Does heat pack widely available at convenience store in Japan? How much does it cost?

During cold season yes, as cheap as 150yen for a few

That's a relief to know the price is cheap.

Yea and they last quite long actually so dun worry bout it.

thanks mate, great info indeed
3000JPY per pax ah? mine is 4pax means 12000JPY lor... plus the luggage & waiting time, aint worth it

Anyone have any good recommendation for Kobe beef in Kobe besides yakiniku m, wakkoqu and steakland?

kinda depend on ppl. i myself dislike changing hotel in short time (unless it require time consuming commuting between places).
n also u can be more flexible like checking weather forecast n plan where u wan to go.
example, if its raining in Osaka n sunny at Kyoto, u can reschedule ur plan.

if you check the train cost to commute between osaka and kyoto...it might change your mind

plus booking accommodations in advance will save you money as well

but if money isn't a problem to you...go for it !

This post has been edited by lyc1982: Jun 28 2017, 10:22 AM

Queuing under the rain wit no umbrella just to try a ramen... I hope it's worth it. Will giv review later on.

they mention plan go kobe, nara. if all those add up, kansai wide pass or similar would be a better choice.
but some suggest to go up to Hiroshima (the person u quoted).

just my 2 cents.

when i was there during rain...the japs mostly using the transparent type umbrellas...haha

Haha coz the most common one, even if kena curi also dun feel anything. I queued from rain to no rain ><

Day 1 – Kansai Airport / Kyoto - bus
Day 2 – Fushimi Inari / Tokufu-ji / Kyoto Tower - ICOCA
Day 3 – Kiyomizu-dera / Maruyama Park / Yasaka / Pontocho / Lower Gion - ICOCA
Day 4 – Kinkaku-ji / Ryoan-ji / Ninnaji / To-ji - ICOCA
Day 5 – Nijo / Imperial Castle / Nishiki Market / Upper Gion - ICOCA
Day 6 – Ginkaku-ji / Nanzen-ji / Uji (if free) - ICOCA
Day 7 – Arashiyama and Sagano - ICOCA
Day 8 – Nara / Himeji / Kobe - Kansai Thru Pass 3-days
Day 9 – Gundam Square / Umeda / Nipponbashi / Shinsekai - Kansai Thru Pass 3-days
Day 10 – Kaiyukan / USJ (just outside) / Namba / Dotonbori - Captain Line Cruise Pass
Day 11 (last day) – Airport - Kansai Thru Pass 3-days

Is this ok? Any comment?

looks ok to me..

one question though... kansai thru pass 3-days can use from 8th till 11th ?

Verdict is out, rate 5/10. Can't really recommend it due to the line.
The noodles a bit too hard, egg not really onsen egg lik most ramen shop, it taste like 7-11 egg. The pork meat is soft but that's it, I tasted better. The soup is OK, nothing extraordinary tho. The shop name is written on the seaweed there in case people wanna check it out.



This post has been edited by chinti: Jun 28 2017, 11:59 AM

It's non-consecutive day. That's the reason why i decided to get that pass and re-arrange my plan since from Kyoto to Nara>Himeji>Kobe>Osaka is almost ¥5000. 3-day pass is ¥5200

5.0? But there was still a queue. Maybe lunch time...?

Btw have you tried Tsuta （蔦）？ I have not tried it personally, but have been keen. Friends who did, gave it thumbs up and said its worth the wait (better now with the card system). Am just seeking a 2nd opinion on the place.

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Jun 28 2017, 02:44 PM

Hi All, we just came back from our trip and just would like to share some of the experience that we have gained from our trip. We are traveling in a group 6 Adults (4 of them are senior citizens) and 2 young children (1 is 1.5 yo and another one is 3.5 yo). With this, we have decided to rent a car (MPV) via toyota rent a car (https://rent.toyota.co.jp/eng/).

Renting a car
- The whole process is easy and I have even called to their customer service desk after place my booking online to confirm the type of car that I am getting. The customer service agent is professional and speak excellence english which make the entire conversation so much easier.
- Collection is easy at Kansai International Airport.
- After custom clearance and collecting your luggage. Leave the main terminal from Level 2 and head to Aero Plaza. The car rental booth is located at Level 1.

Driving in Osaka, Kobe City, Nara and Kyoto
- The road in the housing area can be challenging as the road is very narrow. But after some time, we got used to it already. If you are driving smaller car then should be no issue but during my 1st day driving, I have some issue as I am driving an 8 seaters MPV.
- Toll can be very expensive. Since we are going free and easy, I have selected the "avoid toll" in my google map and Waze to avoid tolls but spend more time on road. But no regrets as we do save a lot from the toll.
- I would recommend using Google Map instead of Waze as Google Map is more updated.
- Just be smart as google map may ask you to take some housing area road but in actual fact you can just stick to the main road.
- Driving in Japan is quite easy just follow the road number which will bring you to your destination.
- Car park is damn expensive. Make sure you include this into your budget. e.g. in Osaka city center can cost you 200 - 300 yen for 15 mins. Tips: Try to look for those with maximum charges. E.g. 800 - 1500 yen max charges.
- Make sure you have the portable wifi with you as well as it make your driving experience much easier.

Attached is our itinerary but some of the places we are not able to go.

 Itinenary___Japan.zip ( 3.65mb ) Number of downloads: 42


This post has been edited by jootat: Jun 28 2017, 02:52 PM

btw, if anyone getting the ICOCA card....better get the Kansai One Pass

it's actually the same as normal ICOCA but with extra benefits...
it's specially for foreigners so you'll need to show your passport first...
Info here

will consider this for my upcoming kansai trip...