[jacques.jiean]

evilerniex wrote:

u can get bus pass to get ard Kyoto. otherwise u dun need any passes if it is just nara, Kyoto and Osaka. if u are going Himeji, u can get 1-day JR west kansai area pass.


looks like u are squeezing a lot of places for Osaka. u may want to prioritises in case u cant cover everything. u can also consider going Osaka aquarium.


1 day for Kyoto is really too short, even if touch-and-go also difficult to cover all the main attractions.

thank you for your further advise. I think I will slot in Heimeji and Kobe in and prioritise the places to visit in osaka. I was thinking if my last 2 days as follows, will it be worth 4000 yen kansai thru 2 days pass?

Day 1: Himeiji, Kobe Haborland, Meriken Park, Chinatown, Kitano-cho (Got this day trip itinerary online)
Day 2: Tsutenkaku, Tennoji Temple, back to Hotel, Rinku Premium Outlet, Kansai Airport.

[evilerniex]

jacques.jiean wrote:

thank you for your further advise. I think I will slot in Heimeji and Kobe in and prioritise the places to visit in osaka. I was thinking if my last 2 days as follows, will it be worth 4000 yen kansai thru 2 days pass?

Day 1: Himeiji, Kobe Haborland, Meriken Park, Chinatown, Kitano-cho (Got this day trip itinerary online)
Day 2: Tsutenkaku, Tennoji Temple, back to Hotel, Rinku Premium Outlet, Kansai Airport.

JR west kansai area pass will be a better choice for going Himeji because JR train is a lot faster.
u can calculate to see if it is worth it to get 1 or 2 days for JR west kansai area pass.

[Nalgene123]

jacques.jiean wrote:

thank you for your further advise. I think I will slot in Heimeji and Kobe in and prioritise the places to visit in osaka. I was thinking if my last 2 days as follows, will it be worth 4000 yen kansai thru 2 days pass?

Day 1: Himeiji, Kobe Haborland, Meriken Park, Chinatown, Kitano-cho (Got this day trip itinerary online)
Day 2: Tsutenkaku, Tennoji Temple, back to Hotel, Rinku Premium Outlet, Kansai Airport.

please take note that the houses in Kitano-Cho closes at 5pm...so you will probably need to leave Himeji at around noon if you want to enter some of the houses....

Kobe Harborland and Meriken Park besides the shopping malls in the area is a dead town at night.....the only places attractions are Kobe Tower and the park commemorating the Kobe earthquake

if you want to spend more time in Kobe..I suggest you can just arrange one full day since Osaka is really just next door to Kobe

I tried this itenary before and i felt that i didn't really get a good feel for Kobe and was quite rush although Himeji Castle was exceptionally beautiful during the cherry blossom season

[gumbokins]

We are transitting in Tokyo for 6 days, otw back from US. Planning to store our big luggage at Narita and travelling lighter while in Japan. Any idea which would be cheaper, lockers or bag storage like GPA? There will be at least 2 large suitcases.

[deexay]

will be going to hokkaido 2 weeks later for 7 nights. very last minute trip due to the mers outbreak in korea so we have to make changes. i've read that lavenders will only be in full bloom in july at furano and biei, can anyone advise about the flower fields around mid june? not sure if it's still worthwhile to visit if they have not yet bloomed.

day 1: reach sapporo at 3pm, walk around the city
day 2: furano, biei, asahikawa. staying there for a night probably
day 3-4: otaru, toya, noboribetsu (will be storing luggage at otaru station while exploring then take a train to toya/noboribetsu)
day 5: hakodate
day 6: hakodate
day 7: back to sapporo
day 8: morning flight back to sg

is the itinerary too rushed? if flowers are not in bloom, i'll probably forgo furano and spend more time in hakodate and toya area. will self-drive in furano and toya. appreciate any comments here. thanks!

[sashime]

Will be going to Tokyo and Osaka, but have not yet planned the Osaka Itinerary. Please review my Tokyo Itinerary, thanks. I'll be staying at Shinjuku area.

Day 1:
- Arrival at 9.50am
- Lunch at Ichiran Ramen
- Shopping @ Takashimaya, Isetan, Lumine 2
Is the Government building worth a visit?
And are there any soft serve ice cream in the Shinjuku area?
- Dinner: Musashi @ Shimbashi station
- Maybe Ginza at night?

Day 2:
- Breakfast at hotel
- Shopping at Harajuku : Takeshita Street
- Lunch at Kyushu Jangara Ramen
- Find crepe to eat
- Shopping at LaForet, etc.
4pm: Shibuya Station
Dinner: Midori Sushi
Or is Uoriki Kaisen Sushi better?

Day 3:
Any suggestions for breakfast?
- Imperial Palace
- Lunch: Tokyo Ramen Street (Rokurinsha)
- Asakusa: Sensoji Temple
- Tokyo Skytree?
- Dinner: Uoriki Kaisen sushi @ Shibuya?

Day 4 would be Osaka

[beanstalk6]

sashime wrote:

Will be going to Tokyo and Osaka, but have not yet planned the Osaka Itinerary. Please review my Tokyo Itinerary, thanks. I'll be staying at Shinjuku area.

Day 1:
- Arrival at 9.50am
- Lunch at Ichiran Ramen
- Shopping @ Takashimaya, Isetan, Lumine 2
Is the Government building worth a visit?
And are there any soft serve ice cream in the Shinjuku area?
- Dinner: Musashi @ Shimbashi station
- Maybe Ginza at night?

