January 2023 in Taiwan and Japan

[cdp88]

We are about to embark on our first trip overseas for quite a while.

Our usual destination is Taiwan and they have only just opened their borders to non-citizens. After we booked the flights to Taiwan, Japan loosened its restrictions so we added a short visit as part of our itinerary. All up, we will be away for 4 weeks.

I’m excited to be travelling overseas again and seeing friends and family. I’m also excited to try EVA’s 787-10 business class on the way there and back.

We have a few hotel stays and will be using the train network in Japan and Taiwan so I‘ll have a few reviews and photos to post. The majority of the time will be with relatives but I won’t be posting any public reviews for that period .

 

[cdp88]

Air New Zealand lounge at BNE 31 December

The lounge was fairly quiet, some hot and cold foods, reasonable selection of wines and beers. Focus was on New Zealand wines. Spirits were base level only. I didn’t end up eating given the late hour and impending dinner on plane.

Most of the food was cleared before we left as I think we were just about the last flight that evening.

Showers available for use which was welcome as the terminal felt quite hot while we were navigating TRS, check in and customs. 2 were available and we didn’t have to wait too long to get in.

My last visit to this lounge was on an Air New Zealand flight in 2018. It is a pleasant enough place to pass the time and much better than the Plaza Premium that EVA used to use for BNE flights.

 

[cdp88]

EVA Flight BNE to TPE

This was my first time in the 787-10 and I was looking forward to a relaxing flight in Royal Laurel Class which is what EVA calls business class.

While this was a late night flight there was still plenty of service on offer with attendants rushing to distribute the various items on offer (amenity kits, pyjamas, bottled water and arrival cards). It was a very busy start to the flight given all the activities to be completed.

Dinner can be selected on the plane or pre-ordered with some additional meals available for pre-ordering not available on board. EVA usually offers one western, one Chinese and one special meal option. For this late night flight the special meal is a reduced service with only an appetiser, main course on a tray and dessert offered to maximise time to rest. The other meals included an entree as well. No menu cards are handed out anymore.

While the main course varies the appetiser, entree and dessert are the same for all options. Appetiser and entrees tend to suit champagne and they were serving vintage champagne on this flight. I didn’t work my way through the wine list on this flight as I wanted to get some sleep which I was able to do for a few hours.

When you’re ready for bed they will put a small covering with some padding on the seat. I found it comfortable enough for a few hours sleep. The seat is quite snug as it has lots of storage cubbies and desk space. We had the two seats in the middle so we could converse although there was a quite a wide divide between our seats so it would have been private should you be in one of the middle seats.

 

[cdp88]

Flight from TPE to KIX

EVA operates four lounges at TPE airport and this time we tried the Star lounge available to star alliance gold members. It seems fairly similar to the Infinity Lounge available to business class passengers flying EVA. I’ve been to the silver member and business class lounge, quite a few years ago, but not to the diamond level member lounge.

The lounge was fairly quiet when we visited and offered hot foods, alcoholic drinks (a decent selection - I went for a Haut Medoc) and showers. No view to the tarmac but a nice open view over the terminal.

We embarked on the next leg of our trip with a flight in economy class on the A330-300 that EVA uses for regional flights. I’ve previously flown this when it was the plane they used for TPE-BNE flights so it is more than adequate for a 2 hour flight from TPE to KIX with plenty of legroom in economy. Blankets were available on request.

Food service was only one option but was fine for an economy class flight of 2 hours duration being a hot meal, salad and fresh fruit. Alcoholic drinks and tea/coffee were served too.

In flight entertinament seemed very slow and I didn’t end up using it and read my book instead.

 

[cdp88]

Arrival in Japan and collection of rail pass

The customs/quarantine process took quite a long time at KIX. I think a combination of COVID measures, airport renovations and opening up of travel to China combined to make it quite coughbersome. We all pre-filled our details and had QR codes from visit japan website so we didn’t have to complete any paperwork just show these QR codesto airport staff. The airport check in staff also sighted our vaccination details prior to departing Taiwan as vaccination or recent negative PCR test are required for entry. We didn’t have any problems moving through it just took a long time and involved many trips up and down escalators/lifts.

