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cpuer

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budget around 80-200 per pax ba.. 2 person staying.. dont have to be atas, just convenient ok le:)

oh paiseh, i only stayed in a cheapo hotel is Empire Hotel at Shinjuku. Its a simple 1 star hotel(maybe half star). $40/pax with attached bathroom and lift to each floor. But you budget can get better ones which I am not familiar personally.

Try using Jalan to find your preferred hotels:

Shinjuku area:
http://www.jalan.net/uw/uwp1400/uww...d3Num=&child4Num=&child5Num=&roomCrack=200000

Hakone area:
http://www.jalan.net/onsen/KEN_A10002.html
 
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Unspeakable

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oh paiseh, i only stayed in a cheapo hotel is Empire Hotel at Shinjuku. Its a simple 1 star hotel(maybe half star). $40/pax with attached bathroom and lift to each floor. But you budget can get better ones which I am not familiar personally.

Try using Jalan to find your preferred hotels:

Shinjuku area:
ŒŸ*õŒ‹‰Ê*|‚¶‚á‚ç‚ñnet

Hakone area:
” *ª*E“’‰ÍŒ´‚̉·*ò*E˜I“V•—˜C‚Ì‚ ‚é*h*Eƒzƒeƒ‹ - ‚¶‚á‚ç‚ñ‰·*òƒKƒCƒh

hi cpuer, how do you find travelling from this hotel to narita airport? i'm thinking of taking the keisei skyliner to narita at 8am on friday (flight at 11.55 via scoot).. not sure if the train will be crowded.. thanks!
 

cpuer

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hi cpuer, how do you find travelling from this hotel to narita airport? i'm thinking of taking the keisei skyliner to narita at 8am on friday (flight at 11.55 via scoot).. not sure if the train will be crowded.. thanks!

The nearest JR station for EMPIRE Hotel is the Shin Okubo. It's about 7 min or less walk. The natural choice is to take NEX to Narita via Shinjuku station(one stop south of Shin-Okubo, inner loop). If you take keisei, you have to take a 9 stops (the Outer loop)away at Nippori. On the outer loop, the major city centre to pass by is Ikebukuro. Trains will come from Shibuya/Shinjuku.

My experience was on a work day at 6.45am in ShinOkubo. The the trains were quite full, but not until impossible to enter. Your luggage size will determine how easy for you to get in and out. During our travel we had 3 mid size and 2 full size. we enter the train via 3 doors so that we don't crowd ourselves tight into one small same space. But if you take the outer loop towards Nippori, i think the crowdedness shouldn't be more than the Shinjuku/Shibuya bound trains. But I cannot be sure lah, just my guess. But if you are really worry, just set off early, you will be alright.

Yamanote Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

cpuer

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The outer loop and inner loop infor:

Clockwise (外回り sotomawari?, "outer circle"): Shinagawa → Shinjuku → Ikebukuro → Tabata → Ueno → Tokyo → Shinagawa

Counter-clockwise (内回り uchimawari?, "inner circle"): Shinagawa → Tokyo → Ueno → Tabata → Ikebukuro → Shinjuku → Shinagawa
 

Unspeakable

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The nearest JR station for EMPIRE Hotel is the Shin Okubo. It's about 7 min or less walk. The natural choice is to take NEX to Narita via Shinjuku station(one stop south of Shin-Okubo, inner loop). If you take keisei, you have to take a 9 stops (the Outer loop)away at Nippori. On the outer loop, the major city centre to pass by is Ikebukuro. Trains will come from Shibuya/Shinjuku.

My experience was on a work day at 6.45am in ShinOkubo. The the trains were quite full, but not until impossible to enter. Your luggage size will determine how easy for you to get in and out. During our travel we had 3 mid size and 2 full size. we enter the train via 3 doors so that we don't crowd ourselves tight into one small same space. But if you take the outer loop towards Nippori, i think the crowdedness shouldn't be more than the Shinjuku/Shibuya bound trains. But I cannot be sure lah, just my guess. But if you are really worry, just set off early, you will be alright.

