Hello again, Japan!

Halooo,
udah rada lama sejak postingan terakhir ya ^^ Mau cerita aja kemarin saya pergi ke Jepang lumayan lama, dari berangkat sampai mendarat di Jakarta lagi totalnya 24 hari. Kenapa lama sekali? Pertama, karena ada kerjaan yang mengharuskan saya pergi ke Jepang selama 12 hari, sisa 12 harinya baru saya pakai untuk jalan-jalan 😁 Dan karena saya pergi ke beberapa kota, postingannya juga akan ditulis dalam beberapa bagian, supaya nggak kepanjangan.

Pertama, soal bawaan. Ini penting banget, mengingat saya perginya pas musim dingin, yang notabene harus bawa ini-itu biar nggak beku pas di sana. Mengingat di sana bakal menginap di hostel maupun apartemen yang menyediakan mesin cuci, maka saya hanya membawa baju 7 set (1 set = kaos kaki, baju dalam, longjohn, celana panjang, baju tangan panjang), perlengkapan musim dingin (winter jacket, syal wool, kupluk tebal, sarung tangan), plus 2 stel baju tidur dan 2 sweter. Karena selama di sana nggak keringetan, longjohn dan baju luar bisa dipake buat 2 hari, makanya saya cuci baju cuma seminggu sekali.

Oh iya, untuk mesin cuci di hostel kebanyakan bayar ya. Mesin cuci-nya 200 yen sekali pakai (deterjen bawa sendiri. kalau tidak butuh banyak, bisa cari di mini market, ada yang 1 dus isinya cuma 5 sachet), sementara mesin pengeringnya 100 yen per 30 menit. Jadi kalau baju kita belum kering, dan mau diterusin pengeringnya, ya masukin duit lagi. Untuk baju biasa sih 30 menit udah kering. Tapi kalau bahan tebal semacam jins biasanya minimal 60 menit baru kering.

Perlengkapan lain yang tidak kalah penting ketika jalan-jalan pada musim dingin: sepatu! Karena memang berencana mau jalan ke Sapporo yang amat sangat bersalju, dari Jakarta saya sudah memutuskan untuk memakai sepatu hiking. Pertama karena bahannya dari kulit (supaya kaki tidak kedinginan) dan sepatunya lebih terjamin anti-slip di tempat yang licin. Sedihnya, ketika transit di Kuala Lumpur, sepatu saya lepas solnya 😢 Putar-putar bandara tapi tidak ketemu kios yang bisa memperbaiki sepatu. Akhirnya pakai cara darurat, ikat sol dengan tali sepatu. Nanti ceritanya panjang lagi soal mencari sepatu pengganti di Jepang. Intinya sih saya dan sepatu berhasil mendarat dengan selamat di Narita.

Tips: karena saya paling malas buka koper di bandara, winter jacket saya masukkan saja ke backpack yang saya bawa ke kabin. kalau perlu, jaketnya ditenteng saja, nanti masukkan ke kabin atas di pesawat. Yang penting sudah pakai sepatu dan kaos kaki yang tebal. Begitu sampai di bandara tujuan, awalnya kita nggak merasa terlalu dingin, karena di dalam bandara pasti ada penghangatnya. Kalau benar-benar tidak tahan dingin, siapkan juga longjohn di dalam backpack, supaya begitu selesai lewat imigrasi dan ambil koper, Anda bisa langsung ke kamar mandi untuk memakainya. Kalau masih cukup tahan, pakai winter jacket saja, Karena untuk ke kota kita juga harus naik bus atau kereta yang ada penghangatnya, jadi nggak bakal kedinginan.

Sampai jumpa di postingan selanjutnya ya!



Hi all,

It's been a while since my last post. I just want to share my last trip to Japan that was quite long. From the day I departed Jakarta until I landed in Jakarta again, it took 24 days. Why so long you ask? First of all, because I have work that required me to be in Japan for 12 days, while the rest is for vacation 😁 Because I went to a few cities, I will post them in several parts, so you won't get bored reading them *wink*

One, about what to bring. This is very important, since I will be going in winter, which need a lot of things to keep you warm. Because in Japan I'm going to stay at hostels or apartments, I only bring 7 sets of clothes (each set includes socks, underwear, thermal underwear, pants and long sleeve shirt), winterwear (winter jacket, wool scarves, knitted headwear and gloves), plus 2 sets of sleepwear and 2 sweaters. Since you won't get sweaty in winter, you can wear thermal underwear and regular clothes for 2 days. That's why I only wash my clothes once a week,

Oh yes, we'll need to pay to use the washing machines and dryers at the hostels. The rate is usually 200 yen for 1 cycle of washing (you'll need to bring your own detergent. You can buy them at any covenience stores, they have cheap ones with only 5 packets of detergents per box) and 100 yen per 30 minutes of drying. So if your clothes are not dry yet and you want to continue, you'll have to put in more money. Regular clothes usually dry in 30 minutes, while thick materials like denims need at least 60 minutes.

Other important necessity when travelling in winter: shoes! Since I was planning to go to Sapporo, which is very snowy in winter, I already decided to use my hiking boots to Japan. First because it's made out of leather (so my feet won't get too cold) and the soles have more tractions in slippery areas. Sadly, when in transit in Kuala Lumpur, the soles of my boots were almost coming off from the upper 😢 I went around the airport but couldn't found a shoe repair shop. Finally I resorted to an emergency measures. I tied the soles with my shoelaces. Searching for the new pair of shoes in Japan is a long story that I'm going to write in another post. The main thing is my shoes and I arrived safely at Narita Airport.

Tips: because I hate opening my luggage at the airport to get something, I put my winter jacket in my backpack that I carried with me to the cabin. If you want to, you can just bring the jacket and then put it in the overhead bin. The important thing is you have to wear your thick socks and shoes on the plane. Once you arrive at the destination airport, you won't feel cold at first, because they have heater there. If you're one of the people that couldn't stand the cold, prepare a set of thermal underwear in your backpack so you can wear them right after checking through immigration and collecting your baggage. If you still can hold on, just use your winter jacket. You'll need to take a train or bus to go to the city from the airport, and they have heater too, so you won't get cold on the way.

See you on the next post!