Showing posts with label visit japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visit japan. Show all posts

Monday, December 26, 2022

Japan Autumn/Winter Trip 2022 [Preparation]

Halo, semuanya!

Kali ini aku kembali dengan postingan tentang jalan-jalan alias TRAVELING! Yap, sudah lama gak membahas terkait Traveling yaaa.. dan tebak, kira-kira aku kemana kemarin? Uda jelas dari judulnya kan wkwkwk :)

JEPANG. Negara yang gak akan bosan-bosannya aku kunjungi untuk kesekiankalinya. Walaupun ini baru kali ketiga, tapi keinginan untuk balik ke sana lagi masih akan tetap tinggi. Bener-bener negara yang gak membosankan! Tentu aja aku akan membahas gimana ceritanya aku bisa jalan ke sana lagi~

Shibuya, Japan

Random dan serba dadakan! Kayak tahu bulat yang digoreng dadakan, rencana buat jalan ke Jepang lagi tahun ini pun belom terpikirkan oleh diriku yang masih ada di awal tahun. Selain karena masih ada larangan dari pemerintah Jepang yang belom memperbolehkan turis perorangan untuk masuk ke negaranya. Ditambah lagi pasporku uda expired bulan Februari tahun ini. Hasrat untuk memperpanjang pun masih ogah-ogahan.

TAPI...!!!

Semua itu berubah ketika pemerintah Jepang mengumumkan buat membuka border lagi untuk turis perorangan per 11 Oktober 2022. Kebetulan juga sebelum pengumuman itu akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk perpanjangan paspor jadi E-Paspor!

Padahal beberapa minggu bahkan beberapa bulan sebelumnya, tiap aku cek aplikasi M-Paspor buat rencana perpanjangan selalu terpentok oleh ketersediaan E-Paspor di kantor Imigrasi terdekat. Sempat waktu itu berpikir buat perpanjangan jadi paspor biasa, eh kok ndilalah tiba-tiba muncul kuota E-Paspor di Kanim Jakut. Mana deket rumah kan..

Kan uda tuh, masukin berkas dan bayar buat PERPANJANGAN PASPOR yang syaratnya cukup mudah, yaitu:

  1. Paspor lama (difotokopi)
  2. Formulir (isi di sana nanti dibagiin Pak Satpam)
  3. Surat pengantar dan bukti pembayaran (dari aplikasi M-Paspor tinggal di-print)
  4. KTP (difotokopi).
Syarat Pembuatan Paspor

Waktu itu uda milih juga tanggal wawancaranya yang dengan dudulnya milih sekitar 2 minggu sejak pembayaran yaitu tanggal 19 Oktober 2022 karena nyari yang antreannya masih dikit (padahal gak terlalu ngaruh kalau kita dateng pagi ke sana karena ujungnya tetep antre lagi).

Tetiba munculah berita tanggal 11 Oktober 2022 itu tadi tentang pembukaan border turis perorangan ke Jepang. Jeng jeng jeng.. Dorongan buat memanfaatkan peluang itu semakin besar tiap hari. Dan penyesalan kenapa baru milih tanggal wawancara di 19 Oktober 2022 juga memuncak. Tapi mengingat jatah cuti besarku yang hangus tahun ini kalau gak dipakai (sebenernya walaupun gak ke sana juga bakal tetep kupakai, sih) akhirnya sedikit demi sedikit, aku mulai merencanakan wacana buat jalan ke Jepang tahun ini. Berhubung rencana atau wacana kali ini serba tahu bulat, jadi aku berencana buat SOLO TRIP!

Berita pembukaan border Jepang oleh CNN

Gak kebayang sebelumnya aku bakalan solo traveling, bener-bener sendiri, dan itu ke negeri orang! Pas minta izin juga aku coba langsung nanya ke mama dan Alhamdulillah boleh. Yaudah, gas bikin itinerary seperti biasanya. Mau kemana dan berapa harga, mau nginep dimana aja, dll. Pokoknya entah kenapa tiap aku bikin itinerary ke Jepang itu bawaannya selalu excited!

