Club 30's 'Kill the Boredom Demon' Jive Pad, 5th Edition
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I thought you need to understand some Japanese to do that
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Guten Tag!!!
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Yeah the language would definitely be a problem, especially in the rural places. (Is Hokkaido considered rural?? ) Not sure how possible it is to work out the route & details while in Sg via online either.Originally posted by Wanda:From what I see in Japan Hour, I would definitely backpack in Hokkaido and the smaller towns - then nuah at one place for as long or as short as you like. Some package tours don't even go to the small towns.
My only concern is the language problem and the cost of accom and transport (if going to the big cities where driving may not be an easy option), whereas at places like China - if you can speak some Mandarin, you can backpack all over the country cheaply, since accom, transport and food are so affordable. All we need is time.
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I don't think Hokkaido is considered rural...or maybe he is considered a fishing town? No idea
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Guten Tag !Originally posted by The man who was death:Guten Tag!!!
Isst du Heute Istimewa ? ....
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There is no direct flight to Hokkaido...my Jap friend says no international airline would fly there coz it's so quiet and doesn't have industrial/biz development. So think gotta fly to the nearest int'l airport in Japan and take domestic flight.
Dunno if it's considered rural...but even their small towns are all very neat and tidy. Get a map or guide book and plan from there lor.
Erm...what's the diff btn FnE and backpacking, other than the type of luggage one carries?
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actually ... we like to think of japan as a nice, clean, efficient and polite place ... but I suppose it's also not very foreigner-friendly ? ..... in some places downright xenophobic ....
heard some pretty horrible stories from a friend who've backpacked there .... not knowing the language is a very serious handicap ....
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Good and bad, I guess...the good being they've managed to remain such a homogenous society and maintain many of the traditions and culture.Originally posted by Fatum:actually ... we like to think of japan as a nice, clean, efficient and polite place ... but I suppose it's also not very foreigner-friendly ? ..... in some places downright xenophobic ....
heard some pretty horrible stories from a friend who've backpacked there .... not knowing the language is a very serious handicap ....
What kind of horrer stories? -
Ya please do shareOriginally posted by Fatum:actually ... we like to think of japan as a nice, clean, efficient and polite place ... but I suppose it's also not very foreigner-friendly ? ..... in some places downright xenophobic ....
heard some pretty horrible stories from a friend who've backpacked there .... not knowing the language is a very serious handicap ....
I only do know that 2 people I know who went to Japan in different occassions came down with severe food poisoning and they only stayed in 5 star hotels and ate at expensive resturants ...think they suay -
stealth racism .... especially at the more rural cities ....Originally posted by Wanda:Good and bad, I guess...the good being they've managed to remain such a homogenous society and maintain many of the traditions and culture.
What kind of horrer stories?
from reserved, cold service to outright refusal of entry .... especially in the northern areas, where lots of russians causes trouble there .... not what you expect from the smiling, courteous obasans off the tour buses eh ... -
Your friends look like Russians?Originally posted by Fatum:stealth racism .... especially at the more rural cities ....
from reserved, cold service to outright refusal of entry .... especially in the northern areas, where lots of russians causes trouble there .... not what you expect from the smiling, courteous obasans off the tour buses eh ... -
Waa...pay so much and yet have to suffer... was it only your friends, or maybe there was no way to find out.Originally posted by elindra:Ya please do share
I only do know that 2 people I know who went to Japan in different occassions came down with severe food poisoning and they only stayed in 5 star hotels and ate at expensive resturants ...think they suay -
I don't know if there are others or they just have weak stomachsOriginally posted by Wanda:Waa...pay so much and yet have to suffer... was it only your friends, or maybe there was no way to find out. -
nope ... she's a chinese s'prean girl .... and she minored in japanese in the uni ... so she could smoke her way through and pretend to be a japanese ... infact, I think if you're a "hairy barbarian" your treatment would be worse ?....Originally posted by elindra:Your friends look like Russians? -
Fwah sounds very rural LOL
F&E = higher budget and the perks that come along with it - more comfortable choices of accomodation , travel, food. Usually shorter trip, more cushy travel arrangements so you don't have to haul the luggage around on your backs
backpacking = low budget and alot of walking LOLOriginally posted by Wanda:There is no direct flight to Hokkaido...my Jap friend says no international airline would fly there coz it's so quiet and doesn't have industrial/biz development. So think gotta fly to the nearest int'l airport in Japan and take domestic flight.
