Assalamualaikum, Konnichiwa and Hi!
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of ALLAH, God with Most Merciful and Most Blessings)
I was a little bit nervous actually to write this entry. I'm not an expert, but the experiences that I got from my Japan trip made me so thrill to share it with anyone who care to read. I hope it will benefit people who needs it. ^_^
p/s: you may skip to the end of the entry if you're only interested with the cost and don't want to waste your time reading my story hahaha..No hard feeling at all. I'll put the cost summary in the end of each entry insyaAllah.
So, our flight was scheduled on 5th April at 12.45am from Kuala Lumpur. We touchdowned (is there a word like touchdownED?) in Chubu International Airport, Nagoya around 8 am Japan time (we arrived earlier than the time stated on our tickets, miracle right?). We were so thrilled as it was our 1st time in Japan plus my sis and I are big fans of Japan (and Arashi). It was a very touching moment, I even had tears in my eyes when I heard the announcement that we had safely landed in Japan. Alhamdulillah, all praises for Allah, only for Him.
*happy tears*
from left and clock wise; before check in, waiting to depart,
in the plane and once arrived in the airport. yeah, we looked so calm despite all the excitement,
the truth is we're just acting cool at the outside :p
We were welcomed warmly at the airport. Yes, I was amazed by how welcome they were. The airport staffs were waiting for us when we went out from plane. When we arrived at the arrival hall, our bags were already arranged with other bags. And the staffs even helped us to get the bags.
One funny story, while we were queuing for the immigration, one officer came to the queue and check one by one people's passports and forms (given earlier in the plane). Suddenly he asked something to my cousin who was at the front among us three. My cousin asked him to repeat the question few times, as that was her 1st time dealing with Japanese English, and he was actually asking why we came to Nagoya Airport and not Osaka Airport (we stated in our form that we will stay in Osaka on the arrival day) and my cousin answered nervously "because Nagoya is cheap!" ahahhahaahhahahhahahha.. and he replied "ohh.. I understand cheap". He looked at mine and my sis and as he already knew we're together so he didn't ask again (we heard he asked the same question to some guys at the back haha).
Almost forgot to tell, before we came, my sis (excellently) studied and planned for our schedule. She used Hyperdia and Google Map, and the result is,
Tadaaaaaaaaaaa...
Awesome kan? That's why I never regret my decision to sponsor her trip. Ahaks!!
That timetable seriously helped us a lot. We changed a little bit here and there so that it fits our trip relaxingly, but most of the time, we sticked to the schedule in leisure of course haha.
From the central airport, we need to go to Nagoya station. This was my 1st time buying tickets from Japan train station, and I was sooooo nervous. Luckily everything went well and my confidence level built up. I even met 2 Malaysians while in queue for tickets. After we changed goodluck wishes, we took our own routes.
After arriving in Nagoya Station, the 1st thing that we need to do was to find the place where we should take our Willer Express bus. According to the timetable above, it seems so easy right? It was actually. But, as that was our 1st time, we got lost for about 1 and a half hour just to search for that place. But it was a good experience. That's where we learnt on what and who should we search for and what should we alert of when you're searching for a place in Japan. Seriously, at that time, I was a little bit (much actually) worried that we would miss our bus, I even calculated in my head how much I have to pay for new bus tickets) but after 1 and a half hour asking, walking, searching, asking, walking, asking and walking, miraculously, we found it on time, thank you to all the nice people. We even need to wait for another few hours (our bus was scheduled on 12.40 and we got there around 10~10.30 if not mistaken).
Our mistake: we should search for the right exit and asked the staff for further direction. We mistook our 1st exit door, and just walk out of station without asking first and that's why we got lost.
Yeah, this small pink signboard that we took 1 and a half hour searching for it
haha
As stated in my earlier entry, we chose Willer Express as our main transportation (refer to entry Pre Japan). One of the reason is the webpage is user-friendly and also fully in English. The price of course is affordable (another reason) and you can also choose your seat type, and they also have Ladies policy, where if you choose the seat with that policy, you will only be seated among woman. No man will be next to you, so it's very much preferable for us, the traveller ladies hehe.
The bus arrived, and the trip begins!
We were actually tired a little bit of the flight journey, so I fell asleep about a quarter of the bus journey. I managed to collect myself and stayed awake for the rest of the journey, enjoying all the moments talking with my sis and also trying to record everything in my memory-box everything that I saw. It was also among the 1st moments for us to see sakura tree. Yeah, alhamdulillah, we managed to catch that sakura bloom though we thought that we're gonna miss it.
