If you'll be here like from the last weekend of March, you'll be in time for the Tokyo Anime Fair (http://www.tokyoanime.jp/en/) happening on the 27th-28th March.

The big gundam robot has gone from this -

to this -


Since your bro is in Tokyo, he might be able to offer you better advice on what to bring and such...

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Added on March 8, 2010, 10:08 amWe've had discussions about this in the previous threads (V1 and V2) so, if you search for them you'll be able to find some more info about it.

Here's the recent one that I can recall -
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=31650200

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 8 2010, 10:08 AM

Rule of thumb is around RM6k per person.

So, anyone of you felt the earthquake yesterday and today? Pretty long ones eh?

Yesterday:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20100313214959391-132146.html

Today:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20100314171347491-141708.html

Sorry guys... super busy all the way till May so I don't think I have much time even on the weekends as I'm either working extra hours or catching up on some well-deserved rest.

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Added on March 23, 2010, 4:35 pmYou can search on the English version of Rakuten Travel (http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/)
or
Hotel chain sites such as this (http://www.superhotel.co.jp/en/index.html).

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 23 2010, 04:35 PM

To checkout trains and shinkansen cost, you can use this site- http://www.hyperdia.com/

Just type the station's name in English (Kyoto) and (Odawara) and you'll see the timetable as well as the price for the journey.
A quick search[link] returns 11950 JPY for a one way ticket on the Hikari Shinkansen.

I don't think it's possible to use the JR West Rail Pass to get you from Kyoto to Odawara.

Depends on which part of Hokkaido you're going.
I just got back from Sapporo last weekend... there's still snow but very little left in the city.
I think if you're visiting the mountains or even further up north a bit from Sapporo you might still be able to get decent amount of snow.

Here's a picture of Odori Park as seen from Sapporo TV Tower which I took just last Saturday.
Most of the snow left are melting and it's like wet and dirty.


This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 25 2010, 01:07 AM

Are you studying in Hokkaido Uni in Hakodate? Anyway, enjoy your stay in Japan... I'm sure you'll get used to the 4 seasons weather here soon enough.



Since you mentioned that you wanna travel during the hols, just a few things to keep in mind-
1. Check out sites like H.I.S. / Rakuten Travel for packages as they sometimes have decent deals. (flight+hotel).
2. Air tickets can sometimes double/triple in price during peak period but shinkansen prices will never change. But then again, shinkansen prices aren't exactly cheap also la...

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Added on March 28, 2010, 6:41 pmI don't think there's a way to find out in the 3 days that your visa application is being processed. You'll know of the status when you collect your passport after the 3 working days waiting period.

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Added on March 28, 2010, 6:44 pmIf they're on print then I'm screwed as I don't even know how to read it in chinese/type it. But if they're on websites etc... then you can use Google Translate to find out the Japanese pronunciation. Just translate it from "Japanese"->"Japanese" and then use the 'Show romanization' option to display the pronunciation.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Mar 28 2010, 06:44 PM

It's starting to bloom all over now and I believe this coming weekend + next weekend will probably be the 'best' viewing time in Tokyo. If you want to avoid the large crowd; then go to Ueno Park on the weekdays where most of the locals will be working. If you want to experience mad rush/packed station/loads of drunk people but get the feel of Hanami festive mood - then go on weekends morning.

IMHO, going to Tokyo Disneyland during weekends is a total waste of time as you'll spend 50% of the time queuing up for the rides. Best to go during weekdays.

With regards to the ticket, if you're not in Japan you can book online and they later go and pick it up from their booth.
More info - http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/vm/en/a...ontents_03.html

Great pic asuk!

@fimbulvinter
Just read about your ordeal on your first 2 weeks in Japan... just do some budgeting and work out how much minimum you need in a day to cover your meals. Then, you'll know how much of balance you have left for the other stuffs. Anyway, I'm guessing that you spent quite a bit on buying some basic necessities since you just arrived. Hope you'll be able to cover enough grounds with what you have as your monthly allowance.

I use Skype all the time to call back home. As long as you have Skype credit, you can call to landlines and also to mobile numbers at relatively low rates. Sometimes I do Skype video calls back to Malaysia and it's not "that" bad la... You can try out other VoIP services such as VoIPStunt (free calls back to Malaysia landlines) but in my experience, Skype still offer a better connection.

