The weather now is great! Around 23-25'C in the morning and 18'C at night. Just normal long sleeve t-shirts and jeans and it'll be fine.

Check out the first post for more travel info but just FYI -

Plan your Train Travel (From Where to Where, complete with Ticket Price, Directions & Train Station Names)
1. http://www.hyperdia.com/classic_en/hyperWeb.cgi
2. http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/

My personal opinion is to just stick to Osaka and the nearby places such as Kyoto, Nara etc like you mentioned. Don't waste time and money just to come up to Tokyo for a day or two cause that won't be enough as well. Better just plan another trip to Tokyo if you want to explore.

Basically, PASMO is a private option offered by the private railway lines and buses in Tokyo. But they can also work with the various JR train lines in Tokyo.

If you're using PASMO / SUICA in Tokyo itself; it will probably make no differences but if you travel to other parts of Japan; then SUICA can be used at other JR lines (eg JR Hokkaido) but PASMO won't be so flexible.

Hope this clears the confusion.

I'm pretty sure there will still be snow. This year I went skiing tumbling-down-the-slope around early March and it was still snowing.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Oct 25 2010, 03:18 PM

Kyoto is one of the most foreigner-friendly cities I have been to and to some extend I feel it's actually better than Tokyo. Just pay a visit to the Tourist Information Center when you first arrive in Kyoto Station and get all the information from there. They have like daily bus passes where you can buy and that'll get you around the entire city.

Yeah... i think should be enough. I was there for 3 days the last time but it was a very packed schedule. I think 1 week should give you ample time to go around the city and the nearby places (Nara etc...).

Does it come with the girl?

RM2.5k for a return tix is on the "expensive" side I think... I usually pay no more than RM2k.
If I fly using ANA via SG and then back to KL via AirAsia; it is sometimes even cheaper.

Haneda is definitely closer to Shinjuku compared to Narita. You can just take the train as suggested by RegentCid.

The reason you do not find more info about Haneda is because the new international terminal for Haneda only started its operation since end of Oct (less than 1 month). So, this is very new.

akemashite omedetou gozaimasu to you too~

A couple more days and I'll be back to freezing Tokyo... going to enjoy all the food that I can eat these few days. hahaha...

Hmmm... I've only used Willer before once and that's the only company I know that has a full english reservations. There is one site though that might be of use - http://www.bus.or.jp/bus/index_e.html . You can use this to find out the other buses company and routes. I think some also has link to their website but mostly only have a number to call (which I think they only speak Japanese).

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Added on January 13, 2011, 3:57 amWell, small towns are like that. Most of them will not be able to speak english unlike in the big cities where they're more used to tourists.
I believe you're pretty close to Mt. Fuji? Why not take a weekend day trip to visit Hakone / Kawaguchi area? I don't think you're working on weekends as well right?

1. What time are you arriving? If it's not too late ... the trains will still be running. Also, since you're arriving in Haneda; you can check out if there's any buses from Haneda airport that takes you into the city center or the place you plan to stay.

2. You have to be more specific about what you would like to know before we can give any advice then ... perhaps you can start by a basic itinerary plan and research about the places you want to visit etc.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Jan 13 2011, 03:57 AM

It's been a while since I last login to LYN ... haha... sorry, was busy with New Year break, then renew my employment visa, moving to a new mansion (apartment) etc.... finally got everything settled.

@nasizwan Sorry to hear about your wife's bad experiences while staying in KL. It is really unfortunate and it's sad that the level of safety back home has really deteriorate. I do hope things will work out eventually. It is not easy to move to a country that doesn't speak your language, food are different, weather is totally different and the culture as well so she definitely need all the love and support from you.

What sector of the banking industry are you working in now? Customer services? Legal? Investment? Different sectors will have different level of demands as some will have more international exposure requirement than the other.

Anyway, there are actually job fairs and recruitment events held by many recruiter agencies and the Govt. Some of these job fairs do target foreigners living in Japan with past working experiences. The thing is you need to be here and attend these events in person.

Like matt85 suggested, daijob is one of the major site for foreigner recruitment here. With daijob, you'll be able to also link to many headhunter agencies and other small recruitment firms. I would really recommend you to create an account there and browse around. If you find any jobs that link to a recruiter / headhunter agency; try contacting them personally and see if they have other suitable jobs that meet your expertise and qualifications better.

Being able to speak Japanese will help a lot but it is NOT a must. It just means that it'll be easier to get your foot through the door as most companies would like to hire someone whom they can at least communicate with in their own native language.

Being able to speak fluent English (and I do mean fluent ... not the bahasa pasar style) is a great advantage so do highlight that point. Even though you're not an "ang-moh"; it doesn't matter. Some actually prefer asian English as we don't have the accent that distinguish between say an American, Australian or a Brit.

So, good luck to you and just keep trying.

I'm referring to the Japanese govt in this case. There's actually a problem here in Japan whereby some graduates and employees chooses not to join small to medium sized companies even though they're offered a position there. Their focus is only to join those big corporations and MNCs and have their life-long employment settled (part of the salaryman culture). So, SMEs sometimes have a hard time finding people. That's why occasionally the Govt also organize recruitment events to help these SMEs to find people and also to reduce the unemployment rate.

