Seoul - March 16-March 19

March 15 - Air Canada Flight 10.5 hours direct to Seoul

March 16 - driver from airport to hotel - via Viator $156 Cad - did not speak English but easy

Hotel in Seoul - Four Seasons Seoul - unreal service beautiful hotel , got adjoining rooms

- neighburhood where hotel is in not that lively at night but pretty central , 5 minute walk to Gyeongbokgong Palace, 20 minute walk from Myeongdong neighborhood (very lovely neighborhood street with street food and shopping)

March 17 - booked tour via Viator (Seoul City Private Full Day Tour including Lunch) $752.70 CAD, amazing tour because of amazing tour guide, Bryan Jeong of One Day Korea

- Gyeongbokgung Palace

- Bukhon Hanoi Village

- Jogyesa Temple

- N Seoul Tower

- Famous Street market

- got dropped off at Myeongdong neighbourhood

March 18

- walked around ourselves on the other side of river

- took taxi to Coax Mall to see library and Gangnam hands (beautiful)

- then to Garosu-gill Street (Yaletown like street)

- then Apgujeong Rodea Drive (not great)

- then night view at Lotte tower (beautiful)

Food -

March 16 dinner - Shabu Shabu place right by hotel . \240Four Seasons recommended a bbq place which was a 15 minute walk but no one in restaurant, weird vibe so we left . \240Good Shabu Shabu right by hotel. Nice and clean and food felt healthy to eat , came as a set menu, we shared 1 per 2 people. \240Good idea as so much food. \240Kids did not love it as much.

March 17

- Breakfast - buffet at Four Seasons (very good)

- Lunch - included with tour (bimampap or bulgogi) - The Good Restaurant (very good)

- Dinner - street food in Myeongdong (very good)

March 18

- Breakfast- Starbucks

- Lunch - Ramen place in Coax Mall (ok)

- Dinner - got food from Lotte Mall and ate back at hotel

- cook Speakeasy at the Four Seasons

March 19

- Breakfast - Four Seasons buffet breakfast

Kyoto - March 19 - 22

Flew from Seoul to Osaka via Korean Airlines (1.5 hours)

Private driver from Hotel to airport - Via Viator (same driver as the reverse direction) = $155.48 CAD

Landed in Osaka - private driver via Transferro from Osaka to Kyoto (took 2 hours)

Hotel - Hotel Okura - older hotel but great location, right at the base of the main shopping/restaurant street (Kawaramachi Shopping Street)

March 20 - Booked tour via Viator - Kyoto, Osaka, Nara Private Tour by Car English Driver Guide $745.66 - terrible tour because the guide Hassan only drove us, did to give us any history - received partial refund

- Arashiyama

- Kiyomizu-dera Temple

- Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple

- Kinkakuji Temple

- Fishimi Inari-Taisha Shrine

- Gion

- Sanjusangendo Temple

March 21

- booked Samurai Sword Experience in Kyoto (Family and Kid Friendly) $426.20 - very good

- the instructor was very funny and made it fun

- also included tour of the Ninja museum and ninja star throwing

- walked around and shopped

Food:

March 19

Dinner - Guy Kaku BBQ (the chain) - kids loved it, few minutes walk from the hotel

March 20

Breakfast - masubis and croissants and Mr. Noodles from 7-11

Lunch - tour guide dropped us off at famous ramen place - Ramen Miyako - Gino Main Shop

Dinner - Gyu Kaku BBQ

March 21

Breakfast - masubis and croissants and Mr. Noodles from Family Mart

Snack - Koi donuts - beautiful place for donuts and coffee

Lunch - Ichiran Ramen (individual booths)

Dinner - Gyu Kaku BBQ

March 22

Breakfast - Starbucks

Tokyo - March 22 - March 27

March 22 - took bullet train from Kyoto station to Tokyo station

- easy to book on the SmartEX app (had to use Amex though, Visa and Mastercard did did not work)

- booked 30 days in advance

- booked green seats (business class) and reserved seats on the left hand side to see Mt. Fuji

- were able to bring on 5 carry-on luggage and 1 big luggage (no problem with overhead storage)

- cost for 6 adults, 1 child = $987.88

- chose a Nozomi 10 as it is the fastest and the newest

- took just under 2 hours to get there

- arrived Tokyo station

Hotels

- Hotel Indigo Shibuya (3 nights) - excellent hotel, good service, very new, unreal location in Shibuya, views from room - Shibuya neighbourhood feels safe, shopping restaurants. 5 minute walk to Shibuya Crossing and Shibuya Station - got a 1 King Premium High FLoor Bath Up to 3 people and 1 King Premium High Floor (new rooms, but tiny)

- Hotel Groove Shinjuku (2 nights) - excellent hotel, we stayed on 37th floor - views were unreal - stayed in Garden Suite King and Premier Suite King (big rooms) Garden Suite had a laundry machine in the room (bonus) and things were delivered via a robot

March 22

- walked around Shibuya

March 23

- Shibuya Sky - need to book way in advance, wanted the night hours, but could only get day-time, could not go outside or escalator due to weather

- took subway to Harajuku and walked around

March 24

- Disney Sea

- took subway, very easy

- get Premium access as soon as you enter the park

- rides feel short in length

- need Disney Tokyo app

March 25

- moved hotels

- walked around Shinjuku

March 26

- Team Labs Borderless - took taxi, it was pouring rain so very hard to find taxi

- cool but not needed to do again, took 1.5 hours

- entry was 12:00 - 12:30

- need to book in advance

- Team Labs Planet - took taxi from Team Labs Borderless, easier as mall had a taxi stand

- cook but not needed to do again

- have to take shoes off so kind of gross, wear pants you can roll up and stay up, water gets around calves

- entry was 4:00 - 4:30

- need to book in advance

- Team Labs Planet not in a central area, right by subway, so took subway home

- was told to download Team Labs app but did not use

March 27

- hired private driver via Viator to Narita airport (took 1.5 hours) $300CAD

Food

March 22

Lunch - Yakatori place right by the hotel (good but need to check if it is chicken liver versus chicken) - no English name, in Dogenzaka, Shibuya

Sake Tasting Place - Mirai Sake Bar in Parco Mall - all you can drink Sake for $25

Dinner - Gengki Sushi (conveyor belt sushi) - right by the hotel

Evening Drink - 209 Wine and Tapas

March 23

Breakfast - from The City Bakery in the hotel

Lunch - Din Tai Fung in Shibuya Scramble

Dinner - Sumire Shibuya Dogenzaka store (very good)

March 24

Breakfast - from The City Bakery in the hotel

Lunch - Disney Sea

Dinner - Taco Bell for kids, and Sumire Shibuya Dogenzaka for adults

March 25

Breakfast - from The City Bakery - very good

Lunch - Korean restaurant in the Kabuki Food Hall (in the hotel) - very good

Drink - Jam 17 in the hotel

Dinner - same Korean restaurant in the Kabuki Food Hall

March 26

Breakfast - Starbucks in the hotel

Lunch - Grocery in the Azabudai Hills

Dinner - Gyu Kaku in Shinjuku

March 27

Breakfast - Starbucks in the hotel

Lunch - Ramen place - Ichikakuya (very good)

General

- can use Maps on iPhone to get around

- used Google translate a lot as well as AR translator (for camera on words)

- we made no dinner reservations at all

- we did not use Suica app for the subways - we just bought tickets at the train station for each trip - pretty easy as they have English