japan for under ¥5,000 a day...

many people have the misconception that you need to spend lots to go to japan... i went there and found that you can basically spend around ¥5,000 a day and not break your bank balance...

how much is ¥5,000??? well, it is roughly less than US$50.00 a day... so how do i accomplish that?

first, you need to subtract the cost of your airline ticket and, if you bought the JR Pass which cost range as below, please do not count these into the equation.

on a side note, please consider buying a JR Pass if you plan to travel around japan using its bullet train/shinkansen...

Type:	Green		Ordinary
Duration	Adult	Child	Adult	Child
7-day	37,800 YEN	18,900 YEN	28,300 YEN	14,150 YEN
14-day	61,200 YEN	30,600 YEN	45,100 YEN	22,550 YEN
21-day	79,600 YEN	39,800 YEN	57,700YEN	28,850 YEN

how to spend less than ¥5,000 a day? one of the things you can save on is accommodation... in osaka, i stayed at this little hotel called hotel chuo which charged ¥2,500 per night... do your research beforehand... this hotel was listed online... you'd find that japan is very internet savvy so most things are available online (the information)...


hotel chuo...



i found that if you stayed in tatami-styled rooms, it would be cheaper by a few hundred yens.. hahha... but quite comfy if you are used to sleeping this way...

but be warned, these hotels usually don't have a lot of luxuries... for example you need to share a common bathroom... but you get your own personal room and high speed internet connection...

meals are not that expensive... on average, you are looking at around ¥500 - ¥800 for a normal meal sets... some are cheaper and some are more expensive...





but japan is filled with chained food stores which offer good prices for their value meals...



this is one of them... all operated by one person... we were kind of amazed that one person did the welcome/cooking/serving/washing... you have got to visit to experience...

so far, ¥2,500 (hotel) + ¥1,500 (3 meals), it takes you to ¥4,000... how about your travel? well... the JR Pass lets you ride all its trains for free because you have paid for it beforehand, so you don't need to worry about that... unless you travel on its subways, you are looking to pay around from ¥160 for the trips..

if you want soft drinks, they cost ¥150 (in general)...



most of these soft drinks are available from the vending machines...



obviously, if your budget is higher, then you can spend on other luxuries...

more to come...

backpackers' hotel NEW KOYO, tokyo japan...

after searching a while for a good rate for places to stay in tokyo, i continuously am directed to hotel new koyo ...

picture of the hotel from their web-site...

located in minami-senju, this place is by far the cheapest thing you can get in tokyo... especially if you are on budget, then this is the place to be...

i stayed 6 nights there and enjoyed it thoroughly... for the price that i was paying...

i got a medium single western room... it was comfy but by now i realised that i could have easily  stayed in a small single japanese room... it will be 200 yen cheaper per night and you wouldn't notice that you will be sleeping on the tatami mat because you are so tired from your day of wondering around tokyo...

pictures from their website...

to find the hotel, you will need to be fairly confident from the map... it is actually not that difficult to find and from JR minami-senju station or the subway line, it is around 10 minutes walk... you will need to walk up a overhead crossing that crosses through some rail tracks.. as you come near to the hotel, you will see a cross-section with a 7-11 on one end... the hotel is in the alleyway...

map taken from their website...

they don't have a curfew but their shower rooms are only available from 6am till 10pm, so before or after you won't be able to take baths...

more pictures from their website...

they do offer free water/tea but you need to pay if you want to use the gas, which is fair...

 

now, you ask me why i put these pictures there... because it looks exactly like this.. no need for me to put up my pictures (which i did not take)...

i do recommend this if you are on budget... you are looking at roughly paying yen2,500 for a single japanese-styled room.... and it is a huge savings for you to explore tokyo...

tokyo has so much to explore, you probably need at least one week... i have still some places i wanna go... so i might go back again... soon...

technorati tags:japan, accommodation, tokyo, cheapstay

japan trip... afterthought...

i finally concluded my trip to japan... it was full on 14 days of backpacking with some shopping done... all in all, i had a good time...

it is a wonderful experience and i hope to go back again... i was really tired out at the end of that 14 days and from this picture, you can see an extremely tired traveller...

these 14 days brought me to a few places... the first being KYOTO...

while you can still do a spot of shopping in kyoto, it is really a place to marvel at the architecture of past with the countless shrines scattered all over the old city...

there was a lot to see... and i fitted in as much as i can during my stay... obviously i need to go back if i wanted to see more of the place...

even from this picture you can see the tiredness in me...

also... it introduced me to travelling on the shinkansen... or bullet train...

i only travelled on the hikari... but it was fast enough for me....

i arrived at OSAKA first, but only got to go around osaka on day 2.... i only managed to fully appreciate the hugeness of osaka after spending time in its central districts...

