• Travel

    Tax Refund in Japan 2023

    October 27, 2023 - By 

    Those of you who have been to Japan in years previous may remember having to queue at tax counters and then at the airport tax counter. Whether or not one had money to get from the airport tax counter (as opposed to the store tax refund counter) the government officials still had to take the forms kept with or attached to your passport. Japan changed its program again, effective April 1, 2023, but the main points are still that you can do tax free shipping as a tourist, most places require at least JP¥5000 pre-tax, and consumables are sealed. Now…

  • Travel

    Nara (and the Deer)

    October 19, 2023 - By 

    Nara is a very nice town that has capitalized on the fact that the popular Nara deer reside there. Nara deer are known for being aggressive and mildly molesting humans in their pursuit of treats. As far as I can tell, one reason people still visit the deer is because the deer bow to you if you bow to them—- before they begin demanding their treats. It takes about 25 minutes to walk to Nara Kouen from the Nara Station. Some of it is uphill, but it is not very steep. There is also a bus you can take if…

  • Travel

    Using Prepaid QR Code Ticket at the Shinkansen in Japan

    October 12, 2023 - By 

    Since using our prepaid QR code ticket for Japan’s Shinkansen briefly confused us both on the way in and on the way out, maybe this will help someone else. If you used a Suica to get on a train line and then transfer to the Shinkansen, you must, in this specific order: After you have reached your destination and want to exit, you do indeed need your IC or QR code as the back of the “seat information” ticket says. The order of scanned/inserted items matters and it is: As a side note, bentos on the train end after October…

  • Travel

    The High Latitudes: EWR to YUL to NRT with Air Canada

    October 8, 2023 - By 

    In 2023, I took a higher latitude route to get to Asia. I usually take direct or a transfer in California, which is around 40 degrees latitude. My route this year took me over Canada and Alaska for roughly 65 degrees latitude. After booking, I read about how one is exposed to more radiation when flying at higher latitudes. In fact, some flight attendants were convinced that they had developed cancer from these routes. I was not entirely thrilled to learn the potential radiation detail but I was not bothered enough to cancel my current ticket and buy a different…

  • Travel

    Finding an English-Speaking Doctor in Japan

    October 6, 2023 - By 

    If you ever need to find a doctor in Japan who can communicate in English, the US Embassy in Japan maintains a list of clinics/hospitals with doctors who can communicate in English. Because we are tourists without Japanese health insurance, we pay the complete cost and possibly get reimbursed by the travel insurance or regular insurance. (For example, my current Cigna plan reimburses for emergency or urgent care). Tourists are also sometimes asked to pay upfront. Most places take card if over a minimum amount (JP¥10,000 seems to be a common minimum) or cash. It is becoming more common to…

  • Travel

    Can I Fly With Damage to my Inner Ear?

    October 6, 2023 - By 

    The answer, in my case, was “yes”. I did only have mild bruising and there was no damage to the eardrum. As for how this happened, Small Sophie helpfully woke me up with a chopstick in my ear. I grabbed it, pulled it out, fought with her over it and ultimately won (because I am much bigger and stronger than a 2-year-old even while confused and sleepy), and said, sternly, “No putting things in ears!” She cried, probably because I rarely raise my voice. In a short while, she was in her own bed and sad, because she had no…

  • Travel

    Free iTaiwan Wi-Fi in Taiwan

    September 29, 2023 - By 

    Taiwan provides free public Wi-Fi with 8Mbps bandwidth in government-run indoor public areas with the SSID (Service Set Identifier) iTaiwan. The main site to learn about this service is 首頁 | iTaiwan無線上網服務. You need to be near a government office or near some government-run area during operation hours to find the network. For example, the township building probably only runs 9-5 but the train station should run 24 hours a day. It is meant to be indoors, so signal is often weak when outdoors. (And it could be a bad actor trying to imitate iTaiwan to steal your data.) I…

  • Travel

    2023 US Passport Wait Times

    September 22, 2023 - By 

    In 2023, three members of my family had to get our US passports. The news claimed that passports were taking much longer than usual because of renewed interest in travel post-pandemic. The official website https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/processing-times.html let us know that there were indeed longer processing times: For my family, the time to receive the new passport from mail-in date ranged from 3 weeks (Tremendously quick, considering it was normal service!) to 11 weeks. The one that took 11 weeks of wait time was the last one, so we were getting a bit concerned given the others were so quick! Renewal of…

  • Travel

    How to Make Pokémon Cafe Osaka Reservations – Japan

    September 21, 2023 - By 

    There are two Pokémon Cafes in Japan: Tokyo and Osaka. They are extremely popular to the point that it is difficult, though quite possible, to get reservations. Pokémon Cafe is known more for the decor and getting to eat curry out of a snorlax’s tummy than it is for the quality of the food. In fact, I have heard rather negative reviews with regards to actual food quality here. Food presentation, on the other hand, is rated high. However, for another incentive, there is “Special” Pokémon merchandise (limit of 3) that can only be purchased during the reservation. In 2023,…