Japan trip - Chan Brother or CTC ?

[s__h]

Hi ger2,

i recommand prime to you mah...i went to hokkaido (self drive) via them last year ...

Their website is www.primetravel.com.sg ..their website maynot be very updated so ...

Have you been to IMM daiso? heard taht they got many hello kitty stuff there so u should check it out as they sell what u want...use the space of ur luaggage for other items type of hello kitty instead

 

[schnauzie]

ger2 - im goin f&e to tokyo, hakone, osaka ..and maybe kyoto/kobe if time permit.

how abt u? prime travel and ANA tours are well recommended. i have taken ANA before...very good!

 

[s__h]

Schnauzie,

That is quite a lot of places u r going !!!
How many days do you intend to spend in Japan?
2 weeks?
i suppose u r are buying the JR rail way pass ?

 

[schnauzie]

s & H - goin for 10 days only but FH is not a fan of shrine (so will only see meiji shrine and sensoji)..but prefer food and shopping. also, no disneyland for us..will be goin hakone for a night to enjoy the round course and onsen. doubt we can cover kyoto..if we can only can take a 30min shinkansen to kyoto to sightsee at the gion district or roam ard kyoto station..since kobe is also 30 min away tot of goin there for a kobe beef lunch at a highly recommended restaurant which serves it at a reasonable price. =)

yup..got the 7 day JR pass tt's y.

 

[keki]

hi schnauzie,

appreciate if you can share with me your itinerary. my email is [email protected].

Can I check with you where you bought the JR pass and how much it costs? Also, is the JR pass applicable for usage for all the rail lines or specific rails?

I will be going on the 27th Feb but haven booked the hotel. Wanted to book Star Shinjuku but was not available.

Any recommendation for hotel?

Thanks

keki

 

[schnauzie]

Hi keki - u r pretty last min here!we are not so much of a sightseeing person but roughtly i can tell u here:

20/3 - arrive tokyo at 2plus, activate JR pass and take narita express to shinjuku (keio plaza hotel). After check-in, take a walk around shinjuku shopping area, dinner. after dinner, walking tour along kabuki-cho (red light district)

21/3 - Harajuku: meiji jingu shrine, shopping at harajuku, takeshita dori, omotesando, shibuya, hachiko statue, back to shinjuku

22/3 - early train to hakone, hakone round course, gotemba premium outlet, back to ryokan for onsen and dinner

23/3 - morning check out, catch shinkansen from odawara to osaka.

24/3,25/3 - din plan a proper itinerary for osaka. main plan is to eat and shop at dotembori, shinsaibashi, namba, umeda, hep5, etc. will do more walking tour there.

26/3 - last min osaka shopping. take shinkansen back to tokyo. R&R

27/3 - tsukiji mkt, river cruise to asakusa, visit shrine, kaminanmon gate, nakamise shopping arcade. shin-nakamise shopping street. After tt walk to Kappabashi to see all those plastic food. Take train to Ueno for lunch, walk thru ueno park, ameyoko, okachimachi. Final pit stop to ginza for shopping

28/3 - last day in japan. last min food and shopping. take 2pm limousine bus to airport. 6.50pm flight back to spore.

Home sweet home.

any comments abt my itinerary?

I think you are looking for a shinjuku hotel, think based on ur budget, u can try nishi shinjuku (http://www.nshotel.com/english/e-stay_page.htm), kadoya(http://kadoya-hotel.co.jp/e_index.html) or toyoko inn (http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/)

Toyoko inn is located in kabuki-cho though, not sure if you are comfy with it.
any comments?

Which cities are u visiting and how many days r u goin to be there? i bought the 7 day JR rail pass coz i am travelling from tokyo to osaka. if u are only staying in the Kanto area (i.e. tokyo, yokohama, nikko etc) then there is no need for a jr pass which will cost 28,300 yen. Pl remember that JR pass can only be purchased OUTSIDE of spore.

hope the above helps. if u have further qn, i can try to help u ;p

 

[keki]

hi schnauzie,

thanks for your info. Yeah I am kinda last min.

