No Meat Please: Random Musings on Vegetarian Travel
Being a vegetarian is always a challenge, even at home. It can lead to awkward moments when I go to someone’s house for dinner and they’ve whipped up a nice meaty meal, and I do feel a little left out at barbecues when I’m relegated to eating the side dishes. Declining to eat meat while ...
What’s With the Bunny Obsession?
The Japanese love their cute cuddly bunnies. I don’t know why, but they’re everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. I started taking pictures of them midway through our two weeks in Japan, and I ended up with quite the collection. In Kyoto, we even stumbled upon a store with nothing but bunnies. So, without further ado, here’s ...
Wild Goose Chases
With Kyoto behind us and our remaining time in Japan ticking away, we headed to Mt. Fuji’s Five Lakes region. I had convinced Robin that it would be cool to spend a couple of days at the foot of this massive volcano, so we climbed aboard another Shinkansen and rode the rails to Mishima. There, ...
Amnesia-Free Kyoto
When we came to Japan ten years ago, Kyoto was our first stop. We may have been severely jet-lagged, but neither of us can remember what the heck we did during that visit. We don’t think we visited any temples, we kind of remember doing some shopping (but maybe not), and I think, but cannot ...
Stuck in Kanazawa
I think I must have jinxed us when, several hours into our stay in Kanazawa I remarked, “I like it here. I wish we could stay longer than just one day.” Next thing you knew, the snow was blowing like crazy and all trains to Kyoto were cancelled for at least two days. We were ...
Waiter, There’s a Snow Monkey in my Hot Tub!
In a remote park in the Japanese Alps, some unique macaques spend their days soaking in hot springs. All that’s missing is the beer.
Japan, Ten Years Later
Can there be a sharper contrast of cultures than Japan and Burma? A place where cleanliness is almost a national religion vs. one where some restaurants wash their dishes with river water and men are constantly spitting everywhere? A country with talking toilets vs. one with some of the most atrocious bathrooms that I’ve ever ...