The last time I updated, I was too sleepy to make any sense, so had to delete the post.
Anywayyyy, this is long overdue. My solo trips entry!
So, the first one was, Japan and South Korea. It’s not my first solo trip, but my first time to a country that I don’t speak the language of and for more than just the weekend. It was hectic, challenging, rewarding and fun!
How long do I plan for the trip?
I bought the plane ticket on impulse, after I finished the last paper for my CA exam in June 2023. I just closed the exam tab, and decided to reward myself for suffering through career ordeals, heartbreaks and stressful exams in 2022 and 2023.
Since the plane ticket was booked for end of December 2023, the trip planning took me 6 months to perfect. I was glad I made research early, so I get to plan my budget, and secure booking for places I wanna go to, cause some of them are booked out within seconds once the reservation slot was open.
If you wanna go to a good deal omakase place, or to the ghibli museum (not the park) and pokemon cafe, please plan early. I will share some tips on how I managed to book those places I went to and some useful websites.
Preparation before the trip
1. Budgeting App -
I used Fleur app to do budgeting since it is easy to use and the illustration is cute. For premium usage, they have lifetime deal, so I only have to pay once to keep using it.
2. Prepare for the language
So, I used Duolingo, Google Translation and Papago.
Maybe you don’t have to learn the language before you go, since most touristy places have english translation, but there are moments I was glad I learned the basics. For instance, when I had to switch the train in Japan, and the train I had to get onto is from diff company but is at the same station. I had to stop a nice lady that doesn’t speak english and ask how do I get there. Thanks to Duolingo, I managed to find my way.
To be able to read Japanese might be a bit of a reach within 6 months, but I reckon Korean should be easier. At least if you are stranded somewhere less touristy, you can stop the bus that goes to your direction by reading the hangul.
Thanks to Google Translation, I get to book most places in Japan, that sometimes is only available for people who can understand Japanese. For example, New Year’s Eve countdown event for Universal Studio Japan. I wanted to book the event ticket and the ultimate express pass. At that time, they were only available in Japanese website, and you need to register for membership. Thanks to Google translation, I managed to do so.
Papago is really useful in Korea, and is the most accurate. That’s it.
3. Transport and Navigation
Japan -
For Transport card, if you have iPhone, add SUICA to your apple wallet. Sadly, they do not accept VISA as method of payment the last time I was using it, and AMEX was not available for AppleNZ (this is now available). So I had to get a MASTERCARD to topup my SUICA. But it is real handy. You can also use SUICA to pay for convenience stores.
To book ticket for your shinkansen, you can use the JR website but it can get complicated. So, I instead, I used SMART-EX to get a good deal, and peace of mind. Since the app is not available in NZ, I just used to website to book. You can also link your SUICA to the ticket you reserve there, so you can just scan in your SUICA to get in the platform. It is definitely worth it. If you book early, you can get early bird deal and also can choose your preferred seating. For example, I know from Tokyo to Kyoto, I wanted to seat on E seating to get the Fuji mountain view.
Navigating, googlemap is working fine in Japan.
Korea -
For transport card, use T-money. I bought T money card with my simcard. It works fine, but I had an incident where the simcard hole, was stucked in the machine when I tried to reserve a locker. Had to call the security company and all, so was not a pleasant experience. Maybe next time I’ll get the proper card or the Climate Card.
To book ticket for bus and KTX, I used 고속버스티머니 (Kobus) for the bus booking, and Trips.com for the KTX. I think, you can also buy the bus ticket at the terminal on the day since I also get to change the bus time when I was at the terminal, but I like to be prepared especially I am travelling alone.
For Navigation, Navermaps and Kakaomaps are the top. Since I knew how to read the korean alphabets, I can use Kakaomaps just fine, but if you don’t, maybe Navermap is more foreigner friendly.
4. Visa
Japan - I don’t need visa so I was not worried about this. Just make sure you fill in visit japan web for easier immigration process I guess.
Korea - Not sure if the travel visa free is still going on now, but when I went there, had to apply visa through K-ETA which only took less than a day to process.
5. Accommodation
Japan -
Okay, since I was travelling alone, I preferred to book places near the train stations but I also wanted the traditional ryokan atmosphere. Which is why, I booked accommodations early in advance, since most places that can offer both are booked out early. I used both Booking.com and Agoda to find them. These are the places I booked:
Tokyo - Ryumeikan. This hotel offers some rooms that have tatami fusion and it is located within 5 mins from Tokyo station. I only managed to book the smallest room since the others were sold out. They also have free laundry.
