Wednesday 14 August 2019

Fukuoka & Beppu : Budget Breakdown

Flight Ticket : RM330 per person (+ additional baggage, in-flight meal and seat allocation)

Travel insurance : RM30 per person (AXA)

Klook Pocket Wifi : RM70


Accommodation : RM1,200
  • Beppu - Beppu Daitii  RM480
  • Fukuoka - Airbnb RM720

Transportation (RM1,310)
  • Highway Bus to Beppu - RM250
  • 2 days Beppu bus pass - RM190 
  • Sonic train to Fukuoka - RM520
  • 2 days Fukuoka bus pass - RM130 
  • Taxi in Japan - RM120
  • Bus in Japan - RM25
  • ERL - RM40
  • Parking at Putrajaya Sentral - RM35

Food : RM1,000
  • Kombini / vending machine : RM200
  • Ittoryu Ramen - RM50
  • Jidoriya - RM100
  • Siesta Vegetarian Cafe - RM80
  • Dessert at Yufuin Street - RM60
  • Hakata Toyo Ichi Sushi - RM130
  • Gram Souffle Pancake - RM60
  • Luke Lobster - RM130
  • Motsunabe Halal Kiwamiya - RM200

Activity : RM380
  • Entrance Fee to Hells of Beppu - RM90
  • Private Onsen - RM90
  • Beppu Ropeway - RM110
  • Fukuoka Tower - RM90

The great thing about Japan is, there are a lot of interesting free activities for you to do. Even if there is entrance fee, they are fairly affordable.

The bulk of our expenses were spent on accommodation, transport and food. I think for such an 'expensive country', spending RM1,000 on food for 5 days is justified. That comes down to RM100 per day, per person. And with all the good food that we've had, I really really have no complaints!

Total : RM4,610 [RM2,300 per pax] not including shopping (I bought a lot of skincare and makeup).

Of course, the budget would depends on your choices of flight, food and accommodation.

Really, rezeki sangat dapat return ticket priced at RM230 (base price). To Japan, no less.
So that's the end of our Fukuoka Beppu trip.

Would I want to visit em again? Yes!! Especially Yufuin. Will stay longer in Yufuin next time and maybe during winter?

One day, insyaAllah. 
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Tuesday 13 August 2019

Fukuoka & Beppu : Accommodation Review

Beppu Daiiti Hotel, 3D 2N, RM530

I would really, really recommend this hotel if you're visiting Beppu. Fairly new  hotel, comfortable, clean and decently priced for Japanese standards (we got RM50 discount from Traveloka).

It's only 100m away from Beppu Station so convenience wise, excellent!!

All pictures are taken from Booking.com and/or Airbnb


They had vending machines and laundry bar on the 2nd floor. Coffee and lemon water are available 24-7 at the lobby. They also had maps of attractions etc. Great wi-fi. And oh, they provided yukata as well. I just could not find any fault!

Though they are literally opposite the Beppu Station, we had no issues whatsoever with noise. So, final rating? 5/5 !!


Coco Fukuoka Chiyo, 3D 2N, RM715


This is a fairly old building near Hakata Station (very well maintained, tho).

Close proximity to Hakata Station (the red blob on bottom right)
To be honest, this was not our first choice. I made the reservations quite late (read : very late) so many of other places are fully booked as our trip coincides with the Summer Festival in Fukuoka.

Nevertheless, I would say that N loves this place better than Beppu Daitii. Hahaha

Here, we got the whole studio apartment to ourselves. Complete with kitchenette and washing machine. 

Yup, we got the 2 single bed room 😂



The location was great as it was within walking distance to the subway and there's a bus stop right in front of the apartment. My only grip is, it has the 'old building smell'. You know what I mean? It was clean and everything, no doubt. But the old building scent is there, in the background.. Hahaha

My overall rating : 4.5/5.

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Monday 12 August 2019

Fukuoka & Beppu : Itinerary [Day 3, 4 & 5]

Day 3
  • Early morning journey to Fukuoka via sonic train. It would be amazing to be on the shinkansen (bullet train) but it does not cover the Beppu-Hakata route. 
  • Tickets were purchased online; 2 weeks prior at https://train.yoyaku.jrkyushu.co.jp
  • We opted for the green car (first class). Funny thing here (well, for me at least), if you bought the ticket, it does not necessarily mean you are confirmed a spot on the train. You would have to buy a ticket PLUS reserve the seat which cost extra 😂
  • The train journey took 2 hours, exactly the same if you took the bus. Only it cost twice as much. LOL But no regret there as we wanted to experience everything.

  • FYI, Fukuoka is definitely different from Beppu. It is bustling, compared to a more laid back atmosphere of Beppu.
  • At Hakata Station, we kept our luggage and visited the information counter to buy tourist pass.
  • Lunch at Hakata Toyo Ichi
They had an amazing array of fresh sushi, only 100 yen each!
  • Next we visited Tenjin, perhaps the area with biggest concentration of shops 😂 A little bit of window shopping at Don Quijote, Bic Camera etc
Other than miniature cars, N was most excited about this

Acros Fukuoka
  • We had the Souffle Pancake at Tenjin Core
  • Hard Rock Cafe nearby Hakata Station, at the second floor of JRJP Hakata Building
These are only RM60+ each. Thank God 😅 I could not fathom how the HRC magnet in Phuket, Thailand was sold for nearly RM150
  • In the evening, we checked into our AirBnb.

