Gz on v10!
Planning to go again 2019. Need to raise back nationalism else afraid will jump ship there

A tiny tip for those who plan to go during cool spring/autumn. Instead of using lipbalm, I wore the face mask to keep area around mouth moist(from breath). Didn't have to go through the day uncomfortably licking my own greasy lip

Took me a couple days to figure out why majority wore the face mask when they(or people around) were not sick, but open up when indoors.

Tsuta is good. very refined taste and you'll have to savor it to identify the minute uniqueness.
At least that's my experience with tsuta. But don't bother if you're into thick broth. Can't compare freely with those other thick broth like ichiran. It's like karipap kentang vs karipap sardin

Thing is.. I can't really enjoy tsuta since I know there are people waiting for me to leave(long queue outside). Add to the fact it was raining at that time, I feel kinda guilty if I take my time.

Conclusion, I'd rather have ichiran as it is more hearty and the freedom of addons/time to savor the food.
Also.. not much to do in Sugamo. I walked around.. entered the Rikugien Gardens(really really beautiful)for a bit, passed by some schools and girls college.. then wait in a coffee house. Prolly my fault for not researching more. going back to accommodation feels like a waste of 400 yen at that time.

I'd advise against getting the JR pass. Suica/ICOCA is sufficient in my opinion to go round Tokyo/Kansai. My 10 days in Kyoto/Osaka cost about 15k yen ICOCA credit. I blame myself for taking the bus for 2-3km ride . Not to mention getting on the wrong bus so many times.
Just proved more to my AirBnB landlady Malaysians are lazy on our feet.

Shinkansen costs 13900yen(Hikari reserved) from Tokyo to Kyoto.. Osaka tho a little bit more around 14500 yen perhaps. Not sure since I rode from Tokyo to Kyoto
Then again, if you are taking 2 way ticket, its the same price as a 7-day pass.

Personally I won't take night bus since most definitely I will not be able to sleep, or will be tired from journey.
But I do know people who can sleep soundly with a snap of a finger.

JR pass is valid for the entire country. But you may only ride JR operated lines.
ICOCA/PASMO/SUICA are prepaid cards that allow you to ride all modes of transportation excluding some taxis for particular regions. ICOCA/PiTaPa for Kansai(Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe etc). Suica/PASMO for Kanto(Tokyo/Kanagawa/Saitama etc).
JR West well... it depends which pass you take.. Kansai, Hokuriku or Sanyo.. Otherwise, same as JR pass but on a smaller scale.

Note that there are private lines meaning you cant use JR pass on these. However they allow IC cards for tickets. For example metro lines(subway) that connects major part of Tokyo is not covered by JR Pass since they are operated by private companies.
Alternatively, there are passes sold for certain duration like 72hours Metro Pass for Tokyo(1.5k yen), 1 day Kyoto City Bus etc.

My advice: Get the 72h Metro Pass + Suica/Pasmo for your Tokyo trip.
For Kansai.. somebody else might have a better suggestion since I solely used ICOCA for convenience sake.

You learn new things everyday
That's one thing we get from sharing things here. Seems my info was outdated

uhm full bloom in Kyoto this year was 2nd week of April. so i assume in Tokyo is like 3rd week perhaps?
1st week in Tokyo the tree still botak-botak here and there

from what i saw in Kansai most vending machines use coins only tho

So true. Tho Yoshinoya/Sukiya is good enough to fill your tummy. More often than not its a bit bland for my taste.
For 1k Yen per meal you can go for ichiran or coco ichibanya. The curry is soo... soo... hnnghhhhhh for that price IMO.
Got so many coupons and Lupin pins when I was there from the frequent visits

Ah that must be the famous restaurant in Dotonburi. I got the boiled, raw, grilled crab, kani suki, porridge, pickled veg and fruit set.
To me it is very nice. Pricey tho..

Accurate enough. I recall the sets starts from about 4k up to 16k i think? Of course, the lower price wont land you the good stuff. Don't quote me on that
That set in pic is uh.. 11k I believe with tax. It depends on which set you choose.

