Special thanks to travel expert JC Jane for sharing her travel story with us! Yeap you didn't misread the title, eat, sleep, and flight all included, and also a visit to DisneyLand and Universal Studios, that is absolutely a complete trip to Japan Kanto and Kansai region!

*All images are not in order*

【🇯🇵2018·Japan Kanto/Kansai 🍁 RM5,500/pax】

Japan🍁

13 Nov - 24 Nov 2018 [12D11N]

Tokyo 🗼Kyoto⛩️ Nara🦌 Osaka🏯

❗Total spending RM5,500/pax [Shopping not included]

Flights✈

Singapore Airlines [RM1,586.10] Round trip

Penang - Singapore - Tokyo

Osaka - Singapore - Penang

30kg Baggage, Meal, Entertainment inclusive

We had done our research and comparing prices for other airlines while we're booking our tickets, including those from AirAsia. And because we're departing from Penang, and compared with other airlines' flight on the same date, AirAsia's ticket price is pretty much similar to Singapore Airline's. And we felt that Singapore Airline's flight experience will be much convenient and comfortable, after all it is a long-distance flight, so we chose Singapore Airline in the end.

*Morning flight to Japan and night flight back to Penang, so in total we spent 10 days in Japan*

Hotel🏨 By Agoda

*All hotels allow luggage deposit before check-in and after check-out*

Tokyo 3 nights [Oak Hotel Edo] RM417.40/pax

The hotel is located at Morishita Station, with two Toei underground subway lines, convenient for traveling any where. There's a Family Mart just right beside the hotel too. Nice room overall, the space is still wide enough even with luggage opened. Aside from a small balcony, the environment is also pretty cozy and relaxing. Highly recommended.

Kyoto 2 nights [Nine Hours Kyoto Capsule Hotel] RM187.70/pax

The hotel is located at the lively Kawaramachi Street, super convenient for shopping, snacking, or late night beer. Again it is right next to a Family Mart, always a great news to us. One capsule room per person, men and women sections are also separated at different floors. A lot of wash rooms as well, for our two-day stay we don't even have to line up for our turn once. All in all comfortable, safe, and fresh stay, I like it a lot.

Nara 1 night [Nara Visitor Centre & Inn] RM130.00/pax

In this place we get to experience unique Japanese culture of sleeping on a Tatami mat. There's a separate public bath for men and women at the ground floor, along with a convenient store. And the first floor is a visitor centre with lots of activities such as origami, tea making, and many other Japanese cultural activities for you to try your hands on.

Osaka 2 nights [Hotel Sunroute Osaka Namba] RM413.55

The infamous Dotonbori is right in front of the hotel, and a short walking distance to Shinsaibashi shopping district. There's also Family Mart and 7-11 nearby, and also Nipponbashi Station, convenient for traveling around.

📄Travel Insurance RM90/pax

A must for all your travels, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

📲Pocket Wifi by KKDAY [Global Wifi]

We chose KKDAY's Pocket WiFi because there's no deposit required, and we can collect it at Tokyo Haneda Airport and return it at Osaka Kansai Airport, convenient for our journey.

RM15/Day x 10 Days = RM150/2 = RM75/pax

Allows up to 10 devices connection at once, more people you share with, the cheaper it will be per pax.

🚝Transport

🔺Welcome! Tokyo Subway Ticket [Keikyu One-way Pass + Tokyo 48 Hours Subway Ticket] 1600yen = RM60/pax

🔺Tokyo 24 Hours Subway Ticket 800yen = RM30/pax

*So we have a 48 hours & 24 Hours Tokyo Subway Pass on hand*

🔺Suica Card 500yen + Top up 6,000yen = 6,500yen = RM240.74

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Tokyo Day 1

Airport - Hotel

-Take Keikyu + 48 Hours Subway Pass from airport to hotel

-Metro / Toei Subway using Subway Pass

-Private line using Suica Card

Day 2

-Subway Pass for the whole day

Day 3

-Disneyland back and forth using Suica Card

Day 4

-Activate the other 24 Hours Subway Pass

`JR using Suica Card

📍Tokyo - Kyoto

VIP Liner Night Bus RM264/pax, booked from official website

Shinkansen was too pricey, plus we don't want to waste another accommodation fee, so we chose to take a night bus.

