Tokiyo Trip 10 : Our 8-days Budget Trip to Tokyo, Japan

We managed to spend RM 1,000 per person while we were 8 days in Tokyo, Japan. 

I brought extra of RM 1,000 while AF brought RM 500 for our back-up money in-case there's an emergency. We put aside these money in a secure place before our trip. The plan was to stick to RM 1,000 in a week, just to experiment whether it is possible to survive that long in the so-called "one of the most expensive city".

Note : During our trip, the rate was about RM 1,000 = 27,000 - 28,000 yen. So that means we can use up to 4,000 yen per day while we were there. In our plan, every extra money that we didn't use for the day will be put aside and kept for later.

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Pre-Trip :

The return Airasia flight ticket + insurance + dinner + baggages ( RM 900 per person + ) bought 7 months before the trip and for the accommodation, we rented a studio apartment in the outskirt of the town in Asaka ( RM 440 per person - 7 days 6 nights ), we booked 2 months before the trip. So this happened before of the inflation. Thank God for that.

Why I exclude the return flight ticket and accommodation ?

Because it was already planned, booked and paid many months before the trip. And usually flight tickets and places to live depend entirely on your preferences and several aspects to consider : whether you want insurance or not, extra foods, staying with partners or groups or solo, etc.

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Itinerary

• Day 1 : Arrival late at night - Slept at the Haneda Airport
• Day 2 : Marunouchi, Airbnb Apt. in Asaka
• Day 3 : Shinjuku
• Day 4 : Harajuku, Shibuya 
• Day 5 : Ikebukuro
• Day 6 : Mitaka, Kichijyoji 
• Day 7 : Ueno Zoo, Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo Skytree
• Day 8 : Akihabara, plane back home at night

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Roughly, these were the money spent while we were there :

Train & Subway Rides : Pasmo : 6, 000 yen ( RM 210 +/-) and Metro : 1,500 yen ( RM 53 +/- )
Total : 9,000 yen ( RM 316 +/-) 

Parking for the bicycle : Total : 1, 700 yen ( RM 30 +/- ) 

The Foods : Total : 6,250 yen ( RM 220 +/- per person ) 

Souvenirs : Total : 10,000 yen ( RM 300+/- )
Consists of all Ghibli Studio items, magazines, and stickers :D 

Others : 1,050 yen ( RM 37 +/- )
Like the zoo, the monorail, gatcha-pon, etc.

I wrote down almost all the things that we bought and spent money on. There were some money used for little things that I might forgot to take note. But what I'm sure of is, I managed to spend every yen that I brought for the trip - without touching the back-up money. I remember our last 200 yen was spent on the gatcha-pon at the airport :D 

So, it is possible to survive with 28,000 yen ( RM 1,000 ) in a week in Tokyo :D

It all depends on if you want to stay far from the city or not, share room/dorms with people, eat home-made foods and ready-made onigiris everyday and can stop yourself from buying things that you don't actually need, avoid overpriced tourist attractions.

We spent quite a lot on the travelling part because we stayed in Asaka, Saitama, we also visited some far places from the main city like Kichijyoji, Tokyo Skytree, and the return train tickets to the Haneda Airport. Plus, we decided to rent the whole studio apartment for ourselves, equipped with our own personal bicycle. So yes, if it's on your budget, you might want to stretch some parts here and there for the things that you want to try, yeah :) Plus, the whole shopping spree at Ghibli's was worth it.

Conclusion - per person ( 8 days Trip ) :

Return Flight Ticket = RM 900+
Apartment = RM 440+
Survive in Tokyo = RM 1,000 

Total = Around RM 2,500 +/-

8 days trip in Tokyo felt too short for both of us. We will come again soon. I really want to try the unlimited 14-days JRpass one day, to explore the whole Japan by the bullet-train. Soon sooooon :D

Note : I updated all the links to travel, places and events here.

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Our next trip is on April 2016, 5 days trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.