In Focus: Contactless Smart Cards

These type of smart cards are normally of credit card size and need only to be tapped to readers for transactions. They are now proving to be convenient to carry and are easy to use.  They are often considered as electronic wallets as they can be loaded with funds which can be spent, usually, for transportation.


In Japan, ICOCA (イコカ, Ikoka) is what me and my sister  mostly used  as payment for mass transit around Osaka while PASMO (パスモ, Pasumo) around Tokyo. (top two cards from image above).

EasyCard (悠遊卡) is for Taiwan, EZ-Link is for Singapore, and Octopus (八達通) is for Hong Kong.

Among the last three cards mentioned, the Octopus card is the most versatile as it can be used not just in public transportation (i.e. buses and trains) but also in convenience stores, supermarkets, and in fast food chains.

Tips of the Trade: Getting To Ximending From Taoyuan Airport

Here's an inexpensive way to get to Ximending from Taiwan Airport:

1. As soon as you get to the main hall of the airport, head to the left side where bus ticket counters are.


2. Look for bus ticket counter 6 which is Kuo Kuang's.


3. Inform the staff that you want to buy ticket/s to Taipei Main Station. (Ticket price as of February 2011: NT$125).

4. It takes almost an hour to get to Taipei Main Station. Inside, look for the MRT area and get on the platform of Bannan Line (Blue Line) going to Yongning.


5. A station after Taipei Main Station will be your stop: Ximen.

Tips of the Trade: Getting To Tokyo from Osaka (On A Budget)

Going to Japan is not as expensive as one might think.

For one, affordable airfare can be achieved with Cebu Pacific's promo from time to time. You just have to be keenly watchful to be able to grab those really inexpensive roundtrip tickets to Japan.

If you are like us, who decided to do both Tokyo and Osaka and were fortunate enough to get good deals from Cebu Pacific, what you'll have to concern yourself next is how to get to Tokyo from Osaka.

Since Cebu Pacific's only destination so far is Osaka, my sister and I booked online for an overnight bus ride going to Tokyo through Willer Express. We took the cheapest bus ride per person for JPY4,400 which is approximately PHP2,200. The travel time is around 8 hours and you can choose to be dropped off at Shinjuku, at Tokyo Station, or at Tokyo Disneyland. For our case, we were dropped off from Tokyo Station at around 8:30 in the morning.


Photo taken from here
Although there wasn't much of leg space inside the bus, we were still able to get as much sleep we wanted. There were no available toilet room inside the bus but it made regular toilet stops along the way wherein you can also stretch for a bit or grab some food to eat. It came with a spacious luggage trunk for large suitcases and bags. However, one passenger is limited to one large piece of luggage. The hand carry bags were allowed to be taken inside the bus as there were available overhead racks. The bus company made sure that males were seated on the first half section of the bus while the females were seated on the second half section.

Better service and facilities (i.e. with legrest, blanket, toilets) can be availed if you choose a different bus type. The most expensive one is priced at JPY9,800.

But since we were trying to cut our expenses on transportation as we can, the most standard bus type did it for us. :)