此次行程路線：
日本行程：
Our 4-week Asia itinerary:
- 2 weeks in Japan
- 1 week in South Korea (split between Seoul and Jeju)
- 3 nights in Hong Kong
- 3 nights in Taipei
I've put a STAR next to the activities I highly recommend.
All of our hotel stays were fantastic. Also stayed at a few airbnbs because I really wanted to experience traditional Japanese and Korean houses, called ryokan and hanok respectively, and we enjoyed all of them immensely.
Before the trip we purchased a JR rail pass online which covered all of our train travels throughout Japan. Because I was overly ambitious and also wanted to maximize the use of the rail pass, I drove my family a little too fast and furious.
We also loaded money onto a Suica card in apple wallet which made local public transportation and convenience store purchases extremely convenient.Unfortunately, the other three countries haven't adopted the same apple wallet feature, so we had to buy physical transportation cards: Tmoney in Seoul, Octopus in Hong Kong, and EasyCard in Taipei.
While the cities were vibrant and fascinating, I fell in love with the countryside of Japan—Kamakura, Fujikawaguchi, Nachikats, Miyajima, Takachiho, and Itoshima, each a paradise in its own right. The natural beauty and quaint charm of rural Japan were intoxicating, and we immersed ourselves in the soothing onsens, some of us embracing the experience more than others.
We rented cars to drive around rural areas in both Japan and Korea. You MUST have an international driving permit ($20 at AAA). We used Toyota rent-a-car 4 times in Japan and Hertz in Jeju, South Korea, all wonderful experiences.
Japan was our favorite. It was impeccably clean and well-organized, convenient, punctual, and it was also the cheapest. The yen is the weakest it's been in 34 years; it's weakened by about 50%(!!!) against the dollar since the pre pandemic era. Food, sightseeing, and goods were just all so affordable that made us exclaim "So cheap!" again and again. Make sure you bring your passport to get the 10% sales tax exemption. Food was extremely fresh and high quality. Tipping is not practiced and can be seen as an insult. We found the customer service consistently outstanding. The people we met were overly kind and considerate.
Other impressions and observations of Japan:
- Eating/drinking while walking is considered rude.
- Virtually no trash cans anywhere. You have to carry your own trash throughout the day.
- Stand on the left side of escalator while the right side is for walking and passing.
- People line up to board at train/subway station platforms.
- Mask-wearing is very common.
- No talking on public transport.
- Fancy toilets with all sorts of buttons. We even had a bidet on our JAL flight!
- Hot/cold wet towels are provided beore meals.
- Ramen is meant to be slurped.
- 90% women have straight bangs/fringe.
Random observations of Korea:
- More laid back than Japan. e.g. talking in public is okay, eating and drinking while walking is fine.
- Bibs are provided in most restaurants.
- Google maps only gives public transit directions but no driving and walking directions. We found Naver Map an okay alternative.
- Very cheap and effective public transportation. Taxis are cheap too.
- They all park their cars backwards.
- Trash cans are hard to come by just like Japan so carry your own trash.
- Photo booths are everywhere.
- "Find My" doesn't work in Korea, making it impossible to track free-range kids.
We felt VERY safe everywhere on this trip. We walked late at night and have never worried about being scammed, pickpocketed, or mugged. I saw people leave their purses and phones unattended in public space. We let our kids go free-range on their own in a different part of town and didn't worry about them at all. With 0/0/near 0 knowledge of Japanese/Korean/Chinese, they rode subways all over the cities, went shopping/karaoke/gaming/sightseeing and ordered food in restaurants all without a glitch.
We were extremely blessed to have done about 2/3 of the trip with our best friends. Friends always double, triple the fun!!
