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Showing posts with label japan free and easy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japan free and easy. Show all posts

Saturday 20 July 2019

Japan free and easy : Rikugien garden Autumn leaves




Ruikugien GArden Illumiation


The nearest station to Rikugien Garden is Komagome Station of the JR Yamanote Line or the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line. The ticket cost is 300 yen.
The garden is also open in the morning. Some part of the parks are close for the illumiation.
This is one of the most famous for the night illumiation in Tokyo.
There is a queue outside. We took around 20 minutes to get into a compound.
There is a fixed route going in one direction. You can stop at your own pace to take photos and continue the tour by following the tour. It will take less than one hour if you just stroll to enjoy the scenery.  I recommend this as it is different from the autumn leaves I have seen and it is beautiful. This is not a place for group photos as there are too many people. 
I will not recommend this for kids that are very young or elderly with weak legs.There are very little places to rest.
As it is a one way tour, so you can't turn back if they are tired.
As I visited this in 2016, the photos may not be accurate.
The illumination starts from Sundown to 9pm but last entry is 930pm.
This is from November 17 to 9 December 2019










































 




Japan free and Easy : Shinjuku Gyoen Kouen Shinjuku garden park Autumn leaves








We decided to visit SHinjiuku Kouen as it is walking distance from our Hotel and is not really expensive. However, the price of the ticket now is at 500 yen.


How to get there: Ten minute walk from the "New South Exit" of JR Shinjuku Station or a five minute walk from Shinjukugyoenmae Station on the Marunouchi Subway Line.


As I was there around the end of November, some of the Autumn leaves are not as vibrant. I think the best time to catch Autumn leaves should be early November or late October. Usually the tourism board will predict the autumn leaves season.



Hours
9:00 to 18:00 (March 15 to June 30 and August 21 to September 30) 
9:00 to 19:00 (July 1 to August 20) 
9:00 to 16:30 (October 1 to March 14) 
Admission ends 30 minutes before closing
Closed
Mondays (or following day if Monday is a national holiday), December 29 to January 3. There are no closing days during the cherry blossom season (late March to late April) and the Chrysanthemum Exhibition (first half of November).

The place is not very big, so will be able to finish in 1.5 hours with some photo takings. There are some benches for people to take a break. Some people do bring there picnic mat and have a nice little picnic or just sit on the grass patch while kids have fun at the open space and the adults enjoy the scenery. 
I will recommend this as it is a convenient place. Some places do require a few hours of travelling.  It is not far from the train station and from city. There are a lot of good spots nearby including my favourite ebi ramen and 100 Yen shop Seria. Shall do a write up on these 2 places in the future.
The place is not big so if you are not one who want to spend a lot of time on sightseeing, this is the place to go. This is also a great spot for cherry blossoms. 

Below are more photos for you decide if this is worth going. I feel this place is very good for family as it is accessible and also there are lot ofplaces for kids to run around.































































Saturday 13 July 2019

Japan Osaka Free and Easy Itinenary : Ookini Hotels Nipponbashi

After a lot of research, we decide to stay at Ookini Hotel Nipponbashi.
Location: This is beside the train station, you can choose to exit 6 which is just the third door from the exit or take exit 10 which has a lift but you have to cross the road. It will be good for elderly or people with difficulty with stairs or wheelchair bounded. It is walking distance to eatery and 5 mins from Kuromon Market, 10 mins from NAmba and Dontobori 
Kitchen: It has a decent kitchen with a refrigerator, a microwave, 2 stoves and ample cutlery for 4 people. It will be good if you want to cook any snacks or food for kids. 
We used it to cook instant noodles/pasta or any fresh produce we want to try out from the supermarket.  Japan supermarket can be so fun. There is also a big dining table for 4. There is an air conditioner in the kitchen
Bedroom: The bedroom is not very big. There is space for 3 luggages but the luggage also can be left in the kitchen room. The room has another air conditioner or heater. The bed was comfortable.
Balcony/Laundry: There is a washing machine/dryer. ONe packet of washing power is provided. If you do not like to use the dryer, there is a nice little balcony for you to hang your clothes out. And to air the room if it does not smell good.
Closet/Storage: There is a corridor leading to the bedroom. You can close the door of the kitchen to prevent cooking odor from making your clothes and items stink. There are 2 big cupboards, one with hangers and one with shelves. 
Toilet/Shower: The toilet and bathing are in separate room. There is a bath tub. The water pressure and temperature was good. However, I can't be sure about the temperature as I was there during summer. The water is warm without the heater.
We are eligible for a cleaning service for the 6 days when we were there. We did not ask for it as we just wash the towel with the washer/dryer and there was a big rubbish bin outside for us to clear the rubbish.


