Tips to know before going to Japan

Tips to know before going to Japan

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 / No Comments

Tips to know before going to Japan!

Planning a vacation to the land of the rising sun? Not sure where or when to go? Fret not, I have compiled some tips and tricks in this article for you travellers that are planning to have a good time in Japan.

What’s the best time to go to Japan?

So you’ve already determined to go to Japan. Great for you. Exhilarated, you start packing your clothes, socks and snacks to prepare for the trip. However, you’re faced with a dilemma soon after; when do you go? 

The 4 seasons of Japan

Japan has four distinct seasons: Spring (March to May), Summer (June to August), Autumn (September to November) and Winter (December to February). The climate and temperature vary based on season and region. Each season also offers various attractions and sightseeing spots that can only be best enjoyed in a particular season.

Spring

The most popular time for tourists to visit Japan. With temperatures varying from 12 °C to 20 °C, it’s the most suitable time to sightsee Mt Fuji as well as feast on the sight of the famous cherry blossoms. It’s also the best overall time to go to Japan considering there are many festivals and public holidays such as the Sakura Matsuri. Be sure to pack moderate clothes like a jacket as well as a light coat since temperatures can get cold!

Summer

The only and perfect time to go to the beach! Weather in Japanese summers can get very hot and humid so be sure to wear lightly with T-shirts and shorts plus a hat for the sunshine. Summer can get very packed even without tourists as the school holiday shares the same period. Due to this, you may see hikes in prices in hotels and resorts, as well as an absurd amount of people at the beach as well as amusement parks. Summer also houses the Natsu Matsuri festival, a traditional summer festival, as well as other smaller festivals. Lastly, if summer is your go-to pick, be sure to watch the summer fireworks that are held almost every week!

Autumn

Normally dry and warm at later, autumn in Japan meets the typhoon season during September, which can ruin your fun trip. If you avoid the typhoon season, you can enjoy the bright and colourful autumn leaves, along with the beautiful nature. The temperatures are similar to Spring so you can wear light clothes such as a jacket and a coat. Halloween is also in the events list for autumn and Japan is one of the countries that highly celebrates Halloween with many special events as well as special attractions at Universal Studios and Tokyo Disney Resort!

Winter

The perfect time for skiing and skateboarding, Japanese winters are one of the best out there with tons of activities as well as festivals celebrated all around the country. However, since it’s close to New Years as well as Christmas, it can get pretty packed, which means that most tourists spots like hotels, resorts and other accommodations will be crowded. Most tourists recommend skiing and skateboarding in winter so be sure to visit Hokkaido and Nagano for snowy mountains and breathtaking views. Of course, wear warm and heavy clothes to combat against the freezing 3 °C weather in Japan. 

What do I do in Japan?

You’re in the airport, stoked to finally be in Japan and can’t wait to venture to your heart’s desire. But where do you go? How do you enjoy the Japanese experience?

Hotels and residence

If you’re looking for a place to stay while in Japan but don’t know what’s best for you, I’ll list out some hotel choices that vary from traditional to straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku - Located in central Shinjuku just a 4-minute walk from Shinsen-Shinjuku Station and JR Shinjuku Station, Hotel Sunroute Plaza features rooms with satellite TV and free WiFi.

ONSEN RYOKAN YUEN SHINJUKU - Attractively set in the Shinjuku Ward district of Tokyo, the hotel is located a 17-minute walk from Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, 1.8 km from Zenrosai Hall Space Zero and 2.3 km from Yamano Hall. 

nine hours Shinjuku-North -  An odd but fascinating area to stay in. Located just a 2-minute walk from JR Shin-Okubo Station, nine hours Shinjuku-North offers capsule units in Tokyo. Free WiFi is provided throughout the property. Their capsule rooms are their main attraction.

These are only some of the places you can opt to stay at. As it’s located near popular areas, it would make it easier for you to enjoy Japan to its fullest. If you’re not too keen on these and want to enjoy Japan at it’s most traditional, the next option might just be the one for you!

Ryokan – Ryokans date back to the 17th century, back in the Edo period. At that time, guests slept on tatami mats rolled on the floor. The tradition has been preserved in the form of a ryokan. If you prefer to stay at a Japanese traditional inn instead of a modern hotel, ryokans are a good choice to consider. Generally paired with an onsen (hot spring baths), you can fully enjoy the Japanese experience. Most serve a delicious breakfast/dinner set at the ryokan so you don’t have to worry about your stomach rumbling.