How much did u pay for the keio plaza hotel? did u book it thru asiaroom? I am now waiting for confirmation for Nishi. I know Keio Plaza is very convenient but also very expensive.

I intend to go Hakone & Mt Fuji but was wondering if to stay at the ryokan , how abt the hotel in Tokyo.

I am only going there for 6 days. the JR pass- where u buy from? where can i find more info abt this?

keki

 

[s__h]

keki,

almost all tour agency would sell the JR pass

 

[s__h]

keki,

btw, did u get my email?
is ur rate better than what S$134?

 

[schnauzie]

keki - i bought my JR pass from JTB at takashimaya. u can call the tour agency to find out their jap exchange rate. best not to buy on a weekend as exchange rate will be usually ard 10% higher.

i am staying in keio plaza on first 2 nights and last 2 nights..range ard 21000 to 25000 for the newly renovated plaza rooms and using loccitane toiletries (im a sucker for comfort) but i saw for their normal room jalan.net may have offer for 17,000yen. priceline, asiarooms too. What u can do is find the best rate around and email the hotel to find out if they can match the rate. i booked directly thru the hotel quite some time ago b4 they increase for the sakura season.

 

[keki]

Hi S & H,

I cant access yahoo in my office.
I booked Nishi , its about $170+ per nite.

Thanks schnauzie for the info. i checked asiaroom and the keio plaza hotel is more than $200++ per nite. so i decided to tak Nishi.

Does the JR pass u bot allows u to take to Hakone? I was looking at the Odakyu romance car and hakone free pass and wondering if the JR pass includes them

keki

 

[s__h]

Hi keki,

wa..ur rate is more than the room rate i recommended...mine is S$134 as mentioned b4...

but maybe is your hotel has a better area?

Details JR infor should be able to obtain from the office u buy from.... JAL office in hong leong building should be able to help

 

[s__h]

Hi keki,

JR pass does not cover to hakone, according to
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

Hakone Free Pass and Hakone Weekday Pass by Odakyu Railways are special passes for exploring Hakone

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html

 

[makino]

Hi,

Is it worth the effort to drag a heavy lugguge to Hakone for a night's stay? And then drag the lugguge back to Tokyo?

And, is there any recommendation for a nice ryokan that's not too expensive, and with a nice hot spring? Did anyone try those with private hot baths?

 

[s__h]

Hi makino,

Hakone not much to see in my opinion. So not worth to do that

I tried those private onsen b4...so so lor

 

[butterkiss]

Any idea what will the weather in Japan be like in early April?
I just booked my package with CTC 2 weeks back... =) Leaving for Japan this coming Sunday... =)

 

[s__h]

butter,

should not your CTC infor u how the weather will be like ??!!!

 

[judetan]

anyone - Japan in October? Autumn? Im plannin a trip there with girlfriends.

Hope the weather is fine, im still comparing packages by travel agencies. CTC packages quite good, any other recommendations?

 

[puppylove888]

anybody planning a free and easy trip to hokkaido year end?

my plan :
Day 1-7 (Hokkaido) budget $1800 inclusive air,transport,hotel,food
Day 8-14 (Kansai) budget $2450 for 14 days inclusive of air,transport, hotel and food
optional 15-20 (explore around Tokyo such as Nikko, Kamakura and Mt Fuji area) budget abt $3600 inclusive air,hotel.transport and food

 

[almondnut]

any idea whether can see maple leaves during first week of oct?

 

[s__h]

unlikely as it going to be winter

 

[s__h]

hi almond,

my mistake....oct can still see the maples leaves but really depends on which part of japan...

i was in hokkaido last year around oct

 

[poshlim]

Hi,
Anyone going to a 7D central Japan in December? I'm planning to go with CTC. So far, their price is the cheapest compared with Chanbrothers and Dynasty.