Kyoto - Onyado Nono and Dormy Inn - Both are nearby the train station and has free sauna, yogurt drink, ice cream and soba ramen. Their breakfast buffet is also immaculate. Unfortunately I didn’t take photos there, was sick the whole time.
Osaka - Forza - chose this cos it is right in Dotonbori. Not much to show about the room, but they are spacious, and the breakfast is unexpectedly good too. They also have laundry services here but you need coins to operate. Still cheap tho and gets to save your luggage space.
I also stayed one night at the PC cafe, I think it’s called Popeye? They have private room, and honestly since I just need to crash the night before catching early flight, that was good enough for me.
Sapporo - Onsen Ryokan Yuen - I think I have a soft spot here. The room is gorgeous, and getting to see the snow falls from the window is spectacular.
Korea -
In Korea, I was not that choosy in term of the traditional aspect. I just chose ones that are near the attractions and a bonus if they have theme.
Seoul - Grid Inn, Sotetsu (LINE friends theme room).
Grid Inn is honestly the best in term of cleanliness, location, and value. They also offer free laundry and the owners are happy to help you order something if you need food delivery.
The Sotetsu hotel, I just went there for the theme room. Cos, why not? Haha
Busan - Signiel - So, the reason I chose Signiel is it’s right on Haeundae Beach, and also to finish off the trip with a nicer accommodation I guess?
Most of the accommodations I chose, thanks to me booking them early, I got them at early bird deal prices.
6. Luggage Delivery Service
Another reason I liked booking accommodation early, is for me to plan my luggage delivery service. I never took the suitcase on trains. Only my backpack. You can also do this in Korea not just Japan. So, if you dont want to drag your luggage from Seoul to Busan and back to Seoul, highly recommended to use this service. I booked the service through Kkday for Korea, and TaQBin in Japan. Honestly, hotel is the one that helped me to sort things out in Japan.
7. Bookings activites/cafes/omakase
I mentioned it earlier, but if you want a good deal Omakase experience, you can follow Omakase.In. They would alert you if a fine dining restaurant is opening for booking. Sometimes can be months in advance.
For activities, some places, you need to know how to spell your name in Japanese. I had my friend (thanks Faiq) to translate my name in katakana and I just copied paste each time. For address, I just used the hotel address usually. Also, make sure you know when you want to go places you wanna go to cause sometimes, their booking starts 10 days or a month before the date you wanna go:
Example of places I need to keep an eye on the booking times:
a. Ghibli Museum - it opens on the 10th of the month before you wanna go. So, mark your calendar and practice beforehand!
b. Pokemon Cafe - it opens 31 days before at 6pm Japan time. This is a trick that I do. Enter the reservation page before 6pm Japan time, and make sure to follow following steps:
i. Choose location you wanna go to
ii. Click agree to terms and go to reservation page
iii. Click make a reservation
iv. Choose how many people you are reserving for
v. Click on the date that will open. For example here, the next date it will open is 4th December. So click on that number and once the hour strikes 6pm or almost 6pm, click the next step! And you will get to choose a slot later. I had 100% success using this method as opposed to waiting refreshing the first page
c. Swallowtail Butlers Cafe - I went to butlers cafe just to satisfy my curiosity. But, to book is not easy. I think it opens 10 days before reservation and usually slot for 1 person booked out early. I ultimately failed to book on the date, buttt I kept on refreshing the button for availability. Lucky enough to get a spot after few hours.
d. Anime themed cafe and popups - for some reason, I was sucked into one piece after watching the netflix adaptation. Finished the thousands episodes within few weeks? Or months? Then i started to watch more and more anime. Soooo, of course I had to visit anime themed cafe. Usually, these are done for certain periods only. So, you can check on this website if your anime has a cafe popup while you are travelling there and make a reservation.
8. Money exchange
When I was in Japan and Korea, I mostly used my Wise card for purchases. For markets, I do use cash mostly. So have some cash prepared. You can draw the money from 7eleven stores in Japan and Korea. You can also go to bank in Korea and use their atm. To topup T money, you also need cash so just be aware of that.
Make sure to keep an eye on the exchange rate. I usually transfer in money into my wise account when I saw the Yen or Won dropped by a margin, so I actually gets to save some money there.
Interlude
Wowwwwwww. My post has went on longer than I inteded to and I haven’t started writing about my travel journey. Lol. Maybe next time. See you soon!