Food

Now that you’ve found your residence for your period of stay, a familiar feeling washes over you. You crave something in your stomach and walking past all the delicious-looking food stands and restaurants only made your hunger spike. Faced with countless food choices, what do you eat?

Udon – A type of noodles made with flour that’s frequently eaten with soup stock. A staple food of the Japanese, udon come in many varieties depending on the restaurants. Finding your favourite one can be quite difficult if you’re a fan of noodles.

Takoyaki – Deep-fried dough in the shape of a ball with different fillings inside. Mostly served with bonito flakes, takoyaki can be found almost anywhere in Japan.

Tonkatsu – The world’s first pork cutlet restaurant originated in Japan and to this day, many tourists and locals frequent the humble outlet. Tonkatsu is basically deep-fried breaded pork cutlet.

Soba – Soba is the thinner version of udon, made from buckwheat or wheat flour. They can be served either in a hot broth or a cold broth with a dipping sauce.

Ramen – Joining the noodle siblings is ramen, wheat noodles served with toppings like seaweed, menma and green onions in a meat or fish-based broth.

Well then, you’ve had your fi-

No. No, no, no. You can’t be serious. You’re in Japan for the first time but you’re not going to try out genuine Japanese sushi? Surely you have room for sushi!

Sushi – More of a premium meal, sushi in Japan is topped with fresher ingredients and a different environment than most places. What's distinct here is the fact that you can see the sushi chef preparing your meal, right in front of you.

Places of Interest

Alright. With a full stomach, it’s time to go sightseeing in some of the most beautiful places Japan has to offer.

Shibuya – The world-renowned “Scramble Crossing” can be found near the Shibuya Station. With nearly 2.8 million people a day crossing the intersection, it can make the perfect selfie. Be sure to reach the other side of the intersection before the lights go red though!

Akihabara – If you’re a fan of the Japanese sensation, animes and manga or anything game related, then Akihabara is the place for you. It’s filled with shops full of animes and mangas, PC cafés and more. If you search hard enough, you might even find the legendary maid café!

Hitsujiyama Park – If you’re travelling to Japan during the cherry blossoms season, then you should add Hitsujiyama Park to your to-do list. It offers one of the best cherry blossoms viewing locations. It has over 3 different colours of cherry blossoms and is a picturesque view for many!

Okinawa – Scattered off two and a half hours from Tokyo by plane, the Okinawa islands are known to be the best place for a tropical retreat by many locals. It not only has an astounding beach but it also has a rich history of being an old kingdom.

These are only some of the places that you can visit in Japan and if you’d like to know more, be sure to research to fully enjoy your first trip to Japan! With that said, I’ll be presenting you with a few obscure tips for you first-timers that may help you a little while in Japan.

1.    If you think using a chauffeur is too expensive, public transportation is still a good choice as it’s very efficient and can get you to almost anywhere in Japan.

2.    Learn basic etiquettes and customs. There are some rules that you need to know as it can often be seen as rude if you don’t do so. Entering someone’s house with shoes on and taking photos of people are some of those things to take note of as it can be seen as such.

3.    Do not tip! Even if you think the customer service was exceptional or you think the food was delicious, it’s seen as rude in Japan to tip.

4.    Don’t cause a ruckus. While it may be normal in your home country to socialize and talk loudly, it’s not the case for Japan. Even your “library voice” might be too loud for Japanese citizens too so try to speak in a way that it’s only audible to your group.

5.    Lastly, I’ll add my tip for travelling. Make sure to exchange your currency to Japanese yen in your home country to avoid poor exchange rates in Japan.


That brings an end to my tips to know before going to Japan. Whether you’re going there for a business trip or a vacation, it’s always good to know what you can expect before reaching there to avoid unexpected situations. If you’d like to know more about Japan, I suggest doing some homework on the Internet, it has many materials for research and you’ll be sure to find what you’re looking for. Lastly, I do hope that you enjoy your trip to Japan!


Written by Yeon Hee

Anime Review: Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)

Anime Review: Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)

Sunday, July 28, 2019 / No Comments

When my school holidays came around, I finally had the time to watch Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan, a gag anime that was getting tons of positive reviews since its airing. Since all episodes are available on Netflix, it was very convenient for me to watch the anime as I already had a subscription. Without further ado, I present to you my review of this anime.

Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan is an anime about the life of a psychic, Saiki Kusuo. Although he was gifted with multiple powers and abilities from birth, his greatest wish is to live an average and normal life. This is repeatedly proven impossible by the wacky characters around him, including his own family, and his friends at school. Despite Saiki’s attempts at trying to mind his own business, he somehow always gets roped into crazy situations that require him to use his powers to solve. Apart from his near-unhealthy obsession with coffee jelly and other sweets, he seems to be the most “normal” person among his friends.

Saiki enjoying coffee jelly - the only thing that brings him joy in his disastrous life

Since Saiki K is a gag anime, it’s very easy to watch as the plot is not heavy with depressing themes and emotional arcs. Sometimes we all need to take a break from all the gore and angst-heavy anime and switch to a more light-hearted one!

It is common for a gag anime to have humour that primarily panders to the Japanese audience, comprising Japanese puns and cultural references that are hard for non-Japanese viewers to understand without a detailed explanation. However, the humour in Saiki K is mostly easily understandable and quite universal, making it a great anime to enjoy for all ages worldwide. The humour in Saiki K tends to be more slapstick and exaggerated, which makes for great comedy.

Saiki performing a magic trick like a professional illusionist

The characters in the anime (excluding Saiki) are caricatures, each with overplayed character traits unique to themselves. For example, Teruhashi’s beauty is so overpowering in the anime that she literally emits a faint glow around her all the time.

As the anime is told through Saiki’s perspective, we share his telepathic abilities and are fully aware of the characters’ true thoughts and feelings, which are more often than not, completely ridiculous. This makes the episodes spiral into something bizarre in a matter of minutes, which is really quite amusing.

Teruhashi's (shameless) inner thoughts revealing that she is fully aware of her beauty

Kuboyasu casually insulting Takahashi in his head

Kuboyasu struggling to adapt to his new school and weird classmates

A stray cat's true thoughts

The anime is also not afraid to poke fun at itself, breaking the fourth wall frequently and making self-referential jokes that regular anime viewers would appreciate.

Right off the bat, one would immediately notice that this anime is much more fast-paced compared to a typical anime, which takes some time getting used to, but it somehow works with the type of humour the show is going for. Each 23-minute episode is also divided into 5 sub-episodes, wherein every single story or arc is resolved and the universe returns to its original state. Longer arcs rarely span across more than 2 sub-episodes (with the exception of season 3). This makes every episode watchable without needing any sort of recap, even for a new audience who has not watched the anime before. The simple stories also make for excellent rewatch value, especially if one has no emotional energy to watch something heavy after a long day at work (been there, done that). It’s also a great anime to just throw on the TV when there are guests around since the sub-episodes are so short and engaging.

One would expect a fast-paced anime like Saiki K to have little to no character development or emotional payoff, but I beg to differ. Granted, Saiki K is definitely not as emotionally rewarding as other story-rich anime such as Noragami or Tokyo Ghoul, but there is some character development involved. The characters are all likeable, even if they are extreme and dramatic in every sense of the word.

For example, although Nendou is a complete airhead, he is a truly earnest person who cares for his friends and his mother. He may not show it through words, but his actions are more than enough to prove his sincerity.

Nendou working part time to earn money to buy his mother a gift

Kaidou brags about his strength although he’s really just a very weak, cowardly boy at heart, but when it comes down to it he is willing to fight for his friends even if it puts him in real danger. For someone so cowardly, him standing up for his friends is truly courageous.

Kaidou sacrificing himself so that Saiki could escape from gangsters

Kaidou protecting Teruhashi from gross men

Saiki himself is constantly complaining about how these weird characters annoy him all the time and involve him in their nonsensical schemes, but he never has the heart to truly refuse them, and uses his powers to save them from their own shenanigans, explaining afterwards that he had no other choice, or that he simply wanted the nonsense to stop because it was getting annoying (yes, we all know he’s just a tsundere).

Saiki using clairvoyance to check on Teruhashi's well-being

Saiki "complaining" about being around his friends while smiling fondly

In short, Saiki’s friend group is very wholesome and they truly care for each other and are willing to put up with each other’s weird quirks.

Coffee jelly for everyone who has read up to this point

I most definitely recommend everyone to watch this anime. It’s really easy to get into, and I’m honestly not sure how anyone could be disappointed with this anime unless you don’t have a sense of humour at all. So put it on your watchlist right now if you have a Netflix subscription!

