Author: Zooks

読み方は、Zooks（ズークス）。 2017年〜2019年（2年）：タリン大学に通った後、当初の予定通りに修士号を取得。 2018年～2020年（約2年半）：Timbeter勤務。 2021年1月からはエストニアの別の企業に勤めます。 卒業を機に（情報がごちゃまぜになって個人的に嫌なので）以前のサイトから移動しました。 学校に関することはそちらをまずご覧ください。 ご連絡はどちらからでも構いません。

Sightseeing in Rotterdam ver. 2023

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

On the trip to the Netherlands, which was the third time in my life, I went to Rotterdam for the first time!

Since “the Cube House” was the only purpose to go to Rotterdam, I attended a walking tour in Rotterdam like in the one in Belfast.

I was glad to have participated in the walking tour as Rotterdam was fairly small.

Table of Contents

     1. The Cube House
     2. Markthal and the walking tour
          a. Architecture in Rotterdam
          b. Everything is “Erasmus”
          c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam
          d. Weed in the Netherlands
     ★Summary

1. The Cube House

“The Cube House” was something I had wanted to see in Rotterdam.

The cube house

The house literally looked like a chain of dice, and partially it’s a museum.

You can buy Rotterdam souvenirs (like magnets) at a souvenir store in the Cube House.

2. Markthal and the walking tour

The Rotterdam walking tour started at Markthal (market hall).

Markthal has lots of food stands and shops, where you can eat Dutch krokets and chips in addition to other international foods, which I will explain in another article.

Though the meeting point for the walking tour was outside of Markthal.

a. Architecture in Rotterdam

There is lots of architecture in front of Markthal. According to the walking tour guide, people in Rotterdam tend to be fond of naming uniquely. For instance, the architecture in front of Markthal is “pencil”. (You can find this easily as it literally looks like a pencil.)

And Markthal is “pencil sharpener”.

I understood, but Markthal didn’t seem to be as unique as the others in my opinion.

In Rotterdam, there is Rotterdam Laurence church. During WWII, almost the whole city of Rotterdam was burnt, but Rotterdam Laurence church survived. The walking tour guide showed us a picture at that time, and literally Rotterdam Laurence church was left alone.

b. Everything is “Erasmus”

Erasmus is a humanist from the current Netherlands, and at that time people had the name of the birthplace in their name. Therefore, his Latin name is “Erasmus of Rotterdam”.

For this reason, in Rotterdam, everywhere such as a bridge or university has the name of “Erasmus”.







Oi, that’s so random…

c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam

In the area of Rotterdam, where the above architectures can be seen, is a part of a new centre of Rotterdam, and there is an old centre of Rotterdam.

Since I just passed by the border during the walking tour, I didn’t check the map, and I can’t tell you where it was exactly, but in short, the centre of Rotterdam is different now from then.

The tram line was the border according to the walking tour guide.

d. Weed in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, weed is legal, which is why non-Japanese people think I go to the Netherlands for weed when I tell them I will go to the Netherlands. Based on my own judgement and prejudice, travellers who purely want to enjoy sightseeing in the Netherlands are often Japanese. The Europeans go to the Netherlands for weed. (Of course some non-Japanese whose purpose is not weed go to the Netherlands for mushrooms!)

However, it appears to be prohibited to produce weed as only the use of weed is legal in the Netherlands.

Also, it snows in winter in the Netherlands despite the amount not as heavy as Estonia.

Based on this information, the walking tour guide showed us one picture: There were houses, and one of the houses didn’t have snow on the roof partially.

Even if you don’t know a lot about weed, you can guess what it means.

Since weed grows in a warm place, the house got warm, and the snow melted partially on the roof in winter.






So stupid. 😂




★Summary

Are you interested in Rotterdam now?

I was glad to go to Rotterdam, and happily gave the walking tour guide 10 EUR due to my experience in Belfast.

I feel a walking tour can be a new enjoyment on my trips! (However, they don’t conduct walking tours everyday, so the fact that I will go on a trip does not necessarily mean that I will take part in a walking tour.)

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s take a train in the Netherlands!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

It was the third visit to the Netherlands in my life. Accordingly, it was the third time taking trains in the Netherlands. I had visited the Netherlands in 2015 and 2018, and each time I stayed at my friend’s parents’ place in the south of the Netherlands as well as I went to Amsterdam from there by train.

This time was the first time since 2018, namely the first time in 5 years to have visited the Netherlands, therefore my memory on how to take a train in the Netherlands was subtle.

In this article I will talk about my learning in terms of taking trains in the Netherlands.

Table of Contents

     1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands
     2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands
     3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?
     ★Summary

1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands

It is fairly easy to buy train tickets in the Netherlands. The trains in the Netherlands are called “NS”, whose main colour is yellow. I bought a train ticket at the Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam.

You can also buy train tickets on Omio, and yet the prices are not so different, and should a flight be delayed, your ticket might become invalid. For this reason, in my case I bought the train ticket at Schiphol airport to Rotterdam.

At train ticketing machines, you can select in English, so it shouldn’t be so difficult to buy the tickets.

2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands

There are a couple of types of trains in the Netherlands: Intercity, Intercity direct and Sprinter.

Honestly I have no idea how exactly they are different, but be careful when buying train tickets because if your train tickets are wrong, you might be required to pay more money.

Plus, the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy.

3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?

As I wrote “the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy” above, I will explain the reason.

The train ticket I bought at Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam was a train that takes a detour. I bought that train ticket because I had enough time and was not in a hurry.

The ticket for the slow NS train (sample)
Slow NS trains require only one train ticket.

