[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] Traveling to Tokyo with a budget? Here's how you can travel to Tokyo for just $660 per pax (inclusive of air tickets and accomodation)

Dear readers,

Always have plans to visit Japan but low budget so you decide to forgo the trip?

Fret not, because that was my initial thought too, but turns out, Japan isn't as expensive as how everyone thinks it is.

So here are some tips I have for anyone traveling on a budget (like I always do).

Flight:
To work around a budget for flight, you should try not to exceed $500 for a trip to Japan. You'll be able to spend slightly below $400 if you manage to catch a good deal (and if you book earlier in advanced) Scoot constantly offers amazing offers, so be sure to catch them! (Reminder, this is not a paid/ sponsored post, I am just sharing my experience to you guys)

For my recent trip to Tokyo in June, I booked my flights really last minute, about 2 weeks in advanced so I did not manage to get such an attractive flight price. My flight with Scoot was about $515 per pax, which wasn't so bad, but if you cannot survive without entertainment and food on flight, then Scoot will not be the flight you'll want to take for a trip to Japan. Perhaps, consider Japan Airlines, which was about $650 per pax. Plus they fly direct and provides meals on board. But being such a budget person, I wanted to save that $145 per pax (so I could do more shopping and eating) so I flew with Scoot in the end although Japan Airlines' price was pretty attractive.

Price Damage: $515 per pax

Accomodation
For accomodation, when I was sourcing around, Tokyo accomodations were rather expensive as compared to the prices in Korea.

While definitely you'll want to stay at somewhere convenient, eg. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc. do note that the prices are much much steeper there (About $90 to over $100)

Before I went, I asked my friends on locations they recommended to stay in Tokyo. The common response were Ueno, Tokyo station, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku. But since I was traveling on a budget, I stayed at a Flexstay accomodation which provided me everything I needed. While it might be near a small (and rather unknown) station, plus tourists hardly stay near this station, it provided me decent convenience to travel to all areas. Plus, Flexstay Inn Higashi-Jujo was just a 2 minutes walk/ 1 minute brisk-walk to the Higashi-Jujo Station, and a 5-7 minutes walk to Jujo Station. From Jujo station, there were direct trains to Shinjuku and Shibuya, which made it very convenient since it was close to 2 different train stations of different lines. To add on, the environment made it a wonderful to experience their local neighbourhood atmosphere.

In the room, amenities were more than sufficient. Ensuite bathroom, double bed with quilt, bedroom slippers, bathrobe, shampoo, shower gel, razor blades all inclusive.

I really loved the comfy feel of the room (it wasn't spacious nor was it too cramped) and the amazing price paid for the room makes it even more worth it.

Price Damage: Max $60 per night (extremely affordable for ensuite bathroom and everything you need is available in the room)

Food
Expensive food in Japan? No, not at all. It's decently priced, really!

As a pretty giam siap (aka thrifty) person, I felt that Japan was a perfect paradise for food. Quality food with amazing prices.

They have many underground shopping areas which offers affordable and a decent variety of good (some were really cheap: about SGD5)

My personal list of must-eats in Tokyo (in no specific order):
1. Tako-yaki
There's this brand, Gindako that you'll come across almost anywhere in Tokyo. It tastes yummy because it's serve when its just done so it's warm and there's generous amount of fillings. There's also a popular stall in Ueno (Ameyoko Street) with affordable and yummy tako-yaki. There's usually a queue at this stall I think because people like the idea of choosing how much bonito flakes, seaweed powder and mayo you'd like with your tako-yaki.
Price Damage: $

2. Red bean filled fish-shaped pancake
This can be found anywhere, even in the shopping malls. Some are in the shape of a fish, while some are not. All tastes about the same, but I loved this snack in general because the filling is extremely generous. Every bite of pastry always has sufficient red bean filling.
Price Damage: $

3. BBQ squid with Japanese mayo
(THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THING I ATE IN TOKYO)
I have no idea where else can you eat this, but I had it at one of the seafood stalls in Ueno (it was a small quiet lane) but served amazing food like Chirashi Don. I paid only about 300 plus yen for this squid which I got a chance to BBQ myself. Wonderful experience, wonderful price, wonderful taste.
Price Damage: $$

4. Green tea/ Matcha ice cream cone
Everywhere and anywhere serves this. But the cheapest one I came across was in Ueno along Ameyoko Street (about 200/250 yen). The usual price for this is about 300-400 yen. Really love how the ice-cream is so smooth and milky.
Price Damage: $$

5. Ichiran Ramen
The famous Ichiran Ramen is a must-try. If you're in Tokyo for more than a day, I guarantee you'll want to go back the next day after you've first tried it. The texture of the noodle is something that any Singapore ramen store will never be able to replicate. The broth is so rich and fragrant that I wished the soup was free-flow. Their onsen egg was also really yummy and cooked just right (it tastes different from those in Singapore's ramen stores). Ichiran can be found in tourist areas like Shibuya, Asakusa, Shinjuku, etc.

