• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Japan Travel |OT| One does simply not visit just once

O

Owlowiscious

Member
MikeHattsu said:
Everythingday was Akihabara
Click to expand...
our free time on Friday arrived at Aki 10:30pm. Someone gave us a quick tour then when we got to the card store we wanted to visit we found out they closed at 11. It was 11:01.
Saturday was the tournament and after that we arrived at Aki at 8:30. Got to that card store again at 8:45.(card kingdom). They close in 15 minutes at 9pm. Spent $220 in that time. Then found Mulan shop having lots of figures got Marth and WFT amiibo. No Lucina. And some other anime figures.
Sunday was Pokemon store in Ikebukuro, me pointing at otome road saying let's walk by and my two friends saying NOOOOOOOO. Then akihabara for figure stores and cards and everything from noon to 4pm. Seeing the road closed and all the people is amazing.
Then back to hotel to repackage what we just bought. Left after 5pm. Got to jetliner express to airport at 5:45. It leaves at 5:45 we miss it. Next is at 6:25. We arrive at the airport at 7:01. Our flight is st 8:10. We were panicking. But turns out they don't even board until 7:40 and NRT is super quick and efficient getting through customs and passport stuff everything was so quick and easy we were at the gate with 15minutes to spare so we went and got food.

EuricaeriS said:
Hope you enjoyed yourself :) Did you visit Nakano Broadway while you were in and around Nakanosakaue? I assume it'd be up your alley anyway with all the visits to Akihabara, lol.
Click to expand...
Mike suggested it but as you see from my above times we had zero time to visit anything. So we kept going to what we learned and knew, akihabara. Except having to go to the Pokemon store which did take a lot of time so we were right to not to try going to Nakano station too.

Laevateinn said:
Why so short? Was it a business trip?
Click to expand...
free trip for placing in Nationals for anime card game, to play at world championships. 3days 2nights. I was paranoid about not having a passport in time so I never asked for an extended stay (where I would find and pay for my own hotel).
 
MarkMan

MarkMan

loves Arcade Sticks
JEKKI said:
ayo wazaaaaaaaaaap it's ya boy JEKKI up in here~!!!

shout outs again to http://www.eataku.com/ for holdin it down!!

I'm going to Japang soon~!! 3rd time there but 2nd time in Tokyo and I got lists! lists on lists I say!!

so if anybody wants to know my food list for the trip, feel free to read on!!!

Ramen checklist:

Ichiran.
https://www.ichiran.co.jp/english/
Yelp
I dont think I needa say much about this place, it's a staple ramen spot enjoyed by all! saw it during my first trip there and unfortunately they do not have locations in northern country, so now it's finally time to try this!

Kyushu Jangara
http://www.kyusyujangara.co.jp/
Yelp
recommendation by famous gamer and friend Markman! Supposed to be the favorite ramen of famous gamer Daigo!

Ebikin
http://ebikin.com/
http://www.eataku.com/post/113527459586/ebikin-ramen-tokyo
First of my eataku recommendations! I mentioned this one earlier asking for translation advice, but its feature appears to be a shrimp broth so it's sounding super good and something I'm looking real forward too!

Kagari
http://www.eataku.com/post/76667079407/kagari-ginza-tokyo
Yelp
Chiken Paitan ramen. There's a place in NY (Totto ramen) that serves this dish and it's supposed to be one of the most popular ramens there, and unfortunately we do not have anything similar here in CA, and since I've been wanting to try it in NY figure I may as well get it in Japan instead!

Tsuta
http://kotaku.com/this-could-be-japans-best-ramen-restaurant-1745437422
Yelp
That new Michelin Star ramen spot, I'm currently stressed out worrying how early I needa wake up to get a ticket >_< how sad would it be if I dont get to try it??

Curry checklist:

Ethiopia
http://www.ethiopia-curry.com/
Yelp
don't kno anything about this place. I was curious about curry and asked my roommate for recommendations and this is one he gave me.

Kitchen Nankai
Yelp
TripAdvisor
another recommendation from the roommate. This looks like a katsu curry spot so shuold be a great alternative to Cocoichi or Gogo.

Moyan
http://www.moyan.jp/
Yelp
just a random yelp recommendation; figured I may as well add it to the list.

Miscellaneous checklist:

Blacows.
http://www.kuroge-wagyu.com/bc/top.html
http://www.eataku.com/post/50899608856/blacows-burgers-tokyo
omg I really wanna go here! got dang~!!!

so that's basically the plan for me! if anybody else has some great recommendations please feel free to share!!
Click to expand...

I love Japan. Check out my #MARKMANinJPN hashtag on instagram for other great places... https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/markmaninjpn/
 
S

sfedai0

Banned
Will be leaving in a week and hopefully I can hit up every restaurant on my list in Tokyo. Where would be a good place for omurice? I know its a simple dish...should I just go to a Dennys for that?
 