Thing I regret a little: We didn't go out when the bus stopped at an RnR for people to refresh (and if not mistaken there are rules for bus driver to stop after few hours of driving). We should go out and enjoy the place, but we stayed in the bus. Rugi2!
We arrived in Namba Station, Osaka earlier than the scheduled time (again!! sangat kagum sebab selalu kan akan terlewat dari jadual, tapi kapal terbang dan bas asyik sampai awal je walaupun takla rasa laju diorang bawa bas tu haha). So, 1st thing that we did there was searching for the counter where we could buy our 2-day Osaka Amazing Pass. And it's truly amazing! You will know why throughout my entries. hehe. But the search for the counter was a little bit exhausting. I asked at one counter where to buy the pass, and he told me the direction, and when we arrived at the exact spot where he told us, the person there gave us more directions to follow. I think if not mistaken, it was like 4-5 checkpoints before we finally arrived at the right place. No, it's not that we're lost, but it was truly felt like checkpoints. I mean, they gave directions and when we got there, another more directions were told haha. Maybe they don't want to confuse us so they helped us that way hehe. But all staffs were so friendly and helpful. *fell in love with Japan again!*
this is the amazing pass..it came with a guide book
and free coupons too.. Amazing!!
info here: Amazing Pass
After successfully buying the pass, we searched for the Osaka Hana Hostel to check in and solat before we continue our Journey. (info for Osaka Hana: HERE)
This hostel was veeeeery convenient because it was so near to the Shinsaibashi station, and also in walking distance to Shinsaibashi-suji, Ebisubashi-suji and Dotonbori. We booked one Japanese style room for 3, and it was comfortable enough. We experienced japanese mattress which was so comfortable and made us sooooooooo hard to get up in the morning hoho.
View from the balcony
After prayer and a little bit of refreshing, we decided to start our sight-seeings with Tempozan Ferris Wheel. The hostel owner was veeeeery kind to provide us the map and explained us the directions. Even though it was raining and cold, we still didn't want to cancel our plan because every moment was so precious to be wasted. Unfortunately, the Tempozan Ferris Wheel was closed for some constructions/improvements, and we just knew about it when we arrived at the location (that disappoint us a little, they should put the notice in other stations too). It was very cold with strong wind, and we had to decide where to go as quickly as possible. Luckily, alhamdulillah, with the amazing pass guide book, we changed our plan to HEP Five Ferris Wheel. There, we met a group of Malaysian students who also searched for the Ferris Wheel. So, we searched it together la hahaha..
the only souvenir-picture that we bought in Japan, after that
all were taken with our camera only.. cost-effective haha
After the ferris wheel, we made back to Shinsaibashi station and walk to Shinsaibashi-suji, Dotonbori and Ebisubashi-suji, places where you could shop till you drop, hehe..
yeah, cheap things, branded things, food, huge Uniqlo,
you can find almost everything here
Glico Man!!! A must-take-photo site!
Yeah, that's Nino and Jun from Arashi <3
and some huge welcome-thingy-board sight in Dotonbori
it was raining, cold, and smoke came out when we spoke ahaks!
It was sooooo cold, and our jeans were wet from the rain, so we decided to end our night eventhough we're not totally finish exploring the streets. Oh, we didn't really eat on our 1st day, due to excitement I think. But we bought onigiris and water from convenience store.
And that's how our 1st day ended.
Cost summary for our 1st day:
Train ticket from Airport to Nagoya station : 870 yen
Willer express (Nagoya-Osaka) : 2400 yen
2-day Osaka Amazing Pass : 3000 yen
Osaka Hana (1 night, room for 3) : 3200 yen / pax
Towel rental : 70 yen / towel
Food and beverage from convenience store : 500 yen (approx. per person)
Total for day 1 = 10,040 yen
(Souvenirs' costs were not included)
2nd P/S: For Ferris wheel and the train/subway tickets for sightseeing were already included in the 2-day pass, that's why it's amazing! ^_^
So, I hope you enjoy this long entry. Feel free to ask anything, if there's anything that I didn't mention in my entry and you need info regarding that. See ya in the next part!!!! xoxoxo
Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education;
in the elder, a part of experience.
~Francis Bacon~
bestnyer.. day 2 plss :)
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