I pre purchased a Japan Rail pass so went straight to the ticket office at KIX station to redeem passes and book our first ticket to Kyoto on the Haruka Express train. There was a queue but plenty of staff so it moved through quickly enough although you should allow 30-45 minutes if you need to obtain your pass immediately on arrival as we did. Apparently you can purchase online directly from Japan Rail and then collect at a machine by scanning your passport to avoid queuing. I recommend downloading the Japan Transit app from Jorudan and paying the $5 to upgrade to full version. It allows you to easily plan your train trips and useful information like which platform your train is leaving from.

Having looked at the passes available I purchased one before I left that covered the region I was visiting (Kansai-Hokuriku) at $180 per person (17000 JPY) rather than all Japan pass at $300 for the one week period. My pass did have some limitations so it is important to read through these before buying a cheaper pass. I didn’t realise that ours did not cover Shinkansen between Kyoto and Shin-Osaka so we had to take an express train then get the Shinkansen for one journey. I don’t think I would have paid an extra $120 to overcome this as it only impacted on a day trip we were taking. The other limitation of only 6 reserved tickets was not an issue as I only planned to use 5. I calculated our train fares were about 40,000JPY so we got plenty of value out of our pass. An all Japan pass would still have been a saving but not as much. As our trip was 7 nights and 8 days there would be one day with no pass so as we were going to get a car the airport on the last day i started the pass immediately.

The Haruka express goes regularly and we were able to get reserved seats on a train coming not long after I collected my passes. They do have dedicated luggage racks at the end of the carriage which were available for us to use. The train also adopts a Hello Kitty theme. It took about 1hr 15 minutes to get to Kyoto Station.

 

[cdp88]

Stay at Mercure Kyoto Station

We checked in for 3 nights at this Mercure and had a very enjoyable stay.

We decided to walk from the station with our luggage although a taxi is only about 600JPY. Walking time is about 10 minutes and there are hotels much closer to the station. However, I chose this for the Accor benefits and loyalty recognition was indeed excellent.

Loyalty recognition

I received a welcome email prior to check in and was able to confirm a few things with the hotel. I asked to have all 3 rooms on the one level and they advised that doing so would only be possible if i declined the room upgrade on offer to me. I decided to take the upgrade and stayed in a privilege room on level 10. I was also given the welcome drink voucher (limited choices on offer in the bar), 6 x local sweet, 6 x body towel for showering, 6 x skin care kit. It was a very generous offering and I’m not sure if the 6 of each item was because I was staying 3 nights or I had 6 guests. As I used the app to book it assumed 6 guests if 3 rooms but we only had 5. The hotel corrected this on check in and reduced the room rate without prompting.

Room

My preferences for a room far from the elevators was noted as I had the room at the end of the corridor as did our travelling companions. The privilege room includes a Nespresso machine, daily bottled water x 2 and 2 vouchers each day for the afternoon drink session which is a self serve selection of house wines, beer and soft drink and some snacks. We only used this once and it was adequate but I wouldn’t go out of my way to partake. Our room had blinds rather than curtains (a sheer and block out blind) but was otherwise identical to the standard room. Rooms were a good size for Japan, comfortable and well equipped as well as being elegantly styled. The odd time I have stayed in Mercure in Australia or New Zealand I’ve been quite underwhelmed but this hotel really impressed me with its attention to detail.

Hotel restaurant

The restaurant in the hotel was a real highlight and due to travelling with elderly parents we ended up eating in 2 nights to avoid going out again after a long day of travel or sightseeing. Food was mainly Italian and was done well, presented beautifully and was well priced. Accor plus was honoured and included drink discounts (15%) as well as the food. The wine selection was fine being Italian wines but I would have loved to sample some Japanese whisky at the bar but they didn’t seem to feature this.

Breakfast buffet had a wide range of foods although not eggs to order as far as I could tell. Only complaint I would have is that there was no fresh fruit but otherwise selection was fine and changed slightly each day. Before I travelled I checked Accor plus discounts and was told only 15% discount on breakfast but I received full discount on each occasion and staff were fairly familiar with Accor plus benefits. At 2000JPY per person it is good value and even better with Accor plus.

