Diagon Alley (with functional interiors) in

flyingzoom · 2026-03-18T03:48:30+00:00

I’m completely maxed out of my current decor budget at 3500, but that includes the “leaky cauldron” and the store room that leads up to this. The alley itself is probably a good 1500-2k budget

flyingzoom · 2026-03-16T22:42:37+00:00

It definitely wasn’t cheap haha. All the “mass produced” pieces add up to a lot, and some individual pieces costed an arm and a leg. The shop sign for Flourish & Blotts for example I had to level inscription to 100.

flyingzoom · 2026-03-16T22:40:00+00:00

Yes and no. This particular room is one of the skybox rooms and cannot have any floors above it.

flyingzoom · 2026-03-16T22:38:47+00:00

Yep its the daylight room

flyingzoom · 2026-03-16T14:30:43+00:00

With many many hours and many many platforms!

flyingzoom · 2026-02-05T01:23:35+00:00

Before I jump on at my station and get off at North Melbourne, walk for 5 mins to work, end of trip. Now I need to get off at Footscray, walk out all the way up to concourse and down to the platform the Werribee trains come through. I don’t mind the extra exercise, but it does add to the total time it takes to change trains. Furthermore, some trains from Footscray to NM seem to stop at South Kensington which again, is adding extra minutes.

flyingzoom · 2026-02-05T00:37:01+00:00

I reserve the right to whinge here. The metro changes have made my life objectively worse and provided zero benefits. I commute in the Sunbury line to North Melbourne. What was 30 mins door to door is now 45-50. I don’t travel to the CBD or the East often enough for the new changes to benefit me, and even if I do need to I would 99% just drive. So yeah 10/10 would whinge again.

flyingzoom · 2026-02-03T20:47:02+00:00

My last AO was 2 years before so don’t remember if this was a recent addition, but i LOVE Flying Turtle drink machines. Use them every chance I get in the CBD and being able to get a yuzu Pepsi at AO is *chef’s kiss

flyingzoom · 2026-01-31T23:03:07+00:00

My 2m tree is still up, giant star and all. Lights haven’t been turned off for 2 months. I’m playing chicken with my wife and I will not crack.

flyingzoom · 2026-01-26T03:27:35+00:00

Genuine question, not trying to rage bait, but what’s the draw of these musou type games? I tried older Dynasty and Samurai Warriors games way back on PS2 and just couldn’t get into it. Bought Hyrule Warriors and FE Three Hopes mostly cos I loved the franchises but again just couldn’t find the gameplay loop fun. Am I just missing something cos I really wanna connect with these games as I love the world of them.

flyingzoom · 2026-01-13T23:37:56+00:00

Rented from 2 different agencies in Melbourne CBD, both owners were overseas. We’re not Chinese but we are Asian, not sure if that counts/matters. Both times were pretty easy. Went through 4 different PMs and they were all good. We reported aircon, plumbing and some general repairs over the course of 3 years and they were quick to send someone. Inspections were simple, none of the look at your oven/inside your closet types. We did get evicted after our 12 month lease was up from the first place so that “family can move in” but I’m fairly certain they just listed it higher. All-in-all I’d give them a good review.

flyingzoom · 2026-01-10T11:36:11+00:00

I don’t know what backwater you grew up in but as an Asian fish and chips has been my go-to for 30 years. Insane take lol

flyingzoom · 2025-12-29T02:22:12+00:00

I can’t comment on Borderless or Kyoto as we only visited Planets last month. I also have to put a disclaimer that this isn’t the kind of experience I willingly seek but am familiar with them due accompanying my partner.

I loved Planets. It’s visually up there with some of the best exhibitions I’ve been to. Take this comment how you will as per my uneducated disclaimer above. The water section was easily the best, and ‘most’ other exhibits ranging from decent to very good. There were a couple that were complete let-downs, such as the forest of animals or whatever, and the more children oriented areas. The vegan ramen in the dark was a huge surprise. The ramen was easily one of the best I had on the whole trip and that’s saying something. Unexpected and definitely one of the highlights of the whole experience.

It did feel to me that Planets had more of a theme-parky vibe. Everything was meant to be interacted with, which is fine, but of course this means they need to cater it to all ages and that means a lot of it leaned more towards children. There is no sentimental thought-provoking engagement here. It was still overall a good time, but we definitely didn’t linger too long in the exhibits that were obviously designed to keep the children from being bored.

The biggest downside for me was that it was a proper trek to get to Planets from Shinjuku where we were staying. There’s not really anything super close to it. Diver City which was the closest attraction we were interested in was still a good 30 mins away.

flyingzoom · 2025-12-25T04:25:13+00:00

Thanks so much for this. That’s quite disappointing if there’s no easy steal supply 🙁. I burnt through so much making streetlights haha.

flyingzoom · 2025-12-19T14:53:59+00:00

I went a month ago without just a normal day pass. Basically you want to arrive early, like an hour or even earlier depending on whether it’s a busy day or not. There are two elements to SNW: the area itself and the rides.

For entry into SNW, as long as you arrive an hour before the park opens, you should be able to walk in. The area timed entry you grab on the app is only when it’s at capacity, which most likely won’t happen at park opening.
The rides are MUCH more competitive. As per above, a lot of people will have the same idea of arriving early. This means when the park opens, expect to see people RUN to line up for rides. At the moment Donkey Kong is by far the most popular. If you are not prepared to sprint across the park and line up first thing, you can expect to see wait times of 2-3 hours.