The reason we chose VIP Liner is because they have a VIP lounge for early arrivals, with free drinks and hot soups supplied at all time. There's also a women's room for ladies to make up, or use the paid shower room.

The staff will bring you to the bus when it's time.

The bus is really comfy, we pretty much slept all the way and woke up in the morning in Kyoto.

And we get to use the lounge for light refreshments for free, highly recommended👍🏼👍🏼

📍Kyoto Bus Pass for both days

Kyoto Bus Pass 600yen/day x 2 =1,200yen = RM45/pax

In order to preserve the historical monuments of Kyoto, the subway lines are relatively minimal compared to Tokyo or Osaka, but the bus lines are more connected, so it's very easy to take bus to wherever you want. And the price is 230yen per trip wherever you're stopping, so you already get your price worth if you take the bus 3 trips per day.

📍Kyoto - Nara

You can choose to take JR or nearby subway [use Suica Card]

📍Nara-Osaka

Use nearby subway to Kintetsu Nippombashi Station [use Suica Card]

📍Osaka Day 1

Use Osaka Amazing Pass for the whole day, enjoy unlimited subway ride (excluding JR lines). And some places allow free entry by showing the pass.

🔺Osaka Amazing Pass [KKDAY] RM48/pax

We bought this pass because there was a buy 1 free 1 promotion ongoing at the time, otherwise the ticket will cost 2,300yen if you get it directly at Osaka, which is about RM85 and of course much pricier.

📍Osaka Day 2

We spend the whole day in Universal Studios Japan

Travel using Suica Card

📍Osaka - Kansai Airport

Take Nankai Limited Express to Kansai Airport

Use Suica Card.

🎟️Entrance tickets

-Fujiko F. Fujio Museum [Doraemon] RM52/pax - KKDAY

-Ghibli Museum [Studio Ghibli] RM110/pax - KKDay

-Tokyo Tower One Piece Theme Park RM110/pax - KLOOK

-Tokyo Disney Land RM272/pax - KLOOK

-Universal Studios Japan RM290/pax - KLOOK

🎟️On-the-spot Tickets

-Roppongi Hill Tokyo City View + Sky Deck 1,800yen + 500yen = 2,300yen = RM85

-Kyoto Kiyomizu Dera 300yen = RM11

-Kyoto Kinkaku-Ji 400yen = RM15

🍴Food

RM800-RM1,000

Before the trip, we did do some research on what and where to eat, but we didn't really try out everything on the list. Instead we just try whatever we saw. I spent around RM1,000 on food, but my BFF spent relatively lower.

In short it really depends on what you eat, like me who chose to eat almost everything, including the famous A5 Kobe and Matsusaka beef.

📸Photo

-Iphone Xs Max

-Huawei P20 Pro

-[Night shot] Olympus OMD EM-10 MARK III

⛅ Weather

It was already end of autumn when we're there, slowly moving into winter.

Average temperature is at 6° - 14°

It gets colder day by day, even though there's not much different in temperature, but it still gets pretty cold when the wind blows.

📌Japan's time is an hour ahead of Malaysia, and because it's autumn-winter, it gets dark at about 4pm, just like around 6-7pm in Malaysia

📌At first we're worry that language barrier may be a problem, but if you had done your homework well, you don't really have to ask anything, but if you actually have any problem, some of them can still speak a bit of English, so it shouldn't be a problem

📌Japan doesn't have tipping culture

📌To keep the environment clean, Japanese don't like eating while waking. But you can finish your food outside of the stall then return the trash to them

📌Japanese believe that keeping your money neatly in your wallet would bring good luck, so they usually don't simply fold their notes

📌While riding on an escalator, standing left or right depends on the city you're in

📌Keep quiet while riding on public transports

👣Itinerary

Day 1 [13 Nov]

▪️Penang - Singapore

▪️Singapore - Tokyo Haneda Airport

Day 2 [ 14 Nov ]

▪️Kyukei Line + Subway to hotel for luggage depositing

▪️Fujiko F. Fujio Museum

▪️Roppongi Hills

▪️Shibuya

Day 3 [ 15 Nov ]

