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> Japan Trip Report: Zao Onsen Winter Ski Video!, Plus Zao Fox Village and Tokyo also.

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TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 07:33 AM, updated 6y ago

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SIC moi last week Japan video!!

- Zao Fox Village
- Zao Onsen Skiing
- Day Trip @ Koyo Ryokan (Kaminoyama Onsen)




cost breakdown / details on blog (blogwh0re alert!!!!!)

... also bonus video MariCar Akihabara ...



Full trip itinerary in spoiler below, will update gradually when photos / videos etc get edited.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «


This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 28 2018, 06:50 PM
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 09:22 AM

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Day 0: Cos I booked this flight really last minute, all the direct flights on ANA, Delta, SQ, JAL etc super expensive. So decided to roll the dice on Garuda (transit Jakarta).

Garuda also has Bid Upgrade to biz class like MAS, bid s$330ish for the Jakarta to Tokyo and got accepted ...

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Anyway the flight from SIN to CGK (economy) was, surprisingly, a widebody too (a300). Just a 1hr26min flight. Nothing much to say about the flight, economy is economy after all, other than the food was sucky (like scoot/AirAsia level food rather than SQ or MAS or Emirates etc).

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btw Garuda gives 2x23kg luggage allowance for flights to/from Japan, it's awesome.

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This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 19 2018, 09:23 AM
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 09:27 AM

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Day 0 continued: Cos I flew on Friday night, directly from office, without showering ... luckily got shower at Jakarta lounge.

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CGK to HND on the 777-300 was pretty damn good. About the only complaint that I have was that the seat is a little low on storage, otherwise, food good service excellent, seat comfortable, in flight entertainment decent selection of up to date material.

Oh and I guess the aircraft cabins were set really quite warm ... No wear jacket or cover blanket also sweat a bit ...

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Starlight effect on the ceiling

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Breakfast:

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TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 09:28 AM

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We had the two middle seats so we couldn't get a good shot of mt Fuji as we flew by ... 🤦🏻‍♂️

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This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 19 2018, 09:29 AM
kopiPeng
post Feb 19 2018, 09:30 AM

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Thanks for sharing!

Very detailed itinerary.

The cost in excel is in RM or SGD? per pax or two pax?
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 09:36 AM

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QUOTE(kopiPeng @ Feb 19 2018, 09:30 AM)
The cost in excel is in RM or SGD? per pax or two pax?

SGD for 2 pax but please bear in mind that this was a late planned trip, so flights and hotels we're way more expensive than they should have been (and also flights departing from SG are normally more expensive than departing KL, for example, s$600 is considered "cheap" fare liao). So with some earlier planning and sniping of cheaper flights I'm sure the cost would be a lot lower.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 04:31 PM

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Day 1: After arrival at Haneda, the first thing to do after collecting luggage is to exchange JR east pass with pretty sweet young thing JR meimei.

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The JR East Tohoku Pass costs ¥20000 if bought in Japan, and is supposed to cost ¥19000 if bought outside Japan. But as far as I can tell (or maybe I didn't investigate enough), you can't actually buy it in JPY, the various travel agencies and even JR east itself will convert to USD, SGD, etc. Anyway I paid s$232 from JTB, which is more or less ¥19000 so ok lah.

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This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 19 2018, 10:47 PM
DarkNite
post Feb 19 2018, 04:56 PM

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No flights to Sendai Japan via Thai airlines?
TrustULoveU
post Feb 19 2018, 05:10 PM

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nak pergi pun
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 06:31 PM

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QUOTE(DarkNite @ Feb 19 2018, 04:56 PM)
No flights to Sendai Japan via Thai airlines?

