1. WEATHER: on the last day, temperatures were 5-10 degrees, according to the weather segment on the news...and it did feel like 5-10 degrees haha..the temperatures keep dropping everyday, so things are looking frosty in Japan. I uploaded a weather widget for info to see how things are turning out (this one is pretty optimistic compared to the news lol)..so anyway, you might want to wear 3-4 layers there (5 will make you look like a rolly polly). I personally think our extremeties are more important (your ears, toes, hands, nose), so do bring your scarf/beanie/toe socks/whatever.
2. MONEY: i totally agree with what the banker said; 2.5k is probably enough, with an extra 500 for 'emergency' purchases (like that 'awesome' magazine you just have to wank, err i mean get.)
FYI, on day 1 when I reached narita, the rate was 1 SGD=Y58.22 ... a week later, i was in town, and passed by a ginkoh (bank); the rates showed 1SGD=Y54.sth ... so please don't change in Japan unless you want to get screwed over.
ATMS (the ones i've seen) do not accept most Singapore cards which run on Cirrus, Maestro, and Plus networks...i didn't even see Mastercard there, so i guess my debit is useless at ATMS. There was Visa, but word of caution: when you draw money from Visa, you aren't drawing from your account, but the Visa credit network. This comes with a fee, and it follows their exhange rate, so you might get screwed over. Again.
Most stores and restaurants do not accept cards as a way of payment (except for the departmental stores like Takashimaya or Mitsukoshi); cold hard cash is still the way to go in Japan...
3. EXPENDITURE: food wise, you'll most likely spend 700-1000 per meal, depending on how hungry/greedy you are, and at best, you'll spend 1.5k on a meal...but if you do that, people like me (and the rest) will notice you have a lot of cash to spend and will sponge off you :p .
Things there in general are defintely more expensive than in Singapore, so be careful what you buy. you can find good bargains for clothes and cds at small stores (i saw a section in a cd store -Tsutaya- offering some cds for 500 yen a piece, so that was pretty good stuff) ... hope i can find those 500 yen bargain stores, that'd be great. Shoes, in particular, are cheaper there compared to Singapore. Ok, by shoes, i just mean the skate shoes and running shoes. Don't bother about the leather ones. They're probably way out of your league in the money and fashion department.
4. COMMUNICATIONS: It's damn ex to call or message from there...that's what my parents and common sense told me ... buti dunno the rate, so can someone put that up? thanks..
phone cards are the way to go i think...I currently have 3 phonecards, courtesy of SIA who passed it to me when the flight was delayed, so i think i'll use that...i'm not sure how the pre-paid card works (from what wei kai told me, the singtel ones don't work in Japan)
the two biggest (and i think only) comms providers there are NTT Docomo and Softbank. Singtel users, you can just dial *121*65
Think of communicating by email? don't bother: lan cafes charge pretty highly for the time (usually it's a min charge of 400 for the first half hour followed by 200 for every 15 min) ... bring your own laptop there, or free load from other people laptops cuz the hotel provides free wireless.
5. LANGUAGE: Ok, this is pretty fun. I'm sure i told some of you guys already, but the Japanese do not have a good command of English. So if you want to speak English to them, keep it simple and say it slowwwwww....same goes if you want to communicate in Japanese as well. I highly recommend learning a few japanese phrases (e.g. Sumimasen, Toire wa doko? --where is the toilet?) for your own convenience. I'm furiously trying to pick up a little Japanese everyday now.
Other than that, they have this funny way of speaking English called Engrish :p ... it's like English with a Japanese accent (they are actually English-imported Japanese words, so it's not cuz they speak horrible english). like when i wanted to ask for an apple pie, i had to say "Arpul pie?" or sth like that.
6. SOCIAL CUSTOMS: Body Emissions are regarded as RUDE.....what do i mean by that? well, you know how in Singapore we see those ah peks at the kopi tiam digging their nose and flicking the treasure around? well, no one does that in Japan. No farting either. It's not acceptable in ANY context ANYWHERE. lol. No loud ringtones on trains...and i've heard loud ringtones anywhere else in Japan either, so keep that obiang freestyler ringtone to yourself, thank you.
Bowing to them in appropiate situations is polite, and so is saying sorry. yep. Rowdy behaviour on the streets? unheard of over there. hmm, that's all i can think of for now.
7. Transport: ok, this is not just for ben and yu ming.. subways are the way to go around in tokyo, in hakuba, i think the bus will suffice, you just need to open your mouth and ask. it's relatively easy to navigate once you get the hang of it, the challenge is navigating the streets on foot...
If you are being groped on the train, the 'right' response is to grab the guy/girl's hand and hold it up high for everyone to see, and shout 'hentai (pervert)!!!' or sth like that (the first pt i read in a travel book, the shouting part comes from me)
when getting on a bus, you get in from the rear door, unlike in singapore, where you enter from the front door. Also, you get in first, then pay afterwards. I think this shows how much Japanese trust their customers, unlike in Singapore, where there will for sure be some cheapo who does a ride-and-run.
Alright, that's all from me! (and Jason, where the peeppeep did i get a name like CHIEF planner? lol)
ONE of the planners,
Josh.
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