[anyhowsaysay]

purpleberry wrote:

Is it this one?

http://www.timberland.com.sg/product...-tex-membrane/

not that. mine is shoe with leather material but gortex

the link one not good for kyoto because can't take off easily

[onenightfighttwo]

Illusionist_85 wrote:

Possible to fly back from Tokyo if u buy tickets from ANA or JAL. Cheaper compared to SIA which flight direct from KIX.

If factor in the trip back to Tokyo again, will it still be cheaper? For 2a 2c. How long is the journey(most cost saving way) from Osaka to Tokyo if flying back from Tokyo too.

[onenightfighttwo]

Ruriel wrote:

Is it cheaper? Flight in NRT, flight out KIX about S$700+ all in. Taking domestic flights are rather troublesome due to check in, luggage collection etc; whereas taking shinkansen to and fro is additional S$350 (thereabouts) per pax if buying the 7 day JR pass. Is it really that worth it in the end to fly in/out from Tokyo?

As travelling with 2 kids, I think I wanna avoid domesticflight n transit as it will be tiring for them. But if say can cut down on cost if I do Tokyo 4 days, Osaka 6days then maybe you'll again 2-4 days. Then it can be an option.

[Ruriel]

onenightfighttwo wrote:

As travelling with 2 kids, I think I wanna avoid domesticflight n transit as it will be tiring for them. But if say can cut down on cost if I do Tokyo 4 days, Osaka 6days then maybe you'll again 2-4 days. Then it can be an option.

What kind of cost do you want to cut down? If its transport cost, then don't travel region to region. Stick to one - i.e. just stick to either Tokyo or Osaka.

Regardless how many days you cut down in each region, the moment you want to travel in between regions, you will have to spend on shinkansen (since you want to avoid domestic flights).

If you want to fly in/out of Tokyo while still visit Osaka, you will then need to invest in a 7-day JR pass for your whole family so that it can cover shinkansen both ways between Tokyo and Osaka. At the moment its S$345 for adults and S$173 for child. Do your math to see if it's worth it.

If you want to check on SINGLE TRIP shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka (to fly out from Osaka), you can check at Hyperdia for the prices. You'll need to familiarize yourself with the Hyperdia site while planning for the trip anyway.

[Illusionist_85]

onenightfighttwo wrote:

If factor in the trip back to Tokyo again, will it still be cheaper? For 2a 2c. How long is the journey(most cost saving way) from Osaka to Tokyo if flying back from Tokyo too.

U can try on Skyscanner with ur trip details.

since u mentioned dun wanna transit can consider SIA, fly in Tokyo fly out kansai.

If wanna save cost can play around with the travel period. U still need to factor in one way shinkansen tickets

[ash like snow]

which is more cost saving? selfdriving for 7 days or buy 7 days jrhokkaido pass? easy to navigate via gps?

[Illusionist_85]

Ruriel wrote:

But nimbus is just a typical running shoes... I wore it to shirakawa-go when it was snowing and it totally didn't make it. Had to borrow proper snow shoes from the inn owner. Zero cushioning but it's only for a day so I bear with it. The next few days my knees and soles were in extreme pain tho...

In our defense, the weather wasn't supposed to be erratic when I was monitoring prior to our trip - it usually snowed at night but got bright sun during the day and not snowing... Hence I decided to chance it with my running shoes. Somehow it snowed rather heavily the entire day when we were there.

I will be planning Hokkaido trips in the future during their snow festival, hence I'm just wondering if there's any good cushioning all weather shoes that's worth the investment.

U can try quechua shoes at decathlon if got budget constraints

[Ruriel]

Illusionist_85 wrote:

U can try quechua shoes at decathlon if got budget constraints

No budget constraints... but that doesn't mean I should just waste S$300 on a pair of shoes that I only realise I can't wear for long term after wearing it for one whole day mah.

I will go and take a look at what you suggest though, thank you! Doesn't matter if its S$299 or S$49.90, as long as it's a pair of all-weather shoes that's good for my feet to walk in for the entire day, I'd buy it.

