Million Dollar View

The evening of day 2 was spent on Mt Rokko; to get there, I took the subway from Sannomiya station to Rokko station, and switched to bus #16 from the station to the foot of Mt Rokko. Took the cable car up to the top of the mountain; once at the top, there's a small viewing gallery with nothing else except a souvenir shop.

after a recommendation from the souvenir shop owner, I took another bus to Mt Rokko Garden Terrace, which is around a 10 mins bus ride. upon reflection, I should have got the combo ticket for the cable car and the bus rides. oh well.

the cable car was like Hong Kong's Peak tram.

at the Garden Terrace, walked around abit. its a bigger area; there's also a few souvenir shops, one shop selling those local delicacies, a tower, a cafe and bigger observation and viewing platform. there's also an observatory, which I didn't go in. and the areas were all very open air, so when the wind blew (it did!), it was damn cold! my hands were practically freezing when I snapped the photos there; I forgot to buy gloves as I didn't bring mine from SG. :x

took a few pictures before sunset; these are taken from the small viewing gallery at the top of the cable car station.

Mt Rokko Garden Terrace

Night views of Kobe, listed as one of Japan's 3 Best Night views.

After taking in the night views, shivering under the cold wind, I made my way back down to Kobe city proper. Settled dinner in a random vending machine ramen shop, and took the Hankyu line back to Umeda station in Osaka, then back to my hotel in Kitahama.

And that was the end of Day 2.

 

[joeson]

Day 3- Tempozan Harbour Village, Umeda Area, Spa World

Woke up late for the morning; was supposed to reach Tempozan by 9am, but when I woke up, it was already 8 plus in the morning. its the winter time and the cool weather, coupled with the comfortable bed and the supper that I had the previous night which made me oversleep. :/ settled breakfast in the hotel room as usual, and proceeded to Tempozan Harbour Village for my first half of the itinerary.

I bought the Osaka 2 Day Amazing pass previously, so I utilized it for today and tomorrow; the pass have to be used on 2 consecutive days, so must plan accordingly. started off with the ferris wheel; the city's tallest at 112.5m, according to the webpage.

the ferris wheel in its entirety

view from the top of the wheel

after a hair-raising 20 mins or so, proceeded next to the Kaiyukan, or the Osaka Aquarium, which, in my opinion, beats the SEA Aquarium and Underwater World hands down, for its exhibits and hands on experiences, like touching the stingrays.

something from your local zichar... not.

More in the next post!

 

[Petslave]

Just wondering as i was looking at the set meal on wakkoqu.
The set meal consist of Sirlion Tajima and Sanda beef from kobe, is this considered the famous kobe beef?

Any reviews on steakland as oppose to wakkoqu ?

 

[joeson]

Just wondering as i was looking at the set meal on wakkoqu.
The set meal consist of Sirlion Tajima and Sanda beef from kobe, is this considered the famous kobe beef?

Any reviews on steakland as oppose to wakkoqu ?

ah yes, that's the one that I had-

Lunch Wakkoqu Course ( Tajima & Sanda Beef from Kobe ) ¥5,280
Sirloin 150ｇ, Grilled Vegetable(six kinds), Today’s Soup, Salad, Rice ＆ Japanese Pickled, Dessert, Coffee

as to whether it's considered the famous Kobe beef, I'm not too sure, but imo, it's the best that I've tried so far for that price range, not including the atas places in Singapore.

I saw reviews on steakland being abit too touristy, which is why I opted for Wakkoqu instead. the outlet that I went was packed with locals and a few tourists from Singapore.

 

[joeson]

Day 3- Umeda Area, Spa World

Settled lunch after the aquarium in the food court at Tempozan Market Place, which was just beside the aquarium; and no, I did not have fish and chips, or any seafood items. Had some curry omu rice, which was great as usual.

jellies!

the state of my room after souvenir shopping.

wanted to catch the sunset at Umeda sky Building, but a quick check with the hotel receptionist told me that sunset was at 4 plus, which meant I would have missed it by the time I reached there. So I wandered around the area and decided to go up only at night to catch the night view.

went to Grand Front Osaka, the newest shopping mall in Osaka. it was directly connected to Umeda station, so no worries even if it was raining. nothing really fanciful there, imo, although there's a Sony showroom that showcases the latest technology and a Zara home shop, which sells home stuffs like bedsheets and tableware from the Italian brand. went to the sky terraces to take some photos, and it was, as usual, cold with all the wind blowing.