Kenapa aku menamai itinerary-ku dengan judul WACANA? Ya, karena memang masih wacana pada saat itu. Walaupun aku uda dapat izin dan uda bikin itinerary sebagian, pasporku saat itu belom jadi dan DITAMBAH LAGI kalau mau booking tiket pesawat kan perlu nomor paspor yang tentunya belom bisa aku lakukan. Selain itu, aku juga belom mengantongi VISA WAIVER yang kuperlukan untuk bisa nembus ke Imigrasi Jepang. Apalagi waktu itu aku coba iseng buka-buka website 3rd party yang buat bikin visa Jepang, ternyata appointment terdekat uda melewati tanggal aku rencana berangkat. Jadi uda berasa kejar-kejaran sama waktu.

Di sisi lain paspor yang seharusnya tanggal 28 Oktober 2022 uda jadi, ternyata waktu aku coba ambil ke sana belom selesai karena ada gangguan sistem akibat perubahan masa berlaku paspor yang jadi 10 tahun per Oktober 2022. Semakin (rada) panik lah diri ini karena takut harga tiket makin melambung. Alhasil aku agak mengubah itinerary dan budgeting untuk menyesuaikan keadaan.

Permasalahan visa, aku mulai cari-cari info terkait cara pembuatan walk-in alias langsung dateng. Ternyata ada, tapi harganya hampir 4x harga biasa. Di situ agak sedih kenapa di Jakarta harus melalui 3rd party karena di Konjen lain masih bisa langsung urus sendiri ke Konjen, jadi 2 hari kerja, dan GRATIS! Sedangkan di Jakarta harus melalui 3rd party, bayar jasa 3rd party, jadi minimal 5 hari kerja, dan yang jelas kudu bikin janji via website (yang tadi aku bilang uda lewat jadwal aku berangkat baru kosong!).

DAN...!!!

Akhirnya aku menemukan satu agen travel yang cukup terjangkau, dibandingkan dengan agen lain yang bisa harganya 5x lipat ke atas harga normal (121.000 rupiah). Awalnya rada ragu karena belom pernah sama sekali pakai agen tersebut dan baru denger, itu juga ketemu dari hasil cari-cari di Instagram sehingga sempat memutuskan buat urus sendiri dengan cara walk-in tadi. Tapi ternyata semesta berkata lain, semingguan itu aku ada training onsite di kantor. Bahkan waktu buat ambil paspor yang saat itu uda jadi tanggal 31 Oktober 2022 pun kudu curi-curi kesempatan. Untungnya jalan ke Kanim Jakut sama ke kantor (rada) searah, jadi bisa mampir dulu soalnya ambil paspornya cepet asal jam 8 pagi uda standby di depan loket wkwk (waktu itu aku berangkat kepagian jam 7 uda sampe lol). Jadilah ku memutuskan untuk pakai agen travel tadi.

Sumpah agen travel tadi bener-bener di luar ekspektasi. Penanganan pasien, eh customer-nya, beneran sat-set-sat-set! Karena waktu itu paspor sudah di tangan, ku berencana buat kirim berkas ke agen travel di hari besoknya tanggal 1 November 2022. Langsung diterima, dan bahkan besoknya berkasku uda masuk buat diproses! Keren banget, super recommended! Mau spill nama agen travel-nya? Namanya coba search aja di Instagram: wjtour dengan biaya untuk pengurusan visa waiver Jepang sebesar 250.000 rupiah/paspor. Syarat PENGURUSAN VISA WAIVER juga mudah seperti berikut:
  1. Paspor (kolom tanda tangan di akhir buku harus ditandatangani terlebih dahulu)
  2. Formulir pengajuan visa (bisa diunduh dari website Konjen Jepang)
  3. Fotokopi KTP
  4. Fotokopi KK.
Inget yaaa, pokoknya kalau mau urus bisa langsung hubungi mereka~ ^^

