Friday 29 November 2013

A week of summer in Japan~ (PART 1 : Preparation)

Note: The first part consist of me blabbering my anxiety and preparation for the trip :p

My friends' fascination for Sakura and my interest to see the land of the rising sun has long been a topic of discussion.

We've made a vow somewhere in 2006 to one day set foot in Japan.

But there were many stumbling blocks to that plan...most of it is due to time, money and fear. Yes, the fear that we would not survive if we cannot speak the language or going with someone who can.

So we procrastinate.

It was when Air Asia made its first promotion last year to OSAKA that we decided to book the flight 10 months ahead and make the necessary plans so that it will go out smoothly. Its either just go or no go! No fear!

But just like any other normal people...that 10 months past through like water and it was not until a couple of months left did we managed to gather ourselves and prepare for the trip.

En. Ali & I bought some books to study other people's experience and see nice pictures of their Japan/Tokyo Trip. We also browsed websites and interviewed friends who have been there before (really interviewed ok, with paper and picture snapping and all).

We even studied the map and railway so that we can prepare our itinerary without wasting precious time.

Of course 6 days in Japan would not be enough to cover all the wishlist for 7 people. Some wanted to go see Sumo Wrestling, Geisha Performance, Gun dam ....pay a visit to Mount Fuji, Red Temple, Osaka Castle, Ancient City Tsumago, Momiji Matsuri Bamboo Park, fish market, the hustle street of Shibuya and the list goes on and on...

Tokyo Quick Facts from Air Asia's Travel 3-Sixty June Edition
Source: A friend's FB Page


So, in summary there are several preparation needs to be made prior to a Japan trip:

1. Book a flight ticket :p
2. Make sure your passport expiry date is more than 6 months from the travelling date
3. Apply for VISA at the Japan Embassy (basically this requires 2 visits within 7 working days or so; one is to submit the application and the other one is to collect the passport + visa) //this step is no longer required for Malaysian biometric passport holder with embedded microchip that is compliant with ICAO standards beginning 1st July 2013.
4. Buy the Japan Rail Pass prior to the trip if you are travelling in multiple cities. Trust me, this will save a lot of money even though you have to pay around RM1000.00 to get it. We got ours from JTB Malaysia.
4. Book your lodging. I find airbnb to be a really cool site to book lodgings outside Malaysia.
5. Study the railway map and pin down the places to visit so that you can manage your time to the max. Your itinerary is required during Custom clearance there.
6. Plan your expenditure and change your Ringgit to Yen. If you have time you should check out several money changers to get the best rate.
7. Keep a simple note for emergency contacts and addresses in Japan just in case you get lost.
8. Bring a dictionary and memorize some simple words to ease your trip.


I'll share some pictures and our adventure there in the next post :)


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