Definitely NOT safe to eat food or drink.

better bring all your food + drink supplies from Msia

I can vouch for how comfortable the AA premium seats are; if you can afford it and am willing to pay for it- go for it.

I was given a comforter and not the blanket you see in this pic, to use on the flight.

Good service from flight attendants as well.

Is this haze an annual occurence in these areas? Like our haze festivsl?

But haze an annual occurrence over the South Korea / Japan region? I have heard of the haze problem in China but didnt realize it carries over to SK/Japan.

I've not considered this before and am planning another trip to Japan/South Korea, so any information would be appreciated.

I dont speak any Japanese and it was fine for me to travel in Japan.

However, I printed travel phrases to bring along. If you have a smartphone that will work in Japan, there's translation apps.

Younger Japanese have a reasonable grasp of English; their accent is different to ours and I'm sure our accent is hard for them to understand too. Just being polite and patient helps a lot.

Those who didnt understand English or were shy to speak it - just whipped out their smartphones and we had "translation app" conversations

If you need information/directions at train/bus stations, always ask the staff who will have the correct information. Bystanders or passer-bys may sincerely wish to help you but they may not have the correct information.

But be careful, not everyone in a uniform works at the train station. On my way back to Osaka from Sapporo and I was being lazy - didnt want to look at signboards and just wanted someone to guide / direct me.

I spotted a guy in a blue uniform on the platform and I asked him the directions to the shinkansen platform. He said sorry, he didnt know - I thought he didnt understand me so I asked again. Same reply. Asked again.

He was a pilot traveling on the same train.

Does haze occur every year in Japan?

Over what months?