feels good man

left takayama and has reached my final base, Osaka

while i did loose some monies when exchanging at 100y=rm4.0, so unless u are changing rm10k n above the difference may not that much. unless u r interested w/ cheap exchange rate hunting game.

I did my 15days trip long distance between every stop for 65Kyen cash + 7day jrpass, but of coz i had jp experience n know where/when to go cheap

When i'm done w/ uploading sceneries, i'll post all the shinkansen types i rode.
was lucky to able to ride few diff models (700, hikari railstar, 500, ..)

dont underestimate sakura full bloom
they japs go apeshit for these

Tokyo Day 2 - 09 by e-jump, on Flickr

*unfortunately me 2/3yrs ago w/ camera fail to capture the beauty of full bloom sakura


Halal food throughout japan will be a challenge as there will be no halal sign.
Skip the meats and we are down to seafoods n veggie.
For fastfood chains we should avoid almost all due to the oil being shared, w/ the exceptions of Subway and PizzaHut/dominos.
We can eat sushi, takoyaki, tempura. soba, udon to name a few.
aside from malaysian/indonesian run food place, indian, pakistani and turkish places mostly halal too if u wish to go easymode.

Well, the challenge to get daily meals is fun, esp getting messed up when buying yogurt thinking its milk n such
been there, done that.. the experiences, priceless



This post has been edited by e-jump: Mar 15 2012, 07:06 AM

same shit, different flavors.
Other than generic touch n go for transportaion use, Suica is useable in Lawson konbini, while Pasmo is useable to pay for .. i cant recall.

I still have my Suica and Icoca

and ppl still say sony only good for making TV and HiFi.
Mine widhstand -ve Temp, rain, high humidity too. If only my lenses are weather sealed n give me more confidence in such situations


anyway

Shibuya Crossing panorama by e-jump, on Flickr


Mt.Fuji by e-jump, on Flickr

i travel w/ tripod, 85mm, 50mm, 28mm, a850, n only carry flash if theres cosplay event

5nites rm2k+ per person is easily doable when u plan it right n dont go far.
I did 15days within rm6k including my figurine shoppings n going over 1000km

the scenery changes along my trip from Nagoya to Takayama
*all shots from inside train


Vast Yellow Field by e-jump, on Flickr


In the mountains by e-jump, on Flickr


Clear River by e-jump, on Flickr


Autumn meets winter by e-jump, on Flickr


Snow field by e-jump, on Flickr

dont worry. that is easily achieavable
theres always cheap food stand around. its just a matter trying to look for it

i survuved 100kyen cash for 2 weeks for accomdation, food n transportation (minus 7day jrpass that covers half of my journey transportations) that goes 3000km, n i still have balance to buy hobby stuffs+omiyage

This post has been edited by e-jump: Jun 23 2012, 03:04 PM

if ur chargers have 100-240v marking on it, ur good to go.
the travelers/universal adapter is just pin converter

and he can opt for night busses (transportation+spend a night in the bus).
srsly, we can only help by giving an idea how much u may spend per day for meals+accomodation what to see.

you need to do your own homework beyond that (travel between cities/country) by using hyperdia n google

yes, the radiation in pretty bad.
but damage has been done. unless u can read hiragana, you can actually buy food (labeld/canned food etc) by seeing where it were produced.

to be frank, the radiation has been spread throughout the world anyway. its just level of contamination

Kyoto n Osaka are far from Fukushima. I just came back ftom Tokyo n Takayama last feb, n no superhumans power as of yet.
yes, i didnt go and check for radiation reading

ditch the JR-east pass and opt for the 7-day JRpass. It will cover your 7days trip on shinkansen and local JR in red above
http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html

the passes above you listed covers non-reserved seats. Tokaido Shinkansen has 6-cars for non-reserved seats. Since you start from Tokyo/Shinagawa, you are at the most end of the line, so u pretty much have high chance to get seat in the non-reserved car (firts come first serve). However it will be a lil diff story if u start from Kansai n back to Tokyo as the start point for Tokaido-Shinkansen is Himeji ( a lil further after Osaka). fret not, its just 200mins journey Osaka-Tokyo.
For reserved seats and green car, theres a counter near the Shinkansen platform entrance.
Basically all u need to do is to show ur JR-pass, and topup a lil more money for the reserved dedicated seats

Since you are on tour, arent u supposed to follow ur group tour planning (transportation selection)?

This post has been edited by e-jump: Jun 25 2012, 06:29 PM

for your blue lines, the suica should be sufficient.
Shinkansen is the bullettrain and it only stops in Kanto at Yokohama, shinagawa and Tokyo.

I cant remember if Tokyo have a 1day pass for the JR+private metro lines, but i do know Osaka and Nagoya has it. If such pass exist, its more cheaper than suica as u can interchange lines between the JR and private lines unlimited.
*but karuizawa will not be covered

wow, this is a new pass, (..or i was not aware of this existence)
I was refering to a 1-day pass where you can buy at the ticket machine. nvm

8K yen is a lot. But it seems to cover the Metro-line
n best of all, it covers ur Shinkansen fare to Karuizawa
http://www.hyperdia.com

its your definite pass to get, but i wont recommend to others iwho only plan to visit tokyo cities only

Sunshine building is open air observation deck too

ah, i missed your question.
unfortunately i cant help much on hotel as im a backpacker/budget traveler.
I stayed at http://www.hotel-taiyo.com/en/map_e.html near ShinImamiya, which is a walking distance to tsukenkaku, den-den all the way to shinsaibashi
Not that great, but suit my budget best.
Last Feb, im surprised of so many malaysian there lol

single ones only shared. jambat at almost every floor, while shower only af 1st floor.
sure gonna queue. unless u r ok to go buttnekkid into the shared open public bath
teeheehee

http://www.hyperdia.com/