Yamanote Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks alot cpuer for your detauled explanation! Appreciate it! :)
 

cpuer

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Thanks alot cpuer for your detauled explanation! Appreciate it! :)

The hotel is located in the Korea Town, its quite a happening place with lots of eateries and shops still open late at night. So we normally carry on our shopping after we have completed our day itinerary. Near hotel, there's a 24hrs McD and a 7-11 also the famous Matsumoto drug chain.

ã*Šåº—検索 | ドラッグストア マツモトã‚*ヨシ

Regrettably Shin-Okubo doesn't have a lift so, if you have big and heavy luggage you will suffer a bit there. But the platform is thankfully not high, so about 2 flights of stairs you will be on top liao. :)
 
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cutieboy86

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cpuer, what are some of the places to go visit for sight seeing and shopping beside meiji shrine, shibuya, harujuku, shinjuku, ropponji, odaiba, ueno,Tsukiji Fish Market? how to group the places tog that are nearby so as to save time on travelling around?
 

cpuer

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cpuer, what are some of the places to go visit for sight seeing and shopping beside meiji shrine, shibuya, harujuku, shinjuku, ropponji, odaiba, ueno,Tsukiji Fish Market? how to group the places tog that are nearby so as to save time on travelling around?

This japan-guide is a good place to start.

Tokyo - City Guide

They group the sites by locality. It makes it simpler for us to plan. But some sites are bordering each other even though they fall in different area.

But more importantly, you must know what interest you. Everyone says you must visit point A or B, but are these places your cup of tea? Eg, to a shopper, shrines and temples visit in Japan, by the 3rd or lesser of the shrines visits, you will grow so tired of it, regardless its an heritage sites or not. Their mind is fixated to the sales at shinjuku :)

So know what you want and most interested in. The rest are just landmarks you can touch and go or have a photo at the entrance before you hit for another sites. Sort of a check list sites :s13:

Another way is to use your passes to dictate your visit. For example if you have a Kanto Area Pass, plan all your sightseeing reachable by that pass. This may go against to what I mentioned earlier and more for the checklist sites couple with efficient use of money.

Anyway, happy researching and planning.
 

Unspeakable

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The hotel is located in the Korea Town, its quite a happening place with lots of eateries and shops still open late at night. So we normally carry on our shopping after we have completed our day itinerary. Near hotel, there's a 24hrs McD and a 7-11 also the famous Matsumoto drug chain.

ã*Šåº—検索 | ドラッグストア マツモトã‚*ヨシ

Regrettably Shin-Okubo doesn't have a lift so, if you have big and heavy luggage you will suffer a bit there. But the platform is thankfully not high, so about 2 flights of stairs you will be on top liao. :)

Thanks for the info!
Is it safe in that area to walk back to the hotel at night?

I pray hard I can lug my luggage up the stairs. Haha!
 

cpuer

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Thanks for the info!
Is it safe in that area to walk back to the hotel at night?

I pray hard I can lug my luggage up the stairs. Haha!
The lane from the main road (Okubo dori) to the hotel is a small lane. its not well lit. But we never once felt its unsafe to walk along it at night. My wife went out alone in the middle of the night to do cosmetic shopping by herself, she didn't freak out or anything too.

They have a a few drinking places along the lane, but no problem with them too. They have a little Koban(Police post) nearby, so it's as safe as it can be.

Don't let the stairs frighten you. If you are alone and struggling to hoist the luggage up, there will be someone that pops up to give you a hand. If you travel in group, then just use team work to solve it. No sweat.:s13:
 

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I guess keeping the youngest one at home is not an option for you? Some times they will piss you off by say rather than going to "gaigai" they would rather stay in the hotel room for their anime or whatever that catches their fancy :D

I can't leave the youngest one at home as there is no one I can trust to take care of him.

I have problems booking a hotel room in Tokyo on 21 Mar as it is a public holiday. Anyone can recommend a good hotel away from the touristy area eg Shinjuku and Shibuya that is in a area that not too rowdy or seedy? Must be near to a metro station. Thanks
 

cpuer

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I can't leave the youngest one at home as there is no one I can trust to take care of him.

