I went to Wakayama on the very first day of my spring Kansai 2015 trip. I hadn't thought nor researched much about Wakayama prior. The idea of going beyond Kyoto and Osaka only struck me while i waited for my flight to depart Changi Airport. Talk about YOLO LOL.
“Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県 Wakayama-ken?) is a prefecture of Japan located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region on Honshū island.[1] The capital is the city of Wakayama”
The 28th October 2013 marks the 7th day of my extended CoFesta Ambassador trip in Japan last autumn. I was invited as an Ambassador for CoFesta in recognition of my continuous work of sharing Japanese related content online. I extended the trip and made it into a 12 days trip from Tokyo to Osaka and Kyoto.
- Read about my CoFesta related travel trips here (Click!)
- Read about my Japan related travel blogs & tips here (Click!)
So yes, that Monday morning marked my first morning in Kyoto! I’ve been dreaming of a Kyoto flooded red with maple leaves ever since reading the grotesque and romanticised descriptions in Yami no Matsuei. After a tedious and anxious day of rushing for my Shinkansen and lugging my luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto the day before, I woke up at 10am haha. By the time I got out of the Hostel it was already 12:30pm hahaha. This is why I like travelling solo; I sleep and rise according to my own wishes.
I stayed in Smile Asagaya Hotel during my Spring Tokyo trip and had a very good experience there.
I stayed alone in their single room for 4 nights. As that was the only room type I had access to, my review will solely focus on that.
The rooms are really small and only absolutely necessary walking space is allocated. However, being in space constrained Tokyo, that is something to be expected. I am a petite Asian girl and I find the space comfortable enough for a single adult. However friends of heavier volume might find it difficult to manoeuvre around.
The room includes the basic amenities such as
In front of level 2's lift is a metal rack with pillows that hotel guests can freely take to their room. Staying in level 2 itself meant I quickly grabbed a buckwheat pillow for myself the first day I checked in :D .
The bed was a simple mattress with pillow and thick blanket but man, it was SO COMFORTABLE!
The mattress was soft but not too soft and was at the right density for both comfort and good spinal support. The buckwheat pillow also gave the sleeping experience additional points as not only does it smell heavenly, it also felt very good on my neck.
I tend to feel anaemia easily so I always have to sleep with a high enough pillow. If I don't, I wake up with massive headache. I might have to say the bed and pillow is probably the best of all hotels/hostels I've tried, beating even 5 star hotels.
There is additional comforter in the top cabinet.
The toilet is tiny and feels a little cramped even for someone as small as me. However the basic amenities are in place.
There are hot and cold water for shower and at the wash basin. Complimentary vanity items such as toothbrush, tooth paste, shower sponge and comb are provided.
Much like most of Tokyo, the hotel also provides automated toilet bowls.
Everything looks clean and new. Nothing to jump about ;)
Absolutely in love with the location! The nearest JR station is JR Asagaya Station. And any hotels near a JR station is good for tourists!
On first look, Asagaya looked like an unfamiliar place for a tourist to stay in. But it is actually only 5 JR Train stations away from Shinjuku.
The hotel is a comfortable walking distance (5 minutes walk) from JR Asagaya train station and the area is a bustling little suburb by itself. Being an area where local Japanese reside in, the area is filled with restaurants, cafes, super markets, grocery shops and drug stores. Things there are generally more affordable too.
I bought most of my souvenirs from budget stores or candy stores around Asagaya (Alert: cheapskate! LOL) . I bought a lot of Japanese chocolates back as souvenirs for my family and friends xD
The counter service is available 24hours a day, which is good of course. The hotel requires all guest to leave their room keys at the counter before going out. When they return, the Hotel guests will pick up their room key by telling the staff their room number.
To be honest I find this arrangement highly insecure. No form of identification was required to pick up the keys. What if some stalker decides to try something funny?
The hotel staffs I came in contact with were all very helpful and friendly. Deep conversations in English would be difficult but simple directions and usual travelling questions would not be a problem there.
One of the staffs even kindly printed out a train map and wrote down travel instructions for me! Highly impressed and touched ;)
Overall, I must say I am very pleasantly surprised by the hotel. Other than the ‘key pickup’ part which made me felt a little insecure, I really enjoyed my stay with them.
The hotel has relatively new furniture, is clean, well maintained , reasonably priced and well located. I honestly cannot ask for more!
On the 6th day of my Autumn 2013 Japan trip, I went to the Square Enix cafe with Amanda!
She graciously allowed me to bunk over at her place when I was in Tokyo T_T. Helped me out a lot!
So I asked on Facebook and it seemed like you guys would like to know how to get data service on mobile (for mobile surfing, Facebook, twitter, Skype etc) in Japan.
I was invited to Japan last October as one of CoFesta's overseas Influencer Ambassador due to my continuous work on the Social Media in promoting Japanese related content. I extended my trip for 9 more days and it totalled to 13 days and 12 nights trip in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
Decided to brew myself a cup of Japanese coffee!
