[Travel] Itinerary for Japan: 9D8N Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe Budget trip

Hey guys, 

I'm back again. I've been really inactive becos the past academic year was quite project-heavy. I can't believe this post has been in my draft since the year ended in 2017 (almost 6 months ... wow). Actually, I've got many other things I would love to write about. Do comment in the comments section if you would like more travel itinerary and tips, or more module reviews (for NUS kids) and perhaps some other miscellaneous topics? 

So ... for this post, I'll be sharing with you my itinerary for my recent Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe budget trip! I have the costs indicated on the RHS so you guys can decide whether to take certain activities out for your own trip (: (some of the costs indicated are not incurred- meaning they are covered by the Amazing Osaka Pass)

Day 1: Tuesday (Chilling around hotel area)

About the Amazing Osaka Pass:

- Super amazing pass that covers many components of your trip

- Valid for purchase ONLY FOR TOURISTS

- Limited to ONE pass for your entire trip (meaning you can't purchase 2 passes for your 4-day trip)

- Covers not just transportation (but also admission to MANY TOURIST ATTRACTIONS)

- You can purchase the 1 day pass if you intend to cover Osaka in a day and spend the other days in Kyoto/Kobe.

- If you purchase the 2 day pass, on the first day when you first feed the card into the card reader, it will punch a hole in the top of your card (marking the 1st day has been used), on the 2nd day when you first use it, there will be a 2nd hole punched in. 

Cost: $39.80 from Klook OR 3300 yen from Tourist counter

How to ensure the Amazing Osaka pass is worth it?

- Important that you plan beforehand the places you wanna visit 

- Find out how much the individual admission tickets costs and make sure the total costs of the entry tickets you intend to visit covers the 3300 yen price for the pass

- You won't be able to cover all the free attractions (with the use of the pass within the 2 day time-frame) so just go for those that have a higher price tag.

About the Hankyu Pass:

- Allows for easy travel between Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe!

- Major sightseeing spots using the pass: Arashiyama (Bamboo Forest), to Ikeda Station (Osaka Cup Noodles Museum), Minoh Station (for Minoh Park- the beautiful waterfall- best time to visit is Spring and Autumn)

- Unlimited train rides on Hankyu Line

- Only valid on Hankyu Line (not any other lines)

Cost: $15.90 from Klook OR 1400 yen from Tourist counter

                           

Day 2: Wednesday (Exploring Osaka)

    

Day 3: Thursday (Exploring Osaka)

Day 4: Friday (Day trip to Nara)

For the next few days I did not place restrictions on time and just listed all the places of interest that had to be visited. Feel free to make reference to the places I went for your own trip. I did manage to cover all the places mentioned.

Day 5: Saturday (Day trip to Higashiyama Kyoto)

Tip for the 500yen Kyoto bus pass:

- Get it only if you will travel more than twice on the bus in a single day

- Board the bus from the back door of the bus, and alight from the front!

- Can purchase the bus pass from any of the bus drivers (It's a green card and you do not need to pay any admin charges for it)

- Buses are very convenient in Kyoto but sometimes google maps directions to certain locations are not right (So ask the locals- the younger people on the streets- how to get to certain places of attractions)

Day 6: Sunday (Day trip to Kobe, Minoh, and Ikeda)

Day 6 seems like a very short day but most of the day is spent traveling to and fro locations (especially to Kobe) but my train trips are all covered by my pass, and I travelled alot on this day to make full us of the pass.

  

Tips for visiting Minoh Park:

- A very nice, quiet and serene location, perfect for an intermediate workout after eating all your sushi, unagi and Ichiran in the city

- The best time to visit the park is any season (best in Autumn and Spring)

- You will get to see the whole park covered in red autumn leaves, and cherry blossoms in Spring.

- I would not recommend you to visit it in the winter as it will be very cold and slippery (making it a hazard for all, especially the young and old). But the whole park will be covered in white, making a very pretty scene to capture (for romantic couples maybe?)

- Remember to visit the waterfall, the key highlight!

- If you're visiting in summer, do bring some towels to enter the streams (and the lower end of the waterfall)- It's super cooling and refreshing to dip your legs during the hot hot summer season.

- Wear proper shoes if possible, to make it safe to climb up.

- The easy route up to the waterfalls might take up to 3 hours (less steep route)

- Professional hikers or those that are more physically able (with proper attire) can try their intermediate/ rocky routes which gives you access up to the waterfall in about 1.5h.

