Tips

Hooks - bathroom
 
We found some of the hotel rooms had insufficient hooks in the bathroom. At Daiso (100 yen shop), we found these suction cup hooks which can be used on any smooth surface, like the walls of the bathroom.

As a bonus, the hooks can also be stuck on the back of the iPad as an improvised stand. 



















[June 2019 edit]

Another hook you can get from Daiso is this "over-the-door" hook.

It's good for hanging up jeans, trousers, coats that you intend to use again.

For men, you may have keys or coins in your pockets, which will spill out if you lay them on a chair, sofa, or bed.

Another type of hanger is the one below. It's similar to the over-the-door hook, but it allows you to use clothes hangers and to space out your clothes if you need to (for example to air dry your jackets if you have been in a drizzle or rain). 

Subway travel in Cities

It bears mentioning that while you are on holiday, everyone else in the city you are visiting are not. So if you travel between 8 am and 9 am you will get caught in the morning rush hour, especially for cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. It was really bad and we took a time out by having breakfast in one instance, and waiting til after 9 in another.

Knowing that, I would probably plan to avoid cities during the week or else plan travel outside of their downtown area if possible.

Sakura guide

Japan Travel provides guides for when and where to see Sakura and other flowers bloom.

Autumn colours guide

And also for when autumn foliage and colours (koyo) is estimated.


Socks

You can buy disposable underwear. They are barely usable, but little better than nothing. But what about socks?


When your socks start to have a hole or the elastic gets loose, you basically have two choices. Keep using them until you absolutely cannot and hope no one sees the hole in your socks.

Or the holey socks and loose socks can become your “travel” socks.

Wear them on your travels, and throw them away when you're done. They have holes in them!

Saves on doing the laundry and losing a sock in a foreign laundromat. Or bringing home a smelly sock.

So my holey and loose socks gets to travel. Before I dump them.


[Recently at Daiso (the 100 yen shop) I found socks. For 100 yen (108 yen with tax). These are really cheap and you can use them and lose them. If you want. It's only about $$1.30.]


Tips I read/heard, but haven't tried.

When you’re at the airport, add “?.jpg” to the end of any URL to get around the ludicrously expensive WiFi. Alternatively, you can sit right outside an airport club lounge: Wi-Fi signals often glide through the walls.