S.KOREA – JAPAN – TAIWAN 21-12-24->08-1-25
Self serve itinerary
Day 1 SYDNEY-SEOUL
Steps: 5,118
Depart home: 06:30 for Park n Fly
Flight Time: Dep. 11:30 flight 11hrs SYD – INCH
Time Diff: 2 hours (minus)
Airline: Qantas
Cost: Approx. $15k aud for all flights for 4 – paid approx. $3k extra not to back track through Seoul (even though thicko “Flight Centre” said it couldn’t be done – it could with “Spencer Travel”)
Movies watched: Amy (Winehouse) – biopic, IF (really a kids movie), The Way We Were – classic, possibly some other biopic ?
Food: Asian Veg & LO Veg – usual mediocre crap
Transport from airport: Pre booked a car via the hotel (probably cost way more than a taxi but so worth it)
Hotel: Moxy Myeongdong 3*– Marriott Group so pretty nice ~$4k 4N 2R incl Breakfast
Activities: Welcome cocktails for the adults / Kids chose to stretch out in their room with their devices
Day 2 SEOUL
Steps: 15.055
Where/Sights:
Walking…
Namdeamun – market area
Sungnyenum Gate -old city wall fortress with guards
War memorial
Solland – cutesy garden in a Bank
Deoksugung Palace / grounds – lovely not crowded – nominal fee in – machine takes international credit card – nice little café/gift shop*Would Recommend.
Myeongdong Markets
Dinner:
Vegan Kitchen -21 Toegye-ro 20 gil, Jung District – robot waiter plus humans – good food – Soju is like spirit & comes in huge bottles so don’t need each! *Would Recommend
Day 3 SEOUL
Steps: 18,065
Where/Sights:
Bukchon Hanok Traditional Village – Free (not overwhelming but interesting to see how city would’ve started out like)
Jitda Pavilion
Gyeongbokjung Palace & temple also has children’s museum near by – extremely busy so Deoksugung Palace better experience but this one is the primo palace so better buildings, nominal fee again
Bell Pavillion
Myeongdong Markets – less busy & less stalls on Mondays
Cat Café (rescued cats)
Dinner:
Gurkha Indian Restaurant – very average
Day 4 SEOUL – Xmas Eve
Steps: 16,523
Where/Sights:
Played Subbuteo/Tekken at the Moxy
Girls trip to Lotte Dept Store, then back to back streets & Pop Mart etc
Did quick bit of Laundry for free at the Moxy
North Seoul Tower 239m – via Ormi elevator and Cable car – very fun *Would Recommend
Adults met friends for drinks & dinner
Kids happily connected online with friends at home from their room
Myeongdong Market Streets extremely busy so much so I lost sight of the 3 adults and had to wait for someone to come back to the crossroads I got lost at! Of course I hadn’t topped up my data on my esim (esim’s are great though if you can remember to do top up) so had to use free wifi to call the hubs to say I was where they left me!
Dinner:
Tradition Korean Restaurant in a back street off a back street our Korean friend Jenny found – Kimchi pancakes delicious, vegetarian credentials wouldn’t bear close inspection though
Day 5 SEOUL-OSAKA
Steps 7,318
Flight Time: Dep. 14:05 am flight 1hr45 INCH – KIK
Time Diff: None
Airline: Asiana
Cost: as above
Movies watched: ???
Food: Asian Veg & LO Veg – usual mediocre crap
Transport from airport: Pre booked a car via the hotel (very dear but again worth it)
Hotel: Ritz Carlton 5* Umeda– Marriott Group ~$11k 5N 1 traditional suite incl Breakfast with Ofuro (& dally bath salts) Very Nice. – rest of hotel décor too fussy and old fashioned/British for my/our taste
(Ofuros are deep baths Onsen’s are at hot springs)
Dinner: 8:45pm OK Italian food at an absolutely extortionist price at the Ritz – and even though was pre booked for 4 vegetarians they still refused to give the nice Christmas desserts from the set Christmas menu!! Really weird. (Minestrone average, Risotto good & Tempura veg fine, regular ice cream for kids, digestif for adults). Xmas tax I guess & we certainly were not going to go looking for veg restaurant in new town that day)
Day 6 OSAKA
Steps: 19,715
Where/Sights:
Another huge walking day through Osaka up to the Castle which is a museum & park (including a haunted section of park taken over by Ravens!)
