Papajojo

Things to Prepare When Traveling Overseas – Complementary

Posted on 08. Jul, 2009 by James in Living in Japan

On my previous post i’ve talked about mandatory things to prepare when traveling overseas. So how do you like it? But remember, when you traveling overseas especially for a long period of time like me you need to prepare more things to accompany you more than just the mandatory things. Most likely in similar case like me people tends to be bored after few weeks or months.

So basically those complementary things are something that you can play with when you don’t know what to do after doing the daily routines. Or sometimes it’s something that you need before you can find the new one. Usually these are things that related to your hobbies. For me i like gadgets, internet and musics, great combination huh? So before i left my country i prepared the following things.

Laptops – I know Japan is a technology country where you can find broadband internet connection easily and relatively cheap compared to my country. In my apartment, currently i have a 24MBps internet connection for about ¥2,400 per month (i’ll talk about this later). So before i left i bought a Compaq Presario CQ40 for me while few weeks before that i bought a Toshiba Laptop for my wife.

Digital Camera – When you traveling somewhere off course you don’t want to loose any precious moments, me neither. So i bought a Canon Ixus 970 IS (10.0 Megapixels, 5X Optical Zoom, 4X Digital Zoom, SD/MMC Card Slot, 2.5″ LCD Display.)

Mobile Phone – I brought my old phone Palm Treo 750v with me. I thought it supposed to work with the network in Japan since my father in law brought a Nokia phone and he can use it during he stayed in Japan. But unfortunately my Palm Treo didn’t work. I don’t know where the problem was but i suspect it’s because of the SIM Card. My father in law has Telkomsel SIM Card in his phone while i had an Indosat card. So for your information, if you come from Indonesia and you have a 3G phone with Telkomsel SIM Card you can use it in Japan. For other countries you may check with your local operators.

Guitar – Well, this is not for everyone i’m sure. It depends on your hobby and for i like music and i play guitar. I had accoustic and electric guitars but due to the baggage limitation i had to left the electric one. Even for the accoustic guitar i almost left it if only my brother in law didn’t force me to bring it. So thanks to Andy, my brother in law.

Stroller – This one is not for me but my daughter. In Japan if you don’t have car you have to walk everywhere you go before using any public transportation. So if you have a todler i suggest you to have a stroller. My daughter is 2 years old and 16kg. You can imagine if i have to carry her on my hands everywhere we go.

Sepatu Kets (I don’t know it in english) – Since you have to walk a lot i suggest you to bring additional shoes for walk, not the kind of formal shoes. I also brought additional shoes for my wife.

Toys for your kids – This is something that i missed. I didn’t bring any toys for my daughter and as the result i have to buy the new ones which are so expensive here.

Internet Banking - Last but not least, this is something that you probably will need. When i left my country i still have few things that i need to pay like credit card which i still use until now, insurance, etc. So to make me easier to pay them, i prepared an Internet Banking account from one of local bank in my country BCA.

That’s all i have today. I still have many things to share, so come back again later for another story and tips. Have a nice day!

Tags: Travelling, Travelling Tips, Travelling to Japan