As for the hanami, it's cold but not too cold... plus, after a couple of beers... you won't feel a damn thing. LOL

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Apr 2 2010, 01:16 PM

I think it's RM30k.

Hahaha... you went on a weekend?

Hi. Welcome to Tokyo! Good thing about Meguro... it's near the Malaysian Embassy.

Anyway, reality check - 50,000 yen for room + utilities etc will be very hard to get if you want to stay in Meguro. If you do find a place that fits that budget, you'll be staying in a pretty old building or a really tiny room. Getting a room only (eg back in Malaysia style) rather than your own place is very uncommon here unless you're looking at Guest Houses. I've not stayed in guest houses before so I cannot offer you my insights on it.

Here's a couple of websites for you to get a grasp of what the usual rentals are like in Japan (1K, 1DK, 2DK etc...) and the estimated costs.
1. http://www.chintai-k.com/c1a_13_110/ (This is already selected for Meguro).
2. Homes.co.jp (This is already selected for JR Meguro).
3. http://rent.realestate.yahoo.co.jp/03/

Use Google Translate to translate the site if you're not familiar with Jap language.

Word of advice:
Renting a place on your own will be very hard due to the fact that you're a foreigner and you're unable to communicate in Japanese. While it is not a must, most of the time you'll find that you'll need a guarantor in order to seal the deal. Also, will you be here long term/short term? Most rental contracts are for a minimum of 2 years and this is something you need to look into. Then you'll have the extra cost of the security deposit, 1-2 months advance payment, agent fees to think about for your first time payment.

I think it might be best to engage the help of your Uni dept or someone whom you can get assistance from there. They might be able to help cut the red tape that's involved to get you a place.

35,000 JPY for food per month is really low... you're looking at 1,000+ JPY per day for the ENTIRE month. I don't know about you; but it's Tokyo and with that budget do you mean you do not plan to eat out/socialize etc???

UGPM.

Yen is weakening by the day...

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Added on April 4, 2010, 7:18 pmHaha... ramen... lots of choices indeed.

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Added on April 4, 2010, 7:20 pmI see... you might be right on the wrong timing part... I think it might still be the school holidays thus lots of kids are free with their non-working mom on weekdays.


This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Apr 4 2010, 07:20 PM

I don't think you need to worry too much about usage rate for electricity. It's not really high.
I think on average you'll be looking at probably 3-5k per month with moderate usage of the heater/air-con for a single person. My electricity bill averages around that for spring & autumn and it goes a bit higher during winter & summer (you can guess why).

I'm sure you'll be able to work within your budget for food but do take into consideration of setting some money on the side for the unexpected rather than trying to save all your salary.

Here's some tips for food shopping when you're here -
1. Find a local supermarket that is near your place and join their point cards system. This point card system is just like your average credit card points where you can trade points for cash.
2. Most supermarkets lower their price of daily perishable food by up to 50% 1-2 hours before their closing time.
3. I'm not sure if it's common but my local supermarket here sets Sunday as a sales day where a range of items has up to 20-40% discount off their retail price.
4. Talk to your local/foreign colleagues and find out what are some of their tips and tricks on stretching their yen. My guess is that if you guys are on the same pay scale; it'll be easier relate to each other.

I think heater that uses electricity will be more expensive compared to gas plus the fact that you might run into a situation where your circuit breaker will trip due to overload. For instance, in my place - I cannot turn on my aircon heater + microwave + hotpot + my usual electrical appliances (PC, TV, fridge etc) at the same time or it'll trip my circuit.

Your heater uses both gas and electric at the same time or it can use either one of it? Could it be it's just that it can uses either or and thus you have the flexibility of choosing which one to use? Also, I'm guessing Hakodate is pretty much cold on most of the days in a year so you'll want to ensure that the heater is functional at all times.

Unfortunately, I don't think e-jump can have yakiniku cause it's not halal.

If you get an e-mail from the @ezweb.ne.jp address... you should be able to simply reply back to that e-mail and it'll go through. One thing to take note, do not use rich text format but instead send in plain text.

Yes, if I remember correctly, I think we've mentioned this before. It depends on the security settings set by that person.

If there's no level of spam protection; then you should be able to send directly (just take note of the plaintext e-mail format I mentioned earlier). But if the person uses the spam protection option then; you'll need the other party to approve your e-mail address before you can send them e-mail or if the person e-mail you first then you reply back to that e-mail directly.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Apr 5 2010, 02:53 PM