Packing List Jepang

Semua orang suka liburan, tapi bagi cewek, hal yang sangat menyenangkan pada saat liburan adalah playing dress up alias dandan cantik. nah, untuk list outfit yang harus dibawa harus menyesuaikan dengan suhu disana. Aku mau ke Jepang pada tanggal 15-24 Maret, yang merupakan musim semi. Kepengennya sih pas disana bisa lihat bunga sakura yang sedang blooming, cuman kalo dilihat dari jadwal full bloom sakura yang ada di Jadwal Sakura Jepang 2016 jadwalnya di awal April. Yaaaaa beda dikit doang padahal. Tapi ya sudahlah. Oh ya, walaupun jadwal full blooming sakura di kota -kota kayak Tokyo, Osaka dan Kyoto itu di awal April, ada loh daerah yang uda full bloom duluan. Nama daerahnya Kawazu Sakura. Disana sakura berbunga lebih awal. Agak jauh sih dari Kyoto sekitar 2 jam an. Tapi bagi yang bener-bener penasaran, waktu segitu ga masalah kan ya? ...wong Jakarta-Tangerang aja bisa 2 jam #curcol#macetmenyiksaku. 

Back to suhu pas di Jepang, di bawah ini prediksi cuaca via accuweather: Accuweather Tokyo

Kalo dilihat dari prediksi diatas sih kayaknya suhunya gak gitu dingin....cuma ujannya itu lhooo...ngeselin kan kalo jalan jalan terus ujan. Menurut temen yang baru pulang dari sana kemarin, suhunya emang agak dingin, pagi-siang sih cuma 8 derajat tapi kalau malem bisa drop ke minus, Dengan suhu kayak gitu, baju udah 4 lapis dan harus pake sepatu plus kaos kaki tebel. Untuk tanggal pas aku pergi sih karena suhunya masih agak diatas bulan Feb, lapisan baju juga agak berkurang. So far baju dingin yang udah dibeli untuk dibawa ke sana:

1. Jaket parka Zara dengan hoodie dan faux fur di leher. Panjangnya sepaha . Jaketnya agak tebal tapi lumayan hangat, namun tampaknya kurang ampuh kalo ada angin.

2. Jaket kulit H&M. Kalo ini cuma karena aslikkk pengen gaya doang, Secara jaketnya cuma sepinggang dan lapisannya gak tebel. Cuma bisa dipake siang siang pas angin sepoi-sepoi kayaknya. 

3. Cable sweater (1)

4. Wrap scarf tebel (1) buat dililit di badan pas lagi pake baju biasa

5. 1 topi lebar, 1 topi beanie

6. Sneakers (1), Boots (1)

7. Aneka syal, scarf yang gak terlalu tebel.

Untuk outfit yang lain paling baju tangan panjang, sweat shirt sama baju tangan pendek untuk daleman,

Hunting baju2 dingin biasanya di Zara, H&M, Stradivarius and Bershka..apalagi pas bulan des-jan mereka sale gede2an. Tapi kalo uda kelewat salenya bisa ceki2 di factory outlet (yang harganya udah gak kayak factory lagi) contohnya premium outlets (mall ambasador, jalan raya serpong), Rumah Mode (Bandung), SOT sourcing (Bogor). Kalau mau online bisa cek juga di mapemall.com. Itu website MAP group yang uda kesohor itu loh. Pokoknya selama mau nyari, pasti dapet yang miring-miring. 

Happy Hunting!