Dunno if it's considered rural...but even their small towns are all very neat and tidy. Get a map or guide book and plan from there lor.
Erm...what's the diff btn FnE and backpacking, other than the type of luggage one carries? -
Actually, sexism is still very strong in the Jap working world....e.g. even if you're highly educated, the woman office workers are still relegated to low clerical jobs.
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What do you expect when they support an industry that depicts women as sexual objects.Originally posted by Wanda:Actually, sexism is still very strong in the Jap working world....e.g. even if you're highly educated, the woman office workers are still relegated to low clerical jobs. -
I worry about the language thing
I imgine getting the travel directions wrong somehow through miscommunication and missing the bus and spending the night on a radish field or something. T___TOriginally posted by Fatum:actually ... we like to think of japan as a nice, clean, efficient and polite place ... but I suppose it's also not very foreigner-friendly ? ..... in some places downright xenophobic ....
heard some pretty horrible stories from a friend who've backpacked there .... not knowing the language is a very serious handicap .... -
in other places i suppose people may just ignore you ..... (in canada people will give you a ride into town ... it happened to me ... ) .... but i suspect in japan people may call the police to pick you up as a vagrant ...Originally posted by choco B:I worry about the language thing
I imgine getting the travel directions wrong somehow through miscommunication and missing the bus and spending the night on a radish field or something. T___T -
Ahh so neh... I'm now enlightened.Originally posted by choco B:F&E = higher budget and the perks that come along with it - more comfortable choices of accomodation , travel, food. Usually shorter trip, more cushy travel arrangements so you don't have to haul the luggage around on your backs
backpacking = low budget and alot of walking LOL Hmm...like that some of my past backpacking trips may need to be reclassified as 'backpacking FnE'.
That walking part is so true...on a trip to Phuket...my SO made me walked so much so that when we returned to the hotel, I was so tired out that I wouldn't even talk to him (forget about cuddling and what else ). -
Originally posted by Wanda:Ahh so neh... I'm now enlightened. Hmm...like that some of my past backpacking trips may need to be reclassified as 'backpacking FnE'.
That walking part is so true...on a trip to Phuket...my SO made me walked so much so that when we returned to the hotel, I was so tired out that I wouldn't even talk to him (forget about cuddling and what else ).
We rented a jeep and I was yelling at him to slow down coz the uneven roads was making me sick.
Was basically being a bitch throughout that he got pissed at me that he brought me to a Go-Kart track to race against me (Of course I lost, I can't drive ) -
Originally posted by Fatum:in other places i suppose people may just ignore you ..... (in canada people will give you a ride into town ... it happened to me ... ) .... but i suspect in japan people may call the police to pick you up as a vagrant ...
Horrors! How can they pick up decent looking ppl as vagrant who hasn't done anything? -
Actually I wouldn't be surprised. I think they have a lot of peruvians or was it brazilians (can't rememberOriginally posted by Wanda:
Horrors! How can they pick up decent looking ppl as vagrant who hasn't done anything? ) working in Japan and they do cause a lot of trouble for them -
But....but.....but we don't really look anything like those ppl, right? Maybe shd try to look more touristy....like hanging a Nikon or Cannon digi cam around our necks. Will that help?Originally posted by elindra:Actually I wouldn't be surprised. I think they have a lot of peruvians or was it brazilians (can't remember) working in Japan and they do cause a lot of trouble for them -
Maybe just act like Japanese tourist that snap pictures at everythingOriginally posted by Wanda:But....but.....but we don't really look anything like those ppl, right? Maybe shd try to look more touristy....like hanging a Nikon or Cannon digi cam around our necks. Will that help?