Mandalay and area U Bein Bridge, Mandalay Longest teak bridge in the world….as if the world was filled with teak bridges Stuck in the dustbowl town ( they all are) of Moanywa, I scraped bottom. In retrospect going from Japan to Myanmar, and glued to your wingman 24/7 to solo was a leap I didn’t […]
World Toilet Day, November 19, 2015 From a public health and quality of life perspective, Al Jazeera TV showed some of the world’s worst toilets. I think I’ve already left my mark on a few with the worse to come in India. At this moment in the table behind me a woman is hammered with […]
Less than a week and two countries ago, Trish and I parted from each other and also jettisoned from Japan, one of the most mono-cultural countries. She’s back in Canada, and I’ve just left Malaysia, which was only supposed to be an acclimatization for Myanmar. But I spent the better part of three days glued […]
Compared to Tokyo and Kyoto, Osaka doesn’t merit much of a sniff if you’re into Japanese history, culture and art. Where Tokyo is reserved and worldly, Kyoto is elegant and snotty, Osakans are Newfies by comparison. Supposedly food and shopping demons, they’re also into manufactured fun. The comic capital of Japan, it’s also home to […]
This is the hardest entry to write. We’ve only a few days left, having just left Kyoto for Osaka. After Kyoto anything else in Japan already feels anti-climatic. Our minds are also elsewhere….Myanmar and home as Trish soon hits the eject button and we separate for at least two months. Where Tokyo is brash and […]
We open this blog the only way we can, with the tragedy of Hiroshima, which has since become a miracle through its rebirth and renaissance. Not the warmest pict, but perhaps the most poignant. This bike belonged to a boy just a month shy of his fourth birthday. He was incinerated by the blast. His […]
This blog features food, fun and festivals. Well in Japan that’s many days. But our Couchsurfing Host Aki’s pretty extraordinary. We can tell you he’s overly generous, humble, non-confrontational, etc to a fault (more later). But he’s on a mission to spread Couchsurfing across Japan. He’s got a blog going and a book deal about […]
Kanazawa We contrast Tokyo’s brash, in your face megalopolis with ‘small town’ Kanazawa, a city on the west coast known for its old districts, and one of Japan’s best gardens, and for us—a 4 bunk bed hostel with info to help us make some sort of itinerary for the next four weeks. A tori gate […]
Culture shock, getting lost in translation,…we were warned. But after the chaos of Rome, we were met with everything being clean, impossibly efficient, courtesy, politenes, and unheard of customer service. Even the sushi in the 7-11 was yummy. This was in the airport. The only shock has been how wonderful traveling Japan is (Living here? […]
Epic view from our rented Pigneto apt: Epic meltdown It’s a perfect storm—PMS, fatigue, nothing in the way of predictability and routines, late nights, food deprivation for long periods while we sight see, raucous noise, pollution, everybody around us smoking… Trish blows and has her customary trip meltdown. Then of course she feels guilty for holding […]