Cost of going travelling

[Lady Whistledown]

Tokyo has a bad rep for being expensive which is entirely untrue. I know places where I can drink, eat and have a room for the night all for much less than it would cost me in London.

I think the "Tokyo is expensive" rep comes from tourists who get caught in the tourist traps of Roppongi and Ginza. If you know someone who can show you around and steer you to where the locals hang out you'll be fine.

I'll be in touch with you then

 

[KZNSeagull]

A trip that you may not get the chance to repeat - I think you should just go for it and sod the cost!

 

[maltaseagull]

Just make sure you use protection.

You can buy recycled ones then? eugh

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Tokyo has a bad rep for being expensive which is entirely untrue. I know places where I can drink, eat and have a room for the night all for much less than it would cost me in London.

I think the "Tokyo is expensive" rep comes from tourists who get caught in the tourist traps of Roppongi and Ginza. If you know someone who can show you around and steer you to where the locals hang out you'll be fine.

Yes and no. It's relatively 'expensive' but certainly within the means of a working person like Edna.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Yes and no. It's relatively 'expensive' but certainly within the means of a working person like Edna.

I would like to go, but it's not somewhere I'd spend months, put it that way. As you say, the budget will stretch a lot further in other far east countries.

 

[jemwillett]

When was the last time you were in Thailand? I first went in 2003 and it was dirt cheap. I've been back multiple times since and worked there in 2011 and costs of pretty much everything have more than doubled!!



For DIRT cheap car/caravan hire in Aus & NZ bookmark this website:
Car Relocations

The website advertises cars which need to be relocated to another City at short notice so near enough give the car away for free as long as you get to the destination before the deadline. They chuck in free fuel occasional as well. I've used them multiple times, most recently drove a Land Cruiser from Perth to Darwin for $1 per day with $500 free fuel chucked in! Ace!

thank you

 

[Mental Lental]

Yes and no. It's relatively 'expensive' but certainly within the means of a working person like Edna.

I think it's more accurate to say that Tokyo "can be" expensive. Just to give you some examples of how cheap Tokyo can actually be if you know where to go.......

Here is a review of one of my local watering holes:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/12/ikebukuro-section-for-dining-alone.html

It's a Japanese Izakaya (drinking restaurant) that charges you 100 yen for a mug of beer (Sapporo Black Label). 100 yen is 66p. The glass is a 500ml glass but the Japanese have a tradition of serving beer in the "have you got a flake for that?" style, so it's probably about 400ml. In the Izakaya you are expected to order food (at least 2 dishes) which are also very reasonably priced. In the review above I'd say their final bill was pretty much spot on average for that place. 3,240 yen = 21 quid. So split between two that's just over a tenner.

Another favourite of mine in the summer months is this Tokyo Bay Cruise:

http://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/low-cost-night-cruises-on-tokyo-bay/

It's a 2 hour ALL YOU CAN DRINK cruise around Tokyo Bay which costs 2,500 yen (16 quid). If you wear a Yukata (loose fitting kimono) like the girls in the picture you get a 1,000 yen discount. So that's 1,500 yen (a tenner), for a 2 hour, all you can drink cruise around Tokyo bay with dancing kimono girls for entertainment.

If you can find anywhere in London that beats that I'll eat my hat.

Edit: Oh and I'll be going to the footy in a few weeks. Cost of the ticket? 1,500 yen. Yep that's a tenner to go and watch my local, top of the J-league (see my sig) team.

http://www.ardija.co.jp/ticket/layout.html

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I'm IN, Mental Lental. Always wanted to visit Japan, & now seems like the ideal chance

Couchsurfing might be an option I'll look at.

What took you to Japan anyway? Work?

 

[Mental Lental]

I'm IN, Mental Lental. Always wanted to visit Japan, & now seems like the ideal chance


What took you to Japan anyway? Work?

Graduated with a degree in English Language, wanted to go and teach somewhere abroad. Japan is cool, the money's good and it's safe to drink the water.

And a fetish for Asian girls.

(Is that a fetish?)

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Graduated with a degree in English Language, wanted to go and teach somewhere abroad. Japan is cool, the money's good and it's safe to drink the water.

And a fetish for Asian girls.

(Is that a fetish?)

I have no idea. Though I do believe there are magazines which specialise in your particular chosen area of lady-ness

Japan appeals because, while it's a westernised country (whatever that means), it also seems a million miles away from the likes of here and the US. And I liked the visuals on Lost In Translation. And because my Mum doesn't want me to go ("they don't speak English there you know" ). It looks great to me.

