Question is exactly as the title suggests. Will be going for my first visa run in the 2nd week of May. I have never been to Hong Kong nor have I ever been to Tokyo. Was wondering everyone’s opinions on each of the cities. Which one do you think I should visit on on my 1st ever visa run. Let me say I will be staying 1 week in either of the cities. Again, I know everyone will have different opinions and there is no right answer. Just would love to hear everyone else’s opinions on the two places if you have been there. Thanks!
Since you plan on going for a week, If money is not an issue (or not a big one) go to Tokyo. There will be lots of chances to go to Hong Kong, which is closer, smaller, and cheaper.
Thanks for the input! I am definitely leaning towards Tokyo as I do love tradition, culture, and pleasurable/friendly people. I think Hong Kong might not be my cup of tea exactly from some things I heard recently. So I think Tokyo will be my first Journey.Anyone else wanting to comment though please feel free! thanks a lot!
In all likelihood you may be making several visa runs in the course of a year on the rock. So why not do Tokyo on one of them and Hong Kong on another, and someplace else on a third, etc?
Why do I think this is funny? [/quote]
I was kind of thinking that, too. I wouldn’t pick Tokyo for tradition, culture or pleasurable/friendly people. Tokyo = chaos. If you would like to see more traditional Japanese culture, the Kansai area of Japan (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Otsu/Lake Biwa) is the tradition/culture/historical center of Japan. I lived on Lake Biwa for a year back in college and visited Tokyo a couple times, but didn’t care for it much. Kansai is far more pleasant.
When you say “visa run”, are you just resetting the 60-day clock on your visitor visa, or will you need to get a new visa? Will you enter on a landing visa or did you get a tourist visa, and if so, is it single or multiple entry? If you actually need to get a new visa, I understand there is a TECO office in Osaka ( boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=%20 … e=125&mp=2 ), but I don’t know how their service is.
to answer Craig’s question…I have a 5 year multiple entry 60 day visa thankfully. so its just resetting the clock per se. I cant believe it but I booked my flight for Tokyo the morning of yesterday and the earthquake hit last night. And I bought it on cheaptickets.com so they usually are not too easy to give refunds for the flights. So I might be stuck with it. However, I think 2 months from now when I go to Tokyo things should be better.
Perhaps one-way tickets to Tokyo have some kind of discount, but everything going the other way is probably sold out.[/quote]
On the other hand, hotels there may well be begging for customers.
I have a 60 renewable visa because I finished a contract on December 31st, went back to the States, spent January with the family and I’m now waiting to start work. On the last of March my 60 day visa needed automatic renewal so I flew to Manila from Kaohsiung. The fare was high, $416USD. It would be cheaper and much farther away to fly to Bangkok. TPE Bangkok round trip/return cost me $350USD, the last time I flew there. I went to Manila because on TripAdvisor.com I saw a great hotel Berjaya and a fantastic deli supermarket Rustan’s in Makati, 30 minutes from the Manila airport.
There are so many foods that in Taiwan either are unavailable, low quality or outrageously priced. So I stocked up on all my favorite Italian meats and cheeses. The deli manager had everything sliced in individual packets so they’ll keep fresh longer. I also bought my favorite chocolates. Green olives and dill pickles here are really overpriced, so I bought 3 quart jars of each, dumped the liquid and placed these into quart freezer bags. The dill pickles here are from Turkey and they’re spongy, not crisp. I hate the dill pickles available here! They’re made with sugar. Ugh!
Now, if you need to go to a Taiwan ‘Office’ and apply for a visitor visa, don’t go to Manila. Actually, I believe they’re called Taipei offices there, since China doesn’t allow Taiwan to be considered a separate country. I’m told the Taiwan Office reps in Manila are rude and don’t give out visitor visas readily. Go to Macau because it’s cheapest in flight, Macau is very small, so the Taiwan Office is easy to find. Macau is cheaper than HK, both in flight cost, hotel cost and food. But remember, if you want your visa expedited, you will pay 50% more! It’s a real money-making enterprise.
Yes they are, I just purchased my ticket from LAX to Taipei last week for travel in Mid May through Early June and the cheapest was on ANA via Narita. My in laws will be flying standby and they are also going through Narita and all the flights in and out are empty. I think people are afraid of the radiation and potentially another earthquake and getting stuck. I don’t worry about those things because either way I’m flying over Japan and I’m not too concerned with earthquakes because I have no control over when they strike. One could hit while I’m in Taiwan too and I could get stranded but I don’t think about those things but I think a lot of Americans do.
I didn’t know where else to do this and didn’t really want to start a new thread but it’s somewhat on par with what the OP started. If I wanted to buy a ticket to HK would I be better off waiting till I got to Taiwan or should I buy one ahead of time?
thanks!