I started with boiled crabs, then they presented raw and grilled crabs.
Then comes nabe withe veg and more raw crabs.
I was almost done, so I just sit back with my drink and JUMP. All of the sudden, they came and prep the almost drained broth to make porridge. I totally forgot about the porridge. Its sooooo good.
They'll let you determine how thick you want it to be. Me being a noobie just tell em 'hai, hai, ii desu, daijoibu desu' all the way.
Dinner ended with fruits...and ice cream? cant remember that..

Taxi drivers thrives at night as all other modes of transportation is down.
I used to hang out at the roof of my accommodation just looking at the street.. saw taxis passed by every 5-10 mins.. so I assume there will be plenty at the airport.
Just note that it may cost you quite a bit, with the midnight rate and all.

I can confirm this. My taxi ride from Nihonbashi to Odaiba was roughly 10km. Added with traffic jam it took about 30min to reach there.
The fare was.. if i recall correctly... 7000+ yen.

Another time I took taxi was from somewhere in Osaka to Kobe. 1hour/30+km smooth ride, fare was about 10000+ yen.

The conclusion is, taxi is pretty darn expensive. Either take taxi for ~35000 yen(RM1330), or overnight at airport and get the train for.. 4560 yen(760x6)*(RM175).

*rate from google maps. please check thoroughly(which train/tracks) before confirming.

If i recall correctly... it's by the north exit.. the area where they set up some phone booths and some computers for net browsing.
If it's not there, you can just ask anybody there. They are super friendly and happy to help.

Subway is until 12am+. I remember hanging around golden gai till midnight xD

I'm for the DIY since you specifically mentioned Eat & Shop. What I'd do is below if I'm in your shoes.

1. Roughly plan what to eat and shop.
2. Ask recommendation where to get in (1).
3. Decide on region(Kansai/Hokkaido/Kanto/Tohoku etc)
4. Find out more on food/attraction in that region.
5. Decide number of days annual leaves to apply.
6. Plan itinerary.
7. Book flight/accommodation.
8. Wait for epic tummy tour.

I did once, walked from shinjuku to nihonbashi at 3am. Oddly enough, I didn't feel scared or worried. Got that weird peaceful vibe when walking with cool night air in spring

JAL tickets are from RM1200 return ticket excluding tax.
With tax it would go up from RM1300 to RM1600 depends on other airlines, number of airports etc.

Quick search shows only Travel Recommends and H.I.S Malaysia offer RM15/day with unlimited data... for now. All these companies use more or less the same network providers.
Last time I took Wiyo when they offered RM14/day.

Yep, that is correct. Stay on the train. From Shibuya station, the railway is operated by a private company outside of tokyo metro. So your 3 days metro pass won't work here.
Suica is good tho.

The device will prolly last around 5hours of use. I highly recommend a couple of powerbanks in when you go around. For both phone and pocket wifi.
Both options shows unlimited data so you should be fine. Coverage-wise.. I can't confirm for you since I only went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe.
However for those areas at least, I found zero issue with the coverage. Speed is satisfactory as well. Fast enough that I didnt get any buffer from youtube vids.

I'd set about 7k yen for a whole day's worth of food/drinks. That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and street food/munchies/weird vending machine drinks I'll find while waiting for trains . Fyonne's sinple breakdown on the price is pretty accurate. Just wanna add onigiri would cost <300yen.
When you reach there, IMHO coco ichibanya is one of the must try. It's been almost 3 months since I came back, but every time I eat jap curry at Yoshinoya here, I almost let a tear drop from the memory And it's pretty reasonable at ~1k per meal.

Oh! with that budget, don't go for the famous crab restaurant in Osaka. Easily 10-20k yen per visit.
Or even sushi/sashimi since you will keep eating and eating and eating... then realized you blew your budget.

Transportation would cost about 1k yen per day. Add with 3 days metro pass(1.5k yen) so about 6k yen
So that leaves about... 40k+ yen to shop? It depends on what you are looking to shop, really.

Now that I think about it, I heard a lot of people complaining food so expensive in Tokyo. Honestly I find it's about the same in Osaka/Kyoto if not about ~5-10% cheaper.
What do you guys think?

People rarely use fragrance in japan. Even lotion and shower gel they have odorless selection.
So if you HAVE to use fragrance, just a single burst is more than sufficient