Working and travelling is totally different.....

looking for life savior; going to have a trip to Osaka on Sept for 5 days and has been tasked to plan the itinerary for the trip. Never plan things like this before and was forced to, this time. Hope to get some insights from you all and I am expecting things like sight seeing and shopping (?) not sure what to do there...will be good with recommendation on accommodation, prefer less walking distance..thanks...

start with http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623.html

you can roughly find out the list of attractions and etc. from there, you can ask any specific question here.

I'm going to Japan this mid September. I understand that it is Autumn and the view will be very nice when you can see autumn leaves everywhere. But I did some research and they mentioned that normally the leaves started to turn brown from early October to November.

In another words, that means I do not have chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery?

Depends on where in Japan are you going.

Each year, starting in mid September, the "koyo front" slowly moves southwards from the northern island of Hokkaido until it reaches the lower elevations of central and southern Japan towards the end of November. Some trees around Tokyo and Kyoto remain colorful into early December.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014.html

My itinerary is mostly southern and central part of Japan.
Any example of how colourful it is?

usually i depend on trip report from various blogs...southern part, mid sept quite difficult..

And you can only see Lavender in Hokkaido? IIANM most of my itinerary is city area

No idea on hokkaido...depends on weather...i missed the autumn leaves by just 1 week when i was at south korea

The Asakusa area is very convenient for sightseeing, transportation and general shopping especially if you are OK to do some walking. Check that Sakura is not ladies only or have age limits or curfews. Some hostels have only coin operated showers. Never mind, many public baths in that area.

To have a guide (who mainly wants to practice English) for the price of a meal is really really cheap!!! No guarantees of quality but Japanese generally go out of their way to help. My one experience with this was just a walk around Ueno Park with elderly relatives, and we had a great time. Left of the train station to Nikko there is a very helpful tourist office where you can make reservations and buy tickets. If you want to save a little, skip the expensive tourist express; the ordinary class is fine. The station area is also where the river boat tour starts, stopping at a garden and ending at a trendy shopping mall and beach. Come back to town on the monorail.

This post has been edited by oneeleven: Jun 23 2014, 10:35 PM

I guess I will miss the autumn leaves also. Thinking whether I should postpone the trip or not.

Thanks for your suggestions! Will try to work out the itinerary

Kiyomizu Temple Revisited (Part 1)

At about 6.30am we bid Khaoson Kyoto good bye and walked towards Shijo Station for our journey down to Osaka. Thanks to the summer sun, the day was already quite bright even at the early morning hours. Upon transferring at Kyoto station, we then took the train towards JR Osaka Station.

It was at this hour we had a first hand taste of what it is like to experience public transport at the peakest hour in Japan. Throngs of people soon filled up the trains as they head to Osaka city for work and it really felt like we were being squeezed like sardines. To make matters worse we had our luggages with us so it was really, really cramped. @@ Meanwhile back in Malaysia people often say that having a very sophisticated public transport is what makes a country to be considered First World or is a 'luxury', or something in that manner.


Shopping mall within the Osaka station

Personally I feel that this statement is quite wrong as public transport is more of a NEED as the roads get saturated with traffic. This is especially the case in very developed countries like Japan, Korea & Taiwan where their highways and roads are quite limited compared to Malaysia where 3 lane highways are the norm here. Also, parking space are really scarce or close to none existence in the big cities of these countries. No government in the world would prioritise building public transport first over roads or highways. People would definitely prefer to driver, given the option and convenience. I know I would. Looking at the current situation in Malaysia now, personally i think it's much more better as our roads are much wider and wide scaled MRTs & LRT extensions are on the way, at least in the KL/Selangor region. Who knows in the future roads may scraped to make way for buildings as development gets further boosted. Anyway, squeezing on the train to work everyday is no fun. Getting stuck on the road in a jam perhaps is slightly more comfortable I guess. Both are inevitable as development progresses.



Ok back to the trip. At Osaka station we then made way to the visitor centre to buy the Osaka 2 day ecopass for ¥2700 which allows us unlimited rides on the subway as well as discount vouchers for a couple of tourist attractions. Pretty nice deal if you plan to visit Osaka for a short period. Unfortunately my friends got a bit overwhelmed with the sheer size of the Osaka station and had a bit of a trouble to find to visitor centre and we kinda wasted about 1 hour here. Do remember to bring your passports along when you buy the passes though.


After settling our accommodation at Hokoso Guest House which is located nearby Tennoji station, we then took the train back to Kyoto for our 2nd visit to Kiyomizudera. We took the bus this time towards the base of the temple instead of walking. The summer heat is too much to bear during the morning as it was already about 11am-ish when we arrived back.


¥220 for a bus ride @_@


If you are too lazy to walk you can always hire these muscular trishaw guys to ferry you up to the temple. There are many of them running around the roads leading towards the temple and it's quite a decent job for them to say the least.



The road leading towards Kiyomizu temple during the day doesn't seem that alluring compared to the night. Throngs of tourists can be seen walking everywhere and frequenting the various stores on the way to the temple. I think this is one of the best place to buy your souvenirs in Kyoto as they sell almost everything here in the different shops. Don't bother bargaining though as prices as quite strictly fixed. I bought some key chains + fridge magnets (¥645), I love Japan T-shirt (¥1050) as well as some really unique looking handkerchiefs (3 for ¥1050). Not the cheapest stuff I must say. Again, nothing is cheap in Japan.




Entrance to the temple
I must say that this temple is HUGE, at least for my standards (hence the reason this post will be divided into 2 parts). Entrance fee is ¥300.

One notable feature of this temple is its abundance of trees throughout the whole temple grounds. It must be a real beauty during the spring season when all the cherry blossoms are at full bloom.



My first stop at this temple was their so-called Love Shrine. With the words 緣 easily found all over. Guess it's the place to go for if you long for another half.

good post. looking forward to part 2. hope the situation at osaka st is not that bad...will be using it alot..

Hi guys, I'm here with an inquiry on plane ticket pricing.

KL-OSAKA-KL in April for RM1090 (with bag, tax, insurance but no food). Is that a good enough deal?

My original KL-TKY-KL is still too high at RM1.4k (all in without food)

AirAsia X? I went Osaka in end March 2014, ticket price was RM900-ish all-in.

it's not too bad. just that my friend who's in charge couldn't read the map

I think so since I checked via the AirAsia X site. Guess it's an okay price to pay then

ok price for a peak season.

If book the flight with the hotel together in airasiago.com is it worth the deal or same?? as im planning to go around tokyo area only

This post has been edited by applebook: Jun 25 2014, 07:19 PM