All staff in the hotel were incredibly helpful and my inability to speak any Japanese was not a barrier. There were a few sites close to the hotel and plenty of shops/restaurants around the station. The main tourist sites were a bit far away although the hotel explained the various bus routes to allow you to get to them.

 

[rbjhan]

Stay at Mercure Kyoto Station

We checked in for 3 nights at this Mercure and had a very enjoyable stay.

We decided to walk from the station with our luggage although a taxi is only about 600JPY. Walking time is about 10 minutes and there are hotels much closer to the station. However, I chose this for the Accor benefits and loyalty recognition was indeed excellent.

Loyalty recognition

I received a welcome email prior to check in and was able to confirm a few things with the hotel. I asked to have all 3 rooms on the one level and they advised that doing so would only be possible if i declined the room upgrade on offer to me. I decided to take the upgrade and stayed in a privilege room on level 10. I was also given the welcome drink voucher (limited choices on offer in the bar), 6 x local sweet, 6 x body towel for showering, 6 x skin care kit. It was a very generous offering and I’m not sure if the 6 of each item was because I was staying 3 nights or I had 6 guests. As I used the app to book it assumed 6 guests if 3 rooms but we only had 5. The hotel corrected this on check in and reduced the room rate without prompting.

Room

My preferences for a room far from the elevators was noted as I had the room at the end of the corridor as did our travelling companions. The privilege room includes a Nespresso machine, daily bottled water x 2 and 2 vouchers each day for the afternoon drink session which is a self serve selection of house wines, beer and soft drink and some snacks. We only used this once and it was adequate but I wouldn’t go out of my way to partake. Our room had blinds rather than curtains (a sheer and block out blind) but was otherwise identical to the standard room. Rooms were a good size for Japan, comfortable and well equipped as well as being elegantly styled. The odd time I have stayed in Mercure in Australia or New Zealand I’ve been quite underwhelmed but this hotel really impressed me with its attention to detail.

Hotel restaurant

The restaurant in the hotel was a real highlight and due to travelling with elderly parents we ended up eating in 2 nights to avoid going out again after a long day of travel or sightseeing. Food was mainly Italian and was done well, presented beautifully and was well priced. Accor plus was honoured and included drink discounts (15%) as well as the food. The wine selection was fine being Italian wines but I would have loved to sample some Japanese whisky at the bar but they didn’t seem to feature this.

Breakfast buffet had a wide range of foods although not eggs to order as far as I could tell. Only complaint I would have is that there was no fresh fruit but otherwise selection was fine and changed slightly each day. Before I travelled I checked Accor plus discounts and was told only 15% discount on breakfast but I received full discount on each occasion and staff were fairly familiar with Accor plus benefits. At 2000JPY per person it is good value and even better with Accor plus.

All staff in the hotel were incredibly helpful and my inability to speak any Japanese was not a barrier. There were a few sites close to the hotel and plenty of shops/restaurants around the station. The main tourist sites were a bit far away although the hotel explained the various bus routes to allow you to get to them.

Yeah I looked at this hotel before but eventually didn't book coz it's too far from the station...

 

[AIRwin]

Yeah I looked at this hotel before but eventually didn't book coz it's too far from the station...

500m is too far?

 

[cdp88]

500m is too far?

There are many hotels much closer to the station and I can appreciate the convenience of being very close. We managed to move 2 elderly parents, 3 large suitcases and 3 carry on by walking but I think it was at the limit of what was feasible for us.

Our next hotel was 2 minutes from the station and this made it much easier to move around. I would say that the Kyoto Mercure was excellent in all aspects except location which was just good. I do know many reviews online complained about it not being that close to the station and it taking 15 minutes to walk there. Perhaps this was in reaction to the name of Kyoto Station and it not being immediately adjacent to the station.

 

[rbjhan]

500m is too far?

Most certainly is.
This is Japan we are talking about. I wouldn't book anything that's more than 5 mins walk away from the nearest subway/train station, in major cities like Kyoto.