I enjoy the stay a lot. the location is good as it is beside the train station and there are so many eateries nearby. Family mart and 7-11 are just beside which we can buy our breakfast and eat in the comfort of our room. NAmba and Dontobori are just nearby, we take a stroll back to our apartment. It is not as noisy as staying at Dontobori. The price is also more reasonable for such a big apartment. We did not enquire the staff much about the area as we have no trouble venturing out with our GPS. However, the staff was helpful when we asked for help with some logistics. The room is spacious and comfortable. We have a lot of amenities in the room. The room is not beautiful but is new, clean and practical. This will be good for family, especially those with kids as there need fresh laundry and to cook for kids and also friends travelling in a group it is spacious and private.









Tuesday 2 July 2019

Japan Osaka free and easy Itinenary : 15 TIPS TO enjoy rides and food and save money at Japan Universal Studio Osaka



Just visited Universal Japan this summer.
Here are some tips to enjoy yourself and some money saving tips


Tips

1. Check the weather report. Make sure it will not be raining. Google the weather. Rides and queues are not all sheltered. Bring an umbrella if possible
2. Buy the tickets online to avoid queues and save money. Try Klook or KKday. WE did not buy the express queue tickets. We managed to get into Harry Potter, Spider man, Minions 4D, Backdraft, Sailormoon, gozilla, Attack of the Titans, the other Minions rides and one of the kids rides. We did not take any roller coaster ride as I have phobia of heights and dropping, but I did have fun even I did not take the Roller coaster rides
3. Reach around 845 to 9am, the queues are not that long in the morning. We went on a weekday and reach around 845am, there is already a lot of people waiting outside.

4. Avoid going on weekends as the queues will be much longer
5. Eat your breakfast as there is little time to waste, food are expensive and no outside food can be bought in. Bring plain water as it can be quite hot and tiring. There are water coolers around.
6. Go to the rides with the longer queues first.The queues were be peaked around 1 plus to around 5. Between that timing, take some photo, do some shopping,  get some food and take a break. Leave the photo taking when the queue is long.
7. Do some research before you go as time is limited. You can't take all the rides. We watch street performances as we go along. Then we fnished all the 4D rides and the special anniversary rides as the must take rides and we finished all of them.
8. For aesthetic food, it will be the Minions and some of the small snacks kiosks selling cute desserts or sweets. If you are on a budget, try the less popular cafe like the Jaws. The price of the food can be around 30% cheaper and there is usually more peaceful
9. In the afternoon, a lot of people were sitting by the roadside resting around afternoon as it is getting hot and tiring. You can venture to less popular areas and there are rest areas with benches.
10. Stay till the night if you can as the park looks different at night. And there is the Harry potter night shows and a parade.


11. There are tons of options for Dinner at the Universal city outside Universal Studio so there is not a need to get in Universal as food options are limited and expensive
12. The only ride with English sub is Minions. However, the ride experience is more important than the story line to me
13. The map of Universal Japan is confusing. The restaurant maps are on the other side and rides on the other, no shops or landmark indication. There are a few signs around. Not all information are available on the map
14. There is not a need to get a numbered ticket for Harry Potter unless you are going on weekends or the summer Holidays.
15. Wear contacts if possible if you taking the 4D Rides and Roller coaster rides

Review of some of the rides

1. Harry Potter Ride and the forbidden ride (4D Ride)
    This is our first ride. We took around 30mins to queue as it is our first ride. We rushed to queue for it when it just opened.  The wait can be much longer. This is not an actual roller coaster but it is one of the more scariest and most vivid ride. It was fun, but scary to me. Worth a try.

4D ride is at this castle but we start queuing at the entrance
the queue was a long walk with some interesting things to see 



2. Spider-man The-ride (4D ride)
    We were a bit lost. But the queue was not long. We took 10-15 mins to get to the ride. This has less drop and spinning. Graphics was good but not as vivid as Harry Potter. If you are not sure of whether 4D rides are your thing, you can try this one out first. I enjoyed this as I spend less time screaming for my life.

3. SailorMoon : The Miracle (4D ride)
   We are really fans of Japanese anime and cartoons but this was the one of the special of the 5th anniversary of the Universal Japan. The setting is like a movie Theater, there is no dropping or turning. Just the character appear closer to you in 4D form.  It is suitable for kids and elderly. The show is quite an interesting watch with the 4D animation.. Recommended for your heart to take a break from the excitement and a good place to rest your tired feet. We waited around 30 minutes to watch the show.