Hmmm there might have been, I'm not sure. I only checked / compared using Google flights, and even then only to Tokyo. You're right that Sendai would've been a more logical base to visit zao onsen from, but I guess I just wanted to spend a few days in Tokyo anyway 🤣

QUOTE(TrustULoveU @ Feb 19 2018, 05:10 PM)
nak pergi pun
Ubah gaya hidup bro. My wife and I don't own cars (bus/train everywhere), don't drink don't smoke don't buy branded goods, all so that we can spend our extra money on holidays instead.
DarkNite
post Feb 19 2018, 07:33 PM

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QUOTE(deodorant @ Feb 19 2018, 06:31 PM)
Hmmm there might have been, I'm not sure. I only checked / compared using Google flights, and even then only to Tokyo. You're right that Sendai would've been a more logical base to visit zao onsen from, but I guess I just wanted to spend a few days in Tokyo anyway 🤣
Ubah gaya hidup bro. My wife and I don't own cars (bus/train everywhere), don't drink don't smoke don't buy branded goods, all so that we can spend our extra money on holidays instead.
*
I like JAL but always co-share with MAS which I dun like.
I feel Thai and Cathay give better value for flights from Penang to Japan.
Transit hours are shorter, so too are flight duration.
Better choice of food on board too.

At Sendai, suggest you try
1. Harakomeshi - salmon belly
2. Tsudasengyoten - Table top BBQ drool.gif
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 11:14 PM

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After exchanging JR pass, we head to Tokyo Monorail to --> Hamamatsucho, then switch to Yamanote (apparently it's "JY Line" nowadays lol) to go to Kanda.

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APA Hotel has only been opened for a day (opening 9th Feb, we arrived 10th Feb). 2 mins walk from Tokyo Metro Kanda lines, 3mins from JR Kanda lines.

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No room photo yet cos it's not check in time; we're here just to drop bags then go to next destination liao.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 19 2018, 11:20 PM

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First stop: Daimaru Tokyo just to browse, and eat dorayaki (no idea whether this brand is famous or not, but we were hungry, and it looked good).

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... then headed to Kit Kat Chocolatory! Main reason of course is to try the world premiere of the so-called new type of chocolate i.e. Ruby Chocolate. Wikipedia page here.

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Verdict ... hmmmm. It's interesting that the ruby chocolate really does taste like (straw)berry chocolate, even though there is no berry flavouring at all, the flavour comes all from the cacao bean + the chocolate manufacturer's own method of processing it. Only time will tell whether it really does catch on as a "fourth type of chocolate" (after milk, dark, and white chocolates) of course.

Also, jpy 400++ / myr15 for each stick of kit kat is chop carrot stupid idiot tourist price. Ah well.

This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 19 2018, 11:21 PM
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 07:37 AM

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Day 1 continued: After Daimaru Tokyo, headed to Mantenzushi Marunouchi for sushi lunch! Partially because it was recommended by Eater, partially cos tabelog it had an "ok" score of 3.65, but mostly because online reservations are possible.

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TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 07:39 AM

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TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 07:40 AM

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(That's 23 photos in total if you weren't counting)

At just over ¥6000/person it's amazing value. Service-wise, well, our chef was cheerful and explained things well enough, but as you can see from the photos the attention to detail is a tad below top sushi places (e.g., the juices left behind from previous pieces wasn't wiped off). Sushi-quality-wise, I'd say that given the overall value vs quality vs not needing to queue, it's a no-brainer to come here instead of any of the Tsukiji market sushi shops. In terms of absolute quality, obviously you won't get shinji or sushi ichi or saito or jiro quality, but then you're only paying 1/5'th of the price.

Reservations website here: https://yoyaku.toreta.in/mantensushi/#/

This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 20 2018, 07:50 AM
aziratul
post Feb 20 2018, 08:32 AM

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QUOTE(deodorant @ Feb 19 2018, 07:33 AM)
SIC moi last week Japan video!!

- Zao Fox Village
- Zao Onsen Skiing
- Day Trip @ Koyo Ryokan (Kaminoyama Onsen)



cost breakdown / details on blog (blogwh0re alert!!!!!)

Full trip itinerary in spoiler below, will update gradually when photos / videos etc get edited.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

*
that cost in RM or USD?

for 2 people or just 1?

sorry lazy go through read all... hehe
funnyTONE
post Feb 20 2018, 08:35 AM

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This should be under Travel & Living subforum.
But your breakdown on iteneraries and photos are nothing short of amazing!
hirano
post Feb 20 2018, 08:44 AM

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QUOTE(aziratul @ Feb 20 2018, 08:32 AM)
that cost in RM or USD?

for 2 people or just 1?

sorry lazy go through read all... hehe
*
1 page also lazy wtf

Sgd 6344 = rm18814
Emily Ratajkowski
post Feb 20 2018, 08:46 AM

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fuh ts macam pro skiing

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