Written by yin

Pokemon Masters

Pokemon Masters

Saturday, July 27, 2019 / No Comments

Hello again my little nuggets!!

Today I bring to you: Pokemon Masters~

It was released on 25th Jul for Singapore, and I immediately downloaded it the moment I could. So what is it? In a nutshell, instead of collecting Pokemon, you instead collect Pokemon Trainers. Each Trainer has a specific Sync Partner, and that is unchangeable. Yours would be Pikachu. 

On startup, you get both Brock and Misty, and both of them are only 3*. Brock has Onix, and Misty Starmie. Moving along story chapters gets you more well-known Trainers, such as Rosa, and Erika. You can also get more Trainers from their gacha system, though I think it would be possible to play entirely without purchases.

There is a new 'evil' group of masked strangers, stealing other Trainers' Pokemon and all that jazz. Kinda looks like P5's Joker, doesn't it. 

I've had it for a couple days now, and have also bought some in-game gems to check out the gacha system. Here's a mini review of sorts. 

Your character is somewhat customisable, but only for skin, eye, and hair color. You cannot change outfits or hairstyle, but at any point should you decide to change your gender or any above mentioned, you can simply go to your profile to do so. 

here, have a hastily spliced photo of the whole Pokemon Centre

The Pokemon Centre is the 'homepage', where you can switch your team as well as buy items from the shop. You can pan around the area, and talk to random Trainers in the Pokemon Centre, though I haven't figured out if there is a point to talking to them at all. I was hoping for some random items or something since the game seems to make it out as though you have to speak to them, but nothing.

The team page is pretty simple, that's where you go to change your team members, level them up, uncap their max level, etc. 

The shop page is also straightforward enough, where you go to exchange low tier items for mid tier items, and then for higher tier items so you can use those to unlock new skills and passives. The gacha section (Sync Pair Scout) is also under the shop, and while it isn't a new concept, there is this little thing called the Scout Points. This also isn't a new concept, but man, 400 points?? As you can see I've already spent 1600 gems, only to get 16 points. 

It's 1 point per 100 gems, and there is also a time limit for the point exchange. The current one ends in early Sept, and while there are daily gems for free I don't think you might be able to accumulate and spend that much to reach 400 points. I suppose that's why they also have a spending notification where they inform you that you've reached a preset spending limit. 

There are also paid and unpaid gems, and honestly I was hoping to paid gems might be worth more points, but I guess not. At this point, I'm giving up on the gacha and just seeing what else the game has to offer for now. 

So on to the Explore section. There's the Main Story, Events (currently WIP I believe), Sync Pair Stories, and Training Area.

Main Story is self explanatory, as with the Events tab. Sync Pair stories are a spend a day with a Trainer and their Partner kind of thing, and if I remember correctly you might be able to evolve some Pokemon through those stories. I clicked the dialogue a little too fast, so I'm not too clear on that. 

Training Area has different tabs you can pick from which will reap different sort of rewards. They have daily time limited courses as well.

Battles wise, there is an 'energy' bar right at the bottom of the screen, and you'll have to wait for it to replenish to a certain amount of bars before you can use certain moves. After using moves a specific number of times, you get to unleash a special Sync Move. It doesn't carry over to the next battle, so use it when you can. 

Different Trainers also have different skills. You and Pikachu, for example, have Potion instead of Sp Att Up or Speed Up for example. I suppose this is where you might want to switch up teams to get the best offense or defense? There is an auto battle function, but after trying that out I realised that auto battle tends to somehow only use one Pokemon's attack, and that can drag the battle out immensely. 

Battling and grinding for exp also gets repetitive really fast, and each Pokemon seems to only have one weakness? For example a Flying type might have an Electric weakness listed, but an Ice attack doesn't seem to damage it as much. Then again, I have my battles set at a faster speed, so I might have missed the damage number inflicted. 

Overall, while the graphics are really sharp and there might be potential for Pokemon Masters to go far, I feel pretty meh about the game. I was excited the first couple hours, and then I quickly got bored of it. Not to mention the gacha system seems to play a huge role in the game so far, and spending can quickly get out of hand if you're not careful.

Pokemon Masters has not been released globally yet, so we shall see if there will be more exciting features (perhaps events) once the world is up and playing. 

For now, nerd out!

Written by: ninetylives