what about self driving to Otaru/Niseko/Hakodate in March ?

thanks for the heads-up

also waiting for news about sinovac

Can I also recommend tonkatsu and gyukatsu ?

Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlet
Gyukatsu is fried beef cutlet but the way you eat this is slightly different.. you put the meat on the stone grill so the doneness is to your liking ..

gyukatsu motomura used to be very good before they opened many branches across Tokyo.. i think the quality dropped slightly
my friend preferred Asakusa Gyukatsu.

Conveyor belt sushi is worth trying also. Please try their tuna (Akemi, Toro or Otoro) . Malaysians like to order Salmon when eating in japanese restaurant i think.

If you have extra money, try their omakase. Totally different level compare to the ones offered here and similar pricing. Try Kyubey in Ginza. Just go at opening 11 or 11:30am to put your name down and they will tell you when to go back. Try to get counter seats. There's like 3 different menu .. 6k , 8k, and 14k not including 10% tax

I think I arrived around the same time when i flew with Singapore Airlines. It wasn't that rush tbh. I was traveling alone and i walked quickly to try and bypass as many ppl as possible. When I reach the luggage collection place, the luggage was arranged nicely, in colour and size, ready for you to pick up already. From the moment I get out from my seat to the luggage place, probably around 30 - 40 minutes. They are quite efficient i think pre-Covid to handle high amount of inbound travellers. Now i'm not sure though.

too ambitious haha probably better you just stay in Tokyo and go Fuji ... Tokyo plenty of things / suburbs to fill up your 10 -11 days there

2 nights in Mt Fuji should be enough. If you have enough budget, you can try search Kukuna or any hotels around Lake Kawaguchiko. Check if the rooms have a Mt Fuji view.

If your hotel doesn't have a Mt Fuji view or onsen. Can try these 2 places. They both have a Mt Fuji view are these 2. I forgot how much but should be around 1000 yen or cheaper.

Fuji Yurari Hot Spring (newer and larger with more pools outdoor, it's abit far, I rented a car and drove around so it was easy for me.)
Yamanakako Onsen Benifuji no Yu hot spring

Yes. Drive on the same side. If you uses signal to try and cut to the other lane, a lot of times they are polite enough to let you go first. I rented Alphard hybrid from Toyota. Their GPS abit hard to use unless you know the mapcode. Later which i found the website to get mapcode here. https://japanmapcode.com/en

I think Japanese are like the best users of highway. Each lane drive at the appropriate speed. No one cut left and right at all. So I just follow the same speed as the car in front of me. I was driving at 150km/h at some point. If there's a jam, car in front will use double signal to tell you to watch out and slow down. Toll and parking especially in cities is expensive though. But if you arrive Hakone area and rent a car to go around, should be better than public transport. I never tried the public transport around Fuji area. You can go Gotemba Premium Outlet if you want to do some shopping, if the weather is sunny and clear skies, you can see Mt Fuji. Winter + early morning should have better visibility. Afternoon normally can't see much. So wake up early to go around and take photos or just check the weather if it's sunny. It all depends on luck basically.


Tenku no torii

Chureito Pagoda

Oshino Hakkai

Oishi Park

https://thesmartlocal.com/japan/fujiyoshida-honcho-street/ *Edit: added this link*

these places should be quite iconic. If you do enough research, normally should see these few places to take touristy photos. haha

This post has been edited by lauwy: Oct 11 2022, 10:33 AM

Shibuya i think a lot of new places open... you might want to watch a few youtube videos and see the new places. I recommend Shibuya Sky Scramble Square when the weather is nice. I think you might be in time for yellow gingko leaves. I went to Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue. The prediction should be around the last week of November.

Ginza is for shopping premium brands. I do recommend Bills Ginza for their ricotta pancakes though or if you want to try Omakase, i recommend go Kyubey when they open to put down your name. Then go shopping and come back at whatever time they tell you.

Asakusa ... not sure if I did anything there other than the Sensoji and the shoplots leading to Sensoji. A lot of tourists including Japanese.

haha ... When in Rome, do as the Romans do

I went to the one in Odaiba for my first time though. There were more foreigners. Too many people to actually relax. A lot of times you will see the local milk sold in glass bottle in a vending machine when you come out of the onsen in public area. That one is a must after onsen.

Which ski resort ? Gala Yuzawa ? Hakuba valley ? Naeba?

https://www.princehotels.com/naeba/map-direction/

There's a bus schedule here but it's still for the 2021/22 season. You probably have to check again after it's updated. You need to travel to Echigo Yuzawa station to take the bus to Naeba. I assume you will stay at the Prince Hotel?

Is it your first time skiing or snowboarding?

I have never been there but on google maps it seems limited and other hotels seems like abit far for walking distance. There's not much difference in price also i think. I would save the trouble and just book with Prince Hotel if you planning to go Naeba.

I have only been to Karuizawa for snowboarding. So can't give you much information as well for other ski resort like Hakuba / Gala Yuzawa / Naeba. But I think I would allocate 2 days to travel in and out of the ski resort. Otherwise might felt too rush or tiring.

Have you looked at EVA air to Hokkaido? I bought EVA to Hokkaido in February for around 3.3k but the accommodation are very limited after Japan gov announced that they are reopening the border.

Another thing you might want to consider is how many bathroom / toilet in the airbnb ? Cause separate rooms in hotel means you will spend less time in the morning waiting for everyone to get ready... I traveled in a group of 7. We stayed in separate hotel rooms so everyone get to sleep more vs someone have to wake up early and wait for everyone else to get ready...

next year still long time to go .. just wait for the price to go back to pre-covid ... AA not much difference after you add on luggage

Withdraw from atm? at a small charge.. i think most 7E will have atm machine. You have to contact your bank to ask about this function also. Some people use the BigPay card i guess. I always carry cash though ariybd 200k to 300k for 10+ days.

All-you-can-eat Japanese beef hall Akihabara Meat shop Yokocho

i seen a few video recommending this place. But review says sometimes they have less selection for the meat. Around 5000-6000 yen.

https://www.ginzano.jp/steak/en/ginza/

i made reservation on the website and went to this restaurant alone.. i was also travelling solo with no JP phone number.. it was ok but for the price i think you can get something better.. cause the cut of meat is not really the best

1. Just buy on the spot.

2. When you buy your shinkansen ticket, just tell them you have the 2 24 inch luggage, they will recommend you on what to do.

5. Once you are inside, use the app to get earliest timeslot available. I queued at 7:30 went in around 8:20. Manage to get entry ticket for 10am. if you manage to reach the mario entrance before 8:30, i'm sure you don't need entrance ticket for the mario world. they only limit entry after 8:30.

6. It's quite big so if you wait a while and combine with photography skill can capture photo without crowd. If you just want to avoid crowd, just go early.

7. Book early. You can buy ticket up to 30 days before the actual date. https://www.sagano-kanko.co.jp/en/josyaken.php . Exchange ticket at Kyoto Station. There's a few method to claim using the machine. Read on the website

9. Google map good enough.

10. Uniqlo heattech cheaper after discount. Other items unsure.

i don't think they can stop you? you only need to buy ticket for the ski lift.. the mountain is public property from what i know