I'm Going To Japan

SubaruWRX wrote: ANA sends me alot of good deals I can't remember if I'm signed up with JAL deals offer.

Don't forget ANA is part of the Star Alliance which includes Air Canada and United...so if you have frequent flyer miles with any Star Alliance carrier you may be able to use them interchangeably with other affliated carriers....

I wanted to fly on JAL too but United had a good price and I couldn't pass up the additional miles that I got as a consequence of the trip....

too bad nothing with Northwest...

All that flying to Seatlle, WA and Texas and Detroit and Newark.. lol

I guess this is a fitting time..

How come I Always see "visit Canada" or what other place, but I've only seen "Vist korea" like once or twice on TV but never saw anything on Japan.

heh just curious.

SubaruWRX wrote:too bad nothing with Northwest...

JAL is actually a PARTNER airline co of Northwest in their WorldPerks frequent flyer program so frequent flyer miles earned on Northwest Flights might possibly be redeemed for JAL operated flights...it's worth checking out if you got a shit load of miles already in the bank.

I think I only have like 6,000 so far, I should check..

yeah that reminds me.. I was looking at Northwest's mag on the plane and I saw they had some Jpop However it was on "Select flights" Not only that they offered japanese beer as well :bonk:

Tu_triky wrote:


you made the right choice, sir. the only thing that sux about narita is that it's hella far away from the city center...but if you take the train in you should be straight...my boy and i took the bus so we wouldn't have to carry our luggage on the train...we f*cked up...cuz we arrived on friday local time tokyo and the traffic made l.a. traffic look country!!! it sucked...we took hella forever to get to our hotel in roppongi hills...by the time we got off that sucker and checked in....even though we were wiped the hell out ...we went out to go get our drink on...dayem that muthaf*ckin' beer was one of the best i ever had in my life after all that drama.

the shinkansen is dope by the way :) it felt like we were floating....so fast and smooth...it was cool.

yeah, just make sure it had bathrooms, must feel nice to load up on a few beers and chill, and enjoy the nice japan scenery from the shinkansen while sitting nearby some hot j-girls, that would be nice...
yeah, been thinking about that, the train might not hold the luggages and well, told my friend to just bring a backpack and mid-sized luggage, cause we have to bring along our travels. Fortunately, the majority of the trip, we will be staying in one hotel.
yeah, Narita is a good 1 1/2 to 2 hr bus drive, i figure we just spend the night at narita and either take the train or bus to tokyo the next mid-late morning, and then hop on the Shinkansen from Shinagawa to Kyoto, then thereafter all Tokyo. S/B all good. :applaud:

qilver wrote:
yeah, just make sure it had bathrooms, must feel nice to load up on a few beers and chill, and enjoy the nice japan scenery from the shinkansen while sitting nearby some hot j-girls, that would be nice...
yeah, been thinking about that, the train might not hold the luggages and well, told my friend to just bring a backpack and mid-sized luggage, cause we have to bring along our travels. Fortunately, the majority of the trip, we will be staying in one hotel.
yeah, Narita is a good 1 1/2 to 2 hr bus drive, i figure we just spend the night at narita and either take the train or bus to tokyo the next mid-late morning, and then hop on the Shinkansen from Shinagawa to Kyoto, then thereafter all Tokyo. S/B all good. :applaud:

you'll be fine! daijoubu desu. i repeat my assertion that you'll have a great time....and sometimes even when things don't work out as planned you have the best, most unforgettable moments that you'll cherish later down the line!

SubaruWRX wrote:heh yeah I'm going to get a JR railpass, thats all they say to do.

And yeah it's a Resume for a job, lol can't do too much without money :-/

I heard singapore was good too, ANA sends me alot of good deals I can't remember if I'm signed up with JAL deals offer.

yeah save up, and save up s'more, and budget, that's how i got enough, the credit card is good to book the airfare/accomodation/JRpass, and bring lots of $$$ for souvenirs/food/misc. Japan is so damn expensive, but so worth it!
The JRpass is currently selling at $267 per pass, and you have to get it thru your local travel agency, and i believe the currently currency for Yen-Dollar is 105 yen to $1.00
not sure what the weather is going to be like, know any good websites where i can check? think it will be around 70's, sunny...
:bonk:

qilver wrote:
yeah save up, and save up s'more, and budget, that's how i got enough, the credit card is good to book the airfare/accomodation/JRpass, and bring lots of $$$ for souvenirs/food/misc. Japan is so damn expensive, but so worth it!
The JRpass is currently selling at $267 per pass, and you have to get it thru your local travel agency, and i believe the currently currency for Yen-Dollar is 105 yen to $1.00
not sure what the weather is going to be like, know any good websites where i can check? think it will be around 70's, sunny...
:bonk:

try www.weather.com ...they have an international page on that site that lets you seen forecasts of foreign cities.

