pre-OSAKA [PART 2]: Other reservations & Itinerary

-continue from previous post-

Other reservations made in advance

Universal Studios Japan 1day Studio Pass & Universal Express Pass 5
USJ is a must go if you visit Osaka! After all, it has a Harry Potter Area! Their English website provides some basic information on USJ but you need to visit the Japanese website to book their tickets online.

I had booked the tickets and express path online through the Japanese's USJ website. Just have to fiddle a bit and toggle the google translate in order to successfully book the tickets. You will need a printer to print out the USJ's tickets and express pass.
To do the online reservation of the tickets, you need to have a Japanese address, kanji and katakana name.
As I had booked my accommodation with Airbnb, I easily placed in my host's apartment address. For name in Kanji, I typed in my chinese name in traditional chinese characters. For katakana, I directly typed in the katakana based on my chinese name pronunciation.
I think my purchases should be fine. Well, we will know when we head to USJ.. >.<

By the way, the express pass 5 and 7 will allow you to enter the Harry Potter zone without getting a timed ticket. During purchase of the express path, you will need to choose a timing to enter harry potter. Without the express pass, you will need to get a timed ticket at a machine. The ticket will indicate the timing you can then enter Harry Potter land.
I have read reviews from Tripadvisor and it seems that USJ is usually very packed. So even though the express pass is rather pricey, I still purchased the pass to save queuing time.

Price of USJ ticket: ¥7,200 
Price of express pass 5: ¥4,815

Yume Kyoto
Online booking was made for kimono rental through Yume Kyoto's website. I am going to rent and wear kimono for a day and walk around Kyoto, taking awesome pictures in kimono!
I chose the plan for dressing in the full attire: kimono, obi, undershirt, overcoat, shawl, handbag and sandals. This is for ¥5,000. You can add ¥1,500 for the staffs to style your hairstyle as well!

Price of kimono rental: ¥6,500 exclusive of tax

Ninja Kyoto Restaurant  
I think it is not necessary to book this restaurant in advance; but since they allow reservations and their website is user-friendly (in English!), I just made a reservation anyways! You select the restaurant you want to dine in, key in your details, and once they accept your reservation, you will receive their email confirmation! By the way, if you are still wondering what this restaurant is all about, this is a ninja themed restaurant. Their design of the place and food is all ninja-themed!

Alice Fantasy Restaurant @ Osaka
Another themed restaurant: Alice in wonderland themed! They have other alice restaurants in Toyko, only one is in Osaka! This is their official site!Their reservation online is quite troublesome as the site only accepts Japan's mobile number. Not sure if my reservation will stay with them till I visit them, cause the site mentions something like that they might call us to confirm our reservation. However, the number I keyed in is not a real number. >.<
Oh well, just gotta queue if I end up with no reservation! :/

Instant Ramen Museum Workshop
We will be visiting Instant Ramen Museum and they offer workshops to make your own instant ramen! The museum is located at Ikeda; around 35mins train ride from Osaka station. Info of the museum in English >>here<<
However the workshop requires advance booking! I booked from their website (in Jap). The workshop is ¥500 per pax and payment is done when you arrive at the museum.

Planned Itinerary

I have planned an extensive itinerary, so shall see if my plan is workable once I’m there. 

Day 1:

• Reached Kansai airport at 7.20am.

• Breakfast @ airport

• Head to Craive New York @ Shinsaibashi to do hair

• Head to Osaka's apartment for check-in

• Dinner and shop around Osaka/Umeda station

Day 2:

• Brunch at Kani Doraku Honten @ Dotonbori

• Explore Nipponbashi DEN-DEN Town

• Visit a maid café 

• Shop at Amerikamura

• Head back to Dotonbori

Day 3:

• Travel to Kobe

• Trek to Nunobiki Waterfall

• Head up Mount Rokko

• Explore Arima Onsen Area

• Check in Taketoritei Maruyama

Day 4:

• Check out of Taketoritei Maruyama

• Head to Meriken Park

• Visit Sorakuen Park

• Shop at Harborland

Day 5:

• Travel to Kyoto

1.     Kinkaku-ji 

2.     Ginkaku-ji 

3.     Nanzen-ji

• Dinner at Ninja Kyoto Restaurant 

• Cherry blossoms viewing at Maruyama Park

• Stay at Kyoto's apartment

Day 6:

• Go to Fushimi Inari Shrine

• Rent kimono @ Yume Kyoto

1.     Nishiki Market

2.     Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Jishu Shrine & Otowa Waterfall)

• Eat at Izuu 

• Walk around Kyoto station

• Head back to Osaka's apartment

Day 7:

• Picnic & view cherry blossoms at Osaka Castle

• Shop at HEP FIVE

1.     SEGA Umeda Joypolis 

2.     Purikura

• Go to Umeda Sky Building

• Dinner at Alice Fantasy Restaurant

Day 8:

• Travel to Sumiyoshi Taisha

• Visit Shitennoji Temple @ Tennoji

• Walk around Shinsekai

• Travel to Tenjimbashi

1.     Osaka Museum of Housing & Living 

2.     Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street

3.     Kema Sakuranomiya Park

Day 9:

• Travel to Himeji

1.     Mount Shosha: Engyoji temple

2.     Himeji Castle

3.     Koukoen Garden

• Head to Kuromon Ichiba Market

Day 10:

• Universal Studios Japan!