  • At night, we went to another branch of Don Quijote. I guess it's good to visit different branches as they had different promotions going on. Basically, Don Quijote is a discount store that sells everything and you are eligible to claim for tax refund if you spent at least 5,000 yen.
  • We bought souvenirs for our office colleagues here. Such a bargain!!
We bought nearly 40 of this halal treats. At a bargain, if I may add!

Day 4
  • Woke up to a very hot morning in Fukuoka but the journey must go on 😋

  • Our first stop of the day, Canal City
  • Then we head back to Tenjin for a taste of Luke's Lobster. It occupies a small space at Parco Fukuoka, just by the roadside.
Source : Fukuoka Now
  • We did most of our shopping in Tenjin (Well, I did 😅)
What caught my eye

What caught his. Hahaha
  • Believe it or not, we barely made it to our 6pm reservations at Motsunabe Kiwamiya (please book in advance via their FB page) because we shopped so much 😂
  • We were contemplating if we should visit Fukuoka Tower as it was already 8pm. Glad that we did!



Day 5
  • Checkout at 5.45am
  • To airport via taxi (AirBnb host booked the taxi a day earlier)
  • So our flight back to KL was at 7.30am and guess what? The airport only operates from 6.30am onwards 😂
  • Oh there was only 1 flight daily from Fukuoka to KL and it's at 7.30am 
  • While we were at the airport, we did some more shopping especially at the Royce counter 💖
  • So that's it. That's how we spent our 5 days in Japan for my boo's birthday.
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Sunday 11 August 2019

Fukuoka & Beppu : Itinerary [Day 1 & 2]

Day 1
  • Our flight from KLIA2 departed at 0030
  • We rented portable wifi from Wiyo at a discounted rate via https://www.klook.com
  • Arrived at Fukuoka International Airport at 0740
First glimpse of Fukuoka
  • To the information counter to get some maps and coupons etc. 
  • At first, we thought of bringing burger / sandwiches from KLIA for breakfast in Japan but now there's a new rule that prohibits visitor from bringing in any meat products into Japan (that would include Brahim's ready to eat meal as well). So, we just buy some drinks at the airport's 7-Eleven. 

  • We then took the highway bus to Beppu [Tickets were bought online a month earlier, at http://global.atbus-de.com/]. We booked the 10.12am bus btw.

Comfortable seats, with wi-fi and plug point
  • 2 hours later, we arrived at Beppu Kitahama and walked to our hotel (400m) 

Will review the place in a separate post!
  • Bought the '2-day wide' bus pass at Beppu Station (outside the hotel)
It's value for money and easy to use. Just show it to the driver on your way out. However, it can only be used on Kamenoi bus  (there are 2 bus companies in Beppu; Kamenoi and Oita Kotsu). Don't worry, you'll get all the details at the information counter.
  • Lunch at Ittoryu Ramen

  • Visited the 3 Hells of Beppu
  • Beppu is famous for 2 things; onsen and their 'hells'. These 'Hells' refer to the 7 hot springs. Don't be fooled though. They are extremely hot, so it's more of a touristy spot rather than for you to bath in.  Legend has it that the locals used to hate the hot springs so much, that they referred to 'em as 'hells'. Now, it's developed as tourist attractions. 
  • We chose to visit 3 of the most interesting 'hells' because let's faced it. How different can the hot springs be 😂
  • This picture right here, is the Chinoike Jigoku or the blood pond. 


We then visited Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell). I like this hot spring the most as it's the biggest and the most beautiful!
Finally, the Kamado Jigoku (Cooking Pot hell). Basically, it has a little bit of everything. Blue and red hot spring (smaller than Umi Jigoku's and Chiboike Jigoku's), foot bath and snacks.

N is having onsen egg (boiled in the hot spring)
  • We then make our way to the three Michelin star onsen; where we spent an hour in the private hot spring. AMAZING!!
In front of our private onsen
Inside the hut is a changing room with mirror (and aircon). Just outside the cute hut, you can see the waterfall hot spring where you can control the temperature and flow of the water. There's also a sauna room, cold tub and shower.

  • Why is it important to choose private onsen? The communal onsen in Japan is mostly segregated between male and female. So, no bathing with your spouse 😹 Plus, you have to wear your birthday suit (ie. naked). Of course, private onsen is the best choice. 

We love this place so much!
  • By the time we went back to our hotel, it's already night time and we just stayed in #oldpeople.
  • Oh, we visited Japan during summer. No joke, it's super super hot! So keep that in mind when planning for your journey. 

Day 2
  • Early in the morning, we took the Yufurin bus to Yufuin. It's a very scenic 1 hour journey! 
  • Yufuin is small town, so we just walked from one end to the other



Tourist information center in Yufuin

Beautiful cafe beside Kinrinko Lake





  • We had lunch at Siesta Cafe before taking off to Beppu Ropeway
  • Beppu Ropeway is a cable car connecting the peak of Mount Tsurumi and Kogen station as the base of the mountain
Nice escape from the hot weather. It's cold up hereee!


  • Back to Beppu town and we had dinner at Jidoriya 
  • For our last night in Beppu, we went around looking for these beautiful manhole cover before signing off for the day.


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