However, when I went to the train platform in Schiphol airport, I was confused with which train was for my ticket. I asked a railway staff member there, and told him I wanted to go to Rotterdam. Then he told me to take “Intercity direct”.

I suspected, but I took the Intercity direct train. Then just before arriving in Rotterdam, a staff member in the train asked me to show my ticket and said “Where is the other ticket?”

“Sorry? I don’t know that…” I said, and he said “Your ticket is for the slower train. This train is faster, and you need to pay 10 EUR.”






The guy in the airport deceived me.




I was so pissed in my mind, and left the train station in Rotterdam.

After all, I spent more money than buying the faster train tickets. I wished I could have screamed at the staff at the Schiphol airport:






Give me money back.




So be careful.

Tickets when taking an intercity direct train (sample)
Intercity direct trains require these two tickets.

★Summary

When going to Amsterdam from Rotterdam, I bought the train tickets for Intercity direct, and took the Intercity direct train.

By the way, I felt the train tickets in the Netherlands are so expensive as it cost 20 EUR for a 30-minute distance (from Rotterdam to Amsterdam). It takes around one hour from Kyoto to Osaka, and it costs only 400 JPY (less than 3 EUR) (if you use Hankyu).

Aitäh! 🙂

Real Horror Story that Happened in Europe.

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Tere!

This time I’m telling you a real horror story. But I recommend you reading it because it will be helpful in your life.

Table of Contents

     1. Unknown transaction in my Estonian bank account
     2. What I did to get my money back
          a. Estonian bank – SEB
          b. Transaction destination – Airbnb
          c. Transaction method – PayPal
     3. The scariest part
     ★Summary

1. Unknown transaction in my Estonian bank account

At the end of March in 2023, it happened while I was travelling in Amsterdam. I was staying at a hostel in Amsterdam, and in the morning on the second day of the Netherlands trip I saw a notification on my phone that “640.36 EUR will be deducted” from the Estonian bank SEB’s app.

I opened the app, and found the transaction destination seemed to be Airbnb where you can book accommodations.

At this point, the transaction was reserved, so what I could see was only the amount and the notes to the transaction destination. Therefore, I was not sure if the transaction destination was really “Airbnb”.

Since I had multiple trip plans already at that time, I wondered if I had already booked any accommodations on Airbnb.

However I booked a hostel on Booking.com for the trip to Vienna, and hadn’t decided where to stay when it came to the trip to Georgia. Checking my Airbnb account, there was no history or plan except the one in Dublin in MArch 2023.

Shit, someone used my money.

I immediately thought so and took the following actions:

  • Blocking the SEB card
  • Contacting Airbnb
  • Contacting SEB

でした。

2. What I did to get my money back

Then, let’s take a look at what each company did to/for me.

a. Estonian bank – SEB

As I was immediately able to block my SEB card on the SEB app, there was no further problem.

On calling SEB, the teller told me the possibility of cancelling the transaction, but it turned out that it was possible to do that only from a computer, not from a phone. I tried to use a browser on the phone, but it didn’t work. It sucked that I needed a computer. (Since I was travelling, of course I didn’t have my laptop. After all, I asked one of my friends who I trust a lot.)

However, I found that it would take up to 10 days to see the result since we submitted the application. Thus, the money was deducted in four days after I noticed this maltransaction.

What was worse, another SEB teller clarified that they were not able to cancel the transaction in which an SEB card was physically used. (So if you pay by card at a store, they can’t cancel your transaction.)

At this point almost everything was hopeless.

b. Transaction destination – Airbnb

I also contacted Airbnb.

Honestly, they were the worst.

In addition to the information from the communication with PayPal, which I am writing below, I sent additional information to Airbnb. However, regardless of the situation that

  • My card was used by someone.
  • I had had my own card.
  • I did not share my card with anyone.
  • Someone added my card information to their PayPal account.
  • I couldn’t get this person’s information from PayPay due to privacy reasons.
  • They (Airbnb and PayPal) can share their customer information as they are related companies.

Airbnb just said

“We cannot refund you as we don’t know the original information.”

That’s why I told you to contact PayPal.

c. Transaction method – PayPal

The best company among these three that I contacted was PayPal. (Now I trust them more than before.)

Explaining the situation, they immediately understood, and called me to solve the problem as soon as possible.

Then, as written above, they found the fact that someone stole my SEB card information, and added it to their PayPal account. (When I had a call with PayPal, I had already removed my SEB card information from my PayPal account, it was crystal-clear that the SEB card that they found on the PayPal database belonged to someone else.) They immediately removed my SEB card information from that person, and escalated my case to the payment team.

From that point everything went so fast. One weekend, PayPal emailed me about the escalation, and next Monday I already received another email that PayPal was dealing with the refund to me. Then the next day I got my money back.

As the problem happened at the end of March, I had never looked forward to receiving my salary before.

The best thing was PayPal solved my problem within one week. I was so relieved.

3. The scariest part

Now, let me talk about the scariest part.

I asked PayPal why this kind of weird thing happened, why there was a transaction although my card had never been stolen and shared, how I can prevent my funds from such an event. They said

“Since the technology has been well-developed, even if you just walk with your card on a street, someone scans your card or phone, so it is impossible to prevent it.”

That’s just horror.

PayPal suggested that I report my case to a local police so I did it to the Estonian police. You can report crimes online (PPA’s website), and attach some images if there are, though you will need to log in with your Estonian ID.

As for Airbnb, from my experience, it is normal to contact a related company about customers, but they didn’t do it and even try it.The reason why I was so sure that Airbnb had my money was because of the comparison of my own transaction history on the SEB app and the fake transaction. Everything written on both transactions was the same.

★Summary

Let’s get back to our original life and live with cash.

