Osaka & Kyoto, Japan Thread 3

[minnie99]

Thanks, sis! Mukhang kailangan ko mag-repack. Lol! But are you wearing long sleeves na tapos need pa rin ng jacket? Naku, 'di pa naman ganun ka-kapal 'yung balak kong dalhin na jackets. :/

[anniegurl]

How do you pay your travel tax online? Were flying via jetstar.

[minnie99]

^Sa website ng TIEZA sis. But you need Visa or Bancnet, may additional fees lang na 1.75% for Visa (10 pesos daw kapag Bancnet).

[anniegurl]

Hindi pa ba included ang travel tax sa ticket? I read somewer na its alrrady included.

[minnie99]

Sa LCCs alam ko hindi. Sa PAL may option to include. Travel tax is 1,620. This is different from terminal fee, alam ko 'yun ang included na talaga.

[sophistique]

Thanks, sis! Mukhang kailangan ko mag-repack. Lol! But are you wearing long sleeves na tapos need pa rin ng jacket? Naku, 'di pa naman ganun ka-kapal 'yung balak kong dalhin na jackets. :/

Mine's a light down jacket sis. Okay naman na siguro yung long sleeves with thin jacket or maski yung mga knit pullover. 

[shygirlme]

Hindi pa ba included ang travel tax sa ticket? I read somewer na its alrrady included.

Airport fee yun sis.

[shygirlme]

Eto lang plan namin puntahan sa Kyoto:

Day 1 - Fushimi - Inari, Tofukuji, Gion
Day 2 - Golden Pavilion, Arashiyama

Ano pa ba pwede isingit sa Day 2?
ayaw naman namin puro temples kaya ayan lang pinili namin. Day 3 kasi mag Nara kami sa morning.

TIA!

[sacred cow]

Patulong naman sa itinerary, first time kasi namin magtravel abroad ni gf tapos nahihirapan kami gawin itinerary. Plano namin Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara tsaka Himeji and if possible Uji. 2nd time ko na pumunta ng Kansai region. Last year I traveled alone, tapos airbnb lang ako (got a good deal 5 nights for 2.5k sa namba area) kaso this time kasi medyo choosy si gf sa accomodation, gusto niya yung masayang hostel for new year's eve where we could interact with other travelers, pwede niya ipang instagram at affordable (pref. 3k for 2 per night) combination of hostel and airbnb. Since siya yung maarte sa accomodation, siya na inassign ko maghanap ng accomodation, however since she's a first yr resident..wala rin siyang oras maghanap. Baka may marecommend kayo

travel dates are: dec 31-dec 7 jetstar

tentative itinerary

dec 31 (12:15 am flight to osaka)

get wifi from post office c/o GAC

buy osaka pass kaiyukan nankai version (Y3000/pax)

since we're arriving very early, gusto sana naming iwanan na sa accomodation mga gamit, kahit di muna magcheck in

Osaka Castle
Kaiyukan
Umeda Sky Bldg

day 2 jan 1

Kuromon Ichiba
Denden Town
Museum of Housing and Living
Shinsekai
Tennoji Park
Shittenoji Temple
Tsutenkaku Tower
Don Quixote (Tennoji Branch)

Shinsaibashi
Dotonbori (dinner)

day 3 jan 2

himeji castle
kobe (baka lunch lang steakland)
arima onsen
overnight at arima

(decided to skip kobe since steakland lang ang highlight nung pagpunta ko
last year, mas gusto namin mag onsen)

day 4 jan 3

USJ

day 5 jan 4

Kiyomizudera
Higashiyama
Yasaka Shrine
Kodai-ji Temple
Maruyama Park/Tea Ceremony
Join Walking Tour @ Gion

day 6 jan 5

kinkakuji temple
togetsukyu bridge
iwatayama monkey park (si gf may gusto)
Tenryuji Temple
Arashiyama Bamboo

day 7 jan 6

Nara Park
Kokofuji
Todai-ji
Isuen Park

Nijo Castle
Kyoto Imperial Palace
Fushimi Inari

day 8 jan 7

Momofuku Ando Ramen Museum
Checkout from accomodation
Rinku Outlet Mall
KIX - flight to Manila

medyo packed na kasi kaya hindi ko alam san isisingit si Uji.
sabi ko sana na Kyoto unahin bago Osaka para sunod sunod na kaso
she wants to stay 2-3 nights muna sa Osaka then Kyoto tapos Osaka ulit.
since pareho kami sanay na nasusunod, I know better na magparaya na lang since sya naman 'tong first time pumunta ng Japan otherwise we would just argue even before the trip hehe

patulong naman guys. thanks!!

[minnie99]

Eto lang plan namin puntahan sa Kyoto:

Day 1 - Fushimi - Inari, Tofukuji, Gion
Day 2 - Golden Pavilion, Arashiyama

Ano pa ba pwede isingit sa Day 2?
ayaw naman namin puro temples kaya ayan lang pinili namin. Day 3 kasi mag Nara kami sa morning.

TIA!

