Sunday, June 5, 2016

JAPAN: Preparation Before The Trip

Last month my husband and I decided to travel with our two young children overseas. We listed a few countries and Japan topped our list. We have been to Japan numerous times and we both liked Japan for many reasons. Most importantly, we have to take into consideration that we are now bringing our children Alexander (4) and Alexis (2), and accessibility to amenities and comfort are our priorities.

This time we planned to visit Osaka and Kyoto. We bought plane tickets (www.singaporeair.com) and once our flights are confirmed, we searched for hotels in Osaka and traditional Japanese inn called ryokans in Kyoto (www.booking.com) for our 6D 5N itinerary Osaka - Kyoto - Osaka.

Checklist:
1. Clothing (Mix and match in advance and take a picture after laying them all out on the floor proved easier when dressing up in our travel. The other reason is to ensure we have sufficient clothing as we do not intend to do any laundry in Japan.)

2. Comfortable travel shoes (Sports shoes for the husband, covered shoes for the children and open toes flats for me)

3. Toiletries (We brought our own shampoos, shower gels, facial cleanser etc. The children needed their specially bought toiletries as they have dry skin.)

4. First aid kit which I packed Dettol cream, Zam-Buk, plasters, kids' lip balm and nasal spray)

5. Two packets of Pigeon wet wipes with reusable hard covers. They comes in handy everywhere we go.

6. Everything electronic in a bag (phone chargers, cables, phone batteries etc)

7. Portable wifi router from Changi Recommends (https://www.changirecommends.com/) We pick the router before our departure and return it after our arrival. So convenient and fuss free :)

8. Book rental car for the second leg of our trip. (https://nissan-rentacar.com/english/)

9. Get your International Driving Permit. For more information, please visit (http://www.aas.com.sg/)

10. Our go to bag when we are out and about is a backpack from Thule.  My husband is in charge of the bag. In it, he packed IPADs, GoPro camera and selfie stick, first aid kit, extra clothing for Alexis, a pack of wet wipes, snacks to bribe the children and cardigans for the cold air in the plane.

11. Waist pouch for passports, wallet and handphones. A pen is useful to fill immigration forms.

12. Before leaving the house, don't forget to disconnect the car camera  >_<



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