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s Check Expenses on (Norhtern) Ireland Trip 2023!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

In March, 2023, I went to Ireland again! It was my third time going there with my current passport, and the fourth time in my life!

I actually wanted to go there in June, but owing to the changed tax in the Tallinn airport, Ryanair, a European LCC, cancelled all the flights and has stopped the operations to seven cities from Tallinn as of the end of March, 2023. Hence, I had to change my flight schedules.

This time I had travelled there for eight days – spending the first day and the last three days in Dublin and four days in Northern Ireland based in Belfast –. Northern Ireland is in the Irish island whilst the currency is British Sterling Pounds (GBP) as it’s a part of the UK. I wanted to use GBP in cash so I withdrew 100 GBP in cash, and used my Estonian bank card (EUR) simultaneously.

The budget of this whole trip was surprisingly 1,800 EUR. This was because I wanted to drive a car in Ireland, and yet since I changed my trip plan, I couldn’t get an Estonian driving licence by then. The 100 GBP withdrawn is part of this budget.

Let’s see the total expenses.

Destination

Dublin/NI

Budget (total)

1800

Transport

Flight

€97.05

Public

€41.04

Accommodation

€631.65

Food

€129.57

Leisure

Sightseeing

€61.72

Souvenirs

For myself

€54.20

Souvenirs

For others

€32.00

Insurance

€20.00

Others

€125.39

Sum

€1,192.62

As you can see above, I eventually used two-thirds of the entire budget… I travelled there by myself this time, and I could save some money because I could book flights, accommodations and museums anytime. Probably therefore, I could save some money even though I changed the travel plan in February, happening in March so suddenly.

Also, both in Belfast and Dublin, I didn’t use the public transport that much, and I walked a lot, due to which the average number of steps per day was 14,000 or something. What is more, in Belfast, tickets for doubledeckers called Metro were valid for 45 minutes, so (I don’t know if it’s really allowed but) I used one ticket to change the Metro.

As for the withdrawn 100 GBP, the details are below.

Transport

Public

3.9

Food

62.78

Leisure

Sightseeing

2

Souvenirs

For others

3

Others

10

Sum

£81.68

Around 20 GBP were left here as well. I don’t know when I will go to Northern Ireland or the UK per se, but I want to go to Northern Ireland and Scotland which I have visited before again, and want to visit Wales too, so it wouldn’t be too bad to hold some GBP.

Concerning the travel insurance, I bought a policy on ACS called Globe Traveller, which includes European countries including the UK for 15 days that include both trips to Ireland/the UK and the Netherlands because in Estonia we have to take at least one more than 14-day holiday per (calendar) year. Therefore, I divided the whole policy price into two: 20 EUR for the Ireland trip and 10 EUR for the Netherlands trip just for myself (my calculation). That’s why you can see 20 EUR there.

Also, as of March 2023, I didn’t make the whole holiday plan yet, I could use the leftover of 600 EUR for unplanned trips.

I didn’t mean to save money, but I didn’t buy that many souvenirs, and sometimes I cooked at the accommodations, buying foods at supermarkets for breakfast or dinner. However, if you eat out more often and purchase more souvenirs or more expensive souvenirs, then you might need more than what I spent.

Lastly, I felt the price in Belfast was cheaper than Dublin.

Aitäh! 🙂

5 Foods You Can Eat in Northern Ireland

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

“Northern Ireland is a part of the UK, Northern Ireland is part of Republic Ireland, so there are not many differences.”

Have you ever thought like this?

Then, have you searched about food culture in Northern Ireland before? It is indeed variant.

Surely, there are no big differences, but even slight differences are still differences, and its trivialness makes it unique in the culture.

This time I will talk about Northern Irish cuisine which is not so well-known.

Table of Contents

     1. Fifteens
     2. Champ
     3. Soda bread
     4. Potato farl
     5. Ulster fry
     ★Summary

1. Fifteens

First of all, let’s talk about “fifteens”! This is a kind of sweet in Northern Ireland.

It’s called “fifteens” because almost each ingredient needs 15 stuff.

How simple. 😂

“almost each ingredient needs 15 stuff” means that it requires 15 marshmallows, 15 glacé cherries in addition to 15 digestive biscuits. Additionally, you need a bit more extra ingredients to make fifteens. You can find fifteens’ recipes online very easily like BBC’s webpage.

I want to try to make fifteens some day, so once I make them, I will upload a picture of them on my social media channels and this blog. (I’m not sure if I can obtain cherry stuff in Estonia…)

2. Champ

Secondly “champ” is Northern Irish mashed potatoes.

It’s different from ordinary mashed potatoes because champ contains green onions.

It is good (although I’m usually not a big fan of mashed potato because I don’t have to chew a lot).

It’s not actually clearly visible because of gravy sauce.

On the day tour in Northern Ireland by Viator which I participated in, you will have an opportunity to have some lunch in a town called Ballintoy, where you can have champ. The restaurant’s name is “The Fullerton Arms”.

3. Soda bread

Soda bread can be an implication of Ireland. In fact people in the Republic of Ireland also eat soda bread.

The recipe is fairly easy, and the ingredients are simple too, but often the recipes require buttermilk.

Is it butter or milk.

That’s what I often want to say. (I know it is a product called “buttermilk”.)

In Estonia, it is hard to find unflavoured buttermilk. It is called “hapendatud piimatood” or “petipiim” in Estonian. Luckily, recently I found Lidl discounted unflavoured buttermilk, so I will try to make soda bread.

Also, usually bread making needs yeast, and yet soda bread needs baking soda instead of yeast. No egg is necessary either. (Some recipes still require eggs though.)

It’s quite dry bread, but I personally like its simplicity. It matches butter well.