Oh iya pada saat bersamaan dengan aku kirim berkas ke agen travel, aku juga langsung cus cari tiket yang Alhamdulillah-nya harganya masih on budget. Ditambah lagi ada promo bundling round-trip dan diskon dari Traveloka up to 700K (bukan promosi, oke?)! Kenapa round-trip? Karena waktu itu di Traveloka kalau kita pesen tiket pesawat round-trip harganya jadi lebih murah daripada beli satuan (dan juga aplikasi sebelah). Untuk promo round-trip ini ada dua maskapai yang masuk incaran, yaitu Philippine Airlines (transit Manila) dan Cathay Pacific (transit Hongkong). Dengan pertimbangan waktu perjalanan tersingkat di antara yang promo, akhirnya aku memutuskan buat beli yang Philippine Airlines, berangkat tanggal 30 November 2022 pukul 01.10 WIB dini hari dari Jakarta. Untuk promo diskon up to 700K itu musiman ya, tergantung Traveloka ada diskon apa. Kekurangan dari promo diskon itu gak bisa refund. Tapi karena gak ada niatan buat refund (InsyaAllah) jadi ya gaskeun!

Jadwal Keberangkatan CGK-MNL

Jadwal Keberangkatan MNL-KIX

Lanjut ke sekitar minggu depannya, orang dari agen travel ngabarin via chat kalau visa waiver-ku uda jadi dong! Malamnya sama dia langsung dikirim ke rumah paspornya via GoSend yang aku pesan. Mantap, kilat kali!!! Yap, akhirnya paspor, tiket pesawat, visa waiver sudah di tangan semua. Saatnya melanjutkan itinerary dan rencana akomodasi!

Kabar dari WJTour

E-Paspor yang sudah terdapat Visa Waiver Jepang

Selama proses itu pokoknya aku selalu berdoa biar diberi kelancaran dan kemudahan oleh Allah, dan yang jelas berdoa semoga pergi ke Jepang tahun ini adalah rejekiku. Dan, taraaa~ Alhamdulillah itu adalah rejekiku walaupun dalam prosesnya uda kayak roller coaster!

Penasaran sama itinerary dan rencana akomodasi di sana? Nantikan postingan-ku berikutnya, ya!

See you on my next post!!!



_karin0punx_

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Visit Japan Experience (Part I)

As I promise before, I wanna tell you about my precious experience! My sisters and I went to Japan several months ago. It was our very first time visiting Japan, our dream country. Japan is a wonderful country. Literally. I love everything about it, wholeheartedly. And able to go there was like a dream comes true. I was so excited!

Japan Ikuze!

Actually at first, it was a chit-chat between me and Nissa-chan, my twins! (she's my bestfriend yet sister already) She said that she really wants to go to Japan very badly before her internship start. She's a doctor though (back then she's still doctor-to-be). Without any doubts, I agreed to her idea. "HOW ABOUT WE GO TO JAPAN NEXT YEAR -this year-?" Then we started to plan everything.

There're some important things to notice:
1. First, search and buy for round-trip tickets. You'll get cheaper price if you know the right time to buy.
2. Second, if you haven't have a passport yet, then get it. If you do have it already, make sure it hasn't expired then you can go on.
3. Third, visa. You shall apply for visa to Japan Embassy before you enter their country. It's little bit complicated but don't worry.
4. Forth, plan the itenary in details like where you're going to stay and the destinations you're going to visit. Don't forget about the transportations too, it's crucial! You'll waste your time in vain if you don't know the right map there.
5. Fifth, plan the budgeting. How much you're going to bring cash money or cards. And how you spend it in Japan.
6. Sixth, change the currency before departing (few days before is better).
7. Seventh, plan your belongings properly. It depends on your type of journey. You can bring any suitcases or just a backpack, it's up to you. But I recommends bring lighter bags so it will makes you easier to move from one city to another city (you're in a trip, right?) Moreover if you ride a promo-plane, you'll think twice about your luggage's weight.
8. Eighth, keep your body stay healthy! You don't want feel sick there, do you?

Okay, let's check it out one by one.

Passport, it's the main things you should have before leaving your country. Why? Because it contains your identity. I made my passport few months before going to Japan. It's pretty easy in Indonesia to make a passport. I mean it doesn't have any difficult requirements. But, if you make passport in Indonesia, get up as early as you can. I went to imigration office in Jakarta at about 5.30 a.m and it was already filled up with people even the gate was open at 7.00 a.m and the regulations started at 8.00 a.m. After you finish all of the processes, your passport will be ready in about 5 days after the making.

