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Vacations and World TravelVisiting our beautiful city? Come stay at the Arbutus Vista - Vancouver's Bed & Breakfast.
How was your trip? Which tour packages would you recommend/avoid? Must do's and must eats? Share tips, photos and experiences with other senior RS members who just want to get away..
Hahaha nice!! Im probably not going to hakone, there's a website specifically for locating tatto friendly ryokos, onsens and public bathhouses so ill probably go a bit further out, but at least I'll get a natural outdoor hot springs experience, which is important for me.
Where you staying at?? I ended up getting a place in Shinjuku
At R1CED, covering up the tattoo wont help at that location, they have a zero policy for any tattoo period. Some places do allow tattoo's but with restrictions, such as covering it up with a skin colored band which they provide. It's just a shame cause i really wanted to go to that ryoko specifically for the public outdoor onsen they have that overlooks mt. Fuji
Updated semi-regularly. I've been keeping an eye on this.
Used this several times during my trip, and worked out great each time. Normal people aren't offended by tattoos, but the 'high end' traditional places have their rules.
I heard that they will be forcing these places to allow foreigners with tattoos to have access to their facilities, in preparation for the olympics. So hopefully soon it will be a moot point (and I can go back to Noboribetsu, one of my favourite places on this planet)
I ended up getting a 7 day jr pass, got the sushi wifi because its apparently actually unlimited data for the whole two weeks at 4g/lte speeds for about $60 all in. My friend gave me his pasmo card, he actually remembered there's at least $100 worth in it so thats a bonus for my local transit.
Decided to take y'all advice, gonna take a trip to Kyoto, stay there for one night (millenials pod hotel, also hitting up Uji for the Nakamura tokichi head shop) then head over to Osaka (mostly going there for the ramen expo and the Christmas events) then head back to Shinjuku where i have a bunch of stuff planned to see/visit. Also gonna see the temples within kanto prefecture.
Because of that tattoo friendly website i was able to get a place at Shima Yamaguchi-kan in Gunma For only 10,260¥, thats a steal since it includes dinner and breakfast, plus their onsens are right on the river. Their's a bus that goes to all the shima onsens for 5100¥ round trip from Tokyo station.
Also if y'all are going in December and wanna go to the Ghibli museum, there's still a few tickets left through the JTB website, ended up scoring one, its $15 CAD which is $5 more but hey, at least you get to go.
Also took your guy's advice on going to Okinawa the next time i go Japan, which will be during the cherry blossom season of 2020
Also have an update on the SIM situation, since I did some research. Most are data only, in the range of $10 USD per week of service (time limits range from 3 days to 21 days. A 30 day card is rare to find) with about 1-3GB of data available in total (so a 1 week card usually only has 1GB, and a 3 week card would have 3-5GB and cost $30). Some offer more data, like 5GB for $50, but still the same time limit.
Best deal I found for longer trips (>10 days) was Docomo. You get the sim for as long as you like, and just buy data as needed.
The card itself is $10. You could actually just buy this and have unlimited basic 128 kbps service for 2 weeks. This is the very cheapest way to do it just to have some sort of data connection.
From there you buy a package of data - 600mb for $7, 1.2GB for $12
And that's it.. just buy more data if you need it.
After you sign up, you can add to your data by playing commercials. I got 360MB by doing all the things while watching football.
You can get another 300MB by using the coupon code found here. Or if you're going before Oct 23, please consider using my code 4QPQSXF3 so we both get some free data
That's it. Kind of complicated (because Japan) but I think it's the best deal (for a longer trip anyway)
Just an update on this to share my experience. I ended up staying longer than originally planned, and the card expired after 21 days. I used about 6GB during that time, not including wifi use. So I switched to a 5GB card for my last two weeks.
The 5GB card was from b-mobile, cost about 3500 yen. Problem is, data was MUCH slower with them, and you don't have access to the Docomo wifi points.
Next time I'll do more research, and try to find a 5GB card that is faster. The person at Yodobashi told me it was slow when I went to buy it, but she didn't offer and recommendations that were faster. She kept insisting that I only needed 1GB for the 2 weeks I was staying ("you will only really use it for Google Maps") I ended up using 3.5GB of it btw. She wasn't very helpful, despite being correct about the speed.
So I still think Docomo is a great option for 1-2 weeks, it is fast and convenient and you get more wifi access. But I ended up staying 4 weeks, and used way too much data.
BTW, wifi access in the cities is MUCH better than it was 5 years ago. Practically every station, every big store (like Bic, Donki, etc), Metro stations, JR stations (even some JR trains, like the NEX and newer Shinkansen), all offer free wifi. It isn't 100% reliable, but it is there if you need it. You definitely would still need a SIM, but it is great in a pinch. It saved me when I broke my phone (I couldn't install sims and had to use wifi) to look up a repair shop (and eventually had to buy a new phone while I was there)
How come you went the sim card route vs the pocket wifi? Is it because of having to carry an extra item on you? Or are there other disadvantages to using a pocket wifi over a sim card?
Pocket wifi = extra shit to carry, extra battery to charge (and they burn through batteries quite quickly), and you have to return it when you're finished, rather than chuck it in the garbage. If you need to connect more than one device, you can always wifi tether from your phone.
Thats a good point. I did find this website with offers 10gb 4g/lte for 5990¥, it uses the softbank network. From what i have read, my rogers lg g7 should be able to use the Band1 frequency (2100hz).
Would this be a good option? Doesn't look like it throttles either
As long as it covers enough days, that's the important part. So many of these tourist cards cut you off at 21 days. Some you can extend, but it's expensive (like 500 yen a day)
Just make sure it's not slow like my crappy b-mobile card
My AFC gave me an ABS CEL code of LOL while at WOT!