4. Potato farl

Farl is a flat bread. I saw not only potato farl but also soda farl (which seems to be a bit different from soda bread) at a supermarket in Belfast. I bought soda farls and tried them, and it actually tasted good.

Technically, potato farls per se aren’t Northern Irish particular food, but it is often served in Ulster fry in Northern Ireland.

5. Ulster fry

When going to the UK, many of you might have English breakfast.

But English breakfast isn’t everything!

Both Irish breakfast in the Republic of Ireland and Scottish breakfast in Scotland are slightly different. As they are different, the breakfast in Northern Ireland called “Ulster fry” is also different.

Then, how different are they?

The basic components in each type of breakfast is often

  • bacons
  • sausages
  • fried eggs
  • mushrooms
  • tomatoes
  • tomato-flavoured beans

(The portion and some other details can be changed, depending on the restaurant or who serves it to you.)

I made a table to compare each type of breakfast except for English breakfast.

Irish breakfast

Scottish breakfast

Ulster fry

  • Black puddingWhite pudding
  • Only black pudding
  • Only black pudding
  • Sometimes hash browns
  • Square sausagesSometimes haggis
  • Regular toasts are common
  • Scottish breakfast rolls
  • Soda breadPotato farl

Now you see the differences, don’t you!?

I had ulster fry at a restaurant called Bright’s Restaurant in Belfast.

In the picture, the one under the fried egg is a potato farl, and the one under the bacon is soda.

It is tasty, and it makes you full, but it’s still greasy, so if you can’t handle oil well, you might want to choose a small size.

When it comes to the regions in the UK, I haven’t been to Wales yet, so I’m curious about their food culture. I wonder if they have “Welsh breakfast”.

★Summary

There are not many, but you might have thought surprisingly there were, yeah?

Actually, there are a bit more, but since I didn’t get them, I didn’t include them in this article.

The potato farl was pretty good, so I want to eat it again.

If you have any plans to visit Northern Ireland, try Ulster fry!

By the way, it might be hard to get to Northern Ireland from Estonia nowadays due to no flight operation to Dublin by Ryanair anymore.

Aitäh! 🙂

3 Things You Can See/Go to in Northern Ireland

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Though I saw lots of tourists from all over the world, I didn’t see anyone who seemed to be from Japan. (I believe there are some, but I didn’t really see anyone who might be Japanese.)

Then, what could we do in Belfast which might not be so fascinating for the Japanese people?

Table of Contents

     1. Belfast walking tour
     2. Belfast castle
     3. Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast
     ★Summary

1. Belfast walking tour

Belfast is cosmopolitan (at least for me) but quite compact. It might be suitable for shopping, but I wondered about sightseeing in Belfast. Famous sightseeing places seemed to be outside of Belfast.

However, there is still famous stuff in Belfast, so in terms of Belfast city sightseeing, I took part in the Belfast walking tour.

Booking is required, but the walking tour per se is free. Since this sort of walking tour wants some tips, at the end of the walking tour, it’s polite to give some tips. In my case, I had no idea how much I should give, so I gave the guide 2 GBP which was the biggest amount of cash I had. I wanted to give him 5~10 GBP, but I didn’t want to ask him to give me the change because it sounds weird, and the notes I had were 20 GBP or something. (Sorry, Mr. guide.)

Before participating in this walking tour in Belfast, I wanted to go to the loo in the accommodation I stayed at, but since girls occupied there, I headed to the meeting point of the walking tour, and asked the guide where the public loo was. He told me there were loos in Belfast city hall. It was free.

The Belfast walking tour started in front of Belfast city hall. We sometimes stopped, and listened to the guide’s talk. His historical or political talks were interesting. The guide lived somewhere else temporarily, but other than that, he has lived in Belfast all in his life. He had some experience in guiding in Belfast, so he was reliable.

The Belfast walking tour ended at the salmon statue.

The guide also recommended a few nice pubs in Belfast. (I didn’t go to any of them as the next day was St. Patrick’s Day, and in all the pubs there would be a crowd.)

The walking tour took two hours. I would recommend you to wear some trainers that you are used to so you can prevent yourself from injuries with your shoes. Luckily, when I attended the walking tour, it wasn’t even showering.

2. Belfast castle

In the afternoon of the day I joined the walking tour in Belfast, I went to the Belfast castle, too. You can take only one double-decker called Metro from the Belfast city centre to the Belfast castle.

Once you arrive at the nearest bus stop to the Belfast castle, you need to walk to the Belfast castle. The Belfast castle is situated in the middle of a mountain (or just a steep hill), and at some point it’s sharply inclined. Also, after the shower or rain, the ground is pretty slippery so be careful. You need to climb the mountain quite a lot.

The admission is free to the Belfast castle. If it’s sunny, the coastal side that you can see from the Belfast castle is spectacular. If it’s not a cold season, then you might see some flowers in the garden at the Belfast castle.

However, the inside of the Belfast castle was a bit creepy. Perhaps it was because of the silence there. I didn’t check any rooms in the Belfast castle. I also didn’t see many tourists there.

When going back to the Belfast city centre from the BElfast castle, you should probably have enough time, particularly in the afternoon on a weekday, after 3 pm.

It seems schools in Belfast finish then, so the pink doubledeckers as Metro appeared to be used as school buses. I saw a number of buses from the city centre, but the bus to the city centre was delayed a lot.

However, I patiently waited, and could get on one. Therefore, it’s better to avoid putting any plans with specific time after visiting the Belfast castle.

3. Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast

What is more about Belfast, I went to Crumlin Road Gaol. This gaol was used in real life in the past. I purchased a ticket online in advance, and it cost 13 GBP. I went there in the morning. I felt the Crumlin Road Gaol was far from the Belfast city centre as Belfast per se is really compact, but it takes only around 20 minutes by walk from the city centre to the Crumlin ROad Gaol while I took buses on the way to the Gaol.

This kind of gaol has realistic creepiness. Since I’m chicken though I’m interested in such places, I walked very slowly, and sometimes followed other visitors. 😂 There are two points where there are automatic announcements, detecting human visits: one is inside of the gaol, and the other one is outside of the gaol. The system suddenly starts announcing, so the elderly woman in front of me said her heart would have stopped. Besides, that lady was affected twice. It’s not good for elderly people. 😂

The Crumlin Road Gaol used to keep women and children as well, and there are explanations on it and dolls too. You can see the hanging room as well.

The Crumlin Road Gaol also has a restaurant, and you can have lunch or dinner at the restaurant where you might slightly feel the gaol. (The menu isn’t like a gaol menu. You don’t really feel the gaol in the restaurant unless you pay attention to the atmosphere there.)

★Summary

Usually I go and see sightseeing places by myself, so I took part in the walking tour for the first time in my life, which was the right decision. If you can have a fun or experienced guide, you can listen to fruitful stories from them.

As for the Crumlin Road Gaol, I had to be brave as I’m chicken, but I’m satisfied that I could go there. (And I still like this kind of creepy place…) It seems they have events at the gaol from time to time like on Halloween, but that’s too much for me.. That’s too scary…

Aitäh! 🙂

3 Must-Sees in Northern Ireland

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Though I had been to Northern Ireland once before the trip in March, 2023, I just dropped in a county called Enniskillen which has the border with the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, I had never done any sightseeing in Northern Ireland before. Also, I wanted to visit some filming locations of “Game of Thrones”.

Reference

The places I wanted to visit most were typically Giant’s Causeway as well as the Dark Hedges which is one of the filming locations of “GOT”. Since I love abandoned castles, I hoped to see the Dunluce castle if possible. However, if I tried to go to all those places by myself even though there are only three, it seemed to take one day.

In addition, I didn’t have a valid driving licence in Europe at that time. (I have a driving licence in Japan, and yet due to the fact that I have lived in Estonia for more than one year, I was not eligible to apply for the international driving licence. Hence I went to a driving school in Estonia.) As I was not legally able to drive a car, public transports were the only option for me to travel. However, given that I wanted to take buses, I had to consider the bus routes, theri frequencies, and their time.

I wondered what to do, and suddenly I thought “Maybe I can go somewhere else on a day trip?” Then I googled and found a tour in Northern Ireland on the website called Viator.

The tour started in Belfast and took approximately nine hours, going to major sightseeing places in Northern Ireland. Looking at the itinerary of the tour, all the places I wanted to see were included.

Therefore, in this article, I will talk about the tour and the points on this tour!

Table of Contents

     1. Viator’s tour in Northern Ireland
     2. Sightseeing places in Northern Ireland
          a. The Dark Hedges
          b. Carrick-A-Rede bridge
          c. Giant’s Causeway
          d. Dunluce castle
     3. Food & beverages, toilets and the internet on the Northern Ireland tour
     ★Summary

1. Viator’s tour in Northern Ireland

Viator has multiple options for the tours in Northern Ireland, and I chose the one with which I could go to major sightseeing places including my wishes in Northern Ireland.

It cost around 40 EUR, which was not too bad.

2. Sightseeing places in Northern Ireland

On Viator’s tour I attended, we went to several sightseeing places, but here I selected a few places I wanted to go before this trip!

a. The Dark Hedges

The Dark Hedges is the filming location for “GOT”. If you google this place, it looks creepy, but it wasn’t when I went there probably because we went there at noon.

But I’m glad that I could go there, and I want to see the Dark Hedges in a dark time!

b. Carrick-A-Rede bridge

This bridge is the one this tour has its picture, but

we couldn’t go close to there.

We just saw it from far away.

This is because, according to the tour guide, you can cross the bridge only on a private tour.

I was a bit disappointed, and yet if the tour had included this option, the tour price would have been more than 40 EUR, and the tour couldn’t have finished in a day.

I want to go there on a private tour some day!

I’m pretty sure I would be a chicken there, but I want to try to cross that bridge!!

c. Giant’s Causeway

When it comes to Northern Ireland, Giant’s Causeway might be the first thing you might imagine!

It’s very famous, and a typical sightseeing place in Northern Ireland, but I had wanted to visit there for a long time! The admission fee was included in the tour fee. You can walk around there by yourself, or you can walk while listening to the guide’s talks. (The guide fee is also inclusive.) I walked with the guide. He talked about geology, anecdotes and his experience-based stories concerning Giant’s Causeway. (Since it’s located in the coastal area, and sometimes it’s very rainy and/or windy, you can borrow a headset to listen to the guide’s talk.)

Giant’s Causeway was much vaster than I thought, so I didn’t have enough time to walk everywhere. I want to go there again!

When it’s rainy, the ground is quite muddy and slippery, so it’s better to wear anti-slippery shoes which can be dirty.

d. Dunluce castle

The Dubluce castle is an abandoned castle. I love abandoned castles so much for some reason.

However, we couldn’t go that close to the Dunluce castle.

The coach stopped at the official view point where you can see the Dunluce castle. It was slightly disappointing. The coach stopped there for only 10 to 15 minutes as we just saw it from the view point.

But I could see the castle at that time, though it’s blurry and hard to see in the picture, so I’m satisfied.

On the contrary, I still want to see it more closely, so I need to try again.