L

Laevateinn

Member
sfedai0 said:
Will be leaving in a week and hopefully I can hit up every restaurant on my list in Tokyo. Where would be a good place for omurice? I know its a simple dish...should I just go to a Dennys for that?
Click to expand...

Omurice is pretty easy to make at home. I don't know anywhere that offers omurice except at maid cafes and a place in Sunshine City. Don't go to Denny's for one. If you're dead set on avoiding a maid cafe just try other Japanese foods and do yourself a favor and learn how to make it yourself.

Speaking of maid cafes, every time I hear about them I laugh now because in the ryokan I stay at there was a British family that was going on and on trying to justify the fact that because it's a Japanese thing it's totally not a fetish or sexual and it was okay for them to bring their daughter to one.
 
S

Stuart444

Member
Trying to figure out budget stuff for Japan now. Any recommendation as to how much I should put aside per day for food for two people?

Don't plan on going anywhere fancy (well hopefully not :p).

Splitting our budget into 4 things:

Food (main meals)
Sightseeing/tourist stuff (anything that requires entrance fee or anything)
Spending (aka shopping :D)
Extra (this will probably be travel expenses + snacks/drinks and stuff outside of meals)

I think that looks okay. Food comes first though since it's kinda essential lol.
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Stuart444 said:
Trying to figure out budget stuff for Japan now. Any recommendation as to how much I should put aside per day for food for two people?

Don't plan on going anywhere fancy (well hopefully not :p).
Click to expand...

Well, what kind of food are you planning to try eating? And how many meals a day are you planning to get?
 
L

Laevateinn

Member
Stuart444 said:
Trying to figure out budget stuff for Japan now. Any recommendation as to how much I should put aside per day for food for two people?

Don't plan on going anywhere fancy (well hopefully not :p).

Splitting our budget into 4 things:

Food (main meals)
Sightseeing/tourist stuff (anything that requires entrance fee or anything)
Spending (aka shopping :D)
Extra (this will probably be travel expenses + snacks/drinks and stuff outside of meals)

I think that looks okay. Food comes first though since it's kinda essential lol.
Click to expand...

My girlfriend and I eat cheap (for example, most mornings we would just eat a couple dollars worth conbini food). I don't think we spent more than 1500 yen per meal. If you budget $30-50 a day per person that should probably be plenty.
 
S

Stuart444

Member
MikeHattsu said:
Well, what kind of food are you planning to try eating? And how many meals a day are you planning to get?
Click to expand...

Not sure on what kind of food tbh.

As for how many meals, at least 2 (lunch + Dinner). May or may not have breakfast depending on how rushed we are each day. (I can be a lot of trouble when waking up :p )

Laevateinn said:
My girlfriend and I eat cheap (for example, most mornings we would just eat a couple dollars worth conbini food). I don't think we spent more than 1500 yen per meal. If you budget $30-50 a day per person that should probably be plenty.
Click to expand...

Trying to think in Yen than dollar (mainly since I'm from the UK aka pound land :p) but 1500 yen isn't that bad. I was looking to put around 3.5 - 5k yen per day which sounds about right if it was 1.5k per meal. (3 - 4.5k total)

Of course once I've got the budget for everything figured out, I can easily distribute anything left over to stuff like extra food budget or stuff like that lol.
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Stuart444 said:
Not sure on what kind of food tbh.

As for how many meals, at least 2 (lunch + Dinner). May or may not have breakfast depending on how rushed we are each day. (I can be a lot of trouble when waking up :p )


Trying to think in Yen than dollar (mainly since I'm from the UK aka pound land :p) but 1500 yen isn't that bad. I was looking to put around 3.5 - 5k yen per day which sounds about right if it was 1.5k per meal. (3 - 4.5k total)
Click to expand...

3.5-5k sounds fine then.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
If you stick to chains and don't get any add-ons or drinks, it's pretty easy to stick to 800/yen per person per meal.
 
T

Tabris

Member
So I'm looking into booking flights to Bangkok and most of the offerings via aeroplan (air miles) have a stop in Haneda. I was looking at one with a connection time of 14 hours.

Knowing that I've been to the most famous landmarks (tokyo sky tree, disneyland, meiji shrine/national parks, etc), and been to most of the different areas (Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Omotesando, Akihabara, Roppongi, Asakusa, and Harajuku).

What are a couple things you would recommend for a stop over? That would be if you remove time to airport and back (an hour each way) plus security and customs - you're looking at maybe 9-10 hours total. So just something relaxing and fun to do.
 
S

SKINNER!

Banned
Stuart444 said:
Not sure on what kind of food tbh.

