While I must say that I have never saw myself as much of a spendthrift, I also never saw myself as a particularly thrifty person. That said, I must admit that a small part of me was almost gleeful when I totaled up our spending from our recent holiday to Tokyo. The Husband and I spent a total of less than $3500 (all dollars refer to SGD unless otherwise stated) on our trip including return flights on Singapore Airlines (as I had said: I don’t think we get to call ourselves extremely thrifty; or maybe it’s just me since the husband can really be quite kiam sometimes), accommodation, food and shopping!!! Admittedly, we didn’t SET OUT trying to spend less than x amount of money, but it worked out as such and I shall try and break down how that was accomplished.

Who, What, When, Where

We all know that things like the season or the number of people in the group can greatly affect the cost of a holiday in any given place, so it probably warrants mentioning. For this trip, the Husband and I were not traveling as a couple. We had actually traveled with another close friend in the final week of June 2019. I understand that June isn’t exactly the most popular time of year for visitors to Tokyo. I suppose there are no cherry blossoms to see this time of year.

Flights

As mentioned earlier, we actually found a pretty decent deal for return tickets from Singapore to Tokyo (Haneda) on Singapore Airlines. Our tickets (including taxes and charges) wound up costing $601.50 per person. Not bad at all considering I even managed to watch three movies on the way to Tokyo including “On the Basis of Sex” which sheds some light on the life of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but more on that another time.

Transportation

So the flight ticket prices were pretty good but we did get into Haneda at 0100, which meant that regular public transport was not an option for us to get to our accommodation. There was an option to take a Late-night/early-morning bus, but for us that involved waiting 40 minutes at the airport, and also because there were three of us, we decided to take a cab instead (another I guess we don’t get to call ourselves thrifty moment). We really don’t get to call ourselves thrifty because cabs in Tokyo are totally NOT CHEAP. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel in Ueno costed 10375JPY, which works out to approximately $130.97 for the three of us.

Since we learnt so early on in our trip that cabs were pretty expensive, we definitely were not getting around by cab all the time (and anyway there really was no need to). We loaded up our Pasmo cards and acquainted ourselves with the vast network of train routes. The only other time we took a cab was when we were out past the public transport operating hours.

Accommodation — Ueno

In this marriage, the Husband always decides on two things– the movies we watch together and the hotels. For this trip, he had decided that we would stay in two different hotels in two different areas in Tokyo, spending three nights in each so we would be able to explore different areas of the City.

As I had alluded to earlier, the first area we stayed in was Ueno. According to Wikipedia, it is best known as the home of Ueno Park. The Park was home to a Zoo, a few museums as well as a performance venue. Strangely, we did not visit any of these places. We did have to walk through the park and then some in order to get to the Train Station(s) from our hotel– Hotel Graphy Nezu.

The boutique hotel is listed as a three-star hotel, but as we had expected (it IS Japan), it was still super comfortable and clean. Only downside if I had to pick one was that it wasn’t THAT close to the nearest train stations. We booked a private room (that could accommodate three), with a private bathroom. There were other options for shared bathrooms. Three nights here set us back $550 in total, or $183.33 per person.

Accommodation — Nakameguro

The second area we stayed in was a residential area called Nakameguro. It was with this choice of accommodation that the Husband damn near ended the marriage by booking us a HOSTEL where we would have to use a shared bathroom (we did have a private bedroom). Please understand that I have nothing against this hostel, hostels in general, or people who run them, or people who stay in them, but this Millennial Wife would just prefer not to be staying in one on this trip.

That said, I must concede that Waves Nakameguro’s location was nothing short of amazing. It was located SO CLOSE to the train station that I could almost look past the shared bathroom. (The bathrooms actually were not bad at all.) However, I think it is important to mention as other reviewers have, this hostel is located on the third floor of a building with no lifts so accessibility might be an issue for some. We spent $481 staying here for three nights.

Aside from being a three minute walk from the Naka-Meguro train station, it also had lots of shops and services close by. We also really enjoyed strolling by Meguro River which was a 5-10 minute walk away. That was actually how we chanced upon the Tokyo Starbucks Reserve.

Big Ticket Items

So the cost of flights and accommodation for the week worked out to $945.17 per person, or $1890.35 for us both.

How we spent the rest of it (and our time)

Honestly, we didn’t go to Disneyland or Mt Fuji, or any other attraction that involved paying an entrance fee. Part of me wished I could say we were so determined to be thrifty that we made this conscious decision, but honestly it was just us being easily distracted walking down a street. The bulk of our money went into paying for amazing (and inexpensive) food. We paid between JPY515 ($6.50) and JPY3516 ($44.40) per meal per person for “proper food”.

There were two spots which were particularly memorable.

Rostro Cafe

We stumbled upon Rostro Cafe on a rainy morning as we were strolling along the river. It promised shelter and a caffeine for my friend, so in we went. We came to learn that Rostro pretty much makes bespoke coffee if you are dining in (they had a menu for take-aways). They ask you questions and then make you a drink based on your answers.

We ended up having a cup of coffee each and a tiny bit of coffee soft serve ice cream, which came up to 2150JPY or approximately S$27.

Uoriki Kaisen Sushi

On the recommendation of a colleague, we visited Uoriki Kaisen Sushi. This place is the reason why the Husband will never allow me to eat sushi anywhere else ever again. Okay, maybe not but essentially this place sells such good sushi for such reasonable prices that your palate and your brain will never agree with each other ever again. Sushi like this anywhere else in the world will probably cost twice as much as what this place charges.

We ordered the sushi platter (at the top of the post), the chirashi-don and the tuna set and the final bill came up to 6286JPY or $79.39 including taxes and all! I will so be back every time I return to Tokyo. Uoriki Kaisen Sushi can be a little difficult to find, as it is located in the basement of the Tokyu Department Store at the Shibuya station. As I was writing this post, I did some googling and found that someone out there clearly felt the same and made a video of how to get there from Hachiko Square.

Overall

While we didn’t have a strict budget for this trip, we had expected a week long holiday in Tokyo to cost us approximately S$4000 for two, all in. Naturally, we were pretty pleased that we managed it for significantly less (S$3357), especially despite all that we ate and shopped.

Have you ever managed to do Tokyo for less? Do let us know because I am sure the kiam Husband would be happy to hear about how that might be possible.

Till next time!