▪️Kaminarimon

▪️Nakamise Shopping Street

▪️Sensoji Temple

▪️Mangaindo Gosaibashi

▪️Ueno Park

▪️Ameyoko Market

▪️Akihabara

▪️Tokyo Tower One Piece Theme Park

▪️Shinjuku

▪️Kabukicho

Day 4 [ 16 Nov ]

▪️Tokyo Disney Land

Day 5 [17 Nov ]

▪️Meiji Shrine

▪️Takeshita Street

▪️Ghibli Museum

▪️Back to hotel to collect our luggage

▪️Tokyo VIP Lounge to take bus to Kyoto

Day 6 [ 18 Nov ]

▪️Luggage deposit in hotel

▪️Kiyomizu Dera

▪️Kiyomizu Zaka Street

▪️Sannenzaka

▪️Ninnenzaka

▪️Ishibei-koji Street

▪️Yasaka Shrine

▪️Fushimi Inari Shrine

▪️Senbon Torii

Day 7 [ 19 Nov ]

▪️Sagano Bamboo Forest, Nonomiya Shrine

▪️Arashiyama Street

▪️Togetsukyo Bridge, Arashiyama Park

▪️Kinkakuji Temple

▪️Mikane Jinja Shrine

▪️Nishiki Market

▪️Shijo Kawaramachi

▪️Pontocho Bar Street

▪️Sanjo Ohashi Starbucks

Day 8 [ 20 Nov ]

▪️Take nearby subway/JR to Nara

▪️Luggage deposit in hotel

▪️Nara shopping street

▪️Nara Park

Day 9 [ 21 Nov ]

*All attractions allow free entry with Osaka Amazing Pass*

▪️Take subway to Osaka from Nara, luggage deposit in hotel

▪️Kuromon Market

▪️Shinsekai Market

▪️Tsutenkaku

▪️Osaka Castle Park

▪️Osaka Castle

▪️Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory

▪️Hep Five Ferris Wheel

▪️Dotonbori

Day 10 [ 22 Nov ]

▪️Universal Studios Japan

Day 11 [ 23 Nov ]

▪️Dotonbori

▪️Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street

▪️Ebisubashi-Suji Shopping Street

▪️Hozenji Yokocho

▪️Take Nankai Limited Express to Kansai Airport

Day 12 [ 24 Nov ]

▪️Osaka Kansai Airport - Singapore

▪️Singapore - Penang

👣Attraction Highlights

📍Fujiko F. Fujio Museum

Museum dedicated to Fujiko F. Fujio, author of Doraemon

The museum displayed more than thousands of original arts and drafts, 1:1 replica of Fujio's workstation, and also many scenes taken straight from the manga.

There's also a Doraemon themed restaurant at the top floor.

A must-visit for Doreamon fans.

*Entrance is pre-booked only with limited entry per day, and 4 different entry period in a day. Tickets can be bought from KKDAY*

📍Roppongi Hills

Tokyo City View indoor glass observatory

You can top up to proceed to the Sky Deck for unobstructed view of Tokyo city.

You can see Tokyo Tower in the observatory

But it can be chilly when it's windy. And your phone's camera won't bring the view justice, highly recommend to use a high quality camera.

Standing at a high ground looking down at at the skyline is always one of my favorite activity, it makes you realize how small your worries actually are.

📍Shibuya

The legendary pedestrian-filled junction. We went to a nearby second-floor-Starbucks to take a bird-eye video of the street, the crowd is incredible!

We also shopped at a Disney Store and One Piece Concept Store, as well as my first try of Ichiran Ramen in my life!

📍Sensoji Temple | Nakamise Shopping Street

Kagetsudo Bakery's melon bun is a definitely must here, and also fried meat croquette. Of course don't forget to pray at the shrine.

📍Akihabara

Aside from anime goods, there's another highlight for our Akihabara trip

🔞A 7-floor adult store 🔞

Our entire trip in the store is just filled with awkward silence, but we still managed to finish exploring the whole building. 😂

If you want to know what's inside, come to see for yourself 😂🔞

📍Tokyo Tower One Piece Theme Park

A must -go for all the One Piece fans, the one and only One Piece indoor theme park. There's games and scenes from the manga, as well as themed restaurant and concept store. You can also pay to watch a limited time live show.

📍Shinjuku Kabukicho Street

One of Japan's very few red light district, good for experiencing the culture. But ladies please be careful while you're visiting, there is many people looking for business here.

