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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
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
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.
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
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 12:21 PM

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QUOTE(Emily Ratajkowski @ Feb 20 2018, 08:46 AM)
fuh ts macam pro skiing

Not really, I am only really comfortable on green/blue (easy) slopes. Red (intermediate/advanced) ones can go down, but it's those super slow super controlled going down, not fast. Black (expert) don't have the balls to even try.

QUOTE(aziratul @ Feb 20 2018, 09:04 AM)
tq2.. sgd..  shocking.gif i guess i better be safe....

My costs expensive cos last minute planning = expensive flights (some more BidUpgrade biz class to Tokyo) and expensive hotels, plus lots of shopping. If plan earlier and plan properly, I think within rm11-12k for 2pax without shopping easily doable.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 04:14 PM

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Day 1 continued

After finishing lunch, we were damn full, but don't care, go to our next destination for dessert! If by any chance you have heard of (or have watched) the Netflix show Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman, you might be able to guess what's coming next. If not, well ... Kantaro is about a book salesman who goes around Tokyo eating at various Japanese dessert shops making orgasm faces.

So we follow. Via the subway.

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Then we arrive at Hatsune, and eat Anmitsu. (blogwh0re link for pricing, location, etc if you're interested).

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After dessert it's finally time to check in to the hotel (as you might know, Japan hotels generally don't allow you to check in early at all even if they might have rooms available).

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Yes, it's a small ass hotel. Super small room, small corridors, small toilet that 2 ppl definitely can't shower together at the same time. But the location of this hotel is 2mins walk from Tokyo Metro Kanda lines, 3mins walk from JR Kanda lines, and was (relatively) cheap considering the location. So it's OK lah.

This post has been edited by deodorant: Feb 20 2018, 04:15 PM
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 09:02 PM

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QUOTE(bereev @ Feb 20 2018, 08:52 AM)
milupa remember more these when u go  laugh.gif
QUOTE(Milupa @ Feb 20 2018, 01:14 PM)
Thanks man. What a beauty. I always lub Japan mui mui 😍.
Thanks for appreciate the risk I took in sniping the meimei photo LOL.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 09:04 PM

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QUOTE(angelgemini @ Feb 20 2018, 05:03 PM)
baby?
Please refer below

QUOTE(sniper on the roof @ Feb 20 2018, 05:21 PM)
Sweet... I just went to kuraizawa instead but not so nice as ur trip la.. have to drag 2 kids along. Alot of things kenot do.
二人世界 is best liao 🤣
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 09:07 PM

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QUOTE(reed90 @ Feb 20 2018, 12:28 PM)
parking for itinery
what app u use for that small2 logo? rly cute one
No app, pakai Google sheets saja and insert icons using emojii

QUOTE(TruthHurts @ Feb 20 2018, 04:46 PM)
Walauuuuuu ... i was thinking the budget to go to Japan. rm 10k enough or not ?
The major items are flight tickets and train tickets. Everything else can be as expensive or as cheap as you want. I mean, tokyocheapo people can tour Tokyo 4d3n all in for ¥10000 man.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 20 2018, 09:08 PM

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QUOTE(absorb-d @ Feb 20 2018, 12:28 PM)
anyway kudos going to zao fox village, initially planned to for this year but seeing  its proximity to radiation fallout and jp govt cover up fiasco figured not to risk it

#YOLO bro, those Japanese ppl around Fukushima etc year in year out exposed to those radiation also not much problem, we all go few hours or days only shouldn't have much problem ba.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 21 2018, 10:13 AM

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QUOTE(bereev @ Feb 21 2018, 09:00 AM)
i believe couple also can  brows.gif 
unless cannot tahan everyday bath together
Maybe it looks bigger than it really is in the photo, but in reality this is a SMALL bathroom. The tub is probably only around 4feet long, so 2 people really can't soak or even shower in it together comfortably.
TSdeodorant
post Feb 21 2018, 10:14 AM

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QUOTE(tdzheng @ Feb 21 2018, 01:24 AM)
nice, i went to hakodate, saporro and some of their volcanic onsens, sad thing is japanese food doesnt suit me, at least in hokkaido it doesnt.
Hokkaido means you ate a lot of cooked seafood (crabs etc) and I guess a lot of raw fish scallops etc on rice? Not a fan of seafood?

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