As for how many meals, at least 2 (lunch + Dinner). May or may not have breakfast depending on how rushed we are each day. (I can be a lot of trouble when waking up :p )



Trying to think in Yen than dollar (mainly since I'm from the UK aka pound land :p) but 1500 yen isn't that bad. I was looking to put around 3.5 - 5k yen per day which sounds about right if it was 1.5k per meal. (3 - 4.5k total)

Of course once I've got the budget for everything figured out, I can easily distribute anything left over to stuff like extra food budget or stuff like that lol.
Click to expand...


You can get a decent bowl of Ramen for around 400/600 yen (800 - 1100 yen for REALLY decent bowls) and that'll fill you up for hours :) Pricing depends on where you are I suppose. I discovered Shinjuku was a little bit higher than - say - Takadanobaba. But still, the Ramen you get is always good stuff. Better than UK Ramen anyway. Katsu dishes are usually around 600 - 800 yen.

and yeah, snacks from chain stores will cover you if you feel hungry. Plenty of healthy options too. Onigiri for under 500 yen and stuff. I personally think 3.5 to 5K a day for food is a bit much but still good to keep aside. Food in Japan is great so I highly recommend treating yourself and your girlfriend :) Be adventurous! I'm not huge on seafood but I gotta admit, Japan does seafood right! Really tasty stuff.

Word of warning (as stated previously in this thread), solely depending on your meals/food purchased from 7/11 and family marts isn't as cheap as it may seems. You can get proper restaurant meals for about the same (if not cheaper) prices.

Fellow UK-er here. Hope you have a great time buddy!
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Tabris said:
So I'm looking into booking flights to Bangkok and most of the offerings via aeroplan (air miles) have a stop in Haneda. I was looking at one with a connection time of 14 hours.

Knowing that I've been to the most famous landmarks (tokyo sky tree, disneyland, meiji shrine/national parks, etc), and been to most of the different areas (Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Omotesando, Akihabara, Roppongi, Asakusa, and Harajuku).

What are a couple things you would recommend for a stop over? That would be if you remove time to airport and back (an hour each way) plus security and customs - you're looking at maybe 9-10 hours total. So just something relaxing and fun to do.
Click to expand...

Odaiba or Yokohama are right next to you but filling 10 hours would be tough. I'd recommend a jleague1 or npb game since getting to nissan stadium or jingu/tdome wouldn't be an issue. Just have to really plan it out and hope there's a game starting earlier than later relative to your schedule. Can also do a musical or random concert (or kabuki). Don't have to do anything as serious as shiki but maybe the schedule lines up perfectly.
 
S

Stuart444

Member
shorty_symd said:
You can get a decent bowl of Ramen for around 400/600 yen (800 - 1100 yen for REALLY decent bowls) and that'll fill you up for hours :) Pricing depends on where you are I suppose. I discovered Shinjuku was a little bit higher than - say - Takadanobaba. But still, the Ramen you get is always good stuff. Better than UK Ramen anyway. Katsu dishes are usually around 600 - 800 yen.

and yeah, snacks from chain stores will cover you if you feel hungry. Plenty of healthy options too. Onigiri for under 500 yen and stuff. I personally think 3.5 to 5K a day for food is a bit much but still good to keep aside. Food in Japan is great so I highly recommend treating yourself and your girlfriend :) Be adventurous! I'm not huge on seafood but I gotta admit, Japan does seafood right! Really tasty stuff.

Word of warning (as stated previously in this thread), solely depending on your meals/food purchased from 7/11 and family marts isn't as cheap as it may seems. You can get proper restaurant meals for about the same (if not cheaper) prices.

Fellow UK-er here. Hope you have a great time buddy!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information, much appreciated! Speaking of Katsu, I really want to try Katsu Curry. I LOVE Curry <3

I do plan on trying a lot of food that I would not normally try while I'm there. After all, might as well being in a foreign country and everything haha.
 
L

Laevateinn

Member
Stuart444 said:
Thanks for the information, much appreciated! Speaking of Katsu, I really want to try Katsu Curry. I LOVE Curry <3

I do plan on trying a lot of food that I would not normally try while I'm there. After all, might as well being in a foreign country and everything haha.
Click to expand...

Natto tastes good if you can get beyond the fact that it's embedded in boogers (to be honest I couldn't). Every foreigner should try it at least once. In fact, if you end up in an izakaya with a native, they will do their best to get you to.

As for curry, I love it. Almost every other meal I had on my last trip was curry. Ramen and sushi are overrated.
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Z

Zatoth

Member
Laevateinn said:
You got to see the emperor? I'm so jealous :(
Click to expand...

Did not even plan it. They recommended it at my hostel so I decided to check it out. Had to wait over an hour. But had a good place in the crowd thanks to the waiting. I had no idea what's going on when suddenly thousands of Japanese flags appeared around me.
 