Osaka Castle *Would Recommend
Ohatsu-Tenjin Shrine
Dinner: Erick South Indian Restaurant, 4 Chome 1-9, Nishitenma, Kita Ward – Amazing Dosas *Would Recommend
Day 7 OSAKA
Steps: 15,339
Where/Sights:
Got a taxi to Universal Studios -was fine but I wouldn’t go (nor recommend) if I didn’t have kids
Annoyingly though Nintendo world is a pre book you cannot buy on the day – so you can see all this American crap but not Super Mario in actual Japan -sigh
We entered a last minute lottery on the day but no joy.
At night we tromped about the lights & the loose people again – think Temple Bar Dublin haha
Dinner: Vegan & Gluten Free Osaka – very quirky – dining rooms would remind you of a doctors waiting room – great food *Would Recommend
Addr: Ekimae Dai-Yon 4th building, 1 Chome 11-4 Umeda, Kita ward
Day 8 NARA
Steps: 12,190
Where/Sights:
Braved Osaka Station – which is as confusing as hell – got paper tickets & found track eventually to Nara. Ok once you have the hang of it though, so leave time day one.
Got local train to Nara – actually got wrong local loop train first but was easy to back track & get to Yamatoji line
Buses at station to Nara Deer Park – they take cash
Nara Deer Park *Would Recommend but it is busy
There’s 1200 deer & they are gorgeous creatures, cross between a dog & a kangaroo! You can buy special biscuits for them at market stalls about $2 for a stack of 10 or so, we bought about 80
It’s fairly crowded though ;(
Todaji Temple is there too – not sure how they can pray with the hoards of tourists – so we didn’t go all the way in
Bus/Train back is straight forward too
Had a swim & spa with the kids after dinner at the not busy pool at the Ritz Carlton
Dinner: Found by accident Vegan Burgers & Chips & Guinness at The Blarney Stone Bar run by a young guy from Kerry & a lovely young woman from Kobe *Would Recommend
Addr: 2 Chome 10-15, Sonezaki, Umeda, Kita ward (underground on walk from station to ritz carlton)
Day 9 FUSHIMI INARI / KYOTO
Steps: 14,277
Where/Sights:
Back to Osaka Station – easier 2nd time, local train
Fushimi Inari Temple *Would Recommend but it is crowded
Got to write our wishes in Japanese
Train to Kyoto next which is nearby
Saw Kyoto Tower but resisted the climb (as more towers to go!)
Had gorgeous lunch & Kyoto craft beer in Mercy Vegan Factory – addr is Kyoto Station but it’s a few streets away *Would Recommend
Avoided Gion district as couldn’t face any more crowds & had been there before
Mum & boy had a pre dinner swim & spa & outdoor hot tub at the not busy pool at the Ritz Carlton
Then hit up Gaming Arcade “Round 1” and the famous shop Don Quixote
Dinner: Back to try rest of menu at Vegan & Gluten Free Osaka – very quirky – dining rooms would remind you of a doctors waiting room – great food *Would Recommend
Addr: Ekimae Dai-Yon 4th building, 1 Chome 11-4 Umeda, Kita ward (known as 2nd room by day & serves meat!)
Day 10 –OSAKA-TOKYO
Steps 8,047
Bullet Train/Shinkansen Time: 12:30 514km 2.5 hrs to read our books or watch downloaded stuuf in kids case
– pre sent baggage which the Ritz handled and was wating for us
Class: Green (very nice)
Time Diff: None
Cost: $930 via Klook app
Transport from Tokyo Station: Taxi – had hotel name ready in local language – paid cash – painless
Hotel: Moxy Kinshicho 3*– Marriott Group ~$6k 6N 2R incl Breakfast OR Lunch – very civilised
Views of Mt Fuji
Welcome drinks / Soft drinks (post mix) free at all times
Did Laundry for about $8 a wash & dry per load – obv. couldn’t be doing it in the Ritz-Carlton!
Dinner: Pizza (passable) & chips at the Moxy
Day 11 TOKYO (New Years Eve – many businesses closed for a break!)
