2000Yen are reasonable price. If you earn Yen in Japan, 2000 Yen = Rm20
2000 Yen in western eye just 18 dollar / 16 euro = one meal price

Our Ringgit Malaysia just too weak..........

each drugstores has their own cheap things and own promo
if u plan to buy everything in 1 store, regardless which...the differences are minor
unless u survey each store and see what is cheap in there and separate your purchase

as for sweets/chocolate/souvenirs....other than those common ones in drugstore
all the other ones are exclusive to area
like osaka has their own, kyoto has their own, kobe has their own, nara has their own
and if u missed it, u come back to osaka..u can't find it anymore

That minor savings buying here and there, doesn't really compare if buying from a single shop and claim the tax deduction.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Nov 19 2019, 11:55 AM

Me. USJ and USS are totally different, yes one day for USJ.
I just went to USJ on 6th Nov.

Next time when Universal Studios in Beijing is opened, I will go too because BFF's house is just nearby and she already asked me to go with her.

This kind of things have to ask those Chinese and according to their reviews, 大国药 is cheaper and better with lots of choices.


I just arrived in Malaysia this morning and I miss this trip, more to I miss the companion of my BFF and I can't believe 15 days just gone!
Nagasaki gave us surprises, initially we wanted to exclude it but we were glad we didn't. Kansai has too many tourists and we are kinda sick of it. Maybe next trip won't be going back to Kansai anymore. We are thinking of Shikoku.

We didn't save on our food and our expenses were super high, don't dare to calculate.
We had few days of Wagyu and Kobe beef.

From time to time, I will drop by here. Thanks for all the pointers before I went to my trip, I appreciate them! Adios until my next Japan trip. If you need any clarification, please feel free to tag me on this thread.

any review trip field report?

Nagano is good place. if you have gone japan. better skip tokyo and kansai. too mainstream. better search hidden gem like Nagano and tottori. hakkodate also best

This post has been edited by L.Torreira: Nov 19 2019, 02:32 PM

What sort of review trip report? Just ask and I can try to answer.

Just wanna say if wanna enjoy Japan to the fullest then be prepared to spend. Of course, everyone values money differently, I value experience more than the monetary spending. Money can always be earned back, especially if we are employed, there's nothing to be worried about.

This time added Kyushu and didn't regret, so next one will be lesser tourists place. Again if lesser tourists means public transportation may not be that good.

For Kyoto, I highly recommend the Kyoto bus+subway pass, we bought for 2 days 1700 yen, well spent and used a lot of buses to attractions and subway back to our accommodation.

I went to wakayama 2 weeks back. Not touristy at all. No PRCs. But bored to death

japan's tax refund rate is minimum 5000 yen
which is easily reach, u grab a few item...u already over 5k yen
so u can theoretically separate your purchase if u want to

even at the same street, same drug store can be having different promotion or same item selling at different price
at least that's what i've seen...different owner i guess

Take note of tax refund slips, click only if you can read Chinese: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid...938120582934128

My first tax refund slip was properly taped on my passport and round stamp was within the slip but subsequently after that and yesterday's spending at Rinku Premium Outlet were all stapled and half of the round stamps were stamped outside of the slips. If this happens to me as well then I'm screwed because I travel to China quite often too.

for me I value experience go many places not on food. food is not experience for me. Kyoto I added 600 yen kyoto bus pass.

my passport has staples since like 3 years ago from my tokyo trip
different place u claim tax refund, they do it a different style...even if it's the same donki
this time my osaka trip, they use tape for all my tax refund

Some of the routes cannot be reached with bus pass 600 yen and need to top up money at the end of the trip. No issue with subway+bus pass.
Hahaha. How far can you go since you are bringing the entire family?
For us, we walked on average 15000 steps per day and some days over 20000 steps. These walks also included public transports in between, food we only ate normal meals - brunch and dinner. Sometimes tea breaks after long walks and skies turn dark earlier so not many places can be visited after 5 p.m., you see nothing basically. Shops close at 8.00 p.m. Also freezing cold now, Osaka was still OK but not other cities, very cold.

Food wise, yes we had better food. Even if we save for food, not like it can be compensated for other activities, because in a day you can only do that much.

If not spend on food, where else? Activities already planned and we still visited and paid for entrance fees. Shopping is on our own expenses, so that won't be counted.

I must admit we got sick of Japanese food after few days and had Chinese food, hotpot instead.

I bought jacket in Adidas Shinsaibashi and the staff taped nicely but can't say the same for Adidas in Rinku.

Yes, my previous passport (expired already) also has staples from my previous Japan trip.

Honestly, I don't see a point for them to do it. We are not doing refund anymore because it has been deducted when we purchase our stuff. It's really a waste of resources and creates more issues (like the sharing I posted earlier).

I still have receipts stapled and sticked from my japan trip last year. Im going to osaka nx week.. should i leave it there together with the receipts?

They won't check I guess but you can always carefully peel them off for peace of mind.

actually it's a refund
u don't feel it because they merge it at the same time
actually u need to make the payment 1st, thn only they proceed with the refund
but u don't see it that way because they didn't ask your money for the payment part

and the receipt part is very vague
actually we need to drop the receipt at a bin at the departure hall of airport....my bro did it, but i didn't see it

my passport i just check has 2 stapler still attached and 1 stapler hole
1 came from bangkok, another came from taiwan...japan isn't the 1st practicing this

This post has been edited by MR_alien: Nov 19 2019, 11:11 PM

the receipt is useless already
u can remove it and throw it away

I know, what I mean is not needed to stick on the passport.

It's there, after passed immigration. I detached mine yesterday.

After having travelled to so many countries and did tonnes of tax refund, Japan has the easiest way to refund but also the most untidy way to do it.

my passport i just check has 2 stapler still attached and 1 stapler hole
1 came from bangkok, another came from taiwan...japan isn't the 1st practicing this(at least japan uses tape)

This post has been edited by MR_alien: Nov 19 2019, 11:13 PM

Hi Guys,
I'd like some recommendations for my itinerary. Actually its the last day of our 5 day trip in Tokyo and here it goes:



Its my last day and prior to this I would have been to Shibuya and Ginza, and Odaiba already.

I *think* I have roughly 4hrs to spare between 4pm and 8pm before I pickup my luggage nearby Kayabacho, and head to Haneda for our AirAsia flight back to KL.

Is there any recommendation for something for us to do? Generally my wife and I don't really shop a lot, we believe for souvenirs or trinkets we already pickup in Ameyoko.

Is it too wishful / unrealistic to go to Shinjuku (Tokyo Metropolitan Building) for night sight? 4.30pm already sunset.

Yup Nagasaki is still lowkey enough that doesn't draw too many tourist except during cruise ship docking (my last day at there got many tourist when a cruise ship came in). Whatmore the A-bomb thingy doesn't draw PRCs which was perfect for me personally. Haha.

We get to enjoy pretty much the 'real' Japan and thanks to the hilly geography, I get to take shots like these:



This post has been edited by babylon52281: Nov 20 2019, 12:51 AM