Kobe Trip: Day
Since coming back from Korea my health has gone downhill and work has piled up, so I’ve hardly gone anywhere for fun or to eat out. After two weeks of that, I really felt like getting away somewhere. So …
Since coming back from Korea my health has gone downhill and work has piled up, so I’ve hardly gone anywhere for fun or to eat out. After two weeks of that, I really felt like getting away somewhere. So …
Tsuwano is a town with a long history. Around here it’s also called “Little Kyoto,” and tourists come flocking every day. Sweetfish (ayu) was the main reason for the trip, but since I’d…
This was my third visit to the Adachi Museum of Art. Having been there so often, the garden doesn’t move me the way it did the first time, but the artworks change every season, so there’s always so…
I went to Cu Chi, famous as a Viet Cong guerrilla base during the Vietnam War. It’s about two hours from Ho Chi Minh City. The road to Ha Long Bay was narrow and poorly paved, so it felt much farther tha…
Ha Long Bay has a large limestone cave. It’s a bit better than the ones in Okinawa, but not as good as Akiyoshidai. The bigger problem is that it’s terribly managed, so while it’s impressive,…
About three to four hours by car from Hanoi lies Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apparently it’s famous for its stunning scenery. When I actually went, though, it didn’t look all that po…
Last week I went to Vietnam on a company trip. Work kept me busy right up until we left, so I didn’t prepare anything at all, and while packing on the morning of departure I even forgot to bring my DSLR….
After going all out on the first day, I woke up in the morning feeling absolutely terrible. I’ve been doing strength training lately and eating a high-protein diet, so after pouring that much alcohol dow…
A friend who lives in Osaka invited me over, so I went back to Osaka last week. Come to think of it, I end up visiting Osaka a lot. I’ve been going at least once a month, and every time I seem to discove…
On my last business trip to Tokyo I went to Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba, one of the few proper hot springs in Tokyo. (I’d say Spa LaQua at Tokyo Dome is the next-best proper one… though of cour…
Shiraike Jigoku, the “White Pond Hell,” gets its name because, unlike the Blood Pond Hell, its hot water is white, but it’s actually better known for its aquarium. Piranhas and so on: they us…
I got up early thinking I’d have a soak somewhere, and where I ended up was Beppu’s hell tour. It’s seven hot-spring theme parks, each called a “hell,” but for hot-spring theme pa…