Hokkaido Part 1: The Preparation

Assalamualaikum everyone! Last January I went to a 10 day trip to Japan, specifically Hokkaido. It was winter and the temperature was below freezing point, it was -16°c when we arrived! For your information, it was 32°c in Malaysia, and hell yeah I can say we were quite shocked with the temperature in Japan hahaha! We did check on the weather forecast, and is said it was going to be 3°c when we arrived at Chitose. Yepp, you can tell how accurate the weather forecast was! (҂⌣̀_⌣́)

In this entry, I will share on the things that you must buy before you travel to Hokkaido (or any parts of Japan really). I'll divide the topics down for you guys so it's easier for you to understand and refer later on alright! As for the clothing, accommodations and other types of preparations, I'll definitely share it in my next entry, Insya'Allah! Since I went to Hokkaido, I'll base my post on my Hokkaido trip yeah.

Okay, so let's start!

There are three most crucial things that you need to have in order for you to be able to enjoy Japan better or with ease. Just click the sub headings below and it will directly link you to the respective websites ヽ(;^o^ヽ)

1. JR Hokkaido Rail Pass (there are 4 diff types of passes, each one differs according to which part of Japan you wanna go)
2. Pocket Wifi (we used Samurai pocket wifi) 
3. Sufficient Japanese Yen Cash

JR Hokkaido Rail Pass

Make sure to buy the ticket from Malaysia, I can guarantee it will be a lot easier for you like seriously. As for the route for the JR Hokkaido Rail Pass, click here. If you want to check other JR rail pass route, you can use the same link and explore from there. The website is very easy to access!

We bought the JR Hokkaido Railway Pass at Malaysia. You can buy them either here or you can also go to their counter at some selective places (refer the website).  I totally panicked because if I want to buy the rail pass online, it has to be made at least a week (if I'm not mistaken) before we travel because they will have to post you the tickets. However, Alhamdulillah, luckily I was able to buy the tickets at their outlet, so it was a relief! There are a few companies that sells JR Rail Pass, but I bought mine at JTB KLCC Express Outlet. Just click the link I've put above to get to the website. The price of the JR Hokkaido Railway Pass is RM 924/person for 7 days.

However, RM 924 is just the ticket, you will also be charged for the processing fee which is about RM 30 if I'm not mistaken. The ticket price is also fixed, there's no group price, so yeah. The price differs according to which package you're buying. There's a 3 days, 5 days or 7 consecutive days package. If you plan not to travel by train everyday, you can buy the 4 flexible days package. Yes, the price for the ticket itself is very expensive but it sure is worth it. You can use the ticket to wherever in Hokkaido as long as the area is covered by the JR Hokkaido Railway route. You can go from north to south within that 7 days! You can explore the whole Hokkaido! Below is how the Hokkaido Rail Pass looks like.

Pocket Wi-Fi

On the other hand, for our pocket wifi, we collected it at KLIA 2 since we departed from KLIA 2. However, if you're departing from KLIA, worry not, there's a counter there as well. I really really recommend you guys to buy these 2 things at least 2 weeks before the date you're travelling, so that you won't have to rush. I had to book the wifi online, and pay online as well. I paid around RM 20 per day for the unlimited wifi package and I think it was totally worth it. The wifi signal was great too. So, with all the online banking transactions, make sure to settle everything at least 2 weeks before travelling alright? I bet you wouldn't want to end up panicking like I did hahaha! The wifi will be automatically activated once you turn it on when you reach Japan. They will provide you the charger as well, so you need not to worry okay!


Sufficient Japanese Yen Cash

I'm not so sure how much cash you need to have, but what I know is that it's better if you convert the money in your respective home country. To have cash in hand while travelling in Japan is super duper important because they mostly use cash. Not to mention, Japan is a very expensive country. Don't expect to find a proper meal below 1000¥!!! Plus, its also quite challenging to find a halal meal there. If you're not a Muslim, then you can definitely cut down a lot on your expenses for food by buying food in their 7Eleven. They have bentos (Japanese-style packed lunch) which I suppose can be quite filling and the price is affordable. If you're really on a tight budget, make sure to bring food from your home country and cook there. Oh, make sure to have a small pouch for coins because believe me, you'll have quite a lot of coins! 

Coins in Japan are also very precious and lifesavers! 

As you can see from the pic above, the coins consist of 500¥ , 100¥, and there're also 50¥, 10¥, 5¥ and the smallest is 1¥, which people always find it really hard to get rid off haha! Take the coins with you wherever you are, you can buy subway tix, groceries and even souvenirs with them :) 

That's all for today's entry, make sure to wait for my next post if you want to know more! 
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Adios!