Beli JR Pass

Setelah mendapatkan visa dan mengurus soal uang selama di Jepang, selanjutnya adalah cara membeli JR Pass. JR Pass itu adalah semacam pass "sakti" yang membuat kita dapat jalan-jalan di Jepang dengan menggunakan jalur kereta api JR (Japan Railway). Karena hampir semua kota-kota utama di Jepang dilalui JR ini, makanya jaringan JR Pass sangat luas. Seperti contoh, trip aku ke Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto dengan day trip ke Kobe, Gala Yuzawa atau Izu Kawazu, maka JR Pass benar-benar-benar kudu dibeli. JR Pass ini ada yang berjangka waktu 7, 14 dan 21 hari. Untuk 8 hari trip, aku pilih yang 7 hari. Soal harga? fantastissss...bandrolnya 29,110 yen atau setara dengan 3.4 jutaan (pakai kurs tukar yen 120). Bagiku, harganya cukup mahal ya...seingatku sih sama dengan biaya transport ke antara kota Eropa yang aku jabanin di 2013. Namun setelah melihat harga satuan sekali jalan antar kota di Jepang (Shinkansen), harga tiket terusan ini terasa "masuk akal" apalagi selama di Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto,...JR Pass bisa dipake di dalam kota. Tapi ada catatannya ya: ini "masuk akal" untuk kamu yang berpergian antar kota cukup sering kayak kasus aku diatas. Kalau memang kotanya tidak terlalu jauh dan terlalu banyak, lebih baik beli "eceran" saja. Pertimbangan pake JR Pass ini juga didahului oleh riset harga tiket sekali jalan antar kota di www.hyperdia.com Setelah dihitung-hitung, lebih menguntungkan beli JR Pass. Kalau tidak pake JR Pass, pake apa lagi donk? menurutku tergantung kotanya. Karena yang namanya pass di Jepang itu banyak, ada JR Pass, JR East Pass, JR Seishun, Tobu Nikko Tokyo Wide Pass itu semua kalo ke beberapa kota di Jepang ya. Kalo misalnya hanya di satu kota misalkan Tokyo atau Kyoto saja, lebih baik beli tiket terusan harian seperti 1 day Tokyo Subway, Tokyo Metro open ticket, Raku Buss Pass Kyoto dll. Kalau memang mau hemat, lebih baik dari itinerary dicek harga tiket kereta ke tempat-tempat tersebut apakah "balik modal" dengan beli pass atau lebih untung beli eceran. 

Untuk JR Pass, ada beberapa pilihan tempat pembelian. Biasanya sangat direkomendasikan beli di travel agent spesialis Jepang seperti H.I.S Travel atau Jalan Tour. Mesti jeli juga lihat promosi di travel-travel agent tersebut. contohnya, pas jalan jalan di AEON Mall sempat mampir ke H.I.S Travel. Disana ada tulisan promo JR Pass beli 2 gratis sewa wifi portabel 4 hari. Karena tempat kerjaku dekat dengan H.I.S travel Sudirman, cuek aja dengan promo di AEON dan lebih milih ke Sudirman, eh ternyata promo cuma ada di AEON sana....aduh, untung baru telpon. Nah karena pada saat mau beli JR Pass, Yen lagi naik, alhasil JR Pass nya jadi mahal, waktu itu mereka menghargainya Rp. 3,493,200 dikali 2 orang jadi Rp. 6,986,400...waks cukup mahal. Karena itu akhirnya rencana beli tiket di pending dulu sampai nilai Yen membaik. Eh pas iseng-iseng browsing ketemu www.bobobobo.com, website voucher and online shop yang lagi ada promo JR Pass 7 hari jadi Rp. 3,050,000. Pas lihat langsung ngiler karena bisa menghemat sampai 900 ribu untuk dua tiket. Tapi kok agak takut yah beli online dengan harga segitu. Akhinya browsing dulu deh tentang si bobo ini, ternyata nama mereka cukup bagus, dan untuk urusan travel, mereka cukup oke karena konon si owner adalah anak salah satu pemilik travel agent terkemuka..ohhh pantes promo travelnya banyaaak. Yasud cussss lah beli. Caranya: daftar di website mereka, beli (add cart), transfer via ATM/bayar di website pake kartu kredit. Setelah pembayaran dikonfirmasi akan ada email dari mereka untuk menginfokan tanggal perjalanan dan memberikan scan visa dan passport halaman 1. Katanya sih dalam 3 hari bisa langsung diambil di kantor mereka di Menteng. lagi nunggu infonya juga nih! (deg2an). Bagi yang lagi nyari, promonya dari sekarang sampai tanggal keberangkatan 24 Maret 2016. ini linknya http://www.bobobobo.com/id/treat/travel/international/japan/7-day-japan-rail-pass

Bawa Uang Berapa ke Jepang?

