Japan - Tokyo Hostel

sneezy SG

Need some advices here. Whoever went to Japan-Tokyo before and stayed in a hostel before.. can recommend me which one is good. And also anyone stayed in Tokyo hostel before?

kiss_my (_i_) SG

got 1 call tokyo hostel.. near the tokyo street there..
very cheap and free 3 meal.

sneezy SG

eh.. u stayed there before?

^tamago^ SG

how many days?

kiss_my (_i_) SG

i booked but never turn up..
as my friends want to go resorts with spa not hostel with heater Laughing

sneezy SG

Hi tamago... we intend to go there for 2 weeks.

sneezy SG

=.="

so that mean u went on summer.. hot weather!

^tamago^ SG

oh yeah, ur budget....
http://www.tokyo-ih.jp/en/info.html
http://www.weeklycenter.co.jp/shinjuku.html
http://www.andon.co.jp/home/price/index.html
http://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp/sakura-hotel_rates.html

i recommend weeklycenter, reservation via email/form on website. they will email back a week before arrival to confirm, if not call them but note that they dun really speak english there.

^tamago^ SG

check out this old thread. tokyo is a nice place. i wan to go back soon if there're offers. Embarassed

http://sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=246077

sneezy SG

Tamago.. the weeklycentre website dont have english version one leh.. i dont understand japanese Confused

^tamago^ SG

yeah, u have to do a bit of literal translation. probably the reason why not much tourists have tumbled upon it, even during the popular sakura season. Twisted Evil

sneezy SG

Ook... Thanks for that. But I think i will stick to the accomodation that I found cos I already received their confirmation.

Btw.. I reali need some serious help from those who went Japan on their own. I m quite confuse about the JR Pass. I got few questions on that, hope someone can help me on that.. Thanks.

1) If I decide to stay onli in Tokyo, shld I buy the pass?
2) If I wan to go Disneyland, shld I buy the pass? Cause I saw from the website, it seen like Disneyland was not in Tokyo.
3) If I buy the Pass, did they limit when you must use it? Eg.. If i buy the Pass now and I know that they will stamp a date when I arrive in Tokyo. What happen if I onli decide to travel out of Tokyo 2 weeks later , can i still use the Pass?
4) Can we use our mobile in Tokyo? I bet Roaming will be expensive, so can we buy sim card there?
5) Is there other things I need to know when I m in Tokyo?

^tamago^ SG

No problems. Laughing

1) No. Don't buy the pass unless you plan to go to Kyoto and Osaka on top of Japan, since the cost of 7-day JR pass ($36 Cool will cover that trip and beyond. Your transport expense should be around ¥1,000 or less per day. You can use their ez-link card, the Suica/PASMO card. I'll recommend you get the Suica card together with your Narita Express (N'EX) ticket at the JR office at Narita Airport. All seats on the N'EX are reserved.

2) Disneyland is still in Tokyo proper. It is just like a ride to Odaiba, and is nearer to Tokyo than Yokohama, half an hour away by train. The ride from Tokyo Station to Maihama is only ¥210 and 20 minutes away by JR Musashino Line.
http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

3) You can choose to convert your Exchange Order to the Pass proper with your passport at any of the exchange offices at a later date after your arrival in Japan. However, it must be converted within 3 months from the purchase date at STB in Singapore.

4) You can use roaming services with any 3G-enabled phone. Cost for SingTel users are $10 Autoroaming charge for logging on to roaming network, and $0.42 per SMS sent.
http://home.singtel.com/consumer/roaming/default.asp?ctry=Japan&network=gsm%20900%20autoroam I'd prefer to use Internet services to call back.

^tamago^ SG

I assume you've read all the websites about Japan. Laughing

Maybe you would like to more specific on what topic you want to know more about. Transport? Ettiquette? Actually the old Japan thread has a lot of info already.

coolger03 SG

just saw ur blog on the japan trip but i see a lot of red cross for the photos... how much did u spend on the trip? including flight and accommodation?

^tamago^ SG

it loaded on mine, but anyway the photos will be gone after july 11th. i may consider putting it all up on photobucket before that happens. Laughing

the trip costed S$2,000.
flight: $651 incl. tax
backpack: $115
local expenditure: $1,300 (¥105,000)

in japan, ¥100,000 is like $1,000 to them. a ¥120 drink is like $1.20 (S$1.50). tat might help u get a grasp.

local transport: ¥9,000 (¥1,100 per day, incl. airport transfers)
food: ¥20,000 (¥2,500 a day, incl. one nice meal more than ¥1,000 plus yoshinoya plus many drinks)
accomodation: ¥41,300 ($550) for 7 nights
shopping and others: ¥36,000

sneezy SG

So Chiba is consider part of Tokyo, right? I m quite confuse where is belong to Tokyo. Rolling Eyes

^tamago^ SG

Chiba is to the west of Tokyo. Tokyo is a perfecture and a city of its own, on par as a perfecture like Chiba.

However, you're right in that the Greater Tokyo Area refers to the metropolitan area of Tokyo as well as neighbouring suburban areas, where many people commute to Tokyo for work daily. To the east of Tokyo is Chiba, west is Saitama, to the south is Kanagawa.

The airport is located within Chiba, that's how far it is away from Tokyo itself. After Narita Airport and Narita station, N'EX will stop at Chiba station before running express down to Tokyo proper. From Chiba station you can visit the Chiba Urban Monorail, the world's longest suspended monorail system. It's scary! Beyond that it is essentially a suburban area.

On Saitama side, you can visit Tama town (home of Hello Kitty), Studio Ghibili etc. But it is also essentially an suburban area.

Kanagawa has Yokohama, which was the base of foreign trade in the 19th century. It has more colonial buildings than other parts of Tokyo, with some recent modern development (Minato Mirai 21), and also the Yokohama Chinatown.

All these places are at least half an hour's journey by train from the Yamanote Line.

^tamago^ SG

any more questions?

sneezy SG

got.. one more question. What card can be use to withdraw money on their atm machine? Does they consider the PLUS sign also?