Travel: Japan - General

[ksme]

i3mum:

Hi,


Has anyone book their F&E flights to tokyo before? Did anyone take taxi and knows how much it cost??

Taxi very expensive leh. Take the airport limousine. Even during biz trip, we also take the airport limousine. You can find the schedule, route and the cost online. Have fun!

[ksme]

Dinah:

Hi,


Anyone here have recommendation on transportation deals within Tokyo? eg: (1)Tokyo Metro Pass-cannot travel on Toei Line; (2)Tokyo One-Day Free Ticket ((aka Tokyo Free Kippu 1580 yen)-unlimited 1-day use of all subway lines (Toei and Tokyo Metro) and JR trains in the central Tokyo area + Toei buses; (3)Tokunai Pass (730 yen)-unlimited 1-day use of JR trains in the central Tokyo area. Which provides the best coverage and is most economical for those tourist area?

A friend who is working in Tokyo recommended us to buy the stored value ticket in Tokyo and we could use it for all the lines and places. Just top up when it runs low. You can surrender the unused portion at end of your trip to get a refund.

Unless you can plan all your routes upfront and do comparison of the costs, the stored value ticket is very convenient and you don't have to worry about which line you can take etc. Some days we don't even spend up to the amount of the 1 day pass. It provides lots of flexibility on your travel and plans.

Btw, at every subway/JR station, there is either an office or a booth/table with the chop for that station. If your kid is interested, you can collect the chops on a nice booklet as a trip momento. We collected quite a few and my kid loves the different design for each station.

[Babydurian]

Hakonr is nice. Do remember to stop by one of the hotspot to have your hot spring eggs. It was a regret that we did not visit the place on our last visit.

[rocklee]

Hi there,


After considering for 1 whole month, I finally booked my airtickets to Tokyo. It will be a 6D5N tour. Anyone kind enough to give me some advice on the accomodation. I am thinking of either the Grand Hotel New Takanawa (GHNT) or The Prince Sakura Tower. I understand that both hotels are near to Shinagawa station and both offer shuttle service to disneyland. I think The prince sakura tower has more spacious room to accomodate 2 adults + 2 kids and it is slightly nearer Shingawa station compared to GHNT. However, as I plan to take a day tour to Mt Fuji from the Sunrise Tour, the pickup point is at GHNT. So may I know whether from the prince sakura tower to GHNT, is it within walking distance?

There are plenty of things I want to do and explore in Tokyo, however, given the time constraint, budget constraint, kids constraint, we would like to take it easy and stay focus on a few areas. So here’s my plan:

Day 1 : arrived at Narita 1620. check in hotel. Explore shinagawa area.
Day 2 : Disneyland
Day 3 : Disneysea
Day 4: Day tour to Mt fuji
Day 5 : Toyko sealife park and shopping
Day 6 : Last min shopping and in the afternoon sayonara to toyko

Any comments on the places that we should not miss and kids will enjoy?

Also during the NATAS Fair, I was advised that there is this store value card that works exactly like our ez link card. Anyone has any idea what card is that called, where to get it and how much?

Thanks.

[mckenzy]

> So may I know whether from the prince sakura tower to GHNT, is it within walking distance?


Grand PRINCE hotel New Takanawa?
A stones throw away…


> Day 4: Day tour to Mt fuji

When will you be traveling to Japan? Certain seasons anything above 5th station is closed due to falling rocks.

[rocklee]

Hi Mckenzy


Thank you for your response.

We are going to Mt Fuji on or around 26 Nov.

I am still checking on the accomodation. Can recommend a reliable website for hotel booking?

I have checked hotels.com and a few others. Very often these websites do not have rooms available if I type in 2 adults 2 children. So when I typed 2 adults, I can see many hotels offering twin rooms or double rooms. However, when I checked out with a few local agents, they advised hotels in japan usually charged per person. So I may have to incur extra person charge. I was also told that kids above age 6 is no longer considered "children" and hence have to pay adult price. I have emailed the Prince hotel but the email was redirected to the singapore agent who then advised that I have to book two rooms.

Any advice on this?

[mckenzy]

Hi rocklee... i think no one climbs Mt Fuji after September... at most, the off-season buses will bring you to Gotemba 5th station... provided you can find a company that will bring you there... Odakyu might but the timing may be irregular...


Accommodation
Most of us encounter this same problem when we travel overseas... - How to fit a family of 2 adults and 2 children into one hotel room...

In Japan they can be strict. As one poster said, they go by per pax... i can personally tell you how painful this ruling is... all i can say is: try booking for a ryokan... then you see how costly your accommodations can be in japan...

Japan is slowly opening up to the idea that people travel in FAMILIES... so you can sometimes see a hotel (or ryokan) that will offer the room as a package, and not - per person.

Persistence will pay off...

A good place to start is tripadvisor.com
You can't book from their site but at least you can gauge the hotel's receptivity to putting more that the allotted number of people in a room...

...


btw... The Prince Sakura has QUAD rooms...


..

[mckenzy]

When we initially planned for Japan, Mount Fuji was a definite 'must see' activity.


After much research, we realised that Autumn, December and early January are not the best times to do so. During those periods, Fuji is mostly covered with clouds, experiencing mini avalanches which cause rocks to tumble, and most of the upper stations are closed.

To truly climb this mountain, its best between July to End August...

Since we are a family with a 12 and 7yr old.. we decided to skip this climbing thingee...

Lessons learned when we actually went to Japan:

- Mount Fuji can be seen from our Hotel room in downtown Tokyo
- Mount Fuji can be seen from Gotemba Premium Outlet
- Mount Fuji can be seen en route the ropeway from Togendai (Hakone) to Owakudani (and vice versa)
- At Owakudani... Fuji is bigger than life.
- Mount Fuji cannot be seen from Lake Ashi

So... to be able to see Fuji in all its splendor...? Or to Climb Fuji and see bare land and rocks but not the view of the mountain itself? (other than to say that \"We climbed Mt Fuji\")

Technically during the off-seasons, you can't say you've climbed Mt Fuji... but you can say, \"I was ON Mt Fuji\"... so... to each his/her own...

(i'd rather save the money on jap food)



..

[rocklee]

Hi Mckenzy


Thanks for your advice. I have checked with the Prince’s singapore sales office and the salesperson insisted that I have to book two rooms. Even with room as big as 46sqm, which comes with a rollwaway bed, she insisted the second child will have no place to sleep. Sometimes can;t understand why they can’t just be more flexible. So now my options are:

1. go ahead with booking a twin room (then run the risk of paying much more extra charges upon check-in or simply get rejected and sleep on the roadside lor)

2. pay for a quad room which can easily come up to $3k+.

3. continue searching…

BTW which hotel did you stay in during the last visit? Did you end up with 2 rooms too?

[mckenzy]

Lets just say we had special arrangements at Shinagwa Prince for accommodations...


Can't help you much here... sorry

rocklee:

Hi Mckenzy

...BTW which hotel did you stay in during the last visit? Did you end up with 2 rooms too?