3. Food & beverages, toilets and the internet on the Northern Ireland tour

This tour does not include food or beverages. It might be a good idea to bring at least a bottle of water, and yet for some people who participate in this tour might need more in summer. However, at some points on this tour, you can buy something at a store. Depending on the place, there was a convenience store called SPAR.

We spent lunch time at a restaurant in a town named Ballintoy, and they had a coach menu. (This is probably due to avoiding the congestion at the restaurant.) The coach menu had an option with which you can eat champ, Northern Irish mashed potato. I will talk about this in a different article. During lunch time, you can spend time at the restaurant, or you can stroll around there. It’s not mandatory to have lunch at the restaurant, so if you want to save money, or you are not so hungry, then you don’t need to book dishes on the tour. (The tour guide understands this so no need to worry about saying no thank you.)

In terms of toilets, I felt I could go to bathrooms at almost every sightseeing place. I didn’t have to wait patiently for peeing. 😂 However, if you arrive at a place where you have an opportunity to go to the loo, it’s probably better to go. Plus, after leaving Giant’s Causeway, you can’t get any chance to go to the loo until you arrive in Belfast. I recommend going to the loo in Giant’s Causeway as the distance is quite long to Belfast.

What is more, surprisingly, the coach didn’t have any internet access or changing ports. However, it’s understandable in a way because some buses or coaches have either or both of them whilst others don’t in any countries (even in Estonia). It wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring a phone cable to charge though. I was also fine without the internet on the coach since I could use giffgaff’s internet up to 15 GB.

★Summary

Whenever I travel somewhere I have never been, I’m like “I want to go to this place and that place.” Then after visiting them, I feel “I want to see it in a different version, or in a different season”. Then I go there again. That’s why I go to the same places repeatedly.

Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t feel I wanted to go to Northern Ireland again as I would be satisfied, but in fact I want to go there again…

As for the tour, I would recommend it if you wish to see lots of places in Northern Ireland during a short period.

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s Buy British SIM Card in UK (Northern Ireland)

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Before going to Northern Ireland, I had been to Scotland in terms of the UK trip, and it was before Brexit as well as in 2019. I have used a SIM card from Telia’s brand called Super since I came to Estonia. As of 2019, as Super’s services were different from recent days, I used Super’s SIM card in Scotland as well.

However, this time the situation was different. Brexit has been done, and the UK is excluded from the roaming package offered by Super because it’s valid in the EU.

Asking Super’s support, the only reasonable way to use the internet in the UK was to use a British SIM card. Otherwise roaming on the Super’s SIM card is very expensive.

Then I googled British SIM card brands/providers, and found that in the UK having a contract with the provider is pretty common unlike Estonia. However, a few of the providers sell SIM cards without any contracts, and I decided to buy a SIM card from either LEBARA or giffgaff.

Table of Contents

     1. Where did I buy a SIM card in Belfast?
     2. After inserting a SIM card
     3. The provider I chose
     ★Summary

1. Where did I buy a SIM card in Belfast?

I went to Belfast from Dublin by coach, and arrived at the coach station in Belfast. The Belfast coach station is located in the centre of Belfast, and there is a convenience store called WHSmith. (This convenience store is kind of hidden so it’s a good idea to ask the exact location at the coach station info centre.)

I searched stores where they might have SIM cards in advance, but it seemed some of them didn’t have SIM cards, and unfortunately WHSmith in the Belfast coach station didn’t have SIM cards. (In Estonia, you can buy SIM cards basically at any R kiosk. Also it was surprising that the convenience store in the coach station didn’t have SIM cards.)

The manager of that convenience store asked one of the security guys (?) to guide me to the device accessory store where I could buy SIM cards. This device store can be found after the doors near the ATM in the coach station. A guy who seemed to be from India or somewhere runs this store.

I asked this Indian guy for a SIM card, and he just showed me only a part of the shelf where he had lots of SIM card options. Later I found LEBARA and giffgaff’s SIM cards on the opposite side of the shelf, and got giffgaff’s one.

Asking how much it cost, he just told me to bring it to the pharmacy next to the device accessory store. I went to the pharmacy, but the clerks said “Sorry, you can’t topup that provider here. You need to go to Tesco.” Then I went to Tesco outside of the coach station, and the Tesco clerk explained everything to me nicely.

I didn’t pay for a SIM card, which appears to be okay in the UK, and yet I am not quite sure about this as this Indian guy didn’t handle my request properly.

2. After inserting a SIM card

After inserting the SIM card, I couldn’t connect to the internet, so I asked the Indian guy at the device accessory store where I got the SIM card, but he was just showing me a fake smile, talking on the phone. However, when some other customers came to the store, he handled their requests. I told him “The SIM card doesn’t work. There is no internet.” Then he said “I’m talking to my boss 😊”, showing me a fake smile. He still handled other customers’ requests while he was talking on the phone.

After waiting for him for one hour, I turned off my phone, and connected the internet, solving the problem on my own. Then I said “I solved the problem by myself” to him.

I felt so annoyed and disgusted because those who were nice to me were all the whites. The Indian guy at the device accessory store properly talked to only the white customers. This is the fact that “the minority bullies the other minority”.

The beginning of the trip in Northern Ireland was awful.

3. The provider I chose

I topped up giffgaff’s SIM, paying 10 GBP. I think I got 15 GB for 10 GBP. If I remember correctly, given that you top up more than 10 GBP for the giffgaff’s SIM, you can use roaming up to 5 GB in the EU for free, so I used giffgaff’s SIM until I got home in Estonia.

I cannot recommend giffgaff as I’m not an expert in terms of British SIM cards or internet providers, but this service was pretty good, I think.

