Blogs from Asia - page 7

I am headed to Japan because it is my mother country. It was home to both sets of my grandparents, who came to the US at the end of 1800s and beginning of the 1900s. I am going to show my best buddy, Mr. Mike around my home country. We will focus on food, Michaelin stars, hole in the wall joints and big city walks, and less on temples and museums. From the MoneyFesto: Japan really has the best of both worlds, and its juxtaposition is what entices travelers in the first place. You see, Japan not only has a rich cultural heritage and unique traditions, with ancient temples, shrines, and tea ceremonies for visitors to learn all about. But Japan also has cutting-edge technology and futuristic cityscapes like no other place on the planet. url=https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsamplingamerica.com%2F10-foreign-cities-that-feel-like-america%2F&data=05%7C ... read more

Japan, specifically Tokyo, has the best food and restaurants in the world, seriously. Tokyo has 226 Michelin star restaurants…and the second best city, Paris, has just 96. I firmly believe it is impossible to have a bad dining experience in Japan…I ate at an obscene amount of restaurants while I was in Japan and only one was not remarkable in the food department. (And that was the evening with a Geisha dinner in Kyoto.) And while restaurants and bars are nice and all…the street food is also mind-blowingly good! I honestly almost liked eating street food better. There were so many delicious options. We decided to have at least one Michelin dinner in Tokyo. I chose Fushkino in Shinjuku. First, I had to apply for a reservation, and pay a booking fee that will not be ... read more

Already I’m behind, so many pictures and so much we’ve seen. I’ll do a photo dump of the rest of the Shimanami Kaido and maybe add some more coherent words later. As expected, Stan hasn’t shown any inclination to do this so it’s just my waffling. Suffice to say we have loved the two days doing this ride, staying at WAKKA was just amazing, we’re slightly obsessed by bridges and the cycling infrastructure is brilliantly done. Yes we did use e-bikes but it’s a holiday thought I’d love to bring my trusty Orange on this ride the on ramps can be pretty steep as we easily overtook the Lycra gang but they catch us back on the downhills and straights. Now in Matsuyama where we have rain so taking it easy today. ... read more

Bit of a slow day today, tired and a lot of rain today. Breakfast excitement was the tsunami warning to the South Western Islands. No issue here but obviously the earthquake in Taiwan that caused it sounds bad. Still, weird to look up at the tv in the breakfast room to see it flashing EVACUATE, btw also a tv in the Sauna. Did some shopping today, tourist stuff and experiencing Don Quixote (Donki), oh my ears, I’m not going back in the without noise cancelling headphones. Matsuyama Castle visit started in a cloud essentially which cleared whilst we were there, stonework from 1600s but wooden structure obviously rebuilt a few times, last was mid 1800s I think. We couldn’t ride the single chair ropeway due to the rain but lots of blossom out. Poor Dogo Onsen ... read more

I headed to Koyasan from Nara. As usual, this involved multiple transfers including a cable car ride at the end. Located on an altitude of 1,000 meters, I hadn't heard of Koyasan before reaching Japan, but came across it in a travel magazine and the more I read about, the more interested I got in visiting it. This place was founded by a monk, Kukai, later called Kobu Daishi in 816AD. Kobu Daishi founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan and chose Koyasan as the base probably because of the 8 peaks and basin of Koyasan that resembles a Lotus and hence considered auspicious. As I climbed through the cable car and gained altitude and then stepped into Koyasan, I could immediately feel a sense of calm. The mystical fog was everywhere, the sound of the wooden shoes ... read more