The weather forecast looked good again today so we headed to Maokong, a mountainous area just at the edge of Taipei, after breakfast at the Grand Hyatt. We ended up checking out a few temples, enjoyed the scenery, and bought some local tea as Maokong is a historic tea producing area.
Continue reading “Tea and Temples at Maokong”Sandiaoling and Shifen
After waking up at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, we had a nice buffet breakfast downstairs. We decided to head out to Sandiaoling for a waterfall hike based on today’s favorable weather forecast. Afterwards, we spent the afternoon at Shifen where there is a much larger waterfall as well as an extremely busy old street area. We ended our day back in Taipei at Taipei 101.
Continue reading “Sandiaoling and Shifen”ANA First Class from ORD to NRT
We had the opportunity, thanks to United MileagePlus, to upgrade to First Class on ANA flight 11 from ORD to NRT while on our way to TPE. The flight was fantastic, both in terms of the seat and service provided. There were some pre-flight reservation issues that threatened to derail the flight, though luckily we had planned a long enough connection at ORD that it was not an issue.
Continue reading “ANA First Class from ORD to NRT”Tokyo Imperial Palace East Gardens
After waking up at the Hyatt Place Kyoto one last time, we returned to Tokyo via Shinkansen. We had some time before our flight from Haneda so we visited the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, near Tokyo Station. After a nice lunch nearby and some more snacking at the ANA Lounge at Haneda, we end our fantastic 11 night trip to Japan!
Continue reading “Tokyo Imperial Palace East Gardens”Enko-ji, Shisen-do, and the Shimogamo-jinja
Our last full day in Kyoto! After waking up at the Hyatt Place Kyoto, we headed out to visit Enko-ji and Shisen-do nearby. We also made a late lunch reservation for Kani Doraku‘s nearby location. Afterwards, we ended the day with a visit to the Shinto Shimogamo-jinja.
Continue reading “Enko-ji, Shisen-do, and the Shimogamo-jinja”