Travel to Hokkaido
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F&E is a lot better.code said:
Despite the usual warnings of 'tourists being treated like a vegetable head' by dubious shops whilst overseas on F&E, I'd never experienced such a thing.
Where security is concerned, I can walk around confidently at night without fears of running into drunks or Yakuzas.
Put simply, Japan is one of the most tourist-friendly countries around. Its even better that u've got friends there who can prolly show u around and bring u to places tour groups will never bring u to.
Wish to go there again...........
BTW, anyone knows if we can book those F&E (hotel + car rental) hokkaido package in singapore? ie those offered by eg. JAL or ANA etc. Used to do that in japan agency, but know wife no longer station in japan.
Anyway, no such thing as "chop chop" carrot head in Japan. From north japan all the way to south japan, their price for gifts are all STANDARD.
BTW, anyone knows if we can book those F&E (hotel + car rental) hokkaido package in singapore? ie those offered by eg. JAL or ANA etc. Used to do that in japan agency, but know wife no longer station in japan.
Anyway, no such thing as "chop chop" carrot head in Japan. From north japan all the way to south japan, their price for gifts are all STANDARD.
True. Even for shabby looking hotels, their customer service standard is something not to be sniffed at.
Ah well, dat's wad my friend's father-in-law claim (the chop carrot head thing). :bsmilie: I guess, too bad for her though.Shadus said:
Remember, u cannot buy the JR Pass in Japan.
It takes 1hr to go frm Narita to Tokyo station and assuming if u can take the first train from Tokyo station (that's like 7am?) to Sapporo, the entire train journey would take u 13hrs with like 5mins of transfer time between trains.
U might wanna do what I did.
- Frm Tokyo Station, take a train all the way to Aomori or Hakkodate (in Hokkaido) and spend the night there (journey time is approximately 5 to 6hrs).
- Continue ur journey from Aomori/Hakkodate to Sapporo (the capital city) in Hokkaido the next day, taking the very first train out (journey time is approximately 5 to 6hrs as well).
Of cos, that leaves u with only 1 or 2 days to explore only 1 place in Hokkaido and it also means that u have to wake up 5am in the morning (there's once I forget to check the time and slept only at 3am post-processing my shots for the day and woke up like a dead duck) prepare urself and take the 1st train out. Trains and buses in the more ulu regions of Hokkaido are notoriously long and u may have to wait anywhere from 30mins to 1hr for a single bus. The last bus for the day in more ulu areas may end as early as 1700H to 1800H.
Plan ur trip well.
It takes 1hr to go frm Narita to Tokyo station and assuming if u can take the first train from Tokyo station (that's like 7am?) to Sapporo, the entire train journey would take u 13hrs with like 5mins of transfer time between trains.
U might wanna do what I did.
- Frm Tokyo Station, take a train all the way to Aomori or Hakkodate (in Hokkaido) and spend the night there (journey time is approximately 5 to 6hrs).
- Continue ur journey from Aomori/Hakkodate to Sapporo (the capital city) in Hokkaido the next day, taking the very first train out (journey time is approximately 5 to 6hrs as well).
Of cos, that leaves u with only 1 or 2 days to explore only 1 place in Hokkaido and it also means that u have to wake up 5am in the morning (there's once I forget to check the time and slept only at 3am post-processing my shots for the day and woke up like a dead duck) prepare urself and take the 1st train out. Trains and buses in the more ulu regions of Hokkaido are notoriously long and u may have to wait anywhere from 30mins to 1hr for a single bus. The last bus for the day in more ulu areas may end as early as 1700H to 1800H.
Plan ur trip well.
Thanks jsbn. Why did you say I have only 1or 2 days to explore only 1 place in Hokkaido? Planning to spend around 7 days in total there (the duration of the pass). Any idea how long does it take to get the pass here? I guess the pass provides more flexibilitiy and since I will be getting one for Hokkaido anyway, might as well save on the domestic flights and buy a 7-day JR pass.
Not much time to think before having to book the flight to Tokyo soon. Might just have to book first and the plan later.
Not much time to think before having to book the flight to Tokyo soon. Might just have to book first and the plan later.
U can pop over to Takashimaya JTB travels @ level 4. Do take note that they close at 6pm on weekdays. Juz tell the nice Japanese lady (she understands English no worries) that u want a 7-day JR Pass and she'll give u a form to fill in and she'll process the voucher for u. Immediate collection. Since the price of the JR Pass is valued in Yen, they will convert the price frm Yen to SGD$. Will range frm anywhere like $400 to $460 depending on the exchange rate that day.
Once u got the voucher, its valid for 3mths. Once u reach Narita Airport, find the JR Ticket office at Narita Airport and hand the voucher to the lady. She'll process the voucher and give u the JR Pass. After that u can tell her ur destination and she'll print the train tickets for u and explain the little details on the ticket (the time of boarding lah, which car number, which seat number and so on).
The logo for the JR Ticket Office looks like this:
Image courtesty of Japan Railways
Be specific abt the station when telling the lady (that's where ur trip planning comes in) that u're going. Lets say u're planning for a 1-blast train ride to Hokkaido. Tell the lady which train station (Hakkodate, Sapporo, Biei, Furano, etc) and not just 'Hokkaido' since its so vague.