Shall we have another gathering during summer time?
A Hanabi gathering perhaps? Watch the Tokyo Bay fireworks. What do you guys think?

Who will be in Japan during that time (mid August)?

Yeah ... it'll be crowded but that's the whole point right? To experience the crowd, the festivity and see the people.

Not everything have to be expensive in order to enjoy the occasion.
If you're on a boat, you won't be able to see the hordes of boys & girls in their summer yukata, or experience the hundreds of synchronized "sugoi" when the first fireworks shoots off, or how they manage the crowd of more than 50,000 people in one area.

The crowd in Japan is quite different as well in the sense that they'll all follow instructions and go with the flow so it's very orderly and manageable.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 1 2011, 10:21 AM

Hmmm... If it's urgent and you're in Tokyo now why not visit the Embassy directly. It's not too far from Shibuya.

Address -
Embassy of Malaysia, Tokyo
Address : 20-16, NANPEIDAI-CHO, SHIBUYA-KU,
TOKYO 150-0036

Telephone : +(81-3) 3476-3840
Fax : +(81-3) 3476-4971
Email : maltokyo@kln.gov.my

GMT : +9
Work day : MONDAY TO FRIDAY
9:00 – 12:30 & 1:30 – 5:00
Holiday : WEEKEND & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

Map link - http://goo.gl/iq9DV

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Added on March 1, 2011, 8:50 pmThat's true... it's really hot during summer but not as humid as Malaysia.

Information is available on Japan Rail website - http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en005.html
Specific page with list of places to buy - http://www.japanrailpass.net/05/en05_1.html

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Added on March 1, 2011, 8:55 pmHaha... not worth paying just to experience the same summer heat as Malaysia eh?

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 1 2011, 08:55 PM

Apart from Abie.C's suggestion of renting a phone at the Airport; you can also check out Japan Communication's Prepaid Data SIM (U300) card.
They offer both mini SIM and microSIM (iPhone4/iPad) version.

These prepaid data SIM cards provide data usage (unlimited packets usage but data speed is capped at 300kbps) and uses the NTT DoCoMo's 3G network. The price is 2,980 yen for 1 month's worth of usage which I think it's worth the money if you'll be here to use it for a week.

They also offer a prepaid SIM with voice (Talking SIM) or with both voice and data (platinum - プラチナパッケージ).

Check out the link - http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/lineup.html
It's in Japanese so please use Google Translate to translate the pages and understand the terms & conditions.

You can buy it online with just your credit card and have it delivered to your hotel on the day of your arrival.

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Added on March 3, 2011, 8:10 pmSince you do work in your friend's company, why not just ask him/her to issue you a letter with the company's letterhead stating your position at the company, how long you've been working there etc. Also, you still need to provide a copy of your bank statement with enough balance in it to prove that you have the funds to visit Japan.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 3 2011, 08:10 PM

You can borrow from family to just put into your bank account, print out the statement, get your bank to stamp it and withdraw it and return back to your family.

While the visa is not mandatory, it is HIGHLY recommended.



The visa application is free and you just need to prepare all the documents and you'll have a peace of mind.
Do you want to risk being reject entry to the country when you've paid for the air ticket & the hotel, flew 7 hours and then find out because of this simple visa requirement, you cannot enjoy your holiday?

What site does it redirects you to? It should still be bmobile.ne.jp but maybe the design is a little different.

Since I've also recently bought one, I'll pen down the procedure here for the benefit of others as well.

I believe first you'll get to the page below right (U300 as example)?
http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/sim_m/note.html and you scroll down, you should see this image.


After you've checked all the boxes and click the orange button (credit card payment), you should get to a page that looks something like the image below.


And then you should get to the page where it asks you to fill up the details. I'm attaching a translated version (click spoiler) so that you can use it as a reference. It doesn't require you to provide any alien reg. card info... just imagine this is like buying a prepaid SIM card back in Malaysia (before they require any proof of IC etc...).

You should also be able to just use your Hotel's address for delivery. I've not tried that before but it should work. Perhaps in the "Group" or "Department" section you can fill in your particulars like hotel reservation number so that when it gets to the frontdesk; they know that it's for a guest.



########### AFTER YOU RECEIVED YOUR SIM CARD ###########

This is how the package looks like when you received it.


1. You'll need to call their automated phone service to activate the SIM card. The number is printed on the package (186-0120-915-886).
2. There's English language option available by pressing "2".
3. Type in the SIM mobile number (080XXXXXXXX) printed on the package or on the SIM card holder itself. See image 2.
4. It'll confirm that it's successfully registered and tell you it'll take about 5 minutes to activate.
5. Insert the SIM to your phone and setup the APN information as per the instructions. See image 3.
6. Surf away!

Here's a screenshot of a speedtest done from my iPhone. As expected, the speed is capped at 300kbps.
It's a bit slow for stuffs like Google Maps but slow data is better than no data.



I hope this answers your question.

[search tags]
bmobile, Internet, SIM card, 3G data, mobile phone, prepaid

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 5 2011, 07:34 PM

You're most welcome. I hope you find it useful.

The U300 is only for data and not for calls. If you need calls, you'll need to get the Talking SIM from the lineup.