Those fog pics are unreal!!! Great pics! What are you using to capture them?

The next day brings us to our next destination: Tokyo! After a short walk over to main station, we stopped by the Yamazaki for a quick breakfast on the go before taking the Taoyuan MRT to TPE.

The clouds did all the work for me-all I had to do was be there in the weather to take the pictures! I shot with both an iPhone XS and my old Canon T2i/550D.

The next day I had arranged for us to meet one of our friends around lunch, so we were left to fend for ourselves in the morning. We made a habit of frequenting the convenience stores throughout Tokyo for anything and everything, and this this included breakfast. Since we had three mornings in Tokyo, we would sample each of the major three convenience store brands for their onigiri offerings for breakfast each morning. The first morning we stopped at the nearby Family Mart, where I picked up a mackerel onigiri along with some juice for breakfast. What's neat about how the onigiri is packaged is that there is a plastic layer between the nori (seaweed) and the rice to keep the rice from soaking the nori. Overall this was an excellent convenience store breakfast before we headed out to explore.

Great report so far, and very excited for further updates!

When I was most recently in Tokyo this last year, I noticed the amount of available trash cans had dropped as well. Asking a local friend, their explanation was that in preparation for the 2020 Olympics they've been removing them from most public areas as they're common targets for vandals (or worse).

The next morning was yet another convenience store onigiri breakfast; this time at 7-11. In addition to the spicy cod roe onigiri I picked up a lemon doughnut and another juice box.

Thank you popperj. That sounds reasonable-perhaps I should have been paying more attention on my previous trip a couple of years ago to see if I would have noticed this time around :p

The next morning had an early wake-up call due to a morning flight out of Narita and our AirBnb being on the wrong side of Tokyo from the airport. After taking the JR train and Keisei Skyline to NRT we settled into another 7-11 breakfast from the landside location in terminal 2.

Great TR. I would love to have a chance to visit Taipei (a very underrated city, in my opinion)
Good luck with your upcoming trip in Scoot. Surviving longhaul LCC with a crappy seat and no IFE isn't easy at all.

Congrats on the PHD, this is definitely the right way to celebrate. I really need to make it to Taipei after seeing your pics, it looks beautiful even in the rain.

Appreciate you sharing the food options as well.

Congrats on the PhD and thank you for sharing this great trip report ^

Before leaving on this trip I had booked us on a trip to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Originally I had also wanted to book a joint security area (JSA), which has the blue houses, but JSA tours generally require much more advanced booking. However DMZ tours can generally be bookable close-in. Tours to the DMZ and the JSA are heavily regulated by the government. Seats are limited and all visitors must travel as part of a tour and have their documentation examined along the way. We booked our tour with VIP travel, one of several agencies that offers DMZ and JSA tours.

Our tour was a half day morning tour of the DMZ, leading to an 8AM pickup at the nearby metro station. Unfortunately the effects of the typhoon once again followed us to Seoul, where it was generally a really muggy day with low visibility. With such an early pick-up breakfast consisted of a sad Starbucks muffin.
We boarded our bus soon after and met our wonderful tour guide Jenny. After all the other passengers arrived we quickly on our way for the short drive towards the DMZ and North Korea. Our first stop was Imjingak Park. Since it is just outside of the DMZ it can be accessed by South Koreans, particularly during important cultural events. At Imjingak there are a number of installations at the site, such as the Freedom Bridge and the bullet-riddled locomotive damaged during the war.
After Imjingak we entered the DMZ security checkpoint where a soldier boarded the bus and examined the passengers and our passports. South Koreans are generally restricted from accessing teh DMZ aside from the military and residents of the few villages in the DMZ. After clearing the checkpoint we headed over to the 3rd infiltration tunnel. After the cold war numerous tunnels built by North Korea were discovered and this tunnel has been built out to accommodate visitors (though photography inside the tunnels is prohibited). Walking into the tunnel is easy, but as you approach the border the tunnel narrows and the ceiling drops significantly with the occasional hard hat hitting the ceiling. A concrete wall is placed several hundred meters from the border itself, at which we turn around and head back towards the surface. The walkway in and out of the tunnel is at about eleven degrees and they do encourage you not to go down if you are unable to handle physical activity.
Our third stop of the morning was Dora observatory where, on most days, you can see the JSA and the North Korean city of Kaesong. Of course since it was really cloudy...
To wrap up the tour we headed to Dorasan station. It's the last South Korean stop of the envisioned Trans-Korean Railway and there is actually one daily train that heads between Dorasan and Seoul. Otherwise the station is mostly ceremonial to symbolize the reunification of the peninsula. Unfortunately it is now officially discouraged (and perhaps prohibited outright) to get the Dorasan stamp in your passport.
As we returned to Seoul the skies opened up a bit and gave us increased visibility, albeit from a bus instead of an observation tower.
After returning to Seoul we took a late lunch at Tosokchon, which specializes in ginseng chicken. I ordered a silkie chicken, which has dark skin and it was very good if a little dry.
With a slight break in the clouds we decided that we had an opportunity to visit the N Seoul Tower, which is the second highest building in Seoul. The tower is accessed via a gondola via an angled elevator.
Before going up to the top there's this odd light room which seems to serve no real purpose. Once at the top the sky remained relatively clear and we were offered lovely views around Seoul.
Back at the bottom we stopped for a couple of snacks while walking around the area.
Since the bottom of the angled elevator is near a Shinsegae department store my friend wanted to do some more shopping, so I ended up finding more snacks.
We didn't really have anything planned for the rest of the day so we ended up just wandering around and ended up at Dongdaemun night market, a clothing market known for its marked yellow tents. Unfortunately we were early while everyone set up since the market doesn't really get going until the later evening into the night.
Around the corner from the market is apM Place, which seems to be more of a wholesale department store. There were large gray bags everywhere and staff preparing tons of shipments. It was at least a bit of a difference compared to other department stores.
Since we were getting into the evening we were starting to get a bit hungry. Since we had been to the DMZ early in the day we were able to find a North Korean restaurant, Pyeongyang Myeonok, that specialized in the naengmyeon cold noodle dish. I found the dish to be alright, though it was really noodle heavy and the chili paste, the primary flavor, really sneaks up on you as well.