Worth a visit if you want a free panorama of Tokyo city. One can see Mt Fuji from up there. Negates a need to visit the Sky Tree. Also a good location at Shinjuku.

[kaisoz]

Just wondering whether anyone has tried Yunessan Spa House in Hakone?

Ramen noodle bath?

Quote:

You Can Now Bathe in Ramen Noodles

Ramen is one of the latest food crazes to sweep America, but when it comes to the noodle dish the Japanese don’t mess around.

Yunessan Spa House in Hakone, a south-eastern town in Japan, is now offering ramen baths for its clientele. The bath, consisting of ramen pork broth and synthetic noodles, allegedly helps improve patrons’ skin.

Ichiro Furuya, the owner of the spa, claims, “Lately people are very concerned about having beautiful skin, and they know the effect of collagen, which is contained in our pork-based broth. At this bath, everybody can have fun and take advantage of the healthy elements of ramen noodles.”

[floppy]

sashime wrote:

Will be going to Tokyo and Osaka, but have not yet planned the Osaka Itinerary. Please review my Tokyo Itinerary, thanks. I'll be staying at Shinjuku area.

Day 1:
- Arrival at 9.50am
- Lunch at Ichiran Ramen
- Shopping @ Takashimaya, Isetan, Lumine 2
Is the Government building worth a visit?
And are there any soft serve ice cream in the Shinjuku area?
- Dinner: Musashi @ Shimbashi station
- Maybe Ginza at night?

Day 2:
- Breakfast at hotel
- Shopping at Harajuku : Takeshita Street
- Lunch at Kyushu Jangara Ramen
- Find crepe to eat
- Shopping at LaForet, etc.
4pm: Shibuya Station
Dinner: Midori Sushi
Or is Uoriki Kaisen Sushi better?

Day 3:
Any suggestions for breakfast?
- Imperial Palace
- Lunch: Tokyo Ramen Street (Rokurinsha)
- Asakusa: Sensoji Temple
- Tokyo Skytree?
- Dinner: Uoriki Kaisen sushi @ Shibuya?

Day 4 would be Osaka

u can skip musashi in tokyo. not worth your money.

[hutkahn]

beanstalk6 wrote:

Worth a visit if you want a free panorama of Tokyo city. One can see Mt Fuji from up there. Negates a need to visit the Sky Tree. Also a good location at Shinjuku.

Yep, the free part is especially good considering Tokyo Tower, WTC, and Skytree need to pay to go up. I went up the Metropolitan Govt. Building during the day and Tokyo Tower in the night. Definitely worth a visit, but if it is foggy then can't see Mt. Fuji la...

One of the towers' observatory closes at 5 though, the other one is open til later. Check first to avoid disappointment!

[hutkahn]

Sukoo wrote:

I refer to Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route... Next week.
A friend of mine just came back from there two weeks ago, she said just wear the normal track shoes with thick socks. I hope so.. cause bring my kids along. Hopefully they can cope with the temperature.

evilerniex wrote:

http://www.alpen-route.com/en/introd...imate-clothing
looks like it is still quite cold in june. temperature can drop a lot in the mountains esp when it is cloudy or raining with strong wind.


thick socks and normal shoes shld be fine coz usually our legs and feet can tahan a bit of cold. more impt is the body and hands. good to have jacket and gloves.

I just went up the alpine route on Monday. Temperature hit about 13deg at the top, but the sun is intense enough that I was mostly sweating. I wore a short-sleeved uniqlo tee, and just a fleece sweater over it, most of the time didn't zip all the way up unless I was walking in the snow/ice.

Normal shoes are fine, but they will get wet so bring an additional pair of socks just in case. I went on the snow/ice in sneakers with high socks lol.

Saw a lot of people bringing thick down jackets up, IMO I think don't need esp. if going around noon because you will sure sweat. It's the tunnels that I found to be colder though, not the temperature at the top. Just wear a sweater on top of normal clothes, and bring another jacket/cardigan/hoodie/whatever to layer as needed, instead of just one thick down jacket.

A lot of Singaporeans on the route

[HoloCaustx]

kaisoz wrote:

Just wondering whether anyone has tried Yunessan Spa House in Hakone?

Ramen noodle bath?

Hi, yeap i've tried it before, they usually have some discount coupons on their website that you can flash before making payment.

i went during early sakura season so it was really cold! those fancy baths such as ramen, red wine, green tea etc are outdoor so you'll have to battle the cold to get there (up a small hill with stairs).

overall quite enjoyable, they even have a half tunnel slide which adults can enjoy too

[Foress]

hi! just wanted to ask, how to move around in japan? lets say i wanna go osaka then go to tore tore ichiba and amedaki falls and then kuroshio ichiba and back to airport, only can drive ah? no public transport?

[beanstalk6]

Foress wrote:

hi! just wanted to ask, how to move around in japan? lets say i wanna go osaka then go to tore tore ichiba and amedaki falls and then kuroshio ichiba and back to airport, only can drive ah? no public transport?

You have to make use of the extensive railway network. Start on Google Maps and use the directions from Osaka. Driving can be prohibitively expensive.

[saffronsatire]

considering kodai-ji and kiyomizu-dera but in that case, i may drop them for my day visit. i have read of ppl doing day+night for the same place during the same trip. guess it's a very diff experience but then again, temple fatigue?

any thoughts or recommendation? should i be there when they open or 1 hr+ before closing? i will have 4 days in kyoto. will be avoiding weekends in any case.