L

Laevateinn

Member
Zatoth said:
Did not even plan it. They recommended it at my hostel so I decided to check it out. Had to wait over an hour. But had a good place in the crowd thanks to the waiting. I had no idea what's going on when suddenly thousands of Japanese flags appeared around me.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. I always figured it was difficult to go to his New Years speech and it was something you'd have to arrive super early for or make a reservation. He's so cute. I hope I can do that before he dies.
 
Z

Zatoth

Member
Laevateinn said:
That's awesome. I always figured it was difficult to go to his New Years speech and it was something you'd have to arrive super early for or make a reservation. He's so cute. I hope I can do that before he dies.
Click to expand...

I think he appeared four times. I arrived around 12:15 and he showed up at 13:30. Crowd wasn't too big when I got there.

Doubt I'd go there again. But it was a nice one time experience.

shas'la said:
excellent album, hope you'll add some more pics?
Click to expand...

I may. But haven't taken too many good pictures this time. I visited many places that I've seen before. So I did not take a lot of pictures there because I already have a lot. :D
 
Bboy AJ

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Robot Restaurant was OK. Not good. There was so much downtime during the entire show and they kept pushing overpriced food at an already pricey ticket. Fun but I'd pass if I had known what it ended up to be.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Stuart444 said:
Thanks for the information, much appreciated! Speaking of Katsu, I really want to try Katsu Curry. I LOVE Curry <3

I do plan on trying a lot of food that I would not normally try while I'm there. After all, might as well being in a foreign country and everything haha.
Click to expand...

I'm fussy about my meat so I'm not a fan of 'roast' tonkatsu as it can be grisly/fatty. I like the fillet type (also the same as my wife makes at home. For curry almost everywhere is fine. Also check out Tesco when you get back - they sell S&B curry which is proper Japanese curry mix and dead easy to make. Not my favourite brand but still good.
 
A

alexthekid

Member
Hey guys,

Im planning on going to Hakuba to snowboard next week and my planning has been terrible.

I will be in Japan for 2.5 weeks and plan on spending around 2 of those weeks up in Hakuba.

How would you guys recommend me getting to Hakuba and back? I looked in to a rail pass on the first page but it seemed like it would be around 400 dollars for two weeks. It must be able to travel cheaper than that right?

A good hostel recommendation for a night or two in tokyo would also be appreciated!
 
S

Salamando

Member
Planning my first trip to Japan in early/mid-April. Thinking of arriving on Friday, weekend in Tokyo, two days in Tokyo Disney, three days in Kyoto/Nara, another weekend in Tokyo/sidetrips, before flying out on Monday.

Sound like a decent itinerary? Anything major I should be scheduling around/for? Already made sure I can get tickets for the Ghibli Museum.

How's using AirBNB for accomodations? Rates look pretty decent (but that just might be the strong USD).
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Salamando said:
Sound like a decent itinerary? Anything major I should be scheduling around/for? Already made sure I can get tickets for the Ghibli Museum.

How's using AirBNB for accomodations? Rates look pretty decent (but that just might be the strong USD).
Click to expand...

Seems fine. There's no public holidays or anything, so that should be ok as well.

I've used AirBnB in Japan and it was fine. Make sure you read the reviews and look at all the pictures in the listing though.
 
D

Darksol

Member
Officially the worst time for switching CAD to Yen in 2 years. 1$ CAD = 80.23 Yen. And it's still falling. I swear, by the time I get there in a couple weeks I'm going to be in the mid 70s :(
 
R

Red Blaster

Member
visiting fukuoka the 2nd week of june for an academic conference. anyone have the inside track on what's cool to do there? i plan on doing the usual kyoto/tokyo stuff after the conference but i'll be spending the majority of my days in fukuoka.
 
H

hwalker84

Member
Red Blaster said:
visiting fukuoka the 2nd week of june for an academic conference. anyone have the inside track on what's cool to do there? i plan on doing the usual kyoto/tokyo stuff after the conference but i'll be spending the majority of my days in fukuoka.
Click to expand...

Yatai all night every night!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Japan Travel |OT| starting out a new journey
Community
12
958
Robot Carnival replied
An Introduction To Japanese Adventure Games pt.1 - What They Are and The Different Types
Analysis
47
15K
SlimeGooGoo replied
Hideo Kojima or a cult game designer and his story
Game Dev
40
7K
brian0057 replied
The Legend of Heroes Trails series discussion |OT| : All aboard the head-patting express!
|OT| 2 3
116
16K
Rean no Kiseki replied
HBO Max launches May 27th, will have original Loony Tunes Cartoons (trailer inside)
2
81
6K
JareBear: Remastered replied
Top Bottom