In Estonia, you can buy a SIM card for 1 EUR, and I buy 1 GB for 3 EUR, so I felt 10 GBP was expensive in the beginning, and yet with 15 GB, actually giffgaff is cheaper. Since I’m outside quite often while travelling, I was happy to have giffgaff’s SIM with 15 GB for 10 GBP, which I didn’t have to pay attention to the amount I could use.

★Summary

To use giffgaff’s service I needed to create their account, but as it was a top-up SIM card, I still keep their SIM card even now. Also, I want to go to Northern Ireland again, and want to visit Wales some day, so it would be useful anyway.

One thing I learnt this time was I should bring a paper clip next time when I need to change the SIM card because I had only earrings that hang on the holes in the ears, not those need to catch from the back, and the ones that hang on the holes in the ears are too weak to open the SIM card port. You still need a bit more power if you use a paperclip to open the phone SIM card port, but you can break paper clips, and they can open it. In order not to forget the paper clips, I store them with the SIM in a bag now.

Aitäh! 🙂

Expenses on Trip to Japan 2022

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

I finally summed up the expenses on the trip to Japan in 2022! Since Estonia and Japan surely use different currencies, some are calculated in EUR, others are in JPY.

There are 11 items.

Quite a lot!

To use this article as a reference for my next trip to Japan, I categorised them.

Table of Contents

     1. Flight tickets
     2. Transports
     3. Food and drinks
     4. Cosmetics
     5. Socialisation
     6. Amusement park tickets
     7. Accommodation
     8. Souvenirs to myself
     9. Souvenirs from Estonia
     10. Souvenirs from Japan
     11. Others
     ★Total expenses

1. Flight tickets

Let’s begin with the flight tickets!

Without them, we can’t start our trip to Japan!

I booked the flight tickets on Finnair for September and October, which had one transit and cost more than 700 EUR. Then I booked the flight tickets on JAL for the same travel period, which had two transits and cost around 680 EUR. Due to the timing of JAL’s cancellation, the flight tickets that I booked on Lufthansa were for November and December, which cost 851.40 EUR.

It was expensive, but acceptable.

All flights above were from Tallinn to Kansai airport.

2. Transports

Then I’m going to talk about the transport fees.

The coach from Tanabe to Namba Osaka cost 2,900 JPY. Since I bought a ticket for only one way, it should have been more expensive than one one-way ticket of the round-trip tickets.

Plus, I spend 9,925 JPY for other transports in Kansai.

On my trip, the trip starts from the day when I leave home until the day when I come home, so all the expenses during such a time are included in the trip expenses. Therefore, the taxi fees to and from the airport – 15.10 EUR – is also the transport fee here.

3. Food and drinks

This is about the food and drinks. I don’t included the expenses for lunches and dinners I had with my friends in Japan. They are socialisation expenses. In this item, the contents are snacks and sweets I bought for myself, and food and drink just for myself (wherever I had such as convenience stores, supermarkets, cafes, etc).

This cost 25,536 JPY. Before I left Tallinn, I was too hungry at the Tallinn airport, so the hotdog I had there was 3 EUR.

I think I could save more money if I stayed in a monthly flat in Japan.

4. Cosmetics

I spent a lot of money on them. Lol

I used 26,373 JPY for makeup cosmetics. lol

The total cost for the perfumes I bought was 11,731. Since I bought 8 bottles, it makes sense… (but I think this information isn’t so useful lol)

I spent 8,5151 JPY for basic cosmetics.

However, at some point I was too lazy to categorise everything, so I believe I spent more.

In addition, I purchased contacts for 90 days in Japan as they were slightly cheaper, which cost 5,596 JPY. (I bought them on Amazon.)

5. Socialisation

For the budget on socialisation, considering what to do in Japan, I made a plan to spend 4,000 JPY per meeting. I calculated separately when I needed tickets.

I used 30,639 JPY in total.

6. Amusement park tickets

As for the tickets at amusement parks, I spend 6,720 JPY which was cheaper than usual (by using the COVID travel campaign), Soraniwa onsesn cost 3,154 JPY (including the ice cream I had there), 3,500 JPY for buckwheat noodle making class, 1,600 JPY for illuminations, 1,440 JPY for atoa (aquarium) by using the discount.

7. Accommodation

On this trip to Japan in 2022, after staying at my parents’ place, I changed the hotel rooms. For this, I budgeted 70,000 JPY in total.

However, actually the total expense for the accommodations was 66,691. (Besides, I booked all of them on Booking.com, so sometimes I got 10% discounts and the total expense was below the budget!)

However, I still do prefer a monthly flat next time.

8. Souvenirs to myself

As for the souvenirs for myself, I used 68,091 JPY since I bought sloop-ons, a wallet, stationeries, Japanese foods, etc.

Strictly speaking, the cosmetics are for myself too, so I REALLY spent a lot for myself…

9. Souvenirs from Estonia

Regarding the souvenirs from Estonia to Japan, I bought sweets, bread and soaps. My selection was almost the same as what I bought for the trip in 2019. The difference I would say is that I chose the different band for the soaps or different tastes/flavours of chocolate.

The total expense was 56.16 EUR. (Is it too few?)

10. Souvenirs from Japan

There are no big differences between the souvenirs from Japan and those from Estonia. I spent 8,465 JPY.

11. Others

Let’s talk about miscellaneous stuff. As I have a chinchilla, I duplicated two sets of keys for my friends who took care of him while I was away. It cost 32 EUR.

Plus, I bought insurance for 33 EUR which helped me with the accident in the beginning of the trip.

What is more, what I needed while travelling in Japan was the internet. In my case, I had rented the mobile Wifi for one month, which cost 5,380 JPY.

Last but not least, I spent 9,215 JPY for the use of the internet cafe, watching and drying, renewal of the driving licence, etc.

