Hong Kong, Jeju Japan

Flights

Every leg is booked. Flights come to US$2,645.10: KL → Hong Kong through Tokyo → KL is US$1,912.20 for the two of you, plus Nadha's Malé ↔ KL at US$732.90 (US$454.00 out, US$278.90 back). Amin's Johor flights are covered by the office, and his own Malé ↔ KL tickets aren't counted here. Nothing is through-protected, so every connection has a deliberate multi-day gap.

Date	Route	Times	Status
Sun 27 Sep	Malé → Kuala Lumpur · Amin	night flight	booked
Sun 27 Sep	Kuala Lumpur → Johor Bahru · Amin, work · AirAsia AK6038 · office-paid	20:15 → 21:10	booked
Fri 2 Oct	Johor Bahru → Kuala Lumpur · Amin · Malaysia Airlines MH1034 · office-paid	06:35 → 07:35	booked
Fri 2 Oct	Malé → Kuala Lumpur · Nadha · US$454.00	lands ~19:00	booked
Sat 3 Oct	Kuala Lumpur → Hong Kong · AirAsia AK138 · US$315.20	07:15 → 11:15	booked
Mon 5 Oct	Hong Kong → Jeju · Jin Air LJ714 · US$327.40	02:00 → 06:05	booked
Thu 8 Oct	Jeju → Osaka KIX · Trinity Airways (T'way) TW331 · US$347.60	16:05 → 17:55	booked
Mon 12 Oct	Osaka UKB → Sapporo CTS · Skymark BC171 · US$197.80	07:25 → 09:15	booked
Sat 17 Oct	Sapporo CTS → Tokyo HND · Air Do HD012 · US$265.40	08:00 → 09:35	booked
Sat 24 Oct	Tokyo NRT → Kuala Lumpur · ZIPAIR ZG061 · US$458.80	16:50 → 23:40	booked
Sun 25 Oct	Kuala Lumpur → Malé · Malaysia Airlines · Nadha US$278.90	21:00 dep	booked

Malaysia27 Sep – 3 Oct

Amin's work trip, then the two of you meet in KL the night before flying out.

27 SepSunday	Amin flies Malé to KL, then the evening AirAsia to Johor Bahru from klia2.
28 SepMonday	Johor Bahru — work.
29 Sep – 1 OctTue – Thu	Johor Bahru — work.
2 OctFriday	Back in KL, shopping day. MH1034 lands 07:35. Malls open at 10 — Pavilion, Suria KLCC, Mid Valley. This is the day to buy cold-weather layers: you need them from the 12th in Sapporo, and Japanese prices in late October are steep. Nadha lands about 19:00 and taxis to the hotel. Early night — the Hong Kong flight leaves klia2 at 07:15, so be at the airport by about 05:15.Stay in the city · Bukit Bintang or KL Sentral

Hong Kong3 – 5 Oct · 2 nights

Golden Week runs 1–7 October, so everything is busier and pricier than normal. Book the two big attractions ahead.

3 OctSaturday	Fly in, harbour evening. Land 11:15, hotel by 13:00 — drop bags if the room isn't ready. Peak Tram up for sunset around 18:10 — buy a timed slot online, the walk-up queue on a Golden Week Saturday is brutal. Bus 15 from Central is the fallback. Dinner in Central or Sheung Wan.AirAsia 07:15 → 11:15 · stay Tsim Sha Tsui or Jordan
4 OctSunday	Lantau, then out. Ngong Ping 360 on the earliest slot of the day, booked in advance. Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, then the bus to Tai O fishing village. Back by 16:30, shower and collect bags. Tsim Sha Tsui for the Star Ferry and Symphony of Lights at 20:00, dinner, then Airport Express from Kowloon around 22:30.

Jeju5 – 8 Oct · 3 nights

Rent a car. The bus network will eat half your time on an island this size.

5 OctMonday	Soft day. Dawn arrival off the red-eye, and Korean check-in is rarely before 15:00. Coast road, Cheonjiyeon and Jeongbang falls, early night.Jin Air 02:00 → 06:05
6 OctTuesday	East side. Seongsan Ilchulbong at sunrise, ferry across to Udo, Manjanggul lava tube.
7 OctWednesday	South and west. Jusangjeolli columnar cliffs, Cheonjeyeon falls, then Saebyeol Oreum at golden hour for the silver grass. Swap in Hallasan if you'd rather hike.
8 OctThursday	Morning free, then the afternoon Trinity Airways (T'way) flight to Kansai. Into Namba around 19:00.Trinity (T'way) 16:05 → 17:55

Kansai8 – 12 Oct · 4 nights

Base in Osaka the whole time. Kyoto is 29 minutes by JR special rapid, which saves two hotel changes and a 5am scramble on departure day. Sports Day falls Monday the 12th, so the 10th and 11th are a domestic long weekend — hence Kyoto's big day on the Friday.

9 OctFriday	Kyoto, the heavy hitters while it's still a weekday. Fushimi Inari at 06:30 — the whole point is beating the crowds. Arashiyama bamboo grove mid-morning, then Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji.
10 OctSaturday	Osaka. Castle and Nishinomaru garden, Kuromon Ichiba for lunch, Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku, Umeda Sky at sunset, Dotonbori at night. Cities absorb holiday crowds; Kyoto's temple lanes don't.
11 OctSunday	Kyoto again, or Nara. Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, Gion at dusk, Nishiki Market. Back to Osaka for the night.
12 OctMonday	Kobe Airport (UKB), not KIX. Leave Namba around 05:30 — Hanshin to Sannomiya, then the Port Liner — for the 07:25 Skymark. Check first-train times the night before.Skymark UKB 07:25 → 09:15

Hokkaido12 – 17 Oct · 5 nights

Peak foliage at lower elevations. The high Daisetsuzan peaks will already have snow — scenery, not hiking. Skip Furano and Biei; that's a summer landscape and the fields are harvested by now.