Tip: Request to sit at the private counter. No one will ever see how unglam you slurp your noodles and gives you all the privacy you need to eat your noodles. Experience the local culture! (which you'll never experience in SG) (plus there's a water dispenser in each of these private counters)
Price Damage: $$$

6. Curry Rice
Their curry rice is worth a try while in Tokyo. The curry is usually really fragrant and tasty because the meat is cooked with the curry till really tender and soft .Japan's beef curry is supposedly really popular, but I didnt try due to religious beliefs. Do try and let me know how's it!
Price Damage: $$

7. Pablo Cheese Tart
Try their special items that are available only to that certain branch. I'll recommend to visit the branch at Harajuku as I love the atmosphere there and they have some branch special menu (where certain items are not available at their other outlets). There's always a queue, even on weekdays, but definitely worth the queue. I ordered the big Pablo tart, small cheese tarts and matcha cheese tarts. Those were really good, and are must-try. Even if you don't dine in, do tabao back to your hotel room!!

They serve shaved ice too but really, don't waste your money getting that. It was just coarse shaved ice with choco syrup and choco flakes drizzled and sprinkled over. (I find our Ice Kachang tastes much better)
Price Damage: $$$

8. Unagi 
(OMG THIS IS A MUST-EAT IN TOKYO, THEIR UNAGI IS A 1000 TIMES NICER THAN ANY UNAGI YOU'VE EATEN (in SG) THE PAST IDK HOW MANY YEARS IN YOUR LIFE, I GUARANTEE, SUMPA)
I tried Unagi don at Tsukiji Fish Market. It was really cheap and good. The unagi was so soft and almost melted in my mouth. Words cannot describe how amazing it tasted, you should go and try it for yourself. Total price damage should not exceed 1000yen if you choose the regular sized one.
Price Damage: $$$$ (but super worth it for the portion size and for its amazing texture and taste)

9. Chirashi Don
I had this at Ueno with the BBQ squid. The amount of fish in there is really really generous for the price I paid. I had mine for about SGD10, and the amount of fish was really overflowing I couldn't even see the rice in the bowl. Worth a try, and you should probably try it at one of the stalls at Tsukiji (I didn't as the queues were crazily long)
Price Damage: $$$

10. Sashimi
I tried the sashimi from Sushi Zanmai. Request for a counter seat, it will be great experience seeing the chefs prepare the sashimi and serve it to you directly. The seafood were really fresh and it was really yummy. What's a trip to Japan without trying their Sushi? I know there are other more popular places for sashimi in Tokyo, but I'm not a fan of sashimi so I did not do any relevant research.
Price Damage: $$$


Shopping

Fashion:
I did most of my shopping in Ginza and Takeshita Street. Most of my clothing were from GU, Uniqlo or F21. The stores there have really amazing offers that you would NEVER find in Singapore even during the GSS period. I bought several culottes at about 500yen, that's about SGD6 only. I also manage to get several dress and bottoms from F21 for below 12SGD too. It was amazing shopping in Tokyo, and totally beyond my expectations. I left for the trip thinking I'd go back with minimal shopping, but I came back to SG with more shopping than expected.

Takeshita street has this really cheap clothing store on the left side of the street (2nd level). Majority of the clothing are below SGD12 and I managed to get really good value clothing like denim vests and off-shoulder blouse from there.

Tidbits/ Souvenirs:
You must be thinking, what to get for friends/ family as souvenirs. I would personally recommend getting tidbits unique to Japan. In fact, you can get really interesting stuff in Daiso.

Do note that in Japan's Daiso, majority of the stuff are priced at 100yen (which is about SGD1.20) Though keep a lookout on the price tag as there are other items priced at 150, 200, 250 ... 550yen too.

What I got back as souvenirs from Japan were matcha flavoured Oreos, green tea, sushi-design mini erasers, matcha flavoured kit kats, matcha-flavoured everything basically... I had one whole handcarry bag filled with tidbits (cos they were really cheap and good!!)


Overview
As you guys can see from the post, Tokyo isn't really an expensive city to visit for a budget holiday. I had a wonderful time in Tokyo, and my expenditure per pax was really decent. If you guys have any budget tips to share, comment below. I'd want to learn too!

Hope you guys enjoy the blog post. Stay tuned for pictures of the Tokyo trip soon!!

Love,
Rachel