I was invited to Japan last October as one of CoFesta's oversea Influencer Ambassador due to my continuous work on the Social Media in promoting Japanese related content. I extended my trip for 9 more days and it totalled to 13 days and 12 nights trip in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. I spent a grand total of SGD$2186 on this trip and that includes airfare, JR Pass, accommodations for my extended 9 nights and everything else.
In these on-going blog post about my Japan Trip, I will attempt to share all my spending and experience with you guys because I believe a trip to Japan doesn't have to break the bank! To start off, let me tell you where most of my money went to. $740 went to a return ticket with JAL airline and $380 went to getting a 7 days JR Pass.
Our day tour at NHK Studio Park with the awesome NHK Staffs. Read here
I screwed up and missed my sponsored flight and ended up buying my own tickets on the morning itself. It was a miserable experience and I implore all of you to make sure you check the closing time for your flight's check-in. If there's anything I learnt from this experience, other than reaching the airport earlier, was to buy a return trip instead of a single trip in such situations.
If you have the unfortunate luck of being in the same situation as I was, make sure you ask the staff at the counter for the price quote of BOTH the return and single plane tickets. And you ask me why? That's because surprisingly, return tickets are usually a lot cheaper. The staff at JAL had the wisdom to highlight this to me in my grief (lol) and even wrote the price comparison down on paper to let me make the decision.
Single ticket to Tokyo: $1000+
Return tickets to Tokyo & Back: $740
SERIOUSLY, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PURCHASE?!! Even if I had no intention of returning, darn I'd still get the return tickets and skip the return flight back. We're talking about over $300 of savings!
If I had bought my tickets earlier, I'm sure I could get a much better deal and slash my spending a further $200 more. So my tip is to plan in advance. And be at the airport early -_-;
Before I went to Japan, I had planned and arranged my itinerary semi-meticulously. I said semi because I only arranged the rough flow and left the itsy bitsy parts like places-to-visit till I was there. Normally I would prefer a more meticulous plannign but this time I was lazy and decided to go with the flow when I'm in Japan. Afterall, that's the perks of traveling alone isn't it?
I bought my JR Pass at the Japan Tourism Board (JTB Pte Ltd, ION Orchard) in Singapore. They are located at at ION Orchard. Full address below.
Japan Tourism Board (JTB Pte Ltd, ION Orchard)
2 Orchard Turn, #B4-29, ION Orchard, Singapore 238801
Tel: 6595-0600
For a full list of authorised agents to purchase JR Pass in Singapore, click here. http://www.jnto.org.sg/japan_rail_pass_singapore.html
Online website to order JR Pass: http://www.jrpass.com/ & http://www.japan-rail-pass.com/
JR maps: http://www.jrpass.com/map & http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ttp/sg/07-Transportation/MediumINdex/04-RegionalJapan.html
The JR Pass thingy can be pretty confusing and overwhelming in the beginning so I'll try to explain as clearly as I can. The JR Pass is a special tourist pass that allows you to travel on all trains owned by Japan Railway Company ( train lines that says JR Line LOL). The packages are roughly divided into 2 category ( Green & Standard) and further divided into different duration and price.
The JR Pass package is also categorised by directions; directions that the trains you buy can go to. They are categorised into Nationwide, West, East, Hokkaido. Kyushu and All Shikoku Pass For more information about those, click here. I wasn’t able to find any JR Websites that directly talks about the different regional JR Pass so I’m sorry I can’t give more information about that.
The Green category are for use with the "Green trains". In short, they are the more expensive and luxurious trains hence the significantly higher cost. The Standard category is well, for ordinary cars and folks like us. I took the standard category because I am oh-so-ordinary. The Duration columns are the slightly tricky part. They come in 7, 14 and 21 days package and the longer days directly reflects in the price tag.
One thing good about this package is that the duration doesn't start until you get it to. Which is awesome for my trip as I intended to spend 6 days in Tokyo and only leave for Kyoto on the 7th day which is the day I'll have my JR Pass activated. After that, I get 7 days on my JR pass which will then last me right up till the day I fly back to Singapore.
The validity date is printed onto the JR Pass. This is the actual pass you will use to show the staffs at the train stations, this is your ticket!
If you intend to get a JR Pass, planning is CRUCIAL as it affects the overall structure of your itinerary. Getting your JR Pass activated at Japan's train stations requires a whole blog entry by itself so I shall not delve into it now. I believe I bought the Ordinary , Adult, 7-days , National JR Pass for $380. (Japan-rail-pass.com seems to sell it a lot cheaper -__-; )
I summarised all the main points below:
More links related to JR Pass:
Hope you guys found this entry useful! I’m so sleepy now zzzz
This was my 3rd time to Japan and 2nd time to Shibuya 109. I can't remember if I blogged about it previously (found out I did!) but I decided this time I would lol. Our CoFesta ambassador trip was actually pretty tight and the Shibuya trip was just a side quest kindly included by our guide lol.
Also because NHK Studio Park was walking distance to Shibuya hahah. Yamamote-san guided us there by foot and it was a very interesting experience. Even though I've had Singaporean friends who live in Japan brought me around before, it was still a novel experience to walk from one seemingly isolated place to another hippy area.