Untuk post kali ini menggunakan Bahasa Indonesia saja karena yang menukar IDR ke Yen cuma orang kita saja. Setelah semua urusan tiket, visa dan itinerari selesai, berikutnya adalah urusan tukar menukar Yen. Pada dasarnya untuk biaya trip Jepang saya dibagi ke 2 bagian. 

1. Bagian yang dibayar di Indonesia

bagian ini meliputi tiket, JR Pass (cash IDR), Hotel (kartu kredit), portable wifi (kartu kredit) dan tiket masuk Disney atau Universal Study Osaka (Cash). Untuk JR Pass memang harus beli di Indonesia sedangkan untuk tiket masuk Disney atau Universal Studio Osaka karena masa berlaku tiket masuk kalo beli di travel agent sekitar 9-12 bulan. Jadi kalau memang sudah beli tiket namun karena satu atau lain hal ada hal yang menghalangi seperti cuaca tidak mendukung etc., bisa dijual lagi (aduh semoga jadi ya!! Godspeed)

2. Bagian yang dibayar di Jepang

Bagian ini termasuk beli kartu transportasi Suica/Pasmo (untuk hari terakhir di Jepang), Osaka one day pass, Kyoto bus pass, fee ke tempat-tempat wisata dan makan. Untuk trip saya, bagian ini sekitar 5.5 jutaan untuk berdua. Tapi jumlah ini belum termasuk untuk belanja ya...belanja tentu lain posnya (tergantung kesadaran tingkat kekalapan). 

Nah untuk bagian yang ke 2 ini, berarti harus menukar sejumlah uang IDR ke Yen. Ternyata sodara sodara, Yen itu pada saat saya mau beli sekitar bulan Februari 2016, sangat langka yaaa. Jadi bisa tuker yen secara nyicil. Biasanya yang ditukar dalam bentuk 10,000 Yen. Pada akhir Januari 2016, nilai tukar kurangnya 1 Yen= IDR 113.80, eh lama2 naik terus sampai ter mahal 1 Yen=IDR 121. Bedanya lumayan lohhhhh..#pelit#uangnyabisabelikitkat#hematpangkalkaya

patokan kurs biasanya dilihat dulu di www.VIP.co,id, biasanya money changer lain lebih mahal sekitar 9 poin. Mesti pinter-pinter and rajin liat kurs valuta asing...demi menghemat beberapa Rupiah. So far, Money Changer yang harganya sangat bersaing dengan VIP adalah Valuta Arta Mas di Mall ITC Kuningan lantai 1, ini bukan Money Changer saya ya dan ga kenal juga sama yang punya. Entah kenapa disana pasti nilainya bagus....kalau memang lokasi kejangkau bisa dicek ke sana. Kenapa ga beli di VIP money changer secara dia paling murah ? Pertama lokasinya jauh (di Menteng) and yang kedua antrinya kayak antri beras makkkk...bersaing ama mas-mas money changer lain :(

Happy Yen Hunting!

