Tobias' first post

2am nights (or rather mornings) became the norm for the past two months. Despite the experience of planning last May's trip, planning an around-Japan-in-30-days was not nearly as easy as what I initially expected it to be.

The original plan was to avoid using the outrageously expensive All-japan JR passes, which start at Y28300 for a 7-day pass, to cut cost. After a month of so of tiring research, the seemingly perfect plan was created: We'd fly in from Fukuoka, tour the entire Kyushu region with cheap (relatively) Kyushu JR pass, take an overnight cruise from Okura to Matsuyama, ferry to Hiroshima, and night cruise again to Osaka before activating the Kansai Surutto pass to tour the vicinity of Osaka, Kyoto, etc. Then we'd take ANOTHER overnight cruise from kansai to Otaru in Hokkaido, and proceed with the hokkaido leg of the journey on a rented car. And finally, cruise down to Kanto for Tokyo, Yokohama before heading home at the end of 28 days.

The night cruises I've hunted down are relatively high-class ones, and I've opted for at least 1st-class rooms to save Grace the agony of having to share the room with 3 other strangers. The cost is high, but taking into consideration the high cost of transportation plus saving one night's accommodation, it is actually rather reasonable and way more comfortable than night buses or cheap night trains. And the travelling is done at night when we're sound asleep, so no time is wasted on long-distance travelling. Further, most cruise companies offer 30% discount to students. What more can one ask for?

I proceeded on with detailed planning on the assumption that the above-stated plan would work. But unfortunately, it didn't. About two months back, much to my dismay, I discovered that the overnight cruise from kansai to Otaru was no longer operating. I found another cruiseline offering a similar route, but 1. it departs at midnight and would only reach the next day EVENING and 2. it only offers 10% discounts for students and only for 2nd-class rooms and below. I doubt Grace would appreciate sharing two double-deck beds with 3 other strangers, and the price without discount is whopping, not to mention the fact that a whole day is wasted on the cruise. Unable to find a better way out, I had no choice but to reluctantly revert back to the inevitable option - JR pass.

JR pass offers great convenience, especially so since we're travelling all over Japan and shinkansens are very, VERY expensive. But typically people on JR passes would try to make their money's worth by travelling long-distances everyday, something that I wouldn't want to do as we're intending to explore each place of interest in depth rather than breezing through like tour groups. Hence there'd be days that we're stuck in a city like Kyoto where JR pass would be literally redundant as all the city lines and buses are privately owned. So I tried planning around the JR pass, using cruises, night buses, night trains and regional passes, but after numerous plans and comparisons, I arrived at the conclusion that a 21-day JR pass would, in fact, be the best bet we've got. Of course we'd waste a few days here and there, but travelling up and down Hokkaido would burn a huge hole in our wallets without JR pass (the only cheap option is to take overnight buses which, judging from our terribe experience last May on Hamasanu, would totally ruin Grace's day).

So at last, the plan is finalized. It looks something like this:

JUL 7: SIN -> BKK (1 day F&E city tour) -> Fukuoka
JUL 8: Fukuoka city [@ Comfort Hotel Hakata]
JUL 9: Marinoa Outlet, Tosu Outlet [-]
JUL10: Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Kumamoto [@Dormy Inn Kumamoto] *North Kyushu pass start
JUL11: Kumamoto -> Mount Asu -> Kumamoto [-]
JUL12: Kumamoto -> Okura Spaceworld -> Hiroshima [@ Green Rich Hotel Hiroshima] *North Kyushu pass end*
JUL13: Hiroshima -> Miyashima -> Himeji -> Osaka [@ Dormy Inn Osaka]
*All Japan Rail Pass 21 days start*
JUL14: Osaka city tour, marine park [-]
JUL15: Osaka -> Wakayama (festival) -> Osaka [-]
JUL16: Osaka -> Kyoto [@ Century Hotel Kyoto] (Gion festival night market)
JUL17: Kyoto [-] (Gion Festival parade)
JUL18: Kyoto -> Sappuro [@ night train, either Cassiopeia, Twilight Express or Hamasanu]
JUL19: Sappuro -> Otaru -> Sappuro [@ Toyoko-Inn Sappuro station minamiguchi]
JUL20: Sappuro -> Furano (lavender festival) [@ Pension House Yamasan] *start self-drive*
JUL21: Furano -> Biei [@ Pension Popura]
JUL22: Biei -> Asahikawa (return car) -> Abashiri -> Utoro [@ Iruka Hotel Shiretoko]
JUL23: Utoro -> Kushiro [@ Royal Inn Kushiro]
JUL24: Kushiro -> Lake Akan/Kussaru/Mashu -> Kushiro [-] *1day self-drive*
JUL25: Kushiro -> Chitose Outlet -> Sappuro -> Asahikawa (fireworks) [@ Asahikawa Terminal Hotel]
JUL26: Asahikawa -> Sappuro -> Noboribetsu (fireworks) [@ 登别万世閣]
JUL27: Bear farm -> Jidaimura -> Aomori [@ night train, either Casseiopeia, Twighlight or Hamasanu]
JUL28: Tokyo city tour/Sendai city tour [@ Dormy Inn Sendai] (itinerary depends on which night train we can book)
JUL29: Sendai -> Fukushima -> Sendai [-]
JUL30: Sendai -> Nikko -> Tokyo [@ Superhotel Ikebukuro Kitaguchi]
JUL31: Disney Sea (if good weather) / Fuji + Hakone otherwise [-]
AUG 1: Tokyo -> Yokohama -> Tokyo [-]
AUG 2: Tokyo -> Takasaki Fireworks festival -> Tokyo [@ Cube Hotel Ueno]
*End of JR 21day pass*
AUG 3: Asakusa, Odaiba & Ueno [-]
AUG 4: Roppongi, Harajuku, Shinjuku (haircut, shopping) [-]
AUG 5: Ueno -> Narita -> BKK -> SIN [@ home sweet home]

Phew..that's about it. Don't have my notes with me so it's all from memory, but it shouldn't have any mistake (I've been playing the whole sequence through my mind unconsciously every night before sleep). It's near midnight and I'm teaching tomorrow morning. For once I get to sleep so early...gotta quickly adjust my bio-clock to the "9pm sleep, 7am wake" pattern in Japan soon. Yawn...good night everyone~! =)