Brown and Cony's 4 Days 3 Nights Kyoto Itinerary - Day 1
Anyeong! Noona totally has nothing to post because she has not had holiday yet for the past month so she decided to just follow her friends' 4 Days 3 Nights trip to Kyoto. Noona's friends, Brown and Cony from Line Town are now taking over the blog to share their travel itinerary in Kyoto. Let's read their story.
DAY 1 - FLIGHT TO JAPAN
Brown (the brown bear) and Cony (the white bunny) woke up so early to catch their flight to Japan. As there is no direct flight from Singapore to Kyoto, they either have to take a flight to Tokyo or to Osaka. While Brown was working overtime in the office, Cony was busy checking and comparing the price and she immediately booked the two-to-go Mastercard promotion which is offered occasionally by Singapore Airlines (SQ). As they took the earliest flight, both of them needs a little wake-me-up drinks at Terminal 3 Changi Airport, the local tea from Tip Top.
The return ticket from Singapore to Tokyo costs SGD 1,400 for two people. These two little friends of Noona really great at finding deals, even Noona herself would decide to go if the flight to Japan costs less than 800 SGD. Have a safe flight, Brown and Cony!
There is option to select Japanese food for the on-board meal which excited Cony very much. The meal taste great and Cony totally fell in love with her flying experience with SQ.
LANDED AT HANEDA AIRPORT
After 7 hours of flying, Brown and Cony have finally landed at Haneda Airport. As what the other passengers do, both of them went through the immigration and proceeded to the baggage collection area. Brown starts to wonder why nobody stand near to the baggage conveyor. In other countries (including Singapore), people usually stand pretty near to the conveyor but here in Japan, there is a clear line which should not be crossed by passengers before their luggage is in sight. What an orderly manner!
Brown and Cony quickly got themselves busy after picking up their luggages from the conveyor. First, they have to collect their PuRuRu Pocket Wifi. Brown has booked the pocket wifi rental beforehand (400JPY per day for 10GB) and now he just needed to collect it as Cony made her way to the toilet. He joined the queue at JAL ABC counter to collect the pocket wifi but the queue was so long. To make matters worse, he needed to pee really soon. Thankfully, he was able to hold it until he collected the pocket wifi.
While on the other side, Cony has finished doing her small business in the toilet and now joined the line to collect her Japan Rail (JR) Pass. But the queue was also long and Cony is not as patient as Brown in queuing. Uh oh, stay cool, Cony.
While Cony is waiting to collect her and Brown's JR Pass, let Noona explains a bit more about this important JR Pass. JR Pass could only be bought from other countries (yes, you cannot buy it here at Haneda Airport or anywhere else in Japan) because the pass is meant only for tourists. Cony has bought JR Pass earlier in Singapore at JTB office in Takashimaya. The price for the JR Pass is as follows:
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Please note that the back part of the JR Pass is the most important part of this pass and should never ever be detached because it will make the pass void. What's so awesome about JR Pass by the way? JR Pass allows its possessor to board any train (with exception of the most expensive Shinkansen ticket i.e. Nozomi) operated by Japan Railways Group with no additional cost. This is exceptionally economical if you need to board Shinkansen a lot of times to travel between cities in Japan. Transportation costs pretty high in Japan and buying yourself JR Pass will help you save some dollars.
The last thing that Brown and Cony need to do after collecting both the pocket wifi and JR Pass is to book their high speed rail (i.e. Shinkansen) ticket from Haneda to Kyoto. Even though Brown and Cony has their JR Pass, they still need to go to Shinkansen counter to book their seats for the ride all the way to Kyoto. There is no direct train to Kyoto from Haneda so they had to stop at Shinagawa to change train and then, continue on from Shinagawa to Kyoto.
PASSING THROUGH SHINAGAWA STATION
This particular bread store, Breadworks by T.J. Harbor, seems to be quite popular with the commuters as the queue to buy bread is pretty long. Some of the breads were sold out too and it's only around 6 in the evening. Brown and Cony did not show a lot of interest in bread though so they wandered around for a while to buy something else.
When it's near to the departure time, Brown and Cony quickly located the platform and waited for the train patiently. This is the first time they boarded a bullet train (Shinkansen) so they were pretty excited about it.
Cony thought Brown would immediately go for his favourite salmon but apparently Brown opted for Shinagawa beef instead because the seller told him that Shinagawa is famous for its beef. The bento taste as nice as it looks, Brown and Cony were so happy after eating.
CHECK IN AT HOTEL IBIS STYLES KYOTO STATION
The night has fallen when Brown and Cony finally reached Kyoto. It was a day full of commuting but they made it here. Now all they need to do is to cross the busy street and made their way to their accommodation in Kyoto, Ibis Styles Kyoto Station.
If your itinerary involve reaching Kyoto at night, you may want to consider staying at Ibis Styles Kyoto Station because the hotel is exactly located opposite Kyoto Station. Believe Noona, you don't want to lug your luggage all the way to your accommodation if it's located quite far from the station especially at night when the weather is cooler.
Finally, Brown and Cony got the key to their twin bedroom. The room is pretty basic but there is panama provided for guest. Noona believes this is the culture of Japanese hotel industry. Cony could not wait to lie on the bed and being a very high-maintenance bunny, she immediately put on a face mask on her face. Meanwhile, Brown was busy with the unpacking. Don't unpack so much Brown, you only stay here for two nights.
The toilet is equipped with the high-tech Japanese toilet bowl. It's pretty amazing, really. Cony was so excited using the toilet bowl, she ended up hogging the toilet for an hour. Poor Brown. LOL.
The next morning, Choco, Brown's little sister, greeted them early at the hotel entrance. They are so gonna go for a fun adventure it seems.
That's the end of day 1 for Brown and Cony. They seemed to enjoy it so far. Let's hope for the remaining good days for our friends. =P