Thank you antebellum. Taipei is a really great city to visit. Scoot on the other hand...not as great :p

Thank you HLT1904. The rain is much better experienced through a photograph than in person XD

Thank you Madone59-we've only just gotten started so far!

That looked a great trip to the DMZ.

The next day began with a drizzle that would basically persist throughout the entire day. After rolling out we headed over to Isaac Toast, a Korean toast chain. Toast seems to be yet another one of the interesting things that have taken hold in Korea. The Issac Toast location near our AirBnB was basically a walk-up window with a griddle making toast. I ordered a chicken MVP toast with a sparkling watermelon juice. The toast itself was absolutely delicious and definitely worth a stop any time of the day.
After a satisfying breakfast we headed over to Gyeongbokung, the main palace of the Josun dynasty and the largest of the five grand palaces. Built in 1395, much of the palace has been destroyed over time, particularly by Japan, but has been carefully restored to its original form. There are also many people, primarily Chinese tourists, wearing the traditional Korean Hanbok, as that allows for free entry into the palace as well. While we didn't go out to rent a Hanbok, we did enter the rather large palace grounds to explore amid the occasional showers.
While we were about to leave we happened to chance upon the changing of the guard that happens on the hour throughout most of the day. I especially appreciated the use of traditional instruments and the unique sounds afforded by their use.



After the ceremony we were looking for a late lunch at Chamsookgul and managed to have lunch just before the restaurant's closure between lunch and dinner. They offered a lovely bibimbap, but it was accompanied by a chilled pickle juice soup which was...a bit odd.
After lunch we headed over to Bukchon Hanok Village, which is known for showcasing a neighborhood in an older style. However I found it mostly to be a bit more hype than substance and seemed to be mostly for the Instagrammers. The area is known more for the long street that goes up the hill, though I will admit that it's a decent view.



And then it started pouring...which is kind of the central theme of the trip. We walked a bit further down the hill and found refuge at Café Bora for a delicious purple sweet potato ice cream to wait out this spell of heavy rain.
It cleared up after a while and after leaving the café we accidentally ended up in Insadong, a pedestrian neighborhood lined with shops left and right. We wandered throughout the district exploring the alleys and nooks while generally passing on window shopping. We also discovered the kimchi museum but unfortunately it was already closed at the time.
As it was approaching dinner, we stopped by Bukchon San Mandu, which is primarily a lunch place serving Korean dumplings. We ordered the sampler platter and I found the dumplings to be good, if a bit greasy. The kimchi dumplings seem to be a bit of an acquired taste though.
And because dessert calories don't count while you're on vacation (and mostly because I was still hungry) we headed for dessert at a nearby Sulbing, a chain specializing in bingsu (Korean shaved ice). I was so hungry that we ended up getting two desserts and they definitely hit the spot.
Now since we were traveling with carry-on bags, this was the point where I needed to do laundry (whereas my friend did some in Japan). I had an interesting time trying to figure out the Korean washing machine, and what I didn't realize was that the "hot" wash cycle meant 60C, not around 40C. So unfortunately I actually managed to melt the logo off of one of my shirts but otherwise everything else managed to somehow come out fine...