Steps: 21,367
Where/Sights:
Back on foot around Sumida Ward (1 of 23!) Taito City (1 of 26)
Walk around Asakusa
Kappbashi kitchen town – our chef got 2 amazing knives
Higushi Hongan Temple
Chinese lunch with no veg options so had desserts and what turned out to be boiler makers (beer & spirits!)
Sensoji Temple – very crowded & seemed more like a market
Harry Animal café – otters, owls, hedgehogs, meerkats & prairie dog (shudder)
Walk up Sumida river to Halal & Vegan Ramen place
Walk to SkyTree Town
Visit Aquarium which was an amazing space / facility *Would Recommend
Long walk back to Kinshicho
Recovered enough to ring the new year in the Moxy bar who had a band with double bass 😊
Dinner: Dattebayo, Halal & Vegan Ramen, 15 2-Chome, Hanakawado 2, Taito City *Would recommend
Day 12 TOKYO (1.1.2025)
Steps: 15,741
Where/Sights:
Sleep-in & pingong, pool & lunch at Moxy yay
Train to Akihabhara Tech & Anime Town or Dantes inferno as I’m guessing many adults would say
Kobu Inari Shrine
Train to Asakusabashi
Big walk 4km Sumida river to Skytree Town (could half that by starting at Asakusa stn) *Would Recommend
8:30pm Go up 450m in Skytree to the top *Would Recommend
Metro (this time) to Kinshincho stn
Dinner: Indian in a mall above Akihabara stn called Cobara-Hetta, addr: Yodobashi, Akiba Ten *Would Recommend
Day 13 NAGANO/JIGOKUDANI
Steps: 19,715
Bullet Train/Shinkansen Time: 08:33 243km in 1hr20
Class: Gran (even more primo!)
Cost: $1669 via Klook app
Transport to/from Tokyo Station: Taxi – had hotel name ready in local language – paid cash – painless
Transport to/from Nagano Station to Jigokudani: Bus – $18 each way per person, one way bought from machine in station & bus on way back would only take VISA card (not master!) So $144 for 4. They are absolutely coining it!!
Destination/Actvities:
Super dooper fancy & expensive bullet train to Nagano because I never thought to pre book! Secretly worth it though haha. Lovely to read my book again.
Bus 1hr to snow monkey park
Snow Monkey Park (nominal fee) *Would recommend but crowded
500m walk to start of ice trall
Then 2km or so of sometimes treacherous path – our 12yo fell 7 times & took out 2 other people!
Geyser & hot springs at top, also Onsens but too many people for us to be sharing a bath with!
Snow Monkeys like cats couldn’t care less about humans bar a few in car park who know food is in plastic bags – you cannot bring plastic bags on the trail & rightly so.
The ones in the hot springs active but zen
Then you have to walk back the 2.5km or whatever it is to the carpark and the rorting buses.
Foodaries there packed so no chance of a seat.
Nagano town however is a nice mountain apple growing town
We had a few hours to kill till fancy seat journey back so had late ramen lunch in a mall, we hit up a book store then the kids did gaming in Apina arcade while the parents retreated to craft brewery Yamanoma Brewery & organic farm fresh fruit & veg food purveyor, run by 2 old lovely older people. Our kids joined for dinner. Bar was full of white people incl Aussies which is first day we really came across this – of course we heard loud USA accents every day.
Got fancy pants train back at 20:57 after unfruitfully searching for the boys lost scarf – really the dads from the Cph days so I guess it owed us nothing.
Had yummy Dean & Deluca tid-bits on train – not too vege friendly though so I had to skip meaty ones, the others declined altogether.
Dinner:
Yamanoma Brewery, Kitaishidcho-1375, Nagano *Would Recommend
Day 14 TOKYO
Steps: 3.544
What:
The boy woke up with muscle pains in every part of body & a streaming cold. So we had a down day. The girl wasn’t too happy about this development but didn’t get out of bed to ask to do something either so we left them to it. We had brunch & dinner together in the Moxy and I did another load of laundry. Caught up on photos & socials. Got snacks from Family Mart for everyone for the evening.