Day 11:

• Visit Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum @ Ikeda

• Go to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

Day 12: Head back to Singapore

Refer to my overall itinerary for my actual trip in Japan!

pre-OSAKA [PART 1]: Flight & Accommodations

First trip that is fully planned and booked by me! Well.. Except for planning where to eat, my friend researched on that! However, I do add in places to eat if I see good recommendations while planning for the trip! It's our first trip to Japan and it's for 12D11N! Our plan for Japan is to visit the Kansai (Kinki) region of Japan. Basically, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe & Himeji! Very greedy, I know! >.<  A good website to use when planning for a Japan trip is >>this<<

Cherry blossoms here I come!

Flight
We booked our flight with Vietnam Airlines. It’s our first time flying on this airline; shall see how it goes! Initally, I was looking to book budget airlines, but only AirAsia and Jetstar fly to Kansai International Airport. I personally feel that AirAsia’s seats are smaller than Scoot’s, so it’s a no-no for a 7hr flight. Never taken Jetstar before but it is too expensive for a budget flight! Close to $900! I can take better full-cost carriers at that price!!

In the end, Vietnam Airlines was our best choice; priced at $610 for a round trip to Osaka. Bought it at a promo rate sometime end July 2014; nearly 9 months in advance to our trip! Very ‘kiasu’ excited you see! ;D

The flight timing that we chose:

SIN to SGN (Ho Chi Minh): 8.25pm to 9.30pm (Sat)

SGN to KIX: 12.10am to 7.20am (Sun)

KIX to SGN: 10.30am to 1.50pm (Thurs)

SGN to SIN: 4.30pm to 7.25pm (Thurs)

I do think that the stopover at Vietnam is a bit long though… first time taking full-cost carrier flight with stopover, perhaps it is normal?

Accommodations

While researching on hotels, I chanced upon an article mentioning that booking of apartment is actually a better alternative to hotels. Its price can be lower than some hotels, but even at a similar pricing, a hotel only provides you with a bedroom and toilet! An apartment has kitchen, dining area and some even have living rooms! Again, it’s our first time booking an apartment from Airbnb so we shall see how it goes!

Not an Airbnb member yet? Join Airbnb with my referral >>here<< to get travel credits! We can get credits when either of us book a stay using Airbnb!

Airbnb allows for a few options in apartment selection: Entire home, Private room & Shared room. So see what you prefer! For me, I prefer having an entire apartment! We will be staying in 3 places; as listed below:

Osaka

This is our ‘home’ when we are in Japan for 11 nights. Paid $940 for 11 nights for 2 person. So 1 pax pays $470 for 11 nights! That’s $42.72 per night each for a whole apartment for ourselves! See the details of the room I rented here: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/3672907. The hosts will be providing us with pocket wifi as well!

When I booked the apartment early Aug 2014, there was a promo for payment using UOB debit/credit cards. The price I stated is after a 10% discount!

This is an ideal location for us as we will be travelling to Kyoto, Kobe and Himeji. So we need to be located near to Osaka station for ease of access.

Kyoto

I also booked another apartment from Airbnb for a 1 night stay in Kyoto. The apartment: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/3596434. Prices around Kyoto station for a private apartment are priced slightly higher than those in Osaka, at least when I was searching end July 2014. However, there should be other cheaper alternatives as I am looking to stay in a private apartment located near Kyoto station only. It costs us $193 for a night stay, so $95.50 each.

The host provides pocket wifi as well, but we will have our pocket wifi from our Osaka’s apartment, so we will not need it.

Kobe

We will be spending 1 night in a ryokan at Arima Onsen in Kobe! Named Taketoritei Maruyama, it provides free booking of their private onsen for 45mins upon check-in, subjected to availability. Basic amenities will be provided by the ryokan, including yukata, towels, toothbrush, shampoo, body wash & hair dryer. Shuttle buses are available from Arima Onsen station to the ryokan.

I booked the Maruyama Japanese room (the cheapest room!) from Agoda in Dec 2014, it is slightly less expensive and you can book a room which serves traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast (Kaiseki Ryori)! The link: http://www.agoda.com/en-sg/arima-onsen-taketoritei-maruyama-ryokan/hotel/kobe-jp.html
Spent $528.66 for this; each person around $264.33. Not cheap, but I hope it will be worth the money! :D This will be my first experience going to a hot spring! 

-continue here-