mefma185 0 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Hi All, I've been reading these for a while and have to say you all seem like a really helpful community so i've just joined. I'm spending 6 weeks in Japan (my first time) during January/February, 2 weeks in Hakuba and 2 in Niseko with a sensory overload in Tokyo to finish. I've been able to pick up most of the info I needed for planning from other topics but had a couple of questions: What should I be budgeting daily for food? I already have breakfasts covered at the lodges i'm with Also is there much difference between booze prices for take-home vs. drinking at a restaurant/ bar? Like other overseas visitors i've been pounded by the exchange rate and looking for areas to tighten up the budget Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Niseko as an example. Booze was dirt cheap in the Seikomart - even cheaper in Kutchan - bought in large bottles or cans. However to buy a single drink in the ice bar was about $20AUD LAST January! It was the novelty factor and the frozen ice glass - but still ... you are muhc better off FINANCIALLY drinking take home booze. As for socially - hmmmm - maybe a beer at the bar is a good thing. Food - you can go budget heat it up yourself of you can dine out on expensive foods. It is up to you really. Options for all budgets exist in Niseko - it should cost you no more to eat there than it does at home, unless you want it to. As for Hakuba - I shall let others answer - I do not know. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Niseko Resort Area Alcohol in supermarkets is cheap. Decent bottle of wine 500-750 yen Bottle of spirits 1,000 - 1,500 yen 6 pack of beer 750 yen Alcohol in bars, expect to pay between 500-1,000 yen for a drink Food in seicomart is cheap, cheaper in Kutchan supermarkets You can make a meal like chicken stir fry with rice for 4 people for about 1,500 yen Eating out is reasonable I think. Lunch from 750 to 1,500 (on and off mountain) Dinner from 1,000 to 30,000 (Kamimura) Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 It's definitely cheaper to drink Conbini-beers compared to bar beers, but then its not so social. Altho I don't know for sure, but Japanese izakaya style bars often do nomi-hodai (all u can drink) for anything from 1000 yen to 3000 yen for up to 2 hours. These are often combined with an all u can eat option from upwards of 2500 yen. Maybe some locals can point yu in the right direction Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 >Alcohol in supermarkets is cheap. Decent bottle of wine 500-750 yen Bottle of spirits 1,000 - 1,500 yen 6 pack of beer 750 yen Jebus MP, you and FT drink piss dont ya? You can get drunk that cheaply, but would you enjoy it? I heard through the grapevine that FT actually quit drinking crap alcohol, but I wont believe it till I see it Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Originally Posted By: Creek Boy >Alcohol in supermarkets is cheap. Decent bottle of wine 500-750 yen Bottle of spirits 1,000 - 1,500 yen 6 pack of beer 750 yen Jebus MP, you and FT drink piss dont ya? You can get drunk that cheaply, but would you enjoy it? I heard through the grapevine that FT actually quit drinking crap alcohol, but I wont believe it till I see it Don't drink beer, just posted the prices to be be comprehensive The wine up here between 500-750 yen is very drinkable. Snobs may disagree but then they'd be missing out. And while Gordon's is no Tanqueray or Bombay Saphire, it suffices Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 HI M Mike and Mamabear are spot on. Get a bus into kutchan (only takes 15mins and there are 2 major supermarkets to chose from and a couple of smaller ones, they also sell alcohol in them and some crazy looking moonshine 5LTs for about $10. We found having breakfast included we didn't need anything to eat until that night and then you can eat pretty cheaply. Octopus Balls from the local vendor on the hill after a day skiing were YUMMY and filling for Mr Snowhunter and CHEAP. Everyone is in the same boat but you will be fine even with the economy crash you still will be able to have a good time cheaply. Oh yeah and the meals on the hill are also YUMMY and only about $14 AUS and they are HUGE! Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 At the very least, you should try the King Bell (It had gone "no smoking" last time I was there in 2007 and all the smulkers had gone to the 1000m hut - and a good thing too!) and they did a quite filling Genghis Kahn Lamb - tasted great. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: snowhunter HI M Mike and Mamabear are spot on. Get a bus into kutchan (only takes 15mins and there are 2 major supermarkets to chose from and a couple of smaller ones, they also sell alcohol in them and some crazy looking moonshine 5LTs for about $10. We found having breakfast included we didn't need anything to eat until that night and then you can eat pretty cheaply. Octopus Balls from the local vendor on the hill after a day skiing were YUMMY and filling for Mr Snowhunter and CHEAP. Everyone is in the same boat but you will be fine even with the economy crash you still will be able to have a good time cheaply. Oh yeah and the meals on the hill are also YUMMY and only about $14 AUS and they are HUGE! are these the big plastic bottles of clear liquid that looks a bit like Turps? They are Sho-chu (a korean liquor) and I think some of them will be Sake. Although I don't drink em I know many who do and they say they are fine Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 >are these the big plastic bottles of clear liquid that looks a bit like Turps? They are Sho-chu (a korean liquor) and I think some of them will be Sake. Although I don't drink em I know many who do and they say they are fine TB, Shochu has nothing to do with Korea, it was created down in Kyushu. Typically a 25% alcohol drink often made with wheat or potato, as well as grain and one other I think. Dont drink it myself so dont know too much about it...but Sake is my favorite - so many delish types out there...the ones found up in Hokkers are decent, but not the best out there. Link to post Share on other sites