Photo credit to: 2,bp.blogspot.com

Journey to Japan: Itinerary

People always said I'm a well organized traveler, those people are being nice. The truth is I don't like to get lost, I don't like not knowing things and I hate finding address and I also hate hate hate asking strangers for help. I'm a worrier. I worried to much. The slogan "Lets get lost" doesn't get to me. That's why for every trip I always have detailed itinerary. I must find out when, where, how and every detail of an activity. Not many people get it. But those who get my style, usually find myself "useful". I'm the one who sourced them the cheapest ticket, where to go and the budget. My itinerary is 88% accurate (well, most of the time). Truthfully preparing Japan itinerary is hard. Not because of less resources, ooh I found many blogs online and there are many website for every Japan destination such as Japan-guide.com, Tripadvisor.com and Jalan2forum.com. So whats wrong then? There are too many freakin things to do, to taste, to see...etc. Its all very overwhelming. Ideally you must try all, but since all I have is limited time, I need to choose and it's really hard. below is the sample of what my itinerary look like. It's still a work in progress cos I usually add which exit to go and the building landmark of every destination. 

If you want to be detailed in making your itinerary, here's what you need to do:

1. Determine the cities you want to go. i. e,: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka 

2. Determine the places of interest (you might want to check the cost for your budget): Amusement parks, temples, parks, malls, museum  

3. Spread those places of interest in your visiting days. Try to group nearby places of interest in 1 day. Check other people blogs on their trip to see if those places of interest are nearby, or you can read maps. I checked both. 

4, Check the transportation method and duration of travel via hyperdia.com. 

5. Check other alternative transportation method via google. i.e: if hyperdia suggest you to take trains while you want to take the bus, just google and everything is there. 

It looked kinda complicated if you are really laid back person. But its actually not. I enjoyed the process of making itineraries and I love preparing budget. 

Let me know if any of you wants the full itinerary and budget breakdown, I can email it to you. 

Journey to Japan: Visa Application and Itinerary

After the ticket arrived safely in my hands, next process is to prepare my visa application. The requirement according to Japan Embassy Website (http://www.id.emb-japan.go.jp/visa_7.html)

1. Passport (original)

2. Application Form with recent photo. photo is 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm, taken within 6 months, without background, no edit). Application form can be downloaded from the link above 

3. ID copy. since my ID is under renewal process, I just copy the ID and the letter from the municipal office. 

4. Copy of ticket reservation (in and out)

5. Itinerary Form. The Form can be downloaded from the website.     Make sure you have filled in the complete address of the     hotel/other place to stay with contact details 

6. If you are travelling with your family, bring supporting document to show the relationship. those documents include: family card   (Kartu Keluarga), birth certificate (akta lahir). Since I dont       travel with family, I just attached my family card just in case (not mandatory). 

7. All document related to the travelling fund. in my case I     enclosed 

• Bank Reference with account details (last 3 months). My account is in BCA and CIMB Niaga. I came to the nearest 2 banks and request for the above. However since the Bank I visited are not the Banks where my account originally came, they need extra 1 day to process. Total process time: approx. 3 days. Bring your ID and Bank card when applying. Bank reference cost: IDR 50,000/reference. Account details : Rp. 2,500/page (as at Jan 2016)
• Reference letter from my workplace, stating my name, ID number/passport number informing that I'm the employee of the company and has been granted x amount of leave to visit Japan. This requirement is not stated in the website, but this is quite important I believe. If you are not an employee, no need to enclosed this letter. 

All the above is prepared in order (1-7). 

For me the hardest part is number 5 (itinerary form)and number 7 (financial details). For number 7 (financial details) before I can have my reference letter, I need to apply leaves to my boss and wait until I have his approval, then go to HR and wait for additional requirement from HR. Phiuh...what a long process. for itinerary, I need to determine which cities I want to visit and the hotels on every cities. Man... I need a long time to do this... There are so many places I want to go: Kobe, Kawasaki, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kawazu, Karuizawa. Sadly I can only choose a few and mostly main cities such as : Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Yuzawa (day trip for ski). For hotels, I checked the list of hotels based on tripadvisor, narrowed it based on location and budget. 