Add Kiyomizudera sa Day 1. Maganda siya.   Day 2 seems okay... Not sure if doable... Lalo na if you will be taking the bus? 1 hour ride ang Arashiyama. If you won't take the cruise or the Sagano scenic train ride, baka doable with Kinkakuji. What exactly in Arashiyama do you want to see?

Just came from a weeklong vacation in Osaka & Kyoto. Hindi nasulit, siguro 2 attractions lang per day, nakakasawa din nga naman kasi pare-pareho lang makikita mo, tapos considering na puro lakad pa... But my favorite place in Kyoto was Arashiyama! Sayang, napunta siya sa last day kaya super pagod na kami kaya di na kami masyado naglibot.

Super cold na. Umabot ng 8deg in the morning. Wasn't that ready AT ALL! Hehe. Mostly green pa rin ang leaves. Sayang. But, I love love love Japan talaga!

[shygirlme]

thanks for the reply sis, yung bamboo grove plan namin puntahan don. Iniisip ko nga isingit nalang sa Day 1 para isang punta ng Kyoto nalang? parang aga kasi namin matatapos sa Day 1?

Anyone here who got express pass sa USJ? nung nagpunta kasi kami di kami naka avail. Gusto ko sana malaman if may oras din sya ng pagpasok sa Harry Potter or need din kumuha ng ticket para makapasok?

[blackgreen]

^sis, express pass kami sa USJ. May oras din ang pagpasok. So kung ano yun napili mong oras dun ka lang pwede.

[shygirlme]

^thanks sis! yung iba kasi namin kasama hindi mag express pass eh kaya iniisip namin pano kaya yun?

[blackgreen]

^pag hindi sila express pass kukuha ata sila ng slot dun na mismo sa USJ, though, pag ganun hindi na siguro kayo sabay sabay makakapag HP.

[minnie99]

Try to get in line early na lang sis. Then diretso kayo sa WWOHP sabay-sabay. Nung pumasok kami, wala namang binibigay na timed entry.

RE: Kyoto, okay lang naman ata 1 day lang in Kyoto but Arashiyama is in the West while Gion is in the East, so I do not know if it is doable. Depende siguro sa mode of transpo (train should be okay?).

[shygirlme]

^express pass ba kayo sa USJ sis?

[travelling_daisy]

^^ When we went to USJ last week, we used our Express Pass 4. I got it online through the USJ Japanese website. With the pass, we got a timed-entry to WWOHP.

Onsite, the queue is soooooo longggg. Waiting time posted at the entrance (at 9AM) is 210 minutes! I was thankful we have the Express Pass. Otherwise, naubos oras namin sa kakapila.

For me, worth it naman yung pass.

[shygirlme]

^problem kasi namin oldies yung mga kasama namin so lugi if they will get the express pass eh.

[minnie99]

Just thought I'd share...

Total *necessary* expenditures for my week-long vacation in Osaka & Kyoto: PHP 39,320.32 (estimated, used 0.48 php-jpy exchange rate)

• Food = 23%, save more by eating onigiri, could have saved more because I have a really small appetite and could forego brekky. Spent a lot on Matcha. Lol.
• Transportation = 14%, why they didn't give a discount on the Haruka, I'll never understand. Lol. Save more in Kyoto by getting a bus pass.
• Entrance fees = 11%, 82% is USJ. Save more by choosing the best places to spend your yen on. Was USJ worth it? For WWOHP, yes. The Jurassic Park rides looked F-U-N tho.
• Accommodations = 32%, save more by staying at hostels. AirBnB if you are traveling as a group.
• Airfare = 9%
• Insurance = 2%, don't forego this, guys!
• Add-ons (baggage and seats) = 5%, save more by not selecting a seat, lol
• WiFi = 5%, forego if your AirBnB has pocket WiFi.

Could really have saved a lot more because I ended up staying alone in the AirBnB (dapat pala nag-cancel ako, moderate naman 'yung policy), tapos 'yung food talaga, well, masarap kasi ang food! Hehe.

But then again, ang dami din namin hindi napuntahan dahil sobrang sakit ng mga paa namin, half-day lang kami nagtu-tour, the other half for shopping/resting. Hehe.

Siguro sa next post na lang kung ano mga ginawa namin.

RE: NISHINARI WARD
Stayed here, near Shin-Imamiya, siguro 5-min walk yung apartment ko. Before my flight, di ako makatulog kasi kung [textspeak!]-ano nababasa ko about this place... Yakuza, crime, etc... It's not that bad kung malapit lang naman tutuluyan mo. Pero siguro kung mag-isa ka lang maglalakad sa gabi, matatakot ka nga kasi, by Japanese standards, wala nang tao tapos may mga natutulog pa sa streets.

[sophistique]

^ Felt the same about Shin-Imamiya. For the Osaka leg of our tour, we mostly stayed in Dotonbori kaso nung hindi na available yung Airbnb flat sa certain dates, we "relocated" to Shin-Imamiya. Good thing lang na our place was a few steps away from the subway station.