4.Attack of the Titans : The REal (4D ride)
  This is a theatre setting too. This include real life actors/actress involves in this. There is slightly lesser 4D animation and the chairs does not move too. I did not enjoy it as much maybe as there is a language barrier to the storyline. We waited around 30 minutes for the show too


5.  Minions : Freeze Ray Sliders
     This is not a 4D ride. This is something like the kids" spinning tea cups but the spins are more intense and has some jerks here and there. If you want something outdoor but not too boring. I will suggest this ride. It was quite fun for me. The waiting time was around 15 minutes.
 

6. Despicable Me Minions Mayhem ( 4D Ride)
     We queued an hour for this ride as this during the peak hours, around 3pm. The ride as animated drops and spins. It is more exciting than the Spider-man but less intense than the HArry Potter Ride. This is the only ride that provide English Subtitles. As I have taken this ride before in America. It is less fun due to lack of the surprise elements.

7. Backdraft
    I was not interested in this ride at all as I read on how boring it will be except the last part. But my friend suggested it and the show was 5 minutes from starting when we walked past. The first 15 minutes was just explanation of backdraft and how the movie was made. It was all in Japanese. Then the last 5 minutes was the fire scene. Take note that there is no seats available. You stand and watch a clip in Japanese.

8. Elmo's Go Go Skateboard
   The waiting time is around 5 to 10 minutes. I did not take the ride because I was scared. My friend took the ride. The skateboard roll up and down and a 360 degree spin. I did heard a kid tell the dad that the ride was really fun. We wanted to take the Flying Snoopy but as it was raining, we left the queue.

9.  Harry Potter light show
      We were exploring the Harry Potter in the evening as I seen some beautiful shots of it at night. As we were at the castle, I realise there were a lot of people standing around. We enquired the staff if there is a show coming up. He says there is a light show starting in 5 minutes. This is not listed in the pamphlets. We were lucky as we were back to explore the castle as the place looked beautiful at night. The show is a short but interesting to watch. I can't find the timing of the show at night, but I believe there is a few shows as I overheard the staff telling a person the next show timing. Just ask the staff about the timing available for the show.

10. Universal Spectacle Night Parade
    We did not manage to locate the place or the parade was cancelled due to the on-off rain. We only have the staff there doing a photo session. Quite disappointing to us. We went off to watch the Gozilla show which was at the spot where we were waiting for the parade.


8. Gozilla vs Evangelion : The Real (4D Ride)
    There is no waiting time as it is around 830pm and most people have left. This is the same theatre as the sailormoon. This is available from afternoon onwards. This ride is quite fun although it is in the theatre. The chair did jerk at some critical fighting scene and there are some other effects. I find it quite fun and not scary at all. I was happy that I did not missed this ride.



Food

The most famous food in Universal is the turkey leg. We did not eat it as it does not look appealing to us.
If you are there on budget, eat proper food at the restaurant as as meal can cost like 1500 yen or more. A simple beautiful looking ice cream or a cup of butter beer will be around 800 yen and it does not make you full. We only try the Butter Beer, we paid extra for the cup as it is one of the cheapest souvenir, extra 500 yen. The Butter Beer taste like Caramel. The rest just look good but really expensive.





 We visited 3 resturant. We left the HArry Potter resturant when we really the food are quite expensive and not really Aesthetic.





We ate at the Minions resturant. We went around 1pm.  There was a short queue. Everyone need to order a set meal. The price is not cheap but it includes a drink and a salad. We order 2 sets of the main course and a cream puff set. I was say the food is average but is visually interesting. The price of the main course is around $20+ each and the cream puff set around $10+. The whole meal comes up to around $70 even if we did not order 3 main courses.




We walked past Jaw resturant. The price of the food looks a few hundred yen cheaper than the minions resturant. If you looking to save a few bucks and avoid the crowd, the food looks decent. I googled the image of the resturant. It is quite interesting too.



What to do other than eat and rides?

When the queues have long waiting time and the weather is hot. Walk around for some photos, and run to any of the shop for air con and more photo taking. There is not a need to buy but some of the shops are quite interesting to window shop. There are also street performances here and there

HArry Potter
HArry Potter


HArry Potter Castle







Catch some street performances


chance upon the dinosaurs while exploring the park
Baby Dinosaur



One piece?
 
Shopping, hide from the Sun and photos

Night scenery of Universal.

The last shot of the day. We had fun. :D

I just changed my mobile phone and all the photos are taken using by mobile. I am quite pleased with the quality of photos. I took a video of the Harry Potter Light Show, I think the quality is quite good. However, I am not going to share it. I don't want to spoil the fun and the elements of surprise when you watch the show. Have fu!!