I narrowed down my stay at tokyo to The prince sakura tower shinagawa or Shinjiku grandbell hotel. Grandbell is cheaper though

My cousin ask me to stay 1 night at ryokan hotel at osaka, now wanna search for hotel in osaka area.

My work nature, I only know my work schedule every end of the month, really hard to plan ahead.

You can exchange the pass earlier but make sure you provide the correct start date

Tennoji Temple

From our lunch spot nearby Tennoji station, we headed to one of Tennoji's landmarks which was none other than the Tennoji Temple. From the train station its actually a good 15-20 minute walk to actually get to the place. The summer heat was really unforgiving as well.

DSC07793 by zstan, on Flickr

Tennoji Temple by zstan, on Flickr

To be honest, the temple was not really impressive. I am guessing it's more of an actual temple for spiritual use instead of a being a tourist ground. However if you are interested in the story of the Buddha, the insides of the main temple actually made a great depiction of the whole story: from the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, to his renunciation of his throne, attaining enlightenment etc., then this might be an interesting stop.

DSC07801 by zstan, on Flickr

yeah fully booked on my date as well. maybe rent a sim card for my phone or my pocket wifi.

There's also prepaid sim card in japan right? just wondering. Usually when I travel other country I just buy a prepaid card for data usage.

This post has been edited by nles: Jul 26 2014, 04:27 AM

I would say the Shinjuku will be a better choice of placement.

You can consider B mobile travel pack for visitor.
You can always buy it online and get them to send to airport for pickup or send to the hotel that you are going to stay

i see.
thanks for the info

Right now im going to do

Day 1-2 Osaka
Day 3-5 Kyoto
Day 6-10 Tokyo

Packing my stuff for tonight's flight.

You can consider to go Kibune and experience the kaiseki lunch on a platform that built over river. You can soak your leg in the cchilling river water!

wanted to post pic but doesnt know how to do it!

have fun in your trip!

pix?? LYN have add attachment feature...

Thanks. I'm staying at Ryokan at Gion. There's Gion summer festival but it's ending, think there's the closing service at eki shrine, anyone knows whats that about?

i tried to upload to attach but doesnt know why it failed! aiks...

choose files-> selected the pic -> add this attachment -> uploading completed -> nothing appear for me to add it to the post

btw, transport to Kibune could be a little bit troublesome for first timer to Japan. furthermore, if you plan to have Kaiseiki lunch, you can always hop into respective restaurant's free shuttle from the train station.

those lunch comprises around 6 courses and above which cost at least 7500 yen per pax.
please ask your hotel to do reservation for you if you are going during weekend

bcoz your pix size is too big

u need to resize it!

Just to share about how Japanese spent their weekend during summer.

All these platform over the river will only be built during summer time in Kibune. Kibune located in the northern part of Kyoto. Other than this special kaiseki lunch, Kibune Shrine is worth the visit too.
It is worthwhile to spend a morning visiting the Kibune Shrine then follow by lunch.

Basically we were like the very few foreigner that have lunch there and we followed the culture of Japanese to have beer during lunch

This post has been edited by moody5: Jul 27 2014, 05:05 PM

Ok will sure do, looks interesting.

Waiting for my overnight flight to Osaka.

For Osaka my plans are....

Day 1
Osaka Castle
Osaka Aquarium
Namba

Day 2
Universal Studio
Dotonburi

Day 3
Head to Kyoto

Osaka Castle

From the temple we then took another subway to head towards Osaka's next landmark - Osaka Castle! Since we wanted to utilise our Osaka 2 day pass we took the subway instead. Unfortunately the nearest subway station is a good 15 minute walk away and the summer heat as well as the strong and hot wind blowing against us wasn't do the journey any favours.

Map overview of Osaka Castle park by zstan, on Flickr

Osaka castle is strategically located in the middle of a park with walls surrounding the main area. It is after all a fortress for war in the olden Japanese days.

DSC07818 by zstan, on Flickr

With the 2-day pass, we got to enter the castle free of charge. The tour of the castle starts at the very top and the visitors descend each floor which comprises of different exhibits, mostly showing the history of this grand castle and how the different Japanese armies dreamt of conquering this great castle. The bad news was that you have to climb all the way to the top as the elevator is only reserved for disabled people only.

Osaka Castle by zstan, on Flickr

At the top of the castle you can get a birds eye view of the surrounding Osaka city. The wind at the top is very strong as well and you can feel that your face is almost blown away. Beware if you have little kids though as they may tend to climb everywhere.


DSC07848 by zstan, on Flickr

For souvenirs I got myself an Osaka Castle coin which can be found in a machine at the ground floor. Upon paying an extra fee you can also get your name engraved on the gold coin. In total the coin cost me 430 yen. Not too bad. The quality of the coin is very good but you may need to learn how to work with the computer and engraving system.

To cool ourselves down we headed to the stalls just outside the castle for some desserts.

