Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eunjeong]

Hello, I'm planning to go to Fukuoka next week.
Can anyone tell me how much it would cost for a comfortable trip, meaning not worrying too much about money? I'm not planning on partying or anything, but I would like to see some things. And can anyone recommend a hotel, and should we make reservations?
Is it possible to get by on speaking English? Food costs, any other information is appreciated. Thanks.

[Neil]

I'd say 5 or 6000 yen a night should be enough for a business hotel. The Toyoko in Tenjin has always seen me ok. Then even if you're not partying, you're still on holiday and will want to have a good time, so 20000 yen a day should be enough.....a decent yakitori place with a few beers should set you back around 2500 yen, revolving sushi restaurants 1500, Fukuoka has lots of international restaurants...ethiopian, indian, turkish ect that'll probably be 3000-4000 yen a pop.

The Green Bus ticket is an all day one which does a loop around the city taking in places of interest (beach, baseball stadium, tower ect) about 700 yen and you can get off and hop on at your choosing.

Fukuoka Now, the local expat rag is so poorly written it makes the Korea Times look like Tolstoy but it is free and has an English map of the downtown areas at the back, with listings and locations of popular bars, clubs ect. It's festival time at the moment so there should be info on that....FN also has an English map that covers the whole city, also free and you should find a copy at the tourist offices in Tenjin.

[eunjeong]

As I'm going to Japan for three days, I was wondering if it would be worth it to directly board a train or bus and just go to Tokyo or Osaka and stay there. What do you think?

[Neil]

If you have the JR pass or enough cash for the bullet train, why not? Toyko is about 4 hrs via bullet train, Osaka maybe 2.5 I reckon. Bullet trains are expensive though, I paid 32000 yen for a return last time I went to Toyko.

3 days isn't long enough to do it by bus. I went to Toyko via bus for the long golden week holiday. 14 hours! (leave at 6pm, arrive 8am) and to be honest, while the bus is cheaper, it isn't that much cheaper to justify the extra hours. I would guess Osaka is around 8 or 9 hours by bus.

[Neil]

Actually, now I think about it, if you did have enough for the JR pass or bullet train, you might as well just fly from Seoul to Tokyo or Osaka.

[eunjeong]

I'm guessing tokyo is expensive though.
I wanted to just fly to tokyo but since i waited too long the tickets are more than 700 thousand won =_=
so its cheaper to just buy a ferry ticket and then take a train to tokyo.
are there many transfers if i take the bullet train?

[Neil]

No it's direct, you want to get the nozumi train...

[cangel]

Right now JR is offering a 2 day Kippu pass (free travel) for Y12,000. This allows you to use the Shinkansen for 2 consecutive days, anywhere in Japan.

The Toyoko Inn, as previously mentioned, is located right in Tenjin and the cheapest room is about Y5800/nt.

The subway has a Y500/day pass you can purchase from the machine. There are also plenty of Y100 loop buses. If you are going to be using the buses a lot, you should buy a bus pass. You can get a Y1000 bus pass and receive Y1100 on the card. Higher cards get you more free Yen.

I think that if you budget Y12,000/day (including lodging) that you can have a decent stay.

I lived in Fukuoka for 7 years and am now in Fukuoka on holiday. Anyway, if you have any specific questions, just ask.

[wenchstalker]

Tokyo and Osaka seem so far, but you can go south to a real volcano (Mt. Aso) which is really cool.

When I went to Fukuoka, we went south and stayed at a traditional farmhouse in Aso (maybe 2 hours south?) and then hiked the volcano, and had a huge traditional japanese meal. It was great.

Also, in Fukuoka, there's a ramien place that my husband loved called Ichi Ran.

You buy a ticket at a vending machine outside, and then go in and fill out a form about what kind of ramien you want. You sit at a single booth, with a curtain, so you never see the workers, and blinders, so you never see the other diners. It was a unique experience.