Myaen Verzosa

We worked with Myaen who was very accommodating of my preferences and questions. I traveled with my 2 teenage girls throughout Japan, and we wanted something we'd all enjoy - meaning very few temples and lots of teen-friendly activities. We also wanted to experience traditional accommodations and lots of great food. Myaen came through with meeting all of our requests, and her team was available to help navigate through issues once we were in the country. Had a good experience overall!

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Kanazawa

Kanazawa

We really liked the smaller town, and it was a good way to start the trip by getting used to transportation and customs of Japan.

Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shirakawa-gō

Japan

This was one of our favorite sites in Japan because at the time of our visit, we didn't have to be among too many other tourists. We also enjoyed seeing the traditional homes and roaming through them at our own pace.

Traditional Tea Ceremony wearing a Kimono

Japan

This was our favorite activity. Not only did we enjoy putting on the kimonos, but we also loved learning about the meaning behind the ceremony and the picture taking opportunities in the gardens.

Day trip to Nara

Kyoto

Very cool to interact with the deer and to be in a peaceful forest setting.

Izakaya Food Tour

Tokyo

The tour and district were a bit too "adult" for my teens who could not participate in the saki tastings and perhaps didn't need to see the redlight district. Otherwise, the food was good and plentiful.

Get close to Mount Fuji at Kawaguchiko

Tokyo

It was a beautiful view from the bottom of the hill, as we did not make the climb to the temple at the top. We were already tired from the trip to begin with, and wished we would have known there were 500+ steps to climb. Instead, we took pictures from the viewpoint at the bottom and enjoyed the soft serve ice cream sold there.

Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo

It was a great visit, and it was good that we went when it opened in the morning before it got too busy. It started filling up quickly after that.

Tsukiji Fish Market Visit with Sushi Making Experience

Tokyo

Our guide clearly wanted us to have a good experience and tried to make the most of a very hot day. She made sure to give us breaks in air-conditioned parts of the market and provided electrolyte candies to make sure we were not overcome by the heat. We enjoyed trying the free samples and looking for the treats my kids had heard about on the internet. The private sushi-making class was also good and happened at our own pace.

Our family vacation to Japan was fantastic and Myaen was so thoughtful and did a great job of conceiving and preparing a trip that had the right balance of guides and self-exploration as well the right mix of contemporary / modern Japan and traditional sights.

Throughout the trip our guides (Junko, Haruki, Momoko and others) were quite amazing and did a great job of catering a tour to our needs that day.

Activity Reviews

Izakaya Food Tour

Tokyo

Our guide Haruki did a great job of creating a fun welcoming atmosphere and took us to some fantastic places in Kabukicho.

Quality of Experience

Our guide (Haruki?) was amazing and the food was fantastic! Exceeded my expectations.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Haruki was amazing.

Sumo Practice Viewing in Tokyo

Tokyo

I thought we would be touring an actual sumo stable. Instead we got a fairly sanitized sumo exhibition with slapstick comedy. The show itself was fun but much less authentic than we were expecting. .

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tsukiji Fish Market Visit with Sushi Making Experience

Tokyo

An excellent tour of the “old” Tsukkiji fish market area. Sampling the fresh fish was quite amazing. But overall was a bit disappointed by the size of the market and how touristy the experience was.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Traditional Kyoto Tour

Japan

Our guide Junko was quite phenomenal. It was unbearably hot in Kyoto the days we were there and Junko did a Teriffic job of adjusting the itinerary to accommodate for the heat. She offered up a new sequence of temple visits to be outdoors during the early AM and then offered some new indoor outings for us in the PM.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Junko was a fabulous tour guode who accommodated my family when my son was not feeling well.

The Golden Pavilion and Magnificent Views in Arashiyama

Kyoto

Our guide Junko was quite phenomenal. It was unbearably hot in Kyoto the days we were there and Junko did a Teriffic job of adjusting the itinerary to accommodate for the heat. She offered up a new sequence of temple visits to be outdoors during the early AM and then offered some new indoor outings for us in the PM.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Junko was a fabulous guide.