 

[rbjhan]

There are many hotels much closer to the station and I can appreciate the convenience of being very close. We managed to move 2 elderly parents, 3 large suitcases and 3 carry on by walking but I think it was at the limit of what was feasible for us.

Our next hotel was 2 minutes from the station and this made it much easier to move around. I would say that the Kyoto Mercure was excellent in all aspects except location which was just good. I do know many reviews online complained about it not being that close to the station and it taking 15 minutes to walk there. Perhaps this was in reaction to the name of Kyoto Station and it not being immediately adjacent to the station.

What I had come to realise is, at the end of the day when you are out and about all day, you are tired, you get out of the bus/metro/train whatever, if there's still 10+ mins to walk to the hotel, that is hell.
Then you rest up, going out again for dinner, another round trip? yeah nope.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Is the trick to be close to the Kyoto Station Building instead of Kyoto Station?

https://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsNear-g298564-d5220110-Kyoto_Station_Building-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html

 

[Sprucegoose]

500m is too far?

Uphill yes.....

 

[rbjhan]

Is the trick to be close to the Kyoto Station Building instead of Kyoto Station?

https://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsNear-g298564-d5220110-Kyoto_Station_Building-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html

To be perfectly honest I don't like to stay in JR Kyoto Station area at all.
Unless I plan to day trip a lot using JR.

Sanjo/Shijo Kawaramachi, and Gion area is personal favourite.

 

[cdp88]

Day trip to Okayama

We took the Shinkansen to Okayama to visit the famous Korakuen garden. This was an easy day trip from Kyoto (although would be easier without having to change trains- see earlier post).

The garden is accessible by bus that leaves from the train station although there are also taxis and a street car that operate. The bus was easy to catch and good value at 120JPY. We took a taxi one way and this was about 1000JPY.

The garden is quite large so you could conceivably spend quite some there. A volunteer guide assisted us for the first hour or so and explained the features of the garden and showed pictures of how it looked at different times of the year. We didn’t ask for this service but it was very welcome. I’m not sure if this is available on request or limited to particular days.

We were able to enjoy a matcha green tea set in the open air and this was a very pleasant way to break the walk up and enjoy the scenery. The garden does have various water features, including water from hot springs, open spaces and flower beds. This was my first visit and I would return again in a different season as it was a very rewarding experience and so refreshing.

If you were able to spend the whole day you could also visit the adjoining castle. Due to time limitations we were unable to do so.

 

[cdp88]

Train to Kanazawa

Next destination was Kanazawa which we reached by Thunderbird Limited Express from Kyoto. This is a famous train journey due to the ocean and mountain views available as you travel. It is a very comfortable train so a very easy way to spend a couple of hours. Our reserved car was fairly empty although there did seem to be quite a queue for the unreserved seat carriages.

We booked seats at the end of the carriage so there was room for a large suitcase (possibly two) behind each set of 2 seats. I had tried to limit our party’s luggage to carry on size only as I knew it would not be ideal to carry large cases on the trains. For various reasons I was overruled on this point and accepted that we would take 3 large suitcases as well as 3 carry on bags. To make things easier we asked the Mercure Kyoto to send on two suitcases to our final destination - Osaka- and just carry one on the train to Kanazawa. The cost of this baggage transfer was 2000JPY per suit case which was managed direct from our hotel to the next one. We probably paid extra for the convenience but it was a helpful service provided by the hotel. I will reveal the outcome of this baggage transfer in a future post.

I think the pandemic has resulted in the usual drinks/food cart that would operate on these trains being cancelled (such a cart did pass us fleetingly on the Nozomi Shinkansen back to Kyoto from Okayama but that was the only one I saw). So, if you think you’ll need something to tide you over I’d pick something up before you depart as you’ll not have time for anything more than a mad dash to a platform vending machine while en route. I did see people doing this on the journey so it seems possible but this wasn’t a risk I was prepared to take. Train stations have lots of food options for takeaway so we took some lunchboxes (ekiben) with us and some drinks as we were travelling between 11am and 1pm.