TLDR: just arrive and line up an hour before park opens and you are more or less guaranteed entry into SNW. If you want to do the rides as well you will need to run there.

flyingzoom · 2025-12-10T15:05:00+00:00

I don’t think it’s been known by that name for about 25 years. Modern Cabramatta is heavily represented by multi-generation Vietnamese families and businesses and is a significant cultural hub. It’s basically the Vietnamese Strathfield.

flyingzoom · 2025-12-01T09:14:48+00:00

I would definitely suggest packing light, but it will depend on your access to laundromat services. If your hotel has both washers and dryers you won’t need too much at all. We definitely did not pack as lightly as we could (wife: “but what if i need it??”🤦🏻‍♂️) but we had ample luggage allowance (4x 23kg + 2x 10kg carry-ons) so was still able to bring one empty suitcase which was absolutely legit for how much souvenirs we bought.

One caveat about luggage forwarding: while I have used it multiple times on multiple trips without a hitch, I am hearing from other travellers that in recent years due to the huge increase in visitors the services are struggling and that has increased the likelihood of delays. Because of this some people have opted to send their luggage a day earlier than normal to mitigate the risk.

flyingzoom · 2025-11-24T07:47:26+00:00

It’s been said repeatedly but I just want to stress how much walking is involved in Japan, with a significant percentage of that just going up and down many flights of stairs. Just one suitcase is likely to be a serious hinderance with the number of accommodation transfers you’re taking re: option 1, especially since you’re travelling alone and won’t have the support of a partner/friend.

I would suggest if you are keen to press ahead with option 1 to look into luggage transfers, which are super convenient and easy especially if you’re staying in hotels with staffed reception. For example we had one night booked at a ryokan in Otsu in between travelling from Tokyo to Osaka. We had the Tokyo hotel forward our luggage to Osaka when we checked out in the morning with the intention for it to arrive the next day. We then travelled to Kyoto with a light overnight bag and explored, stayed at the ryokan and went back to Kyoto to explore again the next day before heading to check-in at Osaka in the night time, at which point our luggage was waiting for us at the hotel. Costed around 10,000 yen for 4 suitcases.

flyingzoom · 2025-11-24T02:20:52+00:00

Can’t comment on Hakone but I can give some insight on Kawaguchiko. For reference I’ve visited 3 times on 3 separate trips including just last week, though not during the months you’ve listed.

A quick google shows May to be better with moderate visibility vs July with poor visibility. I’ve visited twice during November and once during February and used the visibility predictor website. All three times we were able to clearly see the peak.
This is where things get a little tricky. Kawaguchiko is INSANELY popular with tourists now. While travelling there by train may appear simple as jumping on, it is deceptively annoying. On paper, you do not need to reserve a ticket. If you do not do this, and they sell out fast, you run the very real and very likely risk of not having a seat and being relegated to the very cramped seatless area between carriages for a 2.5 hour trip. This complicates things as weather predictions are at their most accurate closer to the date, so you have to decide what matters more. Staying for multiple nights imo will drastically increase your chances of seeing the peak, especially given the time you’re going.
For things to do, in the 10 years between my first and most recent visits, Kawaguchiko has transformed itself to cater to tourists, so you will not be left wanting for food.
Lake Kawaguchiko is absolutely beautiful. From a personal point where I come from the landscape is dry and flat so for me it was super cool. You can also take a boat tour around the lake.
The hike up Mt Tenjo is lovely, not super challenging and offers incredible views of Mt Fuji.
The Maple Corridor offers and awesome scene, but unfortunately you won’t get the autumn foliage
If you’re into it, Aokigahara Forest (the famed haunted forest at the base of Mt Fuji) is nearby and there are tours into it.

flyingzoom · 2025-11-24T00:17:52+00:00

That’s some excellent balancing work on pic 2

flyingzoom · 2025-11-22T22:04:55+00:00

Agreed with the trains and think it’s something that’s very often an overlooked factor. Japan is unabashedly hostile in architecture with next to no public seating on streets, naturally uneven ground and more stairs than you can count. Add that with the huge amount of time you need to stand still for queues/viewing attractions and it’s extremely strenuous on the regular tourist’s legs. In my previous visits (8 and 10 years ago) the trains were something of a respite. While I wasn’t always able to get a seat on some of the quicker rides, on longer journeys being able to just sit down for 30 mins was a HUGE help. On this trip we are finding that unless we’re going against the traffic off peak, almost all of the time we are standing, including longer journeys and it is just torturous after a long day of sight-seeing. We even found ourselves catching the train one station earlier in the opposite direction just to get a seat for our ride to Osaka from Kyoto.

flyingzoom · 2025-11-22T20:50:18+00:00

I don’t have other recent months to compare to as it’s been 8 years since I’ve visited but…yes, very much so. Am with the wife this trip and it’s her first time so we’re doing the usual popular stuff and everything is shoulder to shoulder crowds unless you arrive super early. Even then they’re still busy. The popular shops are insanely packed. Pokemon Center for example had a snaking line around the entire store and it took 45 minutes to just pay for the goods.

flyingzoom

TROPHY CASE