 

[yurieve]

Hi Jesslyn,

I've signed up wz CTC for their 7D Central Japan pkg but I'm departing on 18Nov... heard that it is alrdy full now so I guess the tour must be really popular...

 

[poshlim]

Hi Yurieve,
Thanks, have you been to any tour with CTC? My friends just went to China with CTC but they commented that CTC is not so good.
How much is the package that you're going? Please remember to update on your trip when you return.

 

[starris]

Hi I went with ASA to Hokkaido Japan in Jul. Pretty pleased esp with the Japan tourguide. She is very well organised, efficiently, entertaining and informative. But truthfully, all tour agencies like Chan and CTC are pretty reputable. The difference being whether you are lucky enough to get a good tour leader/tour guide, cos a good one really makes a world difference.

 

[yurieve]

hi Jesslyn,

my sis who got married last yr, also went for the exact same pkg wz CTC for her honeymoon last yr...
she told me tat overall, she felt tat the pkg, hotels, tour guide, food was quite good so after comparing pkgs wz other agents like HongThai, Dynasty, Chanbros, ASA, etc, I decided to book wz CTC in the end.

this is my 1st time joining CTC too

 

[poshlim]

Hi Yurieve,
How much did you pay for your package? By which airline? I just called CTC again and the price for flying by SQ quoted to me today is more than what was quoted 2 days ago. Guess it must be very popular.

 

[poshlim]

Hi Yurieve,
The 7D central japan must be a hot favourite cos 8 Dec is already fully booked within a few hours! I hurriedly make reservation for 9 Dec! Think there's only 5 seats left only for my package as including my family will be 20 pax liao!

 

[yurieve]

hi Jesslyn,

my pkg cost abt $2100 per pax including taxes... ya, the pkg is really popular. i actually wanted to go in dec too but unable to get my leave approved, so hv to go in nov instead.

how much did u pay for urs? oh btw, i'll be taking JAL cos CTC told me they only hv flts on SQ for dec grps...

 

[poshlim]

Hi Yurieve,
My package costs $2.2k per pax by SQ.Looking forward to my trip. The lady Crystal who served me is very patient and helpful. I must say her service is very good!
Please do update me on your trip when you return!

 

[celinetan]

Dear brides to be,

I have a 2 person Chan Brothers holiday package East Hokkiado Romance for 2008 6th Feb to 12th Feb travelling by ANA morning flight.

It has been paid with deposit of 1.6k Each pax is paying $2425, inclusive of airport taxes, package & flight. No other costs to be added. Anyone interested in this package, please do drop me a msg here and I will get bk to u on the details. As my bf & I had some communication breakdown, I cannot bear to see the deposit forfeited for nothing.

So, anyone considering your honey moon in Hokkaido 2008, it will be snowing. Pls do consider.

Thank you

Regards,
Celine Tan

 

[mzlt7879]

HI starris, I see that you had just visited Hokkaido during July07..I am planning the same trip this July08...care to provide more information cos Im comparing against 2 different packages for SA and ANA direct.

my email is [email protected]

 

[breta]

SA is my choice. I just go there last new year.
all nice.

 

[breta]

But credit card is not so commond in japan.
bring much money to get there.

 

[sinming]

hihi
if i choose to stay within tyoko do i still need the jr pass?

 

[rara]

No you don't.

 

[wyy]

hey,
I am gg in 1st Oct to 10 Oct. Fly to Osaka then back from Tokyo F&E.

Read from thread, credit card is not common, so how much to bring is the best??

Any advise?

 

[steventay]

Hi,

so how much is need?

i intend to go Japan during Sakura season around end Mar 2009.. anyone else going which travel agent is better and has good pricing...?

intend to go a 7 to 8days japan package tour and 3 to 4days F&E.

will be going to the coming Natas 2009 Feb fair?