📍Tokyo Disney Land

In my opinion a must-visit of Tokyo

First ever Disney Land in my life🎠

In between Disney Land and Disney Sea, we chose the more traditional Land park.

There were a lot of visitors during our visit, so most of the Fast Pass were finished very early in the morning.

But the good thing was we went there pretty early, so we get to hop on some rides. Then the rest of our time here were just walking around eating watching parade and fireworks at night. 🎇

It was Disney's 35th Anniversary during our visit, so we get our very own Disney 35th Anniversary Pocket Watch too. Love it ❤️

📍Ghibli Museum

Ghibli fans out there will definitely know about this little art museum in Mitaka.

Like Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, the entrance is also pre-booked only. Ticket booking is only open from 1st to 10th of a month for tickets of the next month. You can book with KKDAY, but it is fast selling so think fast or all luck! 😂

*You're not allowed to take any photos in the museum, because Mr. Miyazaki himself wants the visitors to enjoy everything in the museum with only your eyes and heart. *

Every corner of the museum is filled with scenes from the animations, and there's also Studio Ghibli original drafts for the animations, showing the drawing and making process of all the animations, super worth the visit. 👍🏼

📍Osaka Universal Studios Japan

Second Universal Studios in my life,

It was a rainy weekday during our visit, so the crowd was relatively smaller.

The Harry Potter zone is free entry with no extra charges or tickets.

The Butterbeer was the best, of course everything in the restaurant is delicious too.

We tried about 10 rides there, and I had the most fun here because I enjoyed all the rides.

The park officially open at 9AM, but you can enter at 830AM, and enjoy all the way till 7PM.

💕Conclusion

We went to 4 places in Japan:

My favorite place is definitely the relax yet flourished Kyoto⛩️

From Kiyomizu Dera Temple to Sannenzaka to Ninnenzaka, the streets are beautiful and relaxing.

Fushimi Inari Shrine and its Senbon Torii is definitely impressive.

And we visited Arashiyama the next day,

whether its the Bamboo Forest, market street, or the park, everything there make me fall in love with Arashiyama.

Next in the line is Tokyo🗼

In Tokyo I truly experience the fast pace of life in this city.

Everyone moves around fast but in order, at the same time keeping the environment clean and pretty.

I truly saw the clean Japan that everyone says.

My third spot goes to Nara🦌

Nara is a very relaxing place, like it is a place for retirements.

We originally planed to visit a few temples and shrines, but we were affected by the relaxing vibe of this place, so we ended up simply walking around any where everywhere, and rest and east as we want.

Aside from Nara Market Street, all the places are real quiet after 7PM, and it's pretty much like 12AM in the midnight at about 9PM. 😂

Osaka however...

I love Universal Studios Japan, I love the filled-with-delicious-food Dotonbori, and I especially love Kuromon Market with its Kobe beef and giant shrimp.

But this place is filled with tourists from China. After visiting Tokyo before coming here, the comparison is clear as day 😂

The environment here is slightly worse than that of Tokyo, you can see people spitting, smoking, screaming here.

So I put this place as my least favorite place, but it's up to you to experience and decide 😂

Self traveling in Japan is actually easier than you would imagine.

As long as you did your homework in the transport, everything will go as you plan.

The transportation fee in Japan is really high, so it's always recommended to plan everything before your trip, see whether it's cheaper to travel with Suica Card, or railway pass. Like in Tokyo, we take Subway more than other lines, so railway pass is definitely more worth it, but if you're taking more JR and private lines then Suica Card may be the better choice.

I love the vending machines and gashapons everywhere

I love the karaage in convenient stores

I love all the foods here

I love all the scenery here

I love everything about this place

Special thanks to all the netizens' helps and sharings that made my trip to Japan such a huge success. If you have any questions or problems in planning your Japan trip, feel free to ask me, I will help if I can ☺️

Well, now I miss the karaage, lemon tea, onigiri, Ichiran Ramen, giant shrimp, Kobe beef, the toilet.........

Once again, big thank you to JC Jane for sharing her story ❤️Backpackers are always welcome to submit your travel experience with us!🎒 PM👉 http://m.me/travelogcn 💭 Follow our 【Instagram】Travelogcom