Do you speak fluent Japanese?

 

[Mental Lental]

I have no idea. Though I do believe there are magazines which specialise in your particular chosen area of lady-ness

Japan appeals because, while it's a westernised country (whatever that means), it also seems a million miles away from the likes of here and the US. And I liked the visuals on Lost In Translation. And because my Mum doesn't want me to go ("they don't speak English there you know" ). It looks great to me.

Do you speak fluent Japanese?

My Japanese level is pretty

A by-product of the job, a bilingual GF, the awfulness of Japanese telly and extreme laziness.

I can order stuff in restaurants, talk with shop staff, make pub level conversations about football, movies and music.

I managed to order a pizza delivery on the phone the other day. I was quite proud of that.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

My Japanese level is pretty

A by-product of the job, a bilingual GF, the awfulness of Japanese telly and extreme laziness.

I can order stuff in restaurants, talk with shop staff, make pub level conversations about football, movies and music.

I managed to order a pizza delivery on the phone the other day. I was quite proud of that.

It is supposed to be a hard language for westerners to learn. I can't wait to go

 

[Comedy Steve]

Touring SE Asia right now. Do recommend the ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Myanmar. I'm not a huge fan of Indonesia / Philippines but there's loads to see and enjoy there. I met my wife in Singapore so I'm a regular visitor out here. There's a few NSC members here too (spoke to one at a gig last week!) and I can't personally recommend it enough. It's fabulous.

 

[Bakero]

Touring SE Asia right now. Do recommend the ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Myanmar. I'm not a huge fan of Indonesia / Philippines but there's loads to see and enjoy there. I met my wife in Singapore so I'm a regular visitor out here. There's a few NSC members here too (spoke to one at a gig last week!) and I can't personally recommend it enough. It's fabulous.

What don't you like about Indonesia? I love Indonesia! Great food, people, cultures, beaches, diving, surfing, wildlife (Orangutans!).

 

[Comedy Steve]

What don't you like about Indonesia? I love Indonesia! Great food, people, cultures, beaches, diving, surfing, wildlife (Orangutans!).

All those are true, but the thievery is much more violent than in, say, Vietnam (I don't know about Hanoi, but HCMC is all about bag snatching. If it's not on show, they don't go for you) and it's a bit corrupt (police, officials etc) and they're quite disrespectful to western women. Also not making a huge amount of friends with heavily polluting Sing and Malaysia with forest fires right now!

 

[Bakero]

All those are true, but the thievery is much more violent than in, say, Vietnam (I don't know about Hanoi, but HCMC is all about bag snatching. If it's not on show, they don't go for you) and it's a bit corrupt (police, officials etc) and they're quite disrespectful to western women. Also not making a huge amount of friends with heavily polluting Sing and Malaysia with forest fires right now!

Bag snatching is much more prevalent than violent mugging in Hanoi too. Fortunately, neither happen too often. I assure you that corruption is endemic in Vietnam though.

 

[Trufflehound]

I got pickpocketed in Saigon. Classic sandwich move when a guy stopped in front of me, and another with a bike 'accidentally' bumped into me from behind, pushing me into the first thief. He took a big roll of dong out of my pocket - worth a massive $2, enough for a day's food and drink. Nothing to me, but a lot of money to him. They would have got away with it too, but instead of just leaving like a sensible thief, he stood right in front of me counting his 'winnings'. I saw him, though it was a bit odd, and realised in about 2 seconds it was mine, so I grabbed it back off him. Silly ****. He scarpered on the back of the other guy's bike whilst I swore indignantly (the threat of losing $2 becomes most infuriating when you're in cheapskate backpacker mode...).




Edit. And by comparison, since that was how the subject came up: I've spent about 7 months all-told in Indonesia, travelling around about 25 different islands. Never had anything untoward happen to me there, although it's true the attitudes to women are, as stated, a bit off, and my wife did get groped once in Sumatra. But sexist behaviour like that happens far more often in places like India (as my wife will testify)...

 

[Trufflehound]

I assure you that corruption is endemic in Vietnam though.

Corruption is endemic across the entire world. With the possible exception of Finland...

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Thanks for the mugging tips

 

[Marty McFly]

Japan's wickerrrrd! Take in Nagasaki, an island or two in Okinawa and a hike or two in Hokkaido too. LOVE IT!