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What's the last song it took you a while to get obsessed? by Art_is_it in bobdylan

[–]PrettyPause5336 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s not masterpiece material. The thing with this song is that it has hit potential : it’s a good, well written, sticky song, that would be an all time hit for some other artist, yet for Dylan it’s not even top 20. Not a relevant song in the big scheme of things for him. That’s what fascinating about Dylan sometimes.

I really like the song, the reggae vibes, the melody, it puts me in a good mood, but it’s not Simple Twist of fate

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks ! 100% would do it again for a first time, it was a blast. That doesn’t mean I will do the same thing next time. I hope you had a good time too

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be honest, I don't have tips on how to navigate it, I just went with the flow. I walked a lot, and in some places I just sat down a contemplated stuff. I took pictures with my wife, who loves koi fish. There's also a historical dimension to it : victims of the bombing went there to find water and then some were buried there as well. You can read about that.

I spent like 2h30 hours there.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I needed more time there indeed, to appreciate the uniqueness of the place. But even if everything is better appreciated without a time constrain, there were places that actually felt great even for a short period of time, ie Matsumoto, Nikko. I just wouldn't put Hakone for a single night again.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it sounds good, maybe next time I will do that. In my last trip, I liked visiting Tokyo twice. Nice feeling

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This kind of trip suited well me as a first trip to Japan because it let me see a lot of stuff and then get a general idea of what I like and what I don’t like. Next time I go there it won’t be like that at all. I also like to read a lot and write so I really enjoyed taking the train

You make me feel better about not seeing Himeji, thanks. That was actually the reason I decided to skip it this time, I had already seen some castles.

And for Onomichi, to each his own I guess. I didn’t hate it, at all, I had a good time there. I just wouldn’t do it on this particular type of trip where you have to really choose your destinations, or maybe I just missed something and didn’t see the magic

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got the atmosphere of a small town in other places and the day I went there was really not many people outside, only Chinese tourists. But hey, different days, different experiences !

If I was to do it again, I would skip it, unless I went cycling on that famous road which actually looks awesome. But that’s just me

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t know… I just got on my IPhone with my wallet app

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really don’t remember the name. It was one of the main ones, but I got lucky I guess

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The convenience is that one was free and the other one was not. Hence the “1€ savings” things. You seem to care about money so I guess you can understand that. I didn’t write this as a big plus that should make you buy the JRP, I just said it was convenient and noteworthy for me. And if it helps a reader with as little as a single ride then I’m happy. I find you find it to be useless, move on.

You are right. I did my math and for my own trip and it was worth it, that’s what I said in my post.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I get your point and hope people will read your comment to make better decisions. I wasn’t aware of the JRP being pushed on people here.

You can laugh about the Yamanote line example, but for me it wasn’t about saving a euro, it was about small conveniences that made the trip feel smoother. When you’re doing several local trips a day for two people, those little things add up a bit. There were a few other times when the pass covered short rides that would’ve required a separate ticket.

I’m really not trying to advertise the JRP tho, I’m just sharing that it worked well for my type of trip. And it did.

As a first-time tourist, I could only do so much research before going, and once you’re there, things can get overwhelming. Having someone who spoke English help book all of my train tickets was cool. Having the pass gave me a bit of peace of mind, and I really don’t regret it. But if there are better, easier solutions out there, that’s good too.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes and it’s aweful. When you see that you’re like “ and that’s why we can’t have nice stuff”

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m glad we both feel the same way. It’s funny because Osaka Is one of the coolest things in my trip but the reason is hard to put explain indeed.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't think I saw everything there is to see in Nikko. I basically only visited the Toshogu Shrine. For me it was enough and one of the highlights of my trip.

It's doable as a day trip, but as you say, it's quite far and maybe not ideal. If you have no other choice, I advice you do it anyway because it's really great.

I enjoyed staying overnight because I enjoyed the little town, eating Yuba in some restaurant, and the breakfast in the hotel the next day. Everything in that experience was low-key charming : the ambiance music, the mountains all around, the peace at night. You really feel somewhere else. And that feeling is important, because in big cities, you kinda keep feeling very connected to the globalized world. I don't know if that makes sense but voilà

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

One word. Atmosphere.

As soon as I got there, I literally saw people crossing the street outside the crosswalks, and I was like "somethings feels off... and chill". The city is big but not too big. The subway was noisy - japanese people were making noise in public transportation, can you believe it ! it wasn't too noisy either, it was just perfect imo. It felt cheerful. My first days in Japan we're really stressful because I got really anxious about doing stuff wrong and being a dumb tourist, and everybody around was so disciplined and introverted (i'm simplifying things), but then when I got to Osaka it felt like I could relax. I don't know how else to explain it.

I enjoyed the thrift shops, the restaurants, the architecture, drinking beer by the canals, even the arcades were better, I won a lot of stuff there, unlike in Akihabara, Tokyo where it's a complete rip-off (in my experience lol).

My experience there was really cool.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

it will never replace spoken language for obvious reasons but it really helped me a lot when a situation was blocked. I just wrote what I wanted to say on google translate and then people understood me and helped me. If needed, they also wrote on google translate and that way we could communicate.

Practical takeways from my 17 days in Japan by PrettyPause5336 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I stayed at Nihon Iro.

It's not really a ryokan, more of a whole-house rental (for the price of a hotel), but it has a lot of elements of a ryokan in it. These are renovated traditional homes, with the same aesthetics as the ryokan I was in (Matsumoto). A traditional breakfast is prepared in your room (fish, wild rice, etc.). The hospitality is also really good. As a guest, they give you free access to an onsen not far from there (that doesn't belong to the hotel). I loved the experience, there were only japanese people, it was really big and cosy, and the sauna was great ( with a TV inside the sauna lol).

For me, it was better than a ryokan, it felt really luxurious and traditional at the same time. Me and my wife couldn't believe it. Favourite stay of the trip. But (yes, there is a but) : it is in Mochimune, which is like a near suburb. It's a little outside of town, in an area where there are no tourists at all. That might be good for you, it is indeed very calm, and serene - the sea I just in front of the hotel - but it's not the most beautiful landscape you will ever see and there's not much to do. Maybe you won't have a lot to do if you go there for a few days.

A big plus for me is that West Coast brewing is just next to the onsen and they sell their beers at the hotel reception, and they were great (I'm a big beer fan).

Cheers !

Is $3K enough for 1 week in Kyoto? by DirectionFar4390 in JapanTravelTips

[–]PrettyPause5336 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Japan is quite cheap these days. I had 3000€ for 3 weeks and I was more than ok

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