12 OctMonday	Land 09:15. Odori Park, TV Tower, Susukino for ramen, Mt Moiwa ropeway at dusk.
13 OctTuesday	Otaru, 35 minutes by JR rapid. Canal, Sakaimachi street, sushi, glassworks.
14 OctWednesday	Hakodate on the Hokuto limited express, about 3h45. Night view from Mt Hakodate.Overnight Hakodate
15 OctThursday	Hakodate morning market, then Onuma Park — peak colour right about now. Back to Sapporo in the evening.
16 OctFriday	Noboribetsu Jigokudani or Jozankei. Both peak in late October, both are onsen towns.
17 OctSaturday	Rapid Airport around 05:50 from Sapporo Station, 37 minutes.Air Do 08:00 → 09:35

Tokyo & Fuji17 – 24 Oct · 7 nights

Book the hotel as 17–18 and 20–23, leaving your main bags there during the Fuji night. If they charge for the gap night, pay it — worth not moving luggage twice.

17 OctSaturday	Land Haneda 09:35. Shibuya Crossing, Shinjuku, Omoide Yokocho.
18 OctSunday	Senso-ji early, Skytree or a Sumida river cruise, Ueno and Ameyoko, Akihabara in the evening.
19 OctMonday	Kawaguchiko. Morning bus from Shinjuku, about 2h, reserve the seat. Chureito Pagoda for the classic shot, Oishi Park on the north shore. Fuji-facing ryokan with an onsen.Overnight Kawaguchiko · overnight bag only
20 OctTuesday	Up at 06:00 — Fuji is clearest in the first hour and often hazes over by 10. Kachi Kachi ropeway, then the afternoon bus back to Tokyo.
21 OctWednesday	teamLab (book ahead), Toyosu, Odaiba, Ginza.
22 OctThursday	Kamakura and Enoshima, or stay in town for Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, Shibuya Sky and Shinjuku Gyoen.
23 OctFriday	Nikko. Two hours from Asakusa on the Tobu limited express, first train out. Lake Chuzenji, the Irohazaka switchbacks and Kegon Falls all peak mid-to-late October, and a Friday avoids the weekend jam on that road. Toshogu on the way back.
24 OctSaturday	Leave central Tokyo by 13:00 for the Narita departure.ZIPAIR 16:50 → KL 23:40

Malaysia24 – 25 Oct

24 OctSaturday	Land KLIA Terminal 1 at 23:40. The last KLIA Ekspres is around 00:30, so have Grab ready as the fallback — roughly an hour to Bukit Bintang, about RM 90.
25 OctSunday	Shopping, then home. Souvenirs and anything you didn't want to carry for three weeks. Stay in the city rather than at the airport so you're walking distance from Pavilion. Leave for KLIA around 18:00.Malaysia Airlines 21:00 → Malé · Terminal 1, same as arrival

Hotel nights23 total

Johor Bahru 28 Sep – 1 Oct (4) KL 2 Oct (1) Hong Kong 3–4 (2) Jeju 5–7 (3) Osaka 8–11 (4) Sapporo 12–13 (2) Hakodate 14 (1) Sapporo 15–16 (2) Tokyo 17–18 (2) Kawaguchiko 19 (1) Tokyo 20–23 (4) KL 24 (1)

To book

Roughly in order of how fast things will go.

Japan visas Required on Maldivian passports, and the application wants a confirmed itinerary. Start immediately.
Confirm Jeju visa-free eligibility and whether K-ETA applies The arrangement depends on arriving on a direct flight, which yours is.
Hong Kong hotel, 2 nights Golden Week 1–7 October. Rates are climbing.
Ngong Ping 360 and Peak Tram timed tickets Check the 360 site for maintenance closures before the day.
Kawaguchiko ryokan The scarcest item on the list.
The six flights, plus prepaid baggage Flights all booked. Baggage still to prepay on the low-cost legs — only KL → Hong Kong has it included. Budget USD 200–350 for the two of you and prepay online; airport rates are brutal.
Tokyo hotel, teamLab tickets, Jeju car hire, KL hotel for the 24th
Travel insurance Seven airlines on separate tickets, nothing through-protected. A typhoon leaves you rebooking at your own cost.

Worth remembering

No JR Pass. You're flying the long legs, so it won't come close to paying for itself. Buy Shinkansen tickets individually.
Cards. Suica or Pasmo on your phones for Japan, Octopus in Hong Kong.
Temperatures. Kansai and Tokyo 18–24°C. Sapporo 8–15°C, Hakodate colder. Kawaguchiko down to about 5°C overnight.
Kyoto's autumn colour doesn't arrive until mid-November, so you'll see it green. Hokkaido, Nikko and Fuji are all at their best on your dates.
Fuji's first snowcap normally appears in early October, and autumn air is far clearer than summer — good odds for the 20th.
Zipair's Narita–KL route launches 20 October, four days before you fly it, on a single daily rotation. Watch for schedule-change emails and don't build anything tight against it.
Terminals. ZIPAIR and Malaysia Airlines use KLIA Terminal 1. AirAsia uses klia2 — that's the 27 Sep Johor flight and the 3 Oct departure to Hong Kong.