To be honest, I didn't even know what Sipadan was until this past May. My friend Jonathan went there during Golden Week and came back raving about the incredible diving. At the same time I was with Mr. Germany in Bali getting my PADI open-water, realizing that I wanted to do some more diving in southeast Asia before returning to America. While in Bali I was thinking of going to peninsular Malaysia to the Perentian Islands, but after talking to Jonathan, I was sold and bound for Borneo post-JET. Sipadan was my main purpose to go to Borneo, Uncle Tan's and [View Full Entry]

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I left Kota Kinabalu the day after I got off the mountain en route for Sandakan, then the next day I would head off to my next stop: Uncle Tan's Wildlife Camp. I thought I would get some much needed shut-eye on the bus, but then I remembered that I was in southeast asia and sleeping on buses doesn't really happen. Eyes widened as I entered the bus because I was the only foreigner. Of course, the cutest little baby was sitting behind me, and an hour into the 5 hour journey started to scream its head off. In addition I [View Full Entry]

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Believe it or not, my time in Japan came to a close and I was set loose to embark on my dream trip through Asia: Casey's Asian Invasion. Ever since I came to Japan I started to envision my trip post JET. It is hard to believe that it has actually begun...and started out with a bang! I was sad to leave Japan. I consider myself the antithesis of Japanese culture, yet over the past 2 years have fallen in love with the country. It has changed me, and I have definitely changed Kabe. Only now is is starting to kick [View Full Entry]

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The mysteries of geisha and maiko have intrigued me even before I came to Japan. When I first got here daily I would get all excited to see women wandering the streets of Hiroshima in kimono, in the back of my mind pondering why they were wearing kimono and if they were somehow related to the elusive geisha. Silly, I know, but still it did cross my mind! I quickly learned that many Japanese women wear kimono on a daily basis sans the intricate makeup, and especially at festivals. At my first summer festival I saw women walking around in [View Full Entry]

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Ubud For the next part of our trip Marc and I pulled ourselves from the coastline and headed into the center toward the cultural capital of the island, Ubud - a great town full of beautiful architecture, some swanky stores and topnotch cuisine, a huge outdoor market, surrounded by beautiful jungles. Ubud is famous for its art galleries and traditional Balinesian dances at night. Upon arrival via private taxi, we settled into a cute guest house, which for the life of me can't remember the name. It was a beautiful with little bungalows scattered in between the lush greenery of the [View Full Entry]

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My Golden Week trip to Bali was EXACTLY what I needed! I dabbled in going to many places- Mongolia for some urks and Gobi Desert action, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Bangladesh, Malaysia’s Perentian Islands for some beach time and scuba diving, or heading to Bali for a week of diving, beaches, and partying. After some research, Bali was the winner! Going to Bali was unlike most of my adventures over the past 2 years. Instead of immersing myself in the culture and being on the go all the time, I relaxed, spent a lot of money, and did [View Full Entry]

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Japan in the springtime is like stepping into Heaven. All over Japan cherry blossoms (sakura) are on display. As you wander the streets sakura petals fall from above. The bitter cold from winter has abated and people take to the streets and parks to meet with friends and admire the blossoms. The Japanese take full advantage of this magical time of year. Businesses, families, and friends participate in an activity called Hanami. This is sitting under the cherry trees and picnicking, usually washed down with a special spring brew or sake. It is by far my favorite time of year and [View Full Entry]

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Learning to Bow at Kabe Senior High School “kiritsu” “ley” “onegaishimasu” These are the 3 words I hear before I start every class. I remember my first class - standing in front of 20 first-year Japanese high school students clad in blue uniform - absolutely petrified. The translation (which I learned very quickly) is “stand up” “bow” “Let’s begin class.” I stood there with my self-introduction in hand, Tsuchimura sensei standing beside me, hoping that I could make it through the 50 minutes. After talk [View Full Entry]

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When I first arrived in Japan I taught lessons about traveling since it is my passion in life. I told my students about all the incredible places I had been and intended to go, including places like living on a boat for a week in the countryside of England, eating the best baguettes in the world in the south of France, hiking the Swiss Alps, scuba diving in Mexico, drinking Czech beer in Prague, riding a camel in Tunisia, and wandering the canals and red light district of Amsterdam. As the year went on I boasted about hiking Fuji-san, riding a [View Full Entry]

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It all started as a telephone conversation on a cold and dreary Tuesday evening, when Lisa and I realizing we didn’t want to stay in Hiroshima for the long winter weekend. Our disposable cash flow was running low, putting us in quite the predicament. Times like this we wished we didn’t live in one of the most expensive countries in the world. Reviewing a map, our list of places to still-visit was short, and most locales were quite a distance away, involving lots of yen to get there. We made up our minds to go to Nagasaki, but how in the [View Full Entry]

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