view from the Sky Terrace at GFO.

went over to Umeda Sky Building after that; I was still on my Amazing Pass, so it's free admission. by the time I went up to the Observatory area (170m up), it was already dark.

see! so early sunset!

as it was winter, and it was the top of the building, I had to wear gloves and take the above pictures. so pardon me if the pictures didn't turn out to be a bit shaky, as I was wearing the 100 Yen gloves that I bought at the Seria shop. hehe.

after taking enuff pictures, I went for dinner- Tonkatsu King cutlet at their shop in Umeda station, Basement 1. Yes, it's the same one in Singapore, with free flow rice, miso soup and cabbage. Had the mixed fry set; Osaka Amazing Pass holders get 10% off the bill too!

and since i'm on holiday, of course the night doesn't end here! took the train down to Dobuetseun-mae station; of course, transport is free for the 2 days. no, I'm not going to the zoo at night, but rather, going to Spa World!

Admission is not free even for Pass holders, but its heavily reduced: 900 Yen as compared to 2,300 Yen for normal rates. No pictures are allowed inside, so you'll have to go to the website to see the types of baths available in there. An interesting fact is that they have two broad themes that are gender segregated: for even months, only the guys are allowed to the european zone, and females, the asian zone. so there are outdoor baths (damn shiok! just imagine the cold weather blowing on ur face and the warm water enveloping the rest of your body), personal bathtubs with fizzy water, baths with milk and honey inside the water, shiokkkkkk! here's the website: http://www.spaworld.co.jp/english/onsen.html.

by the time i pao until my skin started to wrinkle, it was already 1130pm. quickly showered and checked out of the place to catch the last train back to my hotel. stopped by Lawson's for a supper and da bao breakfast for the next day.

and that concludes my 3rd day in Japan.

 

[darkmatt]

Settled lunch after the aquarium in the food court at Tempozan Market Place, which was just beside the aquarium; and no, I did not have fish and chips, or any seafood items. Had some curry omu rice, which was great as usual.

jellies!

the state of my room after souvenir shopping.

wanted to catch the sunset at Umeda sky Building, but a quick check with the hotel receptionist told me that sunset was at 4 plus, which meant I would have missed it by the time I reached there. So I wandered around the area and decided to go up only at night to catch the night view.

went to Grand Front Osaka, the newest shopping mall in Osaka. it was directly connected to Umeda station, so no worries even if it was raining. nothing really fanciful there, imo, although there's a Sony showroom that showcases the latest technology and a Zara home shop, which sells home stuffs like bedsheets and tableware from the Italian brand. went to the sky terraces to take some photos, and it was, as usual, cold with all the wind blowing.

view from the Sky Terrace at GFO.

went over to Umeda Sky Building after that; I was still on my Amazing Pass, so it's free admission. by the time I went up to the Observatory area (170m up), it was already dark.

see! so early sunset!

as it was winter, and it was the top of the building, I had to wear gloves and take the above pictures. so pardon me if the pictures didn't turn out to be a bit shaky, as I was wearing the 100 Yen gloves that I bought at the Seria shop. hehe.

after taking enuff pictures, I went for dinner- Tonkatsu King cutlet at their shop in Umeda station, Basement 1. Yes, it's the same one in Singapore, with free flow rice, miso soup and cabbage. Had the mixed fry set; Osaka Amazing Pass holders get 10% off the bill too!

and since i'm on holiday, of course the night doesn't end here! took the train down to Dobuetseun-mae station; of course, transport is free for the 2 days. no, I'm not going to the zoo at night, but rather, going to Spa World!

Admission is not free even for Pass holders, but its heavily reduced: 900 Yen as compared to 2,300 Yen for normal rates. No pictures are allowed inside, so you'll have to go to the website to see the types of baths available in there. An interesting fact is that they have two broad themes that are gender segregated: for even months, only the guys are allowed to the european zone, and females, the asian zone. so there are outdoor baths (damn shiok! just imagine the cold weather blowing on ur face and the warm water enveloping the rest of your body), personal bathtubs with fizzy water, baths with milk and honey inside the water, shiokkkkkk! here's the website: .

by the time i pao until my skin started to wrinkle, it was already 1130pm. quickly showered and checked out of the place to catch the last train back to my hotel. stopped by Lawson's for a supper and da bao breakfast for the next day.

and that concludes my 3rd day in Japan.

top of umeda sky building is open air?!