tokyo is a huge city... it is far more complicated that osaka.... but a different kind of complicated... nice.... the shopping districts of shibuya and shinjuku are so big... it takes a few days just to window shop... let alone going in to see shop by shop...

if you are in shibuya, then you need to take this picture with hachiko the dog... there is a history behind it..

mt. fuji is visible from afar... but to get there takes a long time... but the truth is, if you say you have been to japan without taking a photo of this, then it is like your visit is not complete... even though it is ardous, go if u can....

i have to say my visit to disney was fun... except for the queue...

as commercialised as disney is, it is still somewhere you have to go take a look-see... i didn't go to universal studios in osaka but i thought this was fun enough...

the whole trip there was fun until my battery ran out... i need to get a spare pack for my camera... but i think i need to upgrade my camera...

the only thing not recommended here in disney is the turkey... it is smoked... and did not taste nice...

hiroshima was an experience... the impact of what happened in 1945 did not hit me until i went to their museum... it was a somber experience... and seeing some of the displays were a bit uncomfortable....

this is the a-bomb center...  the few standing ruins that survived the bomb...

one thing you notice here is the bus loads of school kids here...

miyajima island... the first thing you see there is the abundance of wild deers... and i mean a lot of them... they are not scared of people... and people don't feed them... but there are warning signs in booklets and posts saying you need to be careful to not let the deers eat your belongings...

the otori is the gate to the island... built from timber.. miyajima is listed as one of three most scenic spots in japan.... is it worth it to go there... depends... but it is an experience... if you are in hiroshima then you should go round to miyajima...

technorati tags:japan, afterthought

japan... the penultimate day...

today, my penultimate day.... we went to kyoto to see the golden and silver temples... which i missed on day 1 of my trip here...

the golden temple is really gold in color.. from gold leaves... but the silver one... er..

anyway... we also went to see some rocks..

before heading to see the imperial palace... we were not allowed in coz we did not make a booking to see it...

i need to go on diet... cut down my carbs intake...

i tummy is expanding... need to trim down....

technorati tags:japan, day14, kyoto, diet

japan day 12... miyajima...

today i took the tram and later the ferry over from hiroshima to miyajima... where the famous itsukushima shrine is... but before getting there to the shrine, you would see a lot of wild deers...

anyway, these deers don't get in the way... they just lay about and graze... whatever they can find...

the shrine is about 20 minutes walk from the ferry terminal... it requires a YEN 300 entrance fee...

i paid at the entrance where it was manned, but at the other end, no one was there... some angmoh gal just walked into that end even though there was signage in english saying that visitors should use the entrance and pay... maybe she paid on exiting the entrance, shown here...

i didn't wait till the tide to recede so that i can go to the gate... but i took a picture anyway...

lunch was oysters... in udon... my friend suggested that i try so i did...

generally, it is a worthwhile experience... you must go here...

technorati tags:japan, day12, miyajima

japan day 11... hiroshima, a somber experience..

i boarded the train to hiroshima from osaka...

in hiroshima, i was kinda taken aback by the slower pace... which is OK... the place is easy to get around... the tourist map you get from the shinkansen station - hiroshima station.... is good enough for you to get to where u wanna go...

my first stop was at the remnants of the atomic bomb...

i wasn't really taken in by it all until i got to the museum.... in there, i was a bit sadden to see what the bomb did to the people and city of hiroshima...

this was the model on display... only a few buildings were left standing... so basically what you see now is rebuilt...

but the somberness still leaves me a bit distraught....

you should not miss coming here to hiroshima for the feel... the history is one thing... but the feel of a city destroyed and now rebuilt...

tomorrow i'm heading off to miyajima...

technorati tags:japan, day11, hiroshima

japan day 10... tired out...

it has been ten days since i got here to japan... and i'm tired out... physically and mentally... while the mind is somewhat willing my body to keep on walking, my blistered feet is telling my mind to slow down...

anyway, i was going to say that in osaka, it is common courtesy to keep right on the escalators if u intend to stand stationary... in tokyo it is left... and so is in kyoto... just so you know... and not let the locals pick u out to be a tourist... hahaha

the gals in shinsaibashi shopping mall are dressed fairly loud.. i mean the hair puts paris and christina and britney to shame.... not one but a lot of them are all decked in their hippest of outfits and walk the shopping area...

also... japan is in a peddling mode... most japanese now use pedal power to get from A to B... but they are a nuisance...

they zig-zag all over the place...

while i complain, you really need to marvel at the advancement that is Japan... they have the most compact of things... and they all strive to be better...

my tired legs forced me to sit down... i ended up eating ten-don for dinner... nice... the veges were friend tempura style but tasted good...

i'm going to have another tired out day... so see you guys online soon...

technorati tags:japan, day10, ten-don