If u're lost abt trip planning, u can refer to this thread I'd created in HWZ. Contains all the possible links u can ever read:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1054978
If u're looking for train trip travel timings between stations...
http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperd01.cgi
And finally its not thorough but shld give u a vague idea on the JR Stations sufficient to plan ur trip
http://hisaai-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/JREast/Yamanote/Yt_s_eg.html
Paiseh, dat one typo abt the 1 or 2 days for 1 place. :embrass:
But since u'll be spending 7 days, 2 days alone will be gone for travelling alone assuming if u took wad I undertook the last time round:
My rough itinerary for my last trip:
Day 1: Reach Narita 1400H. Reach Tokyo at 1500H. Train ride all the way to Aomori. Reach at abt 2100H. Overnight in Aomori.
Day 2: 1000H train frm Aomori to Hokkaido (in-between got stop at Seikan Tunnel for Doraemon Theme Park), reach Sapporo at 1830H.
Day 3: Morning 1st train at abt 0800H to Otaru. 1hr trip.
Day 4: Morning train 0900H frm Sapporo to Wakkanai. 4hr trip. Reach Wakkanai like 1300H to 1400H. Took overnight train at 2200H frm Wakkanai to Sapporo.
Day 5: Reach Sapporo at 0600H.
Day 6: 1st train 0700H, Sapporo to Kyoto. 13hr - 14hr ride.
Day 7: Check out Nara. 1700H leave Kyoto for Tokyo. 3hr ride.
Day 8: Leave Tokyo for Narita Airport at 1400H. Flight at 1745H.
It depends on how u wanna vary.
Enjoy ur planning! :thumbsup:
Once u got the voucher, its valid for 3mths. Once u reach Narita Airport, find the JR Ticket office at Narita Airport and hand the voucher to the lady. She'll process the voucher and give u the JR Pass. After that u can tell her ur destination and she'll print the train tickets for u and explain the little details on the ticket (the time of boarding lah, which car number, which seat number and so on).
The logo for the JR Ticket Office looks like this:
Image courtesty of Japan Railways
Be specific abt the station when telling the lady (that's where ur trip planning comes in) that u're going. Lets say u're planning for a 1-blast train ride to Hokkaido. Tell the lady which train station (Hakkodate, Sapporo, Biei, Furano, etc) and not just 'Hokkaido' since its so vague.
If u're lost abt trip planning, u can refer to this thread I'd created in HWZ. Contains all the possible links u can ever read:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1054978
If u're looking for train trip travel timings between stations...
http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperd01.cgi
And finally its not thorough but shld give u a vague idea on the JR Stations sufficient to plan ur trip
http://hisaai-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/JREast/Yamanote/Yt_s_eg.html
Paiseh, dat one typo abt the 1 or 2 days for 1 place. :embrass:
But since u'll be spending 7 days, 2 days alone will be gone for travelling alone assuming if u took wad I undertook the last time round:
My rough itinerary for my last trip:
Day 1: Reach Narita 1400H. Reach Tokyo at 1500H. Train ride all the way to Aomori. Reach at abt 2100H. Overnight in Aomori.
Day 2: 1000H train frm Aomori to Hokkaido (in-between got stop at Seikan Tunnel for Doraemon Theme Park), reach Sapporo at 1830H.
Day 3: Morning 1st train at abt 0800H to Otaru. 1hr trip.
Day 4: Morning train 0900H frm Sapporo to Wakkanai. 4hr trip. Reach Wakkanai like 1300H to 1400H. Took overnight train at 2200H frm Wakkanai to Sapporo.
Day 5: Reach Sapporo at 0600H.
Day 6: 1st train 0700H, Sapporo to Kyoto. 13hr - 14hr ride.
Day 7: Check out Nara. 1700H leave Kyoto for Tokyo. 3hr ride.
Day 8: Leave Tokyo for Narita Airport at 1400H. Flight at 1745H.
It depends on how u wanna vary.
Enjoy ur planning! :thumbsup:
code said:
Um, NOT a good idea.
Hokkaido is incredibly ulu. Not exactly like Singapore. Would strongly recommend a guided tour with a tour bus that brings you to the doorstep of places of interest. Otherwise you spend 90% of your time just trying to get around. And I don't think the JR pass is worth it just to get to and around Hokkaido. Very long train journey. Much better to just fly there and back - one and a half hours only. Airfares are cheaper than train fare. The JR pass is probably worth it if you plan to visit a few cities at one go.
Tokyo, yes. Can do free and easy with no problem. Within Tokyo, I personally prefer the Metro subways rather than the JR lines. Cheaper and more direct, and most importantly, less chauvinistic. They have signs in English! Some JR trains no English signs or station announcements!
Tokyo is quite chicken-feet for Singaporeans, coz things there aren't very different from our couuntry. As long as you're armed with a good phrase and teach urself to recognise hiragana/katakana, you'll survive with very little worries.
However, if u're going to other cities, (or worse, ulu places in Tohoku or small villages) it may be less 'user-friendly'.
However, if u're going to other cities, (or worse, ulu places in Tohoku or small villages) it may be less 'user-friendly'.
Ask the seasoned hokkaido travellers from singapore...
How do you guys book F&E package from singapore?
Some yrs back, we F&E hokkaido a few times, but we had always booked in japan where they've F&E package tht includes hotel+car rental. Is there any japan agents like these in SG? I find those regular travel agent package to this region quite crappy.
How do you guys book F&E package from singapore?
Some yrs back, we F&E hokkaido a few times, but we had always booked in japan where they've F&E package tht includes hotel+car rental. Is there any japan agents like these in SG? I find those regular travel agent package to this region quite crappy.
Pop over to JTB Travels at Takashimaya SC level 4?
A word of warning: They close at 6pm sharp on weekdays.
A word of warning: They close at 6pm sharp on weekdays.
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