Tips to choose the hotel:

1. Check tripadvisor.com on the rank of the hotel 

2. Check the location via googlemaps. I usually pick hotel with proximity to MRT stations/subway with maximum distance of 600 m from the MRT. Usually 600 m takes less than 10 mins and that's my tolerance for walking to hotel. With tripadvisor I also check which website have the cheapest offer. It can be booking.com, agoda.com, expedia.com etc 
3. Budget chain hotels in Japan are: Daiwa Roynet, Sunroute, Hearton, Tokyu Stay, Mystays, Wings Hotel, and many more. On the month of March (Sakura season), approximate hotel price per nite for 2 for those hotels are around 1.6 million-2.5 million. This is stay only, no breakfast and extra bed for kids etc. 

3. Before booking I check the cancellation policy. I chose the free cancellation because I dont whether my visa will be granted that time. 

4. Check Japanican.com for hotel that is not listed on other website. They sometime have offer as well. 

Alternative place to stays 
1. Check airbnb.com. check the one with free portable wifi during your stay. 
2. Check hostel. In Tokyo, hostel are located relatively "far" from the city. Since I chose hotels within the Yamanote line, hostels are no option for me. But do check hostel in Kyoto and Osaka they have the best hostel located in the city. 
3. Ryokan are expensive. But for some people it worth the price. Check Japanican.com
4. Capsules Hotel are quite pricey compare to hostel. Staying there is quite an experience. They separate capsules for men and women and they also separate the luggage storage. So its quite far to access your stuffs from your capsules and I cant even imagine when I shopped and need to pack my stuff in the luggage every day. quite inconvenient for me. Light traveler, non claustrophobic are definitely welcome.
4. Love Hotels are amazing. They are cheap, located "in the city" and flooded with amenities. But, they cant be booked months before. You just need to show up at the building and check the availability. I'd recommend for you to book a cheap hostel/hotel and then show up at Love Hotels few days before the "day" to check if they can be booked days before and immediately cancels your prior reservation. 

Next story continues...(Itinerary)

Cheap Ticket to Japan

People always say to me "You have to go to Japan, its fabulous"...all the time. I don't get it, to me Japan is expensive..it is overrated. Though I'm a traveler, I've never liked expensive places. I'm a savvy traveler. Japan is always seemed expensive and boring and I just cant see why I have to go there. Until one day I read about Garuda travel fair on website, which offers cheap(er) tickets to most wanted destination. At first I wanted to go to Bangkok (for the hundreth of time) or Hongkong (with my folks), but I took a look at Japan fare (Tokyo)...geez IDR 6.6 million (equals to USD 470), it seemed like a steal. I was lured to look at that fare once again and compare to Hongkong fare IDR 5.5 (USD 392).I finally  decided to buy Japan ticket once i saw that they have availability in middle March, and what do your know, end of March is Sakura season! by the end of my trip there is hope that I might catch the sight of the iconic flower. Though the ticket is purchased in Garuda Travel Fair, I can book it over the phone through Smailing Tour. Its a couple thousand more expensive than book on the travel fair in Senayan, but considering the time and energy, I chose to book through Smailing tour. After the ticket is done, I started to browsed around on the cities I wanted to visit. My picks was Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. I wish I can pick more cities but with only 8 days of trip, more cities means more time consumed to travel. Since this is also my first time to Japan, i wanted to enjoy those 3 lovely cities that I kept hearing from everybody. Here we go!

Tips on sourcing cheap ticket to Japan:

• Mark your calendar on every major travel fair : Garuda Travel Fair usually held on May and September. Singapore Airlines Travel Fair on September. 
• Keep an eye on Japan ticket promotion by these airlines: Air Asia, Japan Airlines and ANA Airlines (via HIS travel and Jalan Tour) 
• Compare ticket price via www.skyscanner.com, its a free website that allows you to compare the fare of several airlines
• Prepare the date. Every year round is a great time to visit Japan (thats what read), however do avoid golden week holiday that falls on end April or early May and summer time on June -July(too hot!). Popular times are: end March-April (sakura season), November (fall season) and December (winter season). So pick wisely. Popular dates causes the increment of travel cost component such as hotel and transportation cost.