Dinner: Moxy pizza
Day 15 TOKYO
Steps: 7,539
Transport to/from teamLabs: Taxi – paid cash – painless
Destination/Activities:
Girl shopping in Kinshicho – incl some Japanese readers for our A student, great idea she had
Brunch at Moxy & pool game/hand out
2:30pm tickets booked for modern art experience in teamLab planets dmm in Koto city 12.5 km away and required a lot of chopping & changing on public transport, so taxi was much easier
teamLab planets dmm *WOULD RECOMMEND but obv busy at least there’s timed number capped entry
fantastic experience with garden, water & air –you take off your socks & shoes & wade through water in some parts, amazing images floating around you
Best bit of all theres a vegan Michelin star restaurant on site that doesn’t take reservations & lucky for us there’s no competition for vegan food!
Final shop in 7-11 that night 😊
Dinner: Vegan Ramen UZU, 6 Chome 1-16 Toyosu, Koto City* WOULD RECOMMEND
Day 16 TOKYO-TAIPEI
Steps: 6.287
Flight Time: Dep. 15:20 flight 4.33hrs NAR-TPE
Time Diff: 1 hour (minus)
Airline: Cathay Pacific – best airline of the 4 we used
Cost: As above
Movies watched: Speak no evil. A different man (both insane)
Food: Asian Veg & LO Veg – usual mediocre crap
Transport to Narita airport: I prebooked a car service with hiretaxijapan.com who were great and had a lovely comfy big car for us
Transport from Taoyuan airport: Pre booked a car via the hotel (probably cost way more than a taxi but yet again worth it)
Hotel: Marriott 5* ZhongSang ~$2k 2.5N 1 Fam Room incl Breakfast – beautiful, modern, not stuffy
Activities:
More girl shopping at Narita Airport which is very spacious and nice
More Dean & Deluca for lunch – this time lacto ovo veg friendly
Dinner: Shin Yeh Taiwanese Signature, Michelin guide approved, food ok but terrible brusque service and loads of dish banging cause it was near closing time, and they didn’t bring whole order!
Day 17 TAIPEI
Steps: 10,350
Transport: Uber – painless
Destination/Activities:
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park & Gardens (& National concert hall & National Theatre) – Taiwan founder- very interesting, roomy, high celings, not crowded *WOULD RECOMMEND
Taiwan is home on Boba tea so we had to do that
Donghe Temple – nearby, small
Drive back via Martyr’s Shrine
Rooftop pool for mum & boy, sauna for mum
Drip coffee & Cocktails for mum & dad in Marriott Lounge
Noke Mall – gorgeous, not crowded, spacious. Modern
Adidas shop up for dad & kids
Miramar ferris wheel ride – we could see from our bedroom
More cocktails at Marriott Lounge for mum & dad
Dinner: Little Tree Food, Noke Mall, Michelin Green (Vegan Restaurant) * WOULD RECOMMEND
Day 18 TAIPEI
Steps: 6.094
Transport: Uber – painless
Destination/Activities:
Rooftop pool & saunas for everyone
14:30 Taipei 101 460 skyline experience booking
508 m high – used to be tallest building in world
89th floor beer, boba & gift shopping
Changed for evening – check out 18:00
Dinner & last Arashi cocktail 😊
Car booked with hotel to airport 19:50
Dinner: Marriott Lounge – vegan burger, salad & chips * WOULD RECOMMEND
Day 18/19 TAIPEI-SYD
Steps: 5,257
Flight Time: Dep. 23:50 flight 9hrs20 plus 45 min on the tarmac in SYD!
Time Diff: 3 hour (plus)
Airline: Air China in partnership with Qantas so the usual head hassling people about hand luggage which turned out to be completely unnecessary
Cost: As above
Transport to airport: Prebooked with hotel
Movies watched: It ends with us, True Detective new season
Food: Asian Veg & LO Veg – usual mediocre crap
How get home: Get bus to pick up own car at airport – bit of a palaver – 2 hrs between immigration, customs, baggage, car pick up
Activities: Hang in fake trad Taipei village. Toffeefee & water for supper. Watch TV. Try to sleep with assholes in front of you crushing you with reclined seats.
Total days: 19
Total Steps: 227,541
Total Cost: aud$40k ish
Bee Ooo Dee 