Greenroome 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 The Korean version is pronounced 'Soju'. In 2003 it was an Aussie dollar for a 300ml bottle, sold cold. When the Papa or boss said 'Gambai', you drank. Simple as that. No "I've got to work tomorrow", or "I've got a headache". You drink. You feel mashed up and can dance like Michael Jackson, but then you wake up feeling like someone's driven an axe through your skull. Worst hangover in the world, imho. Link to post Share on other sites
mefma185 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 This all sounds awesome, cheers for the advice. It doesn't sound like there's anything to worry about, plenty of great options available whatever the budget. After riding all day every day i'm not going to be to fussy anyway! Link to post Share on other sites
Curt 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 You might be if you come across a poor katsudon that has 90% fat, 10% crappy meat. But generally you won't have problems. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Soju is great with galbi. I usually have 2 of those 355 bottles at a Korean barbie meal. The lemon flavoured one is for the women. Link to post Share on other sites
Greenroome 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 It certainly is. I only saw one fop drinking the lemon soju outside a 7-11 in Hong-Dae. He was no Soju Warrior. He looked ready to blow over in a gentle breeze. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 mind you, many times I've sat in the blue tents and seen plenty of OLs in their 20's knocking back the shot glass, more empty bottles on the table than body count. Seoul ladies can party hard. Link to post Share on other sites
Greenroome 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 That they can. Solid. Back on topic, I think that Japan has some of the lowest prices for quality local and imported spirits in the world. Especially in the convenience stores. You'd be spewing if you lugged pricier duty-free spirits all the way here. Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Agree GR we bought Duty Free and were devoed when it was much cheaper at the local supermarket than our so called Duty Free. Link to post Share on other sites
ssar 0 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Re: a Rough guage of Yen expenses per day in a place like Niseko.. I was hoping to get away with around AUD$90 a day. But with the AUD-JPY exchange rates trends over the past 12 months that may have been realistic during Feb 2008 (when AUD$1 = JPY90), but now a year later when AUD$1 less than JPY60 this is looking difficult. I'll probably have to snag around JPY70,000 in cash for our 12 days (equates to around JPY5800 per day), which costs around AUD$1250 to buy at the moment. Even then I think I might be pushing it sometimes if we really hook into the booze a bit. (Costs: just food, drinks, post cards, stamps, possible international phone card/calls, taxi maybe. All the big stuff is already paid for (at a much better exchange rate several months ago thankfully) - Niseko all Mountain Ski pass, Airfares, most transfers, accommodation.) Link to post Share on other sites
ssar 0 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Originally Posted By: Greenroome I think that Japan has some of the lowest prices for quality local and imported spirits in the world. Especially in the convenience stores. You'd be spewing if you lugged pricier duty-free spirits all the way here. Originally Posted By: snowhuntress Agree GR we bought Duty Free and were devoed when it was much cheaper at the local supermarket than our so called Duty Free. That's great info, thanks. This appear to be the go, from what I hear too - others agree as well? For our upcoming trip to Niseko & back I might just look at duty ree booze when coming back in from JPY to SYD. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 now, let's see. Brekkie, included. 10:30 beer - 350 11:00 beer - 350 lunch - 1600 2pm beer - 350 2:30 beer - 350 happy hour - 2000 dinner, food included, drink: 2000 more drinking: 2000 there you go 10,000 with change. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Restaurant prices in Niseko have gone up about 10-15% since the '08 season. Doesn't mean much to those of us earning yen but if you're coming from over seas you'll be feeling the pinch. As for the King Bell Hut recommendation for lunch, that place has gotten more expensive and the quality has gone down. There aren't many places with tasty affordable treats at Grand Hirafu this year (compared with last year anyway). I also found the Hanazono Resto to be really over-priced... if you are thinking about budget lunches I'd say take a couple of onigiri (rice balls) with ya otherwise you're paying at least 1000 Yen (probably closer to 1500Y) for mediocre food. It's a damn shame because I found the restos on the hill to be pretty good last year... Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 BTW, forget duty free! Much cheaper here... Link to post Share on other sites
Deltaone1 0 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Hook into the Nomihodais and ul be sweet. dont drink beer, drink spirits and in niseko go to kutchan to get tea Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 what??? and miss out on the luverly Sapporo Classic Link to post Share on other sites
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