BaltimoreJack wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 1:54 am Have you been to Japan before and where are you planning to base yourself?

i highly recommend checking out a baseball game or two before the season ends.

For the Chinese transit, make sure you have all your I's dotted and T's crossed. Carry copies of your flight itinerary, your hotel itinerary, etc.

That transit without visa could be a bit burdensome even before COVID.

Basically, the Chinese airline staff and immigration staff often act like they've never heard of the transit without visa and will scrutinize everything, seemingly looking for a reason to reject you.

Also ill probably stop by PP airport just to ask them if theres anything else we might need for transiting through Xiamen and entry into Japan, just to make sure.

crob wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 9:13 pm Japan is great, went there for first time in may this year, liked it so much I'm heading back next months.

Regarding $$$, hotels are the killer, though it does get cheaper out side of Tokyo, I really liked the APA's, just remember, if you are by your self when booking hotels select 1 person.

Booze is super cheap at 7/11, 150-300 yen a drink, drinking out isn't to bad, touristy bars like golden gai was around 800 yen a drink,

Food, 7/11, family mart food is super cheap and great when your in a tight spot. Japanese Curry would often cost me around 1000 yen. Sushi places were around 3000 a meal.

getting around was easy, lots of free attractions.

Matty9999 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 6:29 pm So, i have to leave Cambodia after 60 days, legally. Im taking a flight to Japan via Xiamen Airlines. I jumped on the ticket price a few weeks ago, the cost was $182 with a stopover in Xiamen, China.

Two good things about this flight, for $182, one piece of checked luggage is included ($182 is cheap by historical standards with luggage). Normally i have a small duffle that i can either check or take as a second carry on if the airline allows it. For AirAsia, though my luggage is too heavy, but its the right size for both Ryanair and Wizzair in Europe.

I also get a free stopover in Xiamen, China for 72 hours. The good news here is that ill be able to visit the country without getting a 10 year visa and paying the extra expense and hassle associated with it (although i heard visa agencies make it easier). So ill be exploring this city on a stopover.

For Japan, i want to experience some winter, as you guys know, Cambodia is just so hot and sticky all of the time. The same for Malaysia and Thailand. It should be a nice change of scenery, culturally and weather-wise. I know Japnese are very well organized and the country is very well developed so it should be interesting.
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For visa, the China segment is visa free, and the Japan segment is visa free, for a USA passport, i get 90 days. My preference is to go to places that allow 90 days free, just to stretch out a bit, and no visa hassle. However i may need to purchase an onward ticket to Korea. More than likely, what ill do is purchase the ticket then cancel it, once i get past the ticket check in counter. I did this also the last time i flew out of Cambodia.

Money - of course been busy trying to figure out what the brass tacks $$$$$$ costs will be. Will probably need to fork out some cash about $50 for SIm and data unlimited in Japan. For the first week ive got myself one of those minimal mat type rooms without a lot of amenities and we will see how that goes. To get a full apartment is much more expensive, so maybe ill do that one week, we'll see... stay tuned.

HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:18 pm If you have no friends or contacts, and don't work a social job, then goodluck: Japan is very lonely and you can spend +6 months without ever having a full conversation with another human being, as it's very hard to make friends in Japan (from my experience), and I had the benefit of going to school with others there in Japanese-language classes