Jravelog

The best timing to visit is definitely early April if you want to see Sakura. 

But i think the cheapest time to go is around end of May, where they just ended their Golden Week(ゴールデンウィーク). The hotel rates will be lower during that time.
You can easily get hotel rooms at less than rm100 per night per person for a standard double room. Or hostel will be a better choice for an even cheaper budget.

And i definitely suggest booking.com if you want to book for hotels and hostels. It's easy to use and browse through, and most importantly u can book first and pay only when you reached the place. Which I personally fancy this cause I might make last minute changes, so i prefer booking.com more. Other website such as agoda can also be used. 

The total budget for the trip will be approximately rm3000 for 8 days including accomondation, jr pass, entry fees and food.

Well if you are not applying for JR pass, your budget can cut down rm1000, which is only rm2000 if you're not planning to go to Tokyo as the return trip of shinkansen cost around a thousand ringgit.



I've spent the first 2 night at Osaka where I reach Osaka around late afternoon, checked into the hotel and went out to Umeda Sky Building and meet up with our Japanese friend, Ayaka. And spend the night leisurely walking around Osaka JR Station, which is quite a big shopping mall.


The second day we spend the whole day at Universal Studio Japan, but to be honest, I don't think that it's worth it to go USJ as most of the shows are in Japanese, and there is no English translate or subtitle.
So if you don't really understand Japanese, I think going to Universal Studio Singapore is better than the Japan one. But the Harry Potter Town is now open at Japan. You can still choose to go if you're a fan of Harry Potter.

There's also a wet market near Noda station, which is quite similar to Tokyo's Tsukiji market, just this is Osaka Version.
The name of the market is Osaka chuo oroshiuri ichiba (OSAKA MARKET). There's a sushi shop called Endo Sushi. Which is extremely fresh and it's open at 5am in the morning. I really love the tuna sushi. :O the tuna is soooo fresh it melts in your mouth *cries while drooling*

Going to the market on either day ok, then on the third day, it's time to leave for Kyoto. After reaching Kyoto, we visited the UNESCO site Kinkakuji, and also Kiyomizudera Temple. Yasaka Shrine is quite beautiful as well, and then you can spend the dinner at Potoncho, where you can occasionally spot some geisha there.

The best way to go around Kyoto is via their bus line, cause the JR in Kyoto doesn't stop in main tourist attraction, so it's better to go via bus. You can get their 1 day bus pass at Kyoto station.


On the fourth day, if you want to explore more in Kyoto, you can still do so by taking the bus around. Else there's a detour which I think it's quite worth to go, which is Fushimi Inari Shrine where the thousand tori gates are and Arashiyama where the bamboo groves at, and you can take their old school train to see the whole of Arashiyama, which is extremely beautiful!



On the fifth day, we'll depart to Tokyo via Shinkansen. There's a whole lot of places to visit in Tokyo, depending the genre you want to visit. Harajuku and Shibuya is definitely shopping heaven for the shoppers, Akihabara is suitable for the tech and anime lover, Shinjuku is also a shopping place, but I personally doesn't like that place cause there's some homeless sleeping by the road side and it's quite happening there la. Pack with people.

Exploring in Tokyo is convenient by using the JR, because it stop in most places, therefore it's worth it if you have a JR pass or a one day daily pass in Tokyo.


The sixth day, we decided to join a local tour to Mt. Fuji since we're so near to Fujisan already, might as well just go there. We did an advance booking at www.japanican.com for around rm300 per person including transport to Mt. Fuji, an onsen experience, bbq lunch and to Gotemba Premium Outlet for shopping. I think the tour was great, the tour guide is really good, and there's free wi-fi in bus too!

And we'll spend the last two days back in Osaka, we went to Dotonbori where the most outrageous ads are, and also Shinsekai, which is also a place full of weird logo around. Have more takoyaki and okonomiyaki which is originally from Osaka.

That is all for my whole itenary, it's quite a packed schedule, as I want to see as much as possible.
And that's all for now!

p.s:// Don Quixote, which the logo is a blue penguin is definitely a must go place if  you visit Japan!! Stuffs are sold cheaper there! Especially cosmetics!