P.S My entries on this trip will be full of words & pictures because i really want to document everything down. Sorry not sorry
I guess everyone wants to know how much i have spent on this trip because i was asked so often.
I guess everyone wants to know how much i have spent on this trip because i was asked so often.
Excluding flight, accommodations, JR Pass, and pocket Wifi, i've spent a total of $2,500. I have friends who spent less than $1,000 in Japan for 10 days too so i can't really advise on how much to bring. It really depends. If you are sure you won't get any branded goods, i think at least $1,300 for you to live comfortably there?
My friend(s) who spent significantly lesser said they mostly eat at convenience stores and didn't buy much. So if you're on a budget, you know where to eat in Japan. For me, i don't like to restrict my spending when i'm overseas. Bryan and i also don't want to eat convenience food all the time because food is always a huge part of our lives and we place a lot of emphasis on having tasty food. It doesn't mean we eat at restaurants all the time, their street foods are pretty legit too.
From Nagoya station, we had to take the subway to our airbnb at Nakamurakoen station. I'm sure y'all know how tough it is to navigate through Japan railways because there are so many different railway companies and so many different tracks, entrances and exits. So yup, we lost our way lol but the Japanese were very kind and helpful despite the language barrier. So we managed to find our way around after seeking help from the locals.
My friend(s) who spent significantly lesser said they mostly eat at convenience stores and didn't buy much. So if you're on a budget, you know where to eat in Japan. For me, i don't like to restrict my spending when i'm overseas. Bryan and i also don't want to eat convenience food all the time because food is always a huge part of our lives and we place a lot of emphasis on having tasty food. It doesn't mean we eat at restaurants all the time, their street foods are pretty legit too.
Our flight was on 5th August departing at 6.10am via United Airlines. It was our first time flying with UA and i have to say both of us are rather impressed so i guess we'd be flying with UA more often in the future.
We touched down at Narita airport at around 2pm Japan time and went to exchange our JR Pass immediately. Since we were headed for Nagoya, we had to take the NEX (Narita Express) to Shinagawa station first and transfer to the shinkansen to Nagoya from there. Managed to make it in time to take the 2.44pm NEX.
Share with you guys an embarrassing story. By the time we collected our luggage and made our way to the JR East office, it was already 2.40pm. Japan is one hour behind Singapore but the time on my watch and my iphone was still 1.40pm. The lady showed me the timetable and said the next train we could take was at 2.44pm. Looking at my watch, i asked her if there was an earlier slot but she said no, politely. So i got the tickets, went out of the office and told Bryan outside who was manning our luggage, "Our train is at 2.44pm so we have an hour to spare." His iphone time zone setting was set to automatic so he looked at his phone and said, "Are you kidding? It's 2.40pm now!!!"
So we made a dash to the tracks to catch our train hahahaha. Also, the Japanese are very very punctual. The train really left at 2.44pm on the dot but we caught it hehe.
This was good for airplane standards. We cleared everything.
HELLO JAPAN! *Waves frantically*
Our JR Pass
We touched down at Narita airport at around 2pm Japan time and went to exchange our JR Pass immediately. Since we were headed for Nagoya, we had to take the NEX (Narita Express) to Shinagawa station first and transfer to the shinkansen to Nagoya from there. Managed to make it in time to take the 2.44pm NEX.
Share with you guys an embarrassing story. By the time we collected our luggage and made our way to the JR East office, it was already 2.40pm. Japan is one hour behind Singapore but the time on my watch and my iphone was still 1.40pm. The lady showed me the timetable and said the next train we could take was at 2.44pm. Looking at my watch, i asked her if there was an earlier slot but she said no, politely. So i got the tickets, went out of the office and told Bryan outside who was manning our luggage, "Our train is at 2.44pm so we have an hour to spare." His iphone time zone setting was set to automatic so he looked at his phone and said, "Are you kidding? It's 2.40pm now!!!"
So we made a dash to the tracks to catch our train hahahaha. Also, the Japanese are very very punctual. The train really left at 2.44pm on the dot but we caught it hehe.
Transferring to take the shinkansen to Nagoya. We took the Hikari 522 ^^
Basically, Nozomi is the fastest shinkansen, followed by Hikari and lastly Kodama. Our JR Pass only covers Hikari and Kodama.
Women only cabin
From Nagoya station, we had to take the subway to our airbnb at Nakamurakoen station. I'm sure y'all know how tough it is to navigate through Japan railways because there are so many different railway companies and so many different tracks, entrances and exits. So yup, we lost our way lol but the Japanese were very kind and helpful despite the language barrier. So we managed to find our way around after seeking help from the locals.
Lol you get the priority seat if you're heartbroken
Took this beautiful photo while walking to our airbnb apartment in Nagoya. I didn't even edit this?!
Unloaded our baggage and decided to explore Osu Kannon on our first night in Japan/Nagoya. Most shops close at 8pm in Japan but B and i were just happily exploring the streets. Of course, it's a pity that we were too late because we walked past so many shops that seemed quite cool but i was just contented to be strolling along the streets in Japan lol #easilycontented. But i scored a top just before they close haha. Bryan said he expected me to buy something first, but didn't expect it to be so fast.
I also went into this beauty and cosmetics shop (something like Venus in Singapore) and saw that their Hada Labo and their Biore products were so cheap omg so i bought a packet of Biore makeup remover wipes and 2 HL moisturizers.
I also went into this beauty and cosmetics shop (something like Venus in Singapore) and saw that their Hada Labo and their Biore products were so cheap omg so i bought a packet of Biore makeup remover wipes and 2 HL moisturizers.
If only our convenience stores in Singapore are like this
Our first meal in Japan is ramen! B found this ramen shop that was packed with locals so we decided to give it a try and boy, it was really good. I love how the ramen is done in Japan - the texture of the noodles was so springy and QQ.
Cigarette vending machine
Went back to our apartment around 11pm because we planned to go to Nagashima Spaland amusement park on our second day! Initially, B was a bit skeptical about going there because we wanted to go Disneysea too and he didn't want to visit 2 theme parks but NO regrets! I'll blog about it in my next post.
I initially planned to separate into 3 entries - 1 entry covering nagoya and takayama and 2 entries on tokyo but i took way too many pictures and there is just so much to talk about so it's impossible to squeeze everything together. Imma blog day by day and god knows when i can finish this lol.
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