Japan | Kansai | Day 5, Nara

...previous post on Japan...

Japan | Kansai | Joey's 9 days Autumn Itinerary

Japan | Kansai | Day 3 & 4, Arashiyama and Kibune

Day 5 // 24 Nov 17 // Nara

/ Nara park 

/ Todaiji

/ 水谷茶屋 (teahouse serving sweets)

Saying goodbye to Monzy at the train station. All of us checked in and out on the same day, what a coincidence. We lug around our luggage to Nara while Monzy to Tokyo. 

Japan | Kansai | Day 3 & 4, Arashiyama and Kibune

...previous post on Japan...

Japan | Kansai | Joey's 9 days Autumn Itinerary

Japan | Kansai | Day 1 & 2, Arrival in Kansai and Kyoto

Day 3 // 21 Nov 17 // Kyoto 

/ Arashiyama

/ Iwatayama Monkey Park

/ Owl forest zoo

/ Bamboo Grove

/ Okochi Sanso Garden

/ Gion for dinner

/ Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji Night Illumination

Japan | Kansai | Day 1 & 2, Arrival in Kansai and Kyoto

Believe it or not, this was my first trip to Japan. Yes, I am also kinda shocked myself. I mean I love anime and I have two Japanese-styled influenced tattoos on my body yet I have never stepped foot on the land of the rising sun. I don't know. I always have this impression that I need a lot of money to be able to have a vacation trip there. Well, after this trip, I guess it's kind of true but I bought a lot of stuff there, so I might be spending more than I need to.

// Breakdown of expenses //

So before I start on pouring out the pictures. Here are some breakdown of my Japan trip expenses. I'll be referring to SGD as $ from here on out.

-- essentials --
AirAsiaX return flight (KL - Kansai airport) // RM1369, ~456$ per person **including 20kg check in baggage
Airbnb Kyoto 4 nights // 267.82$, ~22.32$ per person per night
Airbnb Osaka 6 nights // 336.72$, ~18.71$ per person per night
Japan Wireless PocketWifi // 6950yen, ~82$ for 10 days

We also changed 1000$ per person to yen to be used there.
So I could say that we roughly used around 2000$ per person in total for our Japan 11 days trip that includes:

-- optional --
Gion Nanba Kaiseki // 8000yen, ~ 96$ per person
Universal Studios Japan // 7600yen, ~90$ per person
USJ Express Pass // 11478yen, 138$ per person
Kobe beef // 30000yen, 360$ for 3 person

We did not really held back with food or snacks. We just went ahead with anything that tickles our fancy. So, you could say we weren't really frugal with our money. Cause we live to eat. Haha. But I did find some cheaper transportation alternatives by taking advantage of Japan's tourist tickets! Like for example, Kyoto Access Ticket, Osaka Kaiyukan ticket that includes one day transportation in Osaka, and also some other perks for foreign tourists! I'll talk about them more in details in my blog below when relevant.

Japan | Kansai | Joey's 9 days Autumn Itinerary

This is going to be my master post list for my Japan Kansai Autumn 2017 Itinerary (man, that is a mouthful). I still have not figure out how I am going to write them yet but I don't think I'm going to push them all in one post. Most probably will split them up according to the timeline. So, I'll be linking up the detailed ones in this master post. I am also planning to make a bonus post about what to buy in Japan (snacks and souvenirs ideas). Personally tried and tested by yours truly, and also might be biased because I'll be recommending the things that me or my family likes. I thought it would be useful because I have also no idea what to buy before I went there. Tried to google for "what to buy in Japan" and a whole load of drugstore items came up which is not what I had in mind.

I personally planned everything for our Japan trip. So, what I like to do is research about the city that I want to go then go in details about each point of interest and then only decide if I want to go or not. But no definite day on where to go because I wanted to make it flexible. I have also prepared some maps on google, marking interesting places, filling in details like opening hours or what to especially look out for at those area. I don't go to everything I marked of course, so I'll leave them for future trips.

-Edit-

// Breakdown of expenses //

$ = SGD

-- essentials --
AirAsiaX return flight (KL - Kansai airport) // RM1369, ~456$ per person **including 20kg check in baggage
Airbnb Kyoto 4 nights // 267.82$, ~22.32$ per person per night
Airbnb Osaka 6 nights // 336.72$, ~18.71$ per person per night
Japan Wireless PocketWifi // 6950yen, ~82$ for 10 days

We also changed 1000$ per person to yen to be used there.
So I could say that we roughly used around 2000$ per person in total for our Japan 11 days trip. We mostly spent on food and buying snacks/souvenirs. That includes:

-- optional --
Gion Nanba Kaiseki // 8000yen, ~ 96$ per person
Universal Studios Japan // 7600yen, ~90$ per person
USJ Express Pass // 11478yen, 138$ per person
Kobe beef // 30000yen, 360$ for 3 person

-Edit end-

So, this is the breakdown of my itinerary. I'll also link the blog post when they are up (please click on the "Day X" to go to individual post).