With an intention to experience travel with friends, I get the opportunity to travel with friends in both Japan and Taiwan. I’m thankful that the schedule worked out so well that I’m able to spend time with different sets of friends in both countries. I’m appreciative of the opportunity to experience with and make memories with all of them. So if you’ve spent any time to read my blog through these countries, Thank You! Alternatively if you have not but would like to, you can check out the whole trip here. Otherwise below are my thoughts to wrap up the entire trip.
Top 3 Highlights
Highlight #1: Live Jazz in Fukuoka
Japan has a very cool and unique jazz scene. It’s always been something I’ve wanted to experience on my many visits to the country. Fortunately, during my visit to Fukuoka I finally had the chance to visit a live jazz club. The setting is intimate, the music is awesome and sharing similar interests with fellow attendees makes for a wonderful evening. I’m glad I set aside some time to attend as it’s a memory I’m going to hang onto until my next visit to Japan. I expect I’ll probably seek out other clubs in the future!
Highlight #2: Chilling in BeppuÂ
After connecting with my friends in Beppu, we spend a few days enjoying the city. I think that a lot of cities in Kyushu have a much more chill vibe to them and Beppu is a prime example of this. Having spent time in the big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, the lifestyle in Beppu is much more relaxed. During our time in Beppu, we enjoy several visits to the onsens, delicious kaiseki meals at our ryokan and lots of great new experiences travelling with Salmonella, Touchpad, Chef and their family. Sufficed to say, given the opportunity I wouldn’t hesitate to visit Beppu again.
Highlight #3: Exploring Tainan
Tainan was nowhere on my radar when I set out on this trip. On the itinerary it was primarily to tag along with Lebron and Antetokounmpo on their larger Taiwan vacation. After taking the highspeed rail from Taipei to Tainan I have a day and a half to explore. And in that short time I feel like I didn’t have enough time. Similar to Beppu in Japan, it has a very different vibe to the much larger Capital city of Taipei. It’s a bit more relaxed and has a lot of cool streets to wander down and through. The food is also extremely delicious and given that a lot of my trips are governed by my belly, Tainan offers a lot of delicious options. Whenever I leave a place thinking I need to revisit in the future, it’s usually a great indicator of it being highlight worthy! Â
Favourite Meal
While a trip through Japan and Taiwan is bound to have multiple memorable meals. The one that seems to stick out to me the most is the lunch at Win Chang Beef Soup. And in particular the Beef Fried Rice. While not extravagant or particularly adventurous, there’s something about that rice that sticks with me to this day. It’s a simple fried rice but has a great flavour to it and I remember it being very satisfying on that day. Throw in the rest of the other tasty dishes that we ordered and you have the makings of one of my favourite meals on this trip!
If I could change the itinerary…
I would probably allot more time in Taiwan. Due to the flight availability, I only had roughly four days in Taiwan. And there’s so much to do in the country. I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what this country has to offer. After returning home, I see a lot of media about things I didn’t get a chance to see or do whilst there. It only adds to the list of things I need to check out when I have a chance to return. In addition to this, being able to explore this place with good friends makes it extra special. And due to scheduling we probably didn’t get as much time together as we would have liked. So adding a few extra days to the tail end of this itinerary would have probably been prudent.
What surprised me?
How crazy busy Expo in Osaka is. Prior to my visit I read about the crowds and the lines for this event. But part of me hopes that since I’m visiting closer to the end of the almost year long event, some of the hype may die down. However, upon arriving I am taken aback by how many people would go and how many are allowed in. The site is expansive, but there didn’t seem to be enough areas for seating. Every exhibition had a massive multi hour lineup. And even food services would be upwards of an hour wait. Having visited an Olympic games, it felt like this major world event didn’t appropriately anticipate how many people would come. The companion mobile app which is suppose to help with reserving places in line never worked for me. So after a few attempts I gave up on visiting any venue except for the Canadian one, as I’m a Canadian Citizen. I think with all my excitement for attending, the logistical let down is what is surprising, especially in Japan. That being said, I still make the best of my time there and did appreciate how grand the site is. And IÂ really did enjoy walking the grand ring and seeing everything from above.