[purpleberry]

Ruriel wrote:

No budget constraints... but that doesn't mean I should just waste S$300 on a pair of shoes that I only realise I can't wear for long term after wearing it for one whole day mah.

I will go and take a look at what you suggest though, thank you! Doesn't matter if its S$299 or S$49.90, as long as it's a pair of all-weather shoes that's good for my feet to walk in for the entire day, I'd buy it.

Maybe you can try exploring shimokitazawa? Lots of second hand shops.

[Ruriel]

purpleberry wrote:

Maybe you can try exploring shimokitazawa? Lots of second hand shops.

Shimo-kitazawa is actually on my list of to-visit places for my future trips, but I'm not a fan of second-hand items...

[dungeonalley]

onenightfighttwo wrote:

As travelling with 2 kids, I think I wanna avoid domesticflight n transit as it will be tiring for them. But if say can cut down on cost if I do Tokyo 4 days, Osaka 6days then maybe you'll again 2-4 days. Then it can be an option.

fly in tokyo, fly out kix (either way) it's cheaper. because you are only travelling to 2 cities, JR pass itself already 300++ for 7 days, and you are staying in osaka for 6 days, so to use it, you probably need to get the 14days one, which is super not worth it. might as well just plan all tokyo together then osaka, then fly out from there.

[oceanicmanta]

ash like snow wrote:

which is more cost saving? selfdriving for 7 days or buy 7 days jrhokkaido pass? easy to navigate via gps?

if solo, then JR costs less

if 2, about same

if 3, driving costs less

Navigation is easy. Useful to know MapCodes for car GPS.

Save/Star/Favourites all your places in Google Map to be used as back up.

[ash like snow]

oceanicmanta wrote:

if solo, then JR costs less

if 2, about same

if 3, driving costs less

Navigation is easy. Useful to know MapCodes for car GPS.

Save/Star/Favourites all your places in Google Map to be used as back up.

so for 4 ppl, confirm driving will be cheaper? roughly by how much?
easy to find petrol stations along the way? will there be cases whereby gps co*ck up?

[onenightfighttwo]

Ruriel wrote:

What kind of cost do you want to cut down? If its transport cost, then don't travel region to region. Stick to one - i.e. just stick to either Tokyo or Osaka.

Regardless how many days you cut down in each region, the moment you want to travel in between regions, you will have to spend on shinkansen (since you want to avoid domestic flights).

If you want to fly in/out of Tokyo while still visit Osaka, you will then need to invest in a 7-day JR pass for your whole family so that it can cover shinkansen both ways between Tokyo and Osaka. At the moment its S$345 for adults and S$173 for child. Do your math to see if it's worth it.

If you want to check on SINGLE TRIP shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka (to fly out from Osaka), you can check at Hyperdia for the prices. You'll need to familiarize yourself with the Hyperdia site while planning for the trip anyway.

Thanks for the website. I will check it and see the best plan possible.

[oceanicmanta]

ash like snow wrote:

so for 4 ppl, confirm driving will be cheaper? roughly by how much?
easy to find petrol stations along the way? will there be cases whereby gps co*ck up?

Confirm plus chop

7D Hokkaido JR pass is JPY 24,000 each or JPY 96,000 for 4.

Actual car rental, Honda Freed, over 8 Days :
Rental JPY 52,400 (includes JPY 16,000 for optional insurance)
Toll JPY 2,400
Petrol JPY 19,800 (1,800 km covered)
Parking JPY 3,000
TOTAL = JPY 77,600

Self-drive is direct point-to-point while JR Pass will need to incur other transportation cost (eg subway, bus) to get to places eg) touring Furano.

The in-car GPS has a function to search for nearby Petrol Stations.
Besides Petrol Stations r as common as Convenience Stores.

GPS is very accurate.
Only within city, sometimes may miss a turn bcos the distances are very close.
Usual cockup is bcos I dont listen to GPS =)