Kanazawa station is easy to navigate with two exits, tourist information desk, hop on/off loop bus, money exchange, shopping mall etc. It was a welcome change from Kyoto Station.

 

[cdp88]

Stay at Hyatt House Kanazawa

This hotel is extremely close to the train station being about 200 metres walk. It is a sister hotel to the Hyatt Centric nextdoor. Hyatt House markets itself as a select service hotel so seems to cater more for extended/self contained stays. That being said, they offer daily room servicing, hotel amenities (some in room and some for collection) and free breakfast for one person per room. So it was sufficiently hotel-like for our purposes. There seemed to be lots of people studying/working in the lobby area and I saw signs referring to it as a co-working space. The lobby also had a shop with drinks, snacks and other items for in house guests to buy.

This was not a brand I was familiar with and it was suggested by our travel agent. I was very happy with this choice as we had 3 large rooms each with kitchen, dining table and sofa bed at approximately 41 sqm. I think they were very clear about their offering, had various items to borrow or buy and this made for a very comfortable stay. While we didn’t plan to do so we ended up using the kitchen one night to supplement some takeaway and make a simple dinner to avoid going out again at night. It had everything we needed and at the end of the meal we just filled up the dishwasher and put it through.

At this point in the trip a visit to the guest laundry was required and this was very easy to use. The lobby offers change so you can use the machines which have very limited options to make it easier.

The breakfast at Hyatt House was acceptable for the price (about 1300JPY per person if not included in room rate). Staff were very helpful and buffet had a reasonable selection. On first morning breakfast was at Hyatt House but on the second morning we had to go to the Hyatt Centric next door.

The Hyatt Centric breakfast was much better with a wide variety of items, eggs to order, selection of premium teas. This breakfast was also charged at 1300 JPY per person as the Hyatt House restaurant is closed. I think they limit the eggs to order to simple omelette or eggs cooked to your liking for Hyatt House guests with Hyatt Centric guests able to order things like Eggs Benedict.

I really liked this hotel and the city itself so would come back again.

 

[drron]

The Japanese gardens are fabulous. Korakuen and Kenrokuen in Kanazawa are 2 of the best 3. We were lucky enough to visit both of them in cherry blossom season. Spectacular but very busy. We have plans to visit both again in the next 18 months. It will be our 4th visit to Kenrokuen as it is free for over 60s.

We always use the Takubin system when travelling by train in Japan. Worth the cost.
The Thunderbird service is worth while. We traveled on it from Kanazawa to Lake Biwa.

Really enjoying the TR.

 

[cdp88]

Kanazawa is my favourite place to visit and having been 20+ years since my last visit it was great to go back.

 

[cdp88]

Day in Kanazawa

Fortunately Kanazawa’s tourist bus (also used by locals as it just follows a loop around the city) was operating and we were able to use this to get to Kenrokuen and Omicho Market. This was a successful day of touring.

The bus leaves from the station and you choose either Right Loop or Left Loop. The buses come every 15 minutes and were never overly full although this could be because it was a Monday outside of peak hours. In any case, this was a great way to get around and excellent value at 600JPY per person for the whole day. The pass covered some other local busses in the city area. The JR rail pass did not cover these busses and this was clearly signed. It was easy to follow where you were with a screen displaying stops in Japanese and English and regular announcements.

Kenrokuen is a favourite place for me so this was a must see again on this trip. We took the bus there and were able to walk around the garden and again enjoy matcha green tea in the open air overlooking the pond in the centre of the garden. While it was not snow covered this time it was still beautiful and relaxing way to spend the morning. It wasn’t busy but there were a reasonable number of people visiting and more than at Okayama’s garden.

We then took the bus again to the fresh food market at Omicho. This was an excellent stop with lots of market stalls selling takeaway meals and snacks as well as number of dine in restaurants featuring seafood. We had a beautiful meal, very reasonably priced with local seafood and beef. The market is only open during the day so plan to visit for lunch and you won’t be disappointed. The bus stop was right outside the market so you can’t miss it. It was quite busy and popular with locals.