★Total expenses

ItemsJPYEUR
Flight tickets851.40
Transports12,82515.10
Food and drinks25,5363
Cosmetics53,924
Socialisation30,639
Amusement parks16,414
Accommodation66,691
Souvenirs for myself68,091
Souvenirs from Estonia56.16
Souvenirs from Japan8,465
Others20,38068.56
Sum302,965994.22

To sum up all of these, I spent approximately 300,000 JPY in addition to 990 EUR. When calculating the total cost with the rate that 1 EUR equals to 140 JPY, it is around 440,000 JPY.

I’m not sure if this was a low or high cost anymore…

However, I am pretty sure that I spent lots of money on the makeup cosmetics, so next time I believe I can save more (or I don’t have to spend that much). But if I eat out more often, the total expense will perhaps be the same.

Maybe this is a normal value.

By the way, the daily cost is around 15,700 JPY. It sounds like one stay in a posh hotel.

Aitäh! 🙂

Accident with Scooter in Japan, Travel Insurance

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

When I visited Japan in 2022, I just wanted to be able to ride on a scooter. A Japanese scooter looks like a moped in Europe. If we have a car driving licence, we can ride on a scooter. I have had a driving licence since the end of 2016, but I had never driven a car or a scooter in Japan. My brother had both a motorcycle and a scooter, so I decided to practise riding scooter in the home garden.

Table of Contents

     1. Why the accident occurred
     2. Physical injuries
     3. Insurance
     4. Reimbursement
     ★Summary

1. Why the accident occurred

My brother taught me how to use the accel, brake, indicators, and so on beforehand. My mum told me not to rotate the handle too much.

I followed what they told me.

I wore a helmet, and rotated the handle a little.

Then it just ran very fast and I collided into the bushes in the garden.

I tried again. Then I collided with a small tree in the garden.

I gave it up.

I thought if I could ride on a scooter, I would be able to go to a shop in the town from my home village, but I gave it up.

Driving a car with manual transmission is much safer.

Anyway, this is how the accident occurred.

2. Physical injuries

After colliding into the tree, I found that my trousers were damaged, and then found a huge hole in the trousers.Those trousers were my favourite and they were not so old.

However, there were two worse damages. Damages to my body.

One of them was a scratch. Though it was just a scratch, the size of the scratch was big, and it was on my knee. It wasn’t bleeding that much, and bleeding stopped very quickly since I have a lot of haemoglobin (according to a doctor who I met when I had my company’s health check in Estonia).

I disinfected the left knee. Also as there was no big plaster at home, I covered the scratch with a cotton soaked with disinfection liquid. Then I covered the cotton piece with a piece of gauze, and taped them.

The other injury occurred to my left front tooth. After colliding into the tree, I felt like the tooth had been rocking. There was no pain, but I felt something. It wasn’t bleeding either.

My mum was working at that time, but she took a short leave, and took me to dental and oral surgery in Tanabe, Wakayama, Japan.

I explained what happened as well as the fact that I live in Estonia.

They did an X-ray check first, and observed all of my teeth. After that, the dentist with a certificate of oral surgery checked the injured tooth.

He said that my jaw has no problem, the root of the injured tooth has no problem, and the tooth wasn’t dislocated either. There is just a contusion. In the future, the nerve around the injured tooth might necrosis, however, this is treatable according to him. Even outside of Japan, the machines that they need to use to treat the necrosis are the same as ones in Japan, so he told me I don’t need to be worried about that.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the necrosis, I need to avoid using the front teeth when chewing, and he prescribed me two medicines: painkillers and antibiotic tablets for three days. The dentist recommended that I not use the front teeth for at least one week.

I was very fortunate that I didn’t get serious injuries.

3. Insurance

Then, you may want to know the price for seeing a dentist and getting a prescription. Let’s talk about that.

I bought travel insurance on Globe Partner. According to their policy, in my case, there are two types of coverages in terms of dental treatment. Before seeing the dentist, I checked this point.

The first type was “Emergency dental treatment”. This includes treatment for decayed teeth and wisdom teeth. Therefore it was not applicable in my case.

The other type was “Dental treatment following an accident”. This covers 100% and up to 600 EUR. I thought this should work.

Then, when I went to the dentist, I asked them to provide me with as many materials and proofs as possible because this sort of insurance asks for lots of documents.

In my case, since the dental and oral surgery clinic sold medicines too, I got a receipt of treatment as well as the prescription document with prices and other details.

To be honest, as I paid the treatment fee at the clinic, I kind of already wanted to give up asking for the reimbursement to the insurance company because it cost only around 7640 JPY (approximately 53 EUR at the rate then). I mean, it’s still a lot, but less than I expected, which was 20,000 JPY (approximately 138 EUR at the rate then).

4. Reimbursement

Since I had travel insurance on Globe Partner, I sent necessary documents to them by email after coming back to Estonia.

The annoying thing was they requested me to send the document twice. Once I thought pictures were not acceptable but I had to give them PDF files of my passport copy. However, as they requested the same thing repeatedly, I replied to them to check my documents thoroughly. Then they were shut up.

After that, it did not take much time to receive the compensation. (I got the compensation in EUR.) I was afraid that Globe Partner might be like My trip, but they were more reliable. It was my second time to use their travel insurance, and the first time to request compensation, and yet the result was all good.

★Summary

I was very lucky that the injuries are really small although I’m not sure if my left front tooth will necrosis in the future.

I strongly realised and told my mum that driving a car with manual transmission is much safer than riding a scooter because a car with manual transmission has a clutch pedal, whilst a scooter requires control only from the handles!

Aitäh! 🙂