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where you guys staying now for tokyo?
seems like airbnb listings has gone down significantly
last year when i went in may with the gf we had an small 1 bedroom apartment to ourselves in the shinjuku area for 7 nights, was only $505 after the fees.
can't seem to find similar deals now
airbnb have to license now, which is why the volume has gone down, and the prices up. I always go capsule, but I prefer to save money since I just need somewhere to sleep.
Hey guys, back from my trip (actually i came back on the 17th)
Thought i would share a couple things, first was the prepaid SIM card from Mobal, picked it up at the airport, popped it in when i got to the hotel room, and since then it worked like a charm. Got 4g lte everywhere i went and never bottle necked, was consistent throughout the 10gb.
Stayed at the Shinjuku granbell hotel as my primary hotel. I got an economy double which is their smallest room and damn was it small, still felt comfortable and i was on the 14th floor with a view of the skyline so that was cool. What i didn't realize was the hotel provides a phone in every room, and as loong as you are staying with the hotel, you can use that phone for unlimited 4g lte for maps and voice over lte for unlimited local and long distance calling! Because my prepaid sim was just a data card, the voice over lte really helped when calling local places to confirm a few other reservations i made for events.
This was my first time back in Japan since i was 13, and ny first solo trip, i thought i would be flustered with getting anywhere, but really, the train systems are so efficient that i was able to guid myself easily to the right platforms. And with google maps guiding, it shows which platform number to go to as well as which exit to walk out of from the station to get you closest to your destinations.
The hikari Shinkansen was awesome, (JR passes don't include the nozomi trains) and were only slower than the nozomi trains by a few minutes, and they have smoking sections in between certain carts and wall outlets by every window seat.
I took JAL airlines direct round trip, I didn't realize until the night before when checking in online, that portable chargers are not allowed on the planes, i thought i was gonna be stucj cause im using an lg g7 which has one of the worst battery life but thanks to there being so many charging outlets i never had to worry about battery life (except for one time when i made it back to the hotel with 5% battery remaining)
I actually loved every bit of my trip and can't wait to go back. Going solo is an experience and it really was fun. Honestly though, its definitely better going to japan with another person or as a group. I hope to go during the cherry blossom season in 2020 before the Olympics, it'll be interesting to see how much more foreigner friendly it'll be.
Thanks for everyone's help and advice, really did help me a lot.
I took JAL airlines direct round trip, I didn't realize until the night before when checking in online, that portable chargers are not allowed on the planes, i thought i was gonna be stucj cause im using an lg g7 which has one of the worst battery life but thanks to there being so many charging outlets i never had to worry about battery life (except for one time when i made it back to the hotel with 5% battery remaining)
It's not allowed in your checked in luggage. You're more than welcome to bring it onboard with you. Same goes for every other airline.
It's not allowed in your checked in luggage. You're more than welcome to bring it onboard with you. Same goes for every other airline.
Just read the JAL guidelines, your right if it doesn't exceed 160wh. I have the anker powercore2 which has a maximum output of 9v and 20000mah which exceeds that, so regardless i couldn't bring it. Next time for sure I'll bring a 20000mah with a 5v max output then i wouldn't have any issues bringing it over. Thanks!
Just a random tip, my flight arrived late at night and pretty much all the stands at NRT were closed for wi-fi eggs (not sure if we were just in a weird area of the airport, but we didn't want to explore to find an egg, so prepare based on your flight arrival time!
On the first or second level of NRT in the domestic section, there are SIM vending machines. You'll need to put in the address if your hotel and passport info.
My AFC gave me an ABS CEL code of LOL while at WOT!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: vancouver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp
airbnb have to license now, which is why the volume has gone down, and the prices up. I always go capsule, but I prefer to save money since I just need somewhere to sleep.
makes sense
also anyone notice in osaka people stand on the other side of the escalators?
mentioned here
Pocket wifi = extra shit to carry, extra battery to charge (and they burn through batteries quite quickly), and you have to return it when you're finished, rather than chuck it in the garbage. If you need to connect more than one device, you can always wifi tether from your phone.
On the flipside, if you are traveling with multiple people everyone can use it versus buying individual sim cards. I also find strictly using wifi the phone will last longer. On top of that it is unlimited 4G LTE.
And someone must be carrying a bag, just throw the egg and battery pack in there.
hello peoples.
First time going to JAPAN this may. Just wanted some advice from anyone. Going to stay in Tokyo for the first 3 nights then was thinking of renting a camper van and driving and exploring Japan. Like to do the off the beaten path kinda of stuff. Has anyone had any experience with driving and exploring Japan. Been looking at websites for camper vans ECT.
i can give you tips for Tokyo as I just got back last month, but totally can't give you any advance on driving. Best of luck.
Getting a SIM card is a must as Garmin's not going to be much help. As to camper van, I'll be intrigued if there are tons of Rest Stops like USA where you can pull over. I doubt you would just pull off to the side of the road to just sleep.
depending RV or Camper, guess you would have to plan your stay to ensure you get water and sewage connection right?
On the flipside, if you are traveling with multiple people everyone can use it versus buying individual sim cards. I also find strictly using wifi the phone will last longer. On top of that it is unlimited 4G LTE.
And someone must be carrying a bag, just throw the egg and battery pack in there.
Had a pocket wifi from Japan Wireless; between 3 people and 2 weeks, it is possible to use up all your data. It begins to be heavily throttled. I think we may have used over 100 gigs, but I'm not sure if that was accurate..
Keep in mind, that you'll be using it everywhere you go.
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