Passport Requirements

Next is visa. Without visa you won't be accepted to enter any country, even though there's some countries that allow free-visa for the tourists. I used travel agent's service to make our visas. At first I tried to search informations as many as possible, about how and what's required to get it. Then I found about "minimum account balance" in their requirements. But funnily, I'd never found it in embassy's web. As far as I know, it just required you to have enough money to stay in Japan. Finally I found a travel agent in my hometown that didn't have that requirement, and of course I applied through it. Successfully. About a week after my submission, my visa had arrived safely at home :)


Visa Requirements

Round-trip tickets. These items required to apply for visa. It will make sure you're going back to your own country. How did I buy my tickets? Like I told you before, it was kind of spontaneous about our trip. I bought my round-trip ticket about February 2017, and it was all because promo! There was Air Asia apps' promo. Air Asia is one of budget flights and it offers you direct or transit route from Indonesia to Japan. I guess it was 20% off, then we decided to buy the tickets. But the worst part was it didn't had free baggage or meals included. If you want to, you'll have to pay more. So sad :(

The most crucial part of your trip is itenary. Try to make your itenary as good as possible. Or you'll get dissapoint! We made our own itenary. All of it. About where will I go in Japan, about how to get there, about where should I stay, and about time durations. It's so important! First, where you'll arrive and depart. We arrived at Kansai (Osaka) and left through Haneda (Tokyo), so we tried to adjust our destinations and time durations. Like on the first day after we safely arrived, we went straight to Nara and Kobe. Next Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya. And finally Tokyo. Complete with the time schedules! We bought days pass tickets (like Kintetsu Rail Pass, JR One Day Pass, Keihan One Day Pass, etc.) to reduce cost and a IC card, ICOCA (similiar to e-money in Indonesia). You can use and top up your IC card in any train stations there. For travelling from Nagoya to Tokyo, we rode night bus Willer Express. Don't forget to bring a map or you can use google maps' feature on your phone. But the second option require a wifi connection. In Japan there're many free wifi but I tried not to depend on it so I bought a pocket wifi that I rent from Wi2FLY.

Budget is also important (everything is important, ha!). Plan your budgeting carefully. I made a budget estimation before going to Japan. Like how much is the homestay, or transportations, or food, or even the souvenirs. My sis, Nissa-chan, is very careful about the budget. So I hand over all about budget to her. And it turned out great. We brought about 70000 yen and we could saved about 5000-10000 yen! Make sure before you depart from your origin country, change the currency first. I changed my money at VIP Money Changer, a trustful one in Jakarta. I had got 7 sheets of 10000 yen. But if you can get the smaller currency like 5000 yen or 1000 yen, go change it too. Even though in Japan you can buy a 100 yen (about 10000 rupiah) drink with 10000 yen (about 1 million rupiah) and still got your change right, it will be better if you have a smaller currency. Don't forget about the exchange rate too! When I went there, the exchange rate was 120. Quite high. Try to wait for the exchange rate down (get a chance!).


Japan Yen

About belongings, I'd say better you bring lighter bag. For the cabin you can bring up to 7 kgs (watch out!), but if you have free baggage then you can bring more. I brought just a backpack and a sling bag. All of them no more than 7 kgs! How come?! Because I only bring what I need. Like just 3-4 piece of clothes, a jeans, 2 sweatpants, and some underwears. For underwears, I bought two packs of dispossable pants (I guess two packs is enough for a week). Actually if you brave enough to bring fewer clothes, it's okay as long as your homestay has a washer (don't care about the iron tho). Some homestays provide toiletries like tooth brushes, soaps, shampoo, and towels. And they provide kitchen too so you can cook by yourself to save money. I used to cook noodles that I brought from Indonesia (Indomie, yeah!). Don't forget to bring a camera! It's a must! Lols.


Shared belongings

Personal belongings

Those are some preparations I made before depart to Japan. I won't say it went smoothly in fact because we're quite flexible (not too tight, but not too loose). But I'd say it was quite success. We satisfied with our plans. Proud of us!

And the story? Not yet written. I will write it next time (stay tune!). Don't worry I'll share about the budgeting plan, itenary, and our spending there. So check it out below!






Itenary

Itenary for applying visa

Budgeting plan

Outcomes



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