I have problems booking a hotel room in Tokyo on 21 Mar as it is a public holiday. Anyone can recommend a good hotel away from the touristy area eg Shinjuku and Shibuya that is in a area that not too rowdy or seedy? Must be near to a metro station. Thanks

Found one near Nippori,good for Narita and on Yamanote line.
Ueno, Asakusa, Ryogoku Accommodation - Search Result | Jalan : Hotel Booking Site
 

Unspeakable

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The lane from the main road (Okubo dori) to the hotel is a small lane. its not well lit. But we never once felt its unsafe to walk along it at night. My wife went out alone in the middle of the night to do cosmetic shopping by herself, she didn't freak out or anything too.

They have a a few drinking places along the lane, but no problem with them too. They have a little Koban(Police post) nearby, so it's as safe as it can be.

Don't let the stairs frighten you. If you are alone and struggling to hoist the luggage up, there will be someone that pops up to give you a hand. If you travel in group, then just use team work to solve it. No sweat.:s13:

Thank you for the info, cpuer! :) I'm travelling alone so kinda worried about safety.. Think I'll prob book this hotel!
 

cpuer

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Thank you for the info, cpuer! :) I'm travelling alone so kinda worried about safety.. Think I'll prob book this hotel!

BTW, the lane could be dark at certain part but it always have someone walking along it. I gathered it connects all the way to Shinjuku, so it's not a deserted lane. 安啦。

Some photos to entice you :)

The front of the Hotel
11475799414_fb3f64bf49_n.jpg


A tiny shrine and a Koban(at the extreme left of the pic) guarding the lane
11475895763_3889c2fcf7_n.jpg


The busy Shin-Okubo JR station
11511553025_385dd366d1_n.jpg
 
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Unspeakable

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thank you, cpuer! the place definitely looks safe :)

Btw, it seems like there're no non-smoking rooms.. Was the smell ok?
 

cpuer

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thank you, cpuer! the place definitely looks safe :)

Btw, it seems like there're no non-smoking rooms.. Was the smell ok?

The 2 rooms we checked into were without any smoke smell. I don't know if they purposely chose those 2 rooms for us as I indicated in my booking form that I want non-smoking rooms.
 

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Qn on travelling on trains

Hi there, am going to explore Tokyo region for abt 7 days with a trip to prob Disney. Do I need to buy the J Rail pass? Or good enuff buying single trip tix? Planning to stay at Ueno area but def want to go to the main Tokyo spots and sights. TIA :)
 

evilerniex

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Hi there, am going to explore Tokyo region for abt 7 days with a trip to prob Disney. Do I need to buy the J Rail pass? Or good enuff buying single trip tix? Planning to stay at Ueno area but def want to go to the main Tokyo spots and sights. TIA :)

u wouldnt need the 7-day JR pass since u are travelling within tokyo. the pass is expensive and is only worth it if u are taking long trips on their bullet train.

there are other passes/discount tickets u can consider, such as 1 or 2-days metro pass for unlimited rides on metro lines; or NEX+Suica pacakage if u are taking NEX from narita airport

which pass to get will depend on ur itinerary. within tokyo, i usually just go with single trip tickets or Suica (their store value card, similar to our ezlink card), coz i dun want to be tied down to any particular train line, and i am free to change my itinerary as and when i want
 

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What is the allowance for? Food and transport only?



Yup,The $150 daily allowance is mainly for food and transports.


However, transport if claimable if required to travel to clients office ( I will be working from 'home' as staying at SOHO apartment) and food is claimable under entertainment when applicable.


So is $150 daily gd?


Any1 know 'market' rate?
 

cpuer

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Yup,The $150 daily allowance is mainly for food and transports.


However, transport if claimable if required to travel to clients office ( I will be working from 'home' as staying at SOHO apartment) and food is claimable under entertainment when applicable.


So is $150 daily gd?


Any1 know 'market' rate?

Dont know about market rate, but the allowance is good enough. Can have nice meals most of the time:D
 
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