About Kobe:

- There's really nothing much in Kobe, but the port of Kobe earthquake memorial is worth a visit if you happen to be there. 

- Kobe has a long street of sheltered shopping (closes pretty early, so be there before 6pm)

- Chinatown (Nankinmachi) was boring (there wasn't many shops open and unless you are really craving for Chinese food, otherwise, do not bother to make a trip down). Chinatown should be the most crowded during the lunch hour, but when I was there (close to 6pm) it will pretty quiet.

- If you do take beef, the Kobe Beef is a MUST TRY!

- Nunobiki Waterfalls behind Shin-Kobe station is quite a distance away and for safety, please visit it in the day.

Tip for your visit to Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum:

- Super cool place and I urge everyone of you visiting Osaka to come here to make your very own Instant cup noodles to bring home!

- The whole process of making the cup noodles is super cool (and suitable for all ages, not just kids)

- Get to explore how cup noodles has evolved over the years and get nice pictures.

- If you bought the pass, show your pass at the info counter for free gift (Not sure if this is still avail, as I can no longer find info on this deal)

- Good for families with young kids (Can sign up for free ramen making class on the spot- subject to avail and get free bandana)

Day 7: Monday (Day trip to Arashiyama Kyoto)

 Day 8: Tuesday (Day trip to South Kyoto)

From here onwards, it was free and easy and up to us to see how tired we were to explore places (therefore no time indicated).

Day 9: Wednesday (Back home to Singapore)

Our flight was 2pm so my last day was nothing much but to buy anything we needed to buy last minute from Osaka or Umeda station.

10am- Check out and do any last minute shopping near Umeda/Osaka Station

11am- Leave for airport

12pm- Reach airport

This is all I have for a 8D7N Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe trip. It was a fun-filled and my 2nd visit to Japan and the trip was a super memorable one as I took a long time to plan out this itinerary. Hope everything here is useful for everyone reading this. And may all of you readers out there have a nice holiday. Stay safe and enjoy yourselves! 

Hint: Look out for my next post on a Tokyo Itinerary! :)

Cheers!

Rachel

[Travel] 5D4N Penang Free and Easy Itinerary

Dear all,

Finally back to share with you all my itinerary for my Penang trip in May 2017. Felt so blessed to have traveled 4 times before the year even ends. Went to Desaru in January, Penang in May, Japan in July, Melbourne in August. This makes me tempted to go solo traveling after graduation!

Will share with you guys my itinerary for Japan, Osaka in my upcoming posts!(: Now let me share with you on my planning for the Penang trip. Do note that I'm not sponsored for any of the food/ places I'm sharing! Frankly, I feel Penang is a really affordable and nice place to visit for Singaporeans who have short leave/ vacation! I booked 5D4N accommodation after much deliberation but honestly 4D3N was sufficient as Penang is a pretty small island. I simply wanted to make my air ticket worth and spent more days since accommodation there is really cheap! Read on to find out on the details!

By plane or coach?
I honestly wanted to, as usual, go on a budget trip. So taking a coach was initially my plan. This trip almost didn't happen cos my mother did not want to 'live' in a coach for 10 hours (time taken for the coach to reach Penang from SG) although it cost only about $35-40 per pax, the reviews for the coach didn't convince my mother to take it (passengers complained about rude drivers who didn't bother to ensure everyone was onboard before departing the customs, bed bugs on the seats, uncomfortable and dirty buses, etc.) and the flights were so expensive when I was planning for the trip in April.

But, thank god, 1 week before our scheduled trip, Jetstar was on sale, and guess how much I paid for the round trip tickets? 100 per pax? NOPE, it was only $65!

Do note I didn't purchase check-in luggage (so I only had a 7kg handcarry- think that's sufficient unless you intend to bring back liquid products?) (TIP: Rmb to not pack in your toiletries like shampoo and shower gel unless it's packed in 100ml bottles- otherwise you'll have to say goodbye to them even before boarding the plane)

Although it was ~$30 more than taking the coach, taking into account the amount of time you save (from taking plane VS coach), it is actually extremely worth it!! The flight was only 1h 30min (but it took shorter than expected, we arrived in about 1h 15min)

But do note, the timing for the flight isn't the most ideal as we arrived in Penang at 9pm. This meant, 1 day has been 'wasted' and you basically just head to the hotel to sleep after arriving.

Accommodation
There is a wide variety of hotels you can choose from but Armenian Street Heritage Hotel attracted me due to their attractive price and decent location!