Tu_triky wrote:

you'll be fine! daijoubu desu. i repeat my assertion that you'll have a great time....and sometimes even when things don't work out as planned you have the best, most unforgettable moments that you'll cherish later down the line!

yeah, been talking to my friend about the trip, and we don't wanna overplan too much, but i think it s/b good. I have an idea of a little of japan since my last time. Just have to endure the long flight, and jet-lag, and have fun. With only a week, there is only so much we can visit/see, going to visit the main spots, and go from there. Also, got some Japanese phrase to practice on, it s/b usual during the trip. thinking of journalizing my trip as well, besides the pix we are going to be taking.
:bonk:

Tu_triky wrote:

try www.weather.com ...they have an international page on that site that lets you seen forecasts of foreign cities.

thanks, i also think there are other website, more pertaining to japan cities, but weather.com, didn't think of it, thanks. :bonk:
also, doubt the yen-$ currency will deviate any before next week.
:bonk:

qilver wrote:
yeah save up, and save up s'more, and budget, that's how i got enough, the credit card is good to book the airfare/accomodation/JRpass, and bring lots of $$$ for souvenirs/food/misc. Japan is so damn expensive, but so worth it!
The JRpass is currently selling at $267 per pass, and you have to get it thru your local travel agency, and i believe the currently currency for Yen-Dollar is 105 yen to $1.00
not sure what the weather is going to be like, know any good websites where i can check? think it will be around 70's, sunny...
:bonk:

I know a week is not going to be enough to see Japan, My card is with Bank of America, I'm not sure what rate they charge me for overseas stuff.

is $3,000 enough? for both plane and whatever I want to get?

lol The thing I worry most about is will I get lost? I heard the Taxi is UBER UBER UBER Costly....

i don't have my map in front of me but I don't want to be so far out in the middle of no where...


hmm if I feel up to it I might call some of these hotels in Japan to find out.

SubaruWRX wrote:

I know a week is not going to be enough to see Japan, My card is with Bank of America, I'm not sure what rate they charge me for overseas stuff.

is $3,000 enough? for both plane and whatever I want to get?

lol The thing I worry most about is will I get lost? I heard the Taxi is UBER UBER UBER Costly....

i don't have my map in front of me but I don't want to be so far out in the middle of no where...


hmm if I feel up to it I might call some of these hotels in Japan to find out.

I would love to have stayed atleast two-three weeks, but it is too much, i think a week is suffice to what we are going to see/do, it will cost each of us about $2000 or more per person, to really enjoy. For you it may be more due to the airfare/accommodations, and it would be more fun to travel with a friend. $3000, for how long? but you are staying at a hostel, it is cheaper. Buy some tour books on japan from the bookstore, and maps, and do a lot of researching online, you have a lot of time before you arrange your trip, that is what i have been doing lately.
good luck. :bonk:

ideally, a week or two in Kyoto/Osaka area, and a few weeks atleast in Tokyo, but realistically, money and time, the lack of it restricts me to a just a week, but i think i can do it, and enjoy it still.
Another thing, is to buy several books and get a feel for japan and the culture, and get a phrase book and memorize/write down important words you will be using a lot. Study the map, esp. the train stations map, cause i have been there before and you will get confused if you don't plan and know where you want to go, it is confusing enough going to a foreign country. Good luck in your researching on japan.

Hey qilver, Have a nice trip. I have been thinking about going possibly in late July, but not sure yet. Last time I went to Narita, I took the Nex train (i think that was the name) from inside narita, into the city. About the luggage, There seemed to be plenty of room on the train. I arrived on a wednesday at about 7pm, and there were not many people on the train at all. We bought the tickets at Narita before getting on the train. We had 4 people with 2 suitcases each. I slept a little on the train. The only hard thing was that I got of the train, at Shinjuku station, which was huge. We had to carry our stuff for like 15 min just to get to the subway we needed. That station was huge, hot, and crowded, kinda overwhelming. We had to get a little help. I used the little Japanese I knew. But anyway it should be fun.

thanks qilver, yeah I was at the bookstore the other day looking at some of the Japanese travel books, they had at least 7 of them.

I'm looking forward to going but not getting lost.

lol too bad I was not into Japan back in 1998-1999 lol I could of stayed there a month or longer if I wanted to.

Heh I was going to go to italy but my mom does not like flying so that was over with :(

lol and I asked her if she wanted to go to Japan.. and she said I would have to pay her way...

LOL sorry mom but if these rates are true thats like some $2,000 for just 2 people and a hotel, lol I'm going to have to find out about that as well.

Also how can I find out which places take Credit cards?

most of Akihabara does not take cards right?

SubaruWRX wrote:Also how can I find out which places take Credit cards?

most of Akihabara does not take cards right?

as far as I know you should get some travel checks in ur country, then change them at japanese banks for yen. Many shops don't accept credit cards or PIN. The bigger banks should allow PIN and creditcards. Anyway I've been told I should get some large amount of money in travel checks. The Japanese like paying and getting payed in cash money anyway. They don't like cards :hehe: :hehe:

So true. Many Japanese don't understand the fundamentals of a credit card either. However, I've met so many who have the American Express Black Card. :bow:

supermidget wrote:

as far as I know you should get some travel checks in ur country, then change them at japanese banks for yen. Many shops don't accept credit cards or PIN. The bigger banks should allow PIN and creditcards. Anyway I've been told I should get some large amount of money in travel checks. The Japanese like paying and getting payed in cash money anyway. They don't like cards :hehe: :hehe:

what the heck is "PIN"

SubaruWRX wrote:

what the heck is "PIN"

Hmm i was wondering already wether americans or non-europeans would know about this. It's a European system of paying with a pass "pin-pass" which is different from a credit card. Unlike credit cards, it does not actually have money "on" the card. You need a 4digit password (pincode) when you use it, then it immediately transfers the correct amount of money from your bankaccount to the shop. You can only Pin if there's enough money on your account (ofcourse if your bank allows being in dept you may exceed the limit)

In my country (netherlands) we hardly use creditcards and Pin (besides cash) is the most used method of paying. As far as I know you can 'Pin' through-out all europe, even though it might work a little bit different in other countries. In france for example you sometimes don't even need your pincode to use it, and it works like a creditcard (that u have to sign a copy of the receit).