Leo was a very good guide. He was most helpful in getting to and from the various sites. He was knowledgeable and patient with us. The food tours and the guides were also excellent

The overall trip was great. The first three days in Tokyo were relatively unplanned, but Myaen offered wonderful suggestions for visiting sights. We enjoyed having the unscheduled time. Leo, our tour guide in Kyoto, was knowledgeable and friendly. Visiting Nara was one of the highlights of our tour. The bowing deer were adorable and the Toda-ji Temple was my favorite temple. I also thought the Golden Pavillion in Arashiyama and the Bamboo Forest were trip highlights. The Iwatayama Monkey Park was not my favorite experience, the trek up is rigorous for minimal interaction and is very crowded. Our favorite guide was Ako, who took us to Miyajima Island. She was a thoughtful, knowledgeable guide, even bringing tea and snacks up to the top of the mountain for us to enjoy the beautiful view.

We requested a minimum of four-star hotels, and they were, for the most part, very nice. The hotel in Hakone, Hakone Airu, is traditional and a beautiful facility. The food was amazing! In a traditional hotel room, we slept on mats and didn't have raised seating, which might be physically uncomfortable. The ensuite onsen was delightful. I wish we had more time in the town because it was truly charming.

My least favorite hotel was the Hotel Vishio, only because the hotel had no restaurant or bar. The shared baths were very nice, and the room was large and comfortable, but since we were out all day on tours, we could have used some on-site dining. It is conveniently located across from a shopping center with a large Don Quixote (worth checking out).

I highly recommend the JR pass. Taking the trains was incredibly easy, affordable, and comfortable. Be sure to have your passports to make seat reservations through the kiosk.

Having your passport for shopping is also necessary because many stores will not charge tax if you have your passport.

Kim Kim did an amazing job of planning, organizing, and communicating both before and during our trip to Japan. Myaen was always in contact wanting to ensure that we were prepared and understood our timetable. We would absolutely use Kim Kim again in the future.

We had the greatest trip. We had enough going on everyday but not too much that we felt overwhelmed or rushed. We had a good variety of activities. Myaen was the greatest. We planned everything together, gave me all the information I needed and checked in on us periodically through the trip. Couldn’t have asked for a better time in Japan and we are so excited to return!

Our trip to Japan. Kim Kim and Myaen

We had heard a lot about this unique country, Japan, for various reasons while we visited so many, many countries across the globe, we could travel to Japan only in October 2023. KimKim as travel agent was suggested as ideal by our son Ashwin, he and his wife , Priyanka Roy, frequently use the services of this agency and had always found them to deliver very well. So we went on to the website and filled in our details and requirements. We were give Myaen as coordinator for our ten day trip. From then on Myaen was super active. She suggested an itinerary and addressed every concern we had. If the budget was going beyond our expectations, she edited some of the items, every which way Myaen made every effort to tailor our trip to our needs. For Hakone she felt we would do well to have a guide with us for a day. Akira, an English speaking guide was a God send, but for her, we would never have enjoyed and seen Hakone the way we did. Every hotel that Myaen booked for us, each little activity , be it the tea ceremony or the calligraphy session was most enjoyable and gave us great insight into the culture of the country. Also the day to day itinerary Myaen had suggested, we followed it almost to the end and we were never disappointed. She was also on the phone to convey immediate messages and extremely prompt to respond to our very many queries no matter what time of the day. A most memorable trip in all, many thanks to KimKim and Myaen.
Our only disappointments, again not to do with KimKim or Myaen …..the inability to communicate with most people, including the hotel staff , as they barely spoke or understood English, and the absolute lack of vegetarian food. Hotels had been informed, but they could at best only provide a few variants in bread and sometimes, salad.

Jaya and Narayana Ramanathan

Hotel Reviews

karaksa hotel TOKYO STATION

front desk was helpful, could speak english, which is more than front desk staff in the other hotels. despite prior intimation that we were vegetarians, they made little effort to provide any veg food except bread.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakonenomori Okada

Hakone

front desk least helpful. no drinking water in the room was shown a vending machine and asked to buy. coulnt even arrange for a taxi the previous evening. however, they did make an effort to provide us vegetarian food for dinner.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

SAKURA TERRACE THE GALLERY

Kyoto

communication was imposible with the front desk. refused to make any changes in their dishes to give us veg.food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel GrandBach Tokyo Ginza

Tokyo

as always no communication was possible.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Activity Review

Explore Hakone

Japan