One memorable story from this trip
On one of the evenings in Osaka, Chef and Touchpad’s family and I set out to visit a ramen shop that came highly recommended by one of Chef’s friends. We set out from our hotel on night to find it. The whole time I couldn’t shake the idea that this place felt familiar. We line up, get seated and eat the delicious ramen that we order. It wasn’t until after looking through old trip photos and some old blog posts that I realized! This is the Osaka branch of one of my previous favourite restaurants in Tokyo! The restaurant is Kagari Honten and I frequented this restaurant multiple times on my 2023 trip to Japan. It’s funny how my recall for things like this to be both on and off at the same time!
Did I pack appropriately?
Yes, kind of. One of the things I picked up on while travelling through Fukuoka is how essential an umbrella is. Normally when I travel I’ll pack a bit of water proof or water repellent gear in the event the weather gets rainy. However I notice that In Japan there seems to be far less raincoats and much more umbrellas. I ended up buying a small compact umbrella and spend a few rainy days with regular clothes and the umbrella vs. simply putting on all my wet weather gear. It makes for a bit more comfortable way to explore a city. Especially in warm but wet climates, having waterproof but maybe not as breathable layers on makes for an uncomfortable time. But dressing for the temperature but also having an umbrella on had to stay dry will probably be a consideration for me moving forward.
Regrets?
On my last evening in Tainan, after dinner I split with Antetokounmpo and Lebron to go to our respective accommodations. It was still somewhat early in the evening, and after my very enjoyable night of Jazz in Fukuoka, I did look into checking out a local Jazz club in Tainan as well. However, after a day of walking around in the sun, I didn’t feel like I had the energy to go. To this day, I still wonder what it would have been like had I gone. It would have been neat to compare it and bookend my trip with visits to different live music venues. So my regret is not checking it out and now wondering what new experiences I might have missed out on.
Advice for people considering similar trips/destinations?
Japan and Taiwan are both rightfully popular tourist destinations world wide. They both have distinct culture, cuisine, attractions that can suit anyone’s interests and tastes. However, I think that when most people think of Japan they probably think of Tokyo and Osaka or for Taiwan, Taipei. While these cities are very worthwhile destinations, I think a lot of my highlights have come from lesser known cities like Fukuoka, Beppu and Tainan. While not completely obscure they aren’t the household tourist city names that most will go to. And I think my advice would be to try and make it out to these less focused on cities. They offer much of the same culture, cuisine and attractions and often a more authentic experience as well. I’ve been fortunate to visit Japan on multiple occasions. And more and more, I find myself looking into more of the less talked about cities and enjoying them thoroughly.
Final thoughts?
The intention of this trip is to spend time travelling with friends. And having all the logistics and schedules fall into place to allow it to happen is a pretty big blessing! Then embarking on this journey and spending time with two young families and a friend who will spend the next year in Japan is pretty special. I’m thankful for all the memories we’ve collected over the course of these past three weeks. Travel is something that’s a big part of my life and being able to experience it with close friends is very rewarding! So with that I’d like to share a deep sense of appreciation for Touchpad, Chef, Salmonella, Antetokounmpo, Lebron and their families for allowing me to tag along with them on their vacations. These will be experience I’ll hold onto for a long time!
As with all trips I get to go on, the reflection always results in a strong sense of gratitude. Not only am I blessed to have the health and means to travel, but I’m also fortunate to have a community of friends around me that allow me the opportunity to share in their experiences abroad as well. The shared experiences, memories, laughs, chats, and overall camaraderie are things I love getting out of these trips. And with that, I am putting another wonderful Minion trip to rest. Onto the next one!
A very memorable trip!