I paid ~$35-38 per night stay and overall the hotel was super worth the price paid! The only downside is that you should pray you don't get a room with the air conditioning installed in the room. Felt that was such a major architectural flaw. The room that we first got had a mini room to house the compressor, so when we turned on the air conditioning, the whole room sounded like an enclosed helipad.

The staff were really kind when we requested for a change in room and kindly explained to us that the only room available for the night as a replacement room is a Double bed room (which was 3/4 the size of the previous room) instead of a Twin room which we booked. But since we value a comfortable sleep on our first night, we agreed to sleep there for that night (but we eventually switched back to a twin room on the 2nd night onwards).

The room comes with an ensuite bathroom, which had all the toiletries you needed, a cupboard to hang your clothes, luggage stand. I was just hoping there would be bathroom slippers (cos we only brought one pair of slippers so we had to take turns just to walk around the room to do whatever we needed to do)

The location was convenient as it was just a 5-10 minute walk to Chulia Street (which had the amazing night life every tired Singaporeans need- with amazing lok lok and other food options too). There was also a busstop directly opposite the hotel (but we didn't take the bus at all as most places are walkable distance from the hotel).

Itinerary

Do refer to the itinerary I have below. I did not follow it 100%, as I altered it based on weather conditions (it was raining crazy on one of the days). Some of these places are recommended by my friend who is a Penangite.

Day 1

6pm                       Arrive at Changi Airport for dinner

7.30pm                 Flight 3K677

9pm                       Arrival at Penang - Take Uber (RM15) (About 30 minute drive)

                               Check-in hotel (Armenian Street Heritage Hotel)

10.30pm                Explore and head to Chulia Street Night Hawker                

Day 2

7am                       Rise and Shine

7.30am                 Breakfast: Roti Canai @ Transfer Road (Business hours: 6am-2pm)

9am                       Lebuh Kimberly Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng (RM5) (Go early, lunch time) and       Kimberley Street Char Koay Kak (opens 7 - 11am)

10am                     Penang Wonderfood museum (RM20 per pax using discount coupon)

12pm                     Lunch at Joo Hooi Café (has all different food, outside has popular chendol)

1pm                       Explore all murals (use the map provided from airport)

3pm                       Prangin Mall, 1^st Avenue Mall, Komtar Mall, Gama Supermarket and                          departmental store (behind Komtar mall)

5pm                       888 Hokkien Mee (Lebuh Presgrave)

Day 3

6am                       Rise and Shine

6.30am                  Head to Penang Hill (Via bus 201 from Komtar or Uber)

11am                     Try Air Itam Assam Laksa (at foot of Kek Lok Si) and Lim Sisters Curry Mee            (opens until 1pm only)

12pm                     Head to Kek Lok Si Temple thereafter

1pm                       Travel back to George Town

2pm                       Ah Leng Char Kuay Teow (Dato Keramat) (8.30am to 2.30pm)

 3pm                      Head to Cecil Street Market and Hawker Centre (Behind Komtar) (Must try Duck    Kuay Teow Theng)

4pm                       Pinang Peranakan Museum (Church Street)

5pm                       Lebuh Macallum Pasar Malam

Day 4

7am                         Take pictures at Clan Jetties (Chew Jetty)

9am                         Cheong Fatt Sze Mansion (blue house)

                                Kimberly Street Duck Koay Chap (opens 6 – 11pm)

                                Tua Pui Curry Mee (Kimberley Street) (9am – 5.30pm) Closed on Wednesdays

 Ban Heang Bakery

 Ming Xiang Tai egg tarts (To buy back!)

 Reclining Buddha Wat Chaiyamangalaram and Dharmmikarama Burmese                             Temple

 Gurney Plaza

 Gurney Drive Hawker Centre for dinner

Day 5

8am                        Wake up

                                Final moments in Penang

                                Chowrasta Market

                                Try the famous Char Kway Teow (directly opposite hotel)

7pm                        Leave for Airport

7.45pm                   Need to reach airport

9.45pm                   Flight 3K678

11.10pm                 Arrival @ Changi Airport             

I'll upload some photos in my next post! So do keep a lookout!!(: Oh yes, if any of you is wondering, I did not purchase SIM card or Wifi. It was honestly a bit of a torture as we are all so reliant on internet these days. I still managed to get around Penang without much trouble (except when I had to book an Uber back to the hotel - had to search for Mcdonald's in the malls in order to book one)

Regards,

Rachel