DSC07860 by zstan, on Flickr

I bought a cone of peach ice cream at ¥300 and it was absolutely delicious. The peach flavouring was spot on and there were actual bits of peaches in the ice cream as well. For close to RM10 I expect nothing less though, haha. It's really hard to find tasty peach flavoured ice creams back in Malaysia. =/

Peach Ice Cream by zstan, on Flickr

I also tried their cantaloupe, couldn't remember the price. It was also really sweet and juicy but I think I could find a cheaper one back in Malaysia. Melons are generally pricey in Japan for some reason.

Japan cantaloupe by zstan, on Flickr

After our short break we then headed back to the park, whereby hundreds or thousands of visitors throng this place during the cherry blossom season to have picnics while enjoying the magnificent sakura trees. Too bad everything is green now.

DSC07865 by zstan, on Flickr

Huge areas of grass for picnic-goers to lay their mats on. At that time there were only us haha. We managed to take some crazy photos and lie on the grass while 'enjoying' the summer sun. Bad idea though as most of us got really bad rashes on our hands. @@ Probably due to the bugs in the grass. The grasses were also meticulously maintained and it's really great to lie on. Ahhh wish I could be back here for Spring. I think I am mentioning this in every post LOL.

Green green span of grass in Osaka Castle park by zstan, on Flickr

Where can I get cheap Kit Kats in Tokyo? Would like to buy a bunch for a group of people.
From what I read, Tokyo Station, near the Ramen Street, there is a snack shop that sells over 10 flavors of Kit Kat. 12s box, 840 yen. Thats around the same price as here, except that I can only get green tea and dark chocolate flavor here.

Ameyoko has very cheap Matcha (12s bag, 245 yen). Now thats dirt cheap.

Sakura-matcha (30s for i think 2,100 yen?) can be bought from Haneda Airport.

Below is my planned itinerary on Jan 9 2015 to Jan 18 2015.

Jan 9 Arrive , Transit, Shibuya & Shinjuku
Jan 10 Disneyland
Jan 11 Meiji Shrine , Transfer, Sensojj, Tokyo Skytree, Ueno park
Jan 12 Disney Sea
Jan 13 Tsukiji Fish Market, Odaiba or Harajuku & Akihabara
Jan 14 Transit, Arashiyama, Kinkakuji
Jan 15 Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera
Jan 16 Transit, Osaka castle, Dotonburi & Namba
Jan 17 USJ
Jan 18 Kaiyukan Aquarium, Depart

Credits to bro skylinegear.

All time calculations based on hyperdia.

Will be using Air Asia to fly to KIX from KUL.

Jan 9 - Arrival at KIX airport. Plan to use Star Flyer (under ANA) to transit to Tokyo Haneda at 11am. Scheduled to reach hotel at 1.30pm. Hotel will be near Tochomae station in Shinjuku. Plan to head over to Shibuya for Hachiko statue and the famous Shibuya crossing and later heading back to Shinjuku for dinner and maybe some nightlife.

*Previously thought i could use peach but they seem to have canceled their 12pm flight to narita so have to resort to ANA at a heftier price. Might use Jetstar Japan's 2pm flight but will reach around 5.30pm at my hotel which is unfavourable.

Jan 10 - Self explanatory.

Jan 11 - Planning to wake up early and head over to meiji shrine as it is nearby and then transfer hotel to Roppongi. Will then head over by train/subway for Asakusa, Sensoji and Tokyo Skytree. Ueno park is optional.

Jan 12 - Self explanatory.

Jan 13 - Really want to have sushi at Dai Sushi in Tsukiji leaving Roppongi Station at 5am using Oedo Line to Tsukijishijo. Next would head over to Either odaiba which is south or to Harajuku then akiba .. would need suggestions. Maybe swap with Jan 11 Itinerary.

Jan 14 - Shinkansen to Kyoto early in the morning then check in hotel at around Shichijo station. After that Arashiyama and Kinkakuji.

Jan 15 - Planning to go to Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizudera. Maybe Higashiyama.

Jan 16 - Transit by train/subway to hotel around Nakafuto station Osaka. Going for Osaka Castle then Dotonburi and Namba. Cant wait to try out the famous osaka okonomiyaki as featured on page 1.

Jan 17 - Self explanatory.

Jan 18 - Wake up early to go the nearby Kaiyukan Aquarium before checking out to transfer to airport at around 12.30pm after lunch. Flight back to KUL at 4.55pm.

Question would be i need suggestions for Jan 11 and Jan 13. Plus any other food suggestions !
Another thing would be is there any other must go sights that i have missed out ?

This post has been edited by lazarus7247: Jul 28 2014, 01:42 AM

That shop in Tokyo station is called Shokoku Gotochi, it is generally expensive.

You can buy similar stuffs from Don Quijote (pronounced as Don-Kibote or Donki by locales). They have many branches around Tokyo area.

Go to the one in Shibuya... 245yen same 12s or 13s varies for flavor. I got 2 dozens of dark Kit Kat there.