33 Days around Japan, Korea and Taiwan

This 33-days-long trip is one that I have been planning and looking forward to since June last year. 

Right from the get go, I had my sight on Japan because it's my favourite country and I miss everything about it since my past trips in 2015 and 2016. And because long-ass trips are my vibe, Taiwan and South Korea was added to the itinerary as well.

Flight Tickets

If you look at the map, Taiwan is not too far from Korea, and Japan is only a two-hour flight away from Korea. Considering the geographic locations, it's pretty worthwhile!

Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju

One-way trips from Singapore to Taiwan via Scoot have always been pretty affordable (about S$100 odd), and the budget airlines from Taiwan-Korea and Korea-Japan ranged from about S$80 to S$150 depending on your date of travel. The budget airlines we took were T'way Air and Peach. You can check them out for if you're planning on taking the routes that we did. Even though we were travelling during the peak season (December), the prices were really affordable! The seats were a little cramped, but we did not encounter any issues with these airlines.

33-Day Itinerary 

And so... After confirming our flights, we planned our itinerary! I haven't been to Taiwan in eight years, and it was both me and Han's first time to South Korea, so we pretty much just winged it. Luckily for us, we both managed to find hosts on Couchsurfing in those two countries so having a local to guide us was extremely helpful.
It's both of our firsts on Couchsurfing, but we had a great time! I'll dwelve into our couchsurfing experience on a separate post.

Here's a brief outline of our 33-days itinerary:
Taipei - Keelueng - Seoul - Jeonju - Osaka - Nara - Hiroshima - Kinosaki Onsen - Kyoto - Shirakawa-go - Takayama - Azumino - Tokyo - Odaiba - Hakone

Gassho-Zukuri Houses, Shirakawa-go


Azumino Farms, Nagano

I have always wanted to cover the less touristy spots and I got to do so this trip. To escape the usual hustle and bustle of the cities, we went to Keeleung (Taiwan), Jeonju (Korea) and Kinosaki Onsen, Shirakawa-go, Takayama and Azumino (Japan).
Covering everything that we did for the whole 33 days is also going to make this post extremely lengthy so I'll spilt the itinerary according to the respective countries and write about them in the next couple of days. Oh and probably some highlights posts too for my favourite activities!

For now, here's just some pictures from the holiday!! I decided to tweak my post process for my travel photos this time. More pastel hues and dreamy tones just because it's Japan/Korea and the vibe just fits.

 Mihara Port, Hiroshima


Okunoshima Island, Hiroshima

Okunoshima Island, Hiroshima


Left: Mihara Station, Hiroshima
Right: Miyajima Island

Miyajima Island, Hiroshima


Left: Miyajima Island, Hiroshima
Right: Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju

Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul


Left: Samcheongdong, Seoul
Right: Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju


Left: Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju
Right: Haneul Park, Seoul


Nara Deer Park, Nara

Terakawa, Nara


Left: Osaka Castle Park, Osaka
Right: Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka


Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka 

Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka

Azumino Farm, Nagano


Left: Azumino Farm Persimmons, Nagano
Right: Shirakawa-go, Gifu


Gassho-Zukiri Houses, Shirakawa-go 


Shirakawa-go, Gifu


Chirashi Don, Tokyo


Left: Hida Beef Skewer, Takayama
Right: Jiufen Old Street, Taipei


Jiufen Old Street, Taipei


Togetsukyo Bridge, Kyoto

Arashiyama Kimono Forest, Kyoto


Owakudani, Hakone

Lake Ashi, Hakone 

Mori Building Digital Art Museum, Odaiba

Mori Building Digital Art Museum, Odaiba

So what do y'all think of the new edit? Haha. I thought it gave many of the locations a more nostalgic feel to it. It's so difficult to pick out a few photos out of the hundreds that I've worked on but these shall suffice for now.

Of all the places that we covered in the 33 days, our favourites were eating at Jiufen Old Street, meeting our couchsurfing host in Seoul, feeding the bunnies on Okunoshima Island, taking a hotspring retreat at Kinosaki Onsen, playing with snow at Shirakawa-go, catching Christmas fireworks at Hakone and the stunning light exhibition at Odaiba. Everything else that didn't make it to this list is enjoyable too. Arghhh there's just so much about the trip to miss.

If some of the location pictures piqued your interest, do keep your eyes peeled! I will write more about the specific attractions (according to the respective country's itinerary) soon. Heh.


Check out my other travel posts:
▶ 33 Days Around Japan, Korea and Taiwan
▶ Japan in December (part 1) - Christmas in Hakone 
▶ Japan in December (part 2) - Winter Wonderland in Shirakawa-go
▶ Japan in December (part 3) - Borderless Digital Art Museum
▶ Japan in December (part 4) - 5 Day Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass
▶ Japan in December (part 5) - 11 Towns and Cities in 23 Days