This entry is LONG over due....but never late than never right? So we left the bright airy life in Singapore on January 1st and flew back up to Malaysia to take in Penang and had what has to be the best airplane food I've ever eaten. Or maybe I'm just biased because Malaysian food has got to be my second favorite ethnic food now. I just can't stop dreaming of it when I've got this craving for ethnic food. Where did all my hawker centers go? All those amazingly good choices that didn't involve a burger, fries, or hotdogs. How I miss you crazy delicious food. Penang is an island on the Northeast coast that is famous for it's food and colonial architecture. Full of bright colors and striking whites against a sea backdrop, Penang is ... read more

Heat. Warmth. These are the words that went over and over again in my mind before going on this trip. I was only all too happy to be heading to a country that was going to be in the middle of summer while the cold Japanese winter was just cresting the horizon and it was already too cold for me. Heat and humidity are also the first things that hit you when you get to Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is a large and rather loud city and even in the dark the heat is already sticking your shirt to your back. There were palms everywhere, tropical drinks on every corner and a mix of people and cultures that I hadn't seen since moving to Japan. This was made very apparent when Amy and I got to our ... read more

Day 1 So let's continue with Obon 2009. The next morning, my companion and I headed up, very early; like 7:30am early, to the Takamatsu train station to see what we could do to get on to Tokushima and the rest of our trip. We were met with the news that the trains still wasn't running to Tokushima. With this news in hand, we headed to the bus station, which seemed to be our only option, to see if they were still going to be running. Lucky for us, they were. We managed to get on the bus bound for Tokushima without any problems. The bus ride to Tokushima was really something. When your riding on the shinkansen, since your moving so fast, you are really just moving through the scenery and not really taking anything ... read more

I should probably start this entry with a little explanation, I love the anime show Mobile Suit Gundam. I love the writing, the action, the message, political intrigue, characters, and the freakin awesome robots. There is nothing about that show that I don't like because it's so well thought out and put back together to tell a really good story and makes a strong statement about war. I know the primary reason why the show makes so much money is because they can sell robots to kids and make a lot of money from it, but these other parts make it a show that can be understood and played together perfectly. This year is the 30th anniversary of the original Mobile Suit Gundam and to celebrate this, there has been a giant Gundam built in Odaiba ... read more

It's a pretty quick and beautiful trip from Inuyama to Takayama; which was where my historical Japan tour was going to end. The limited express train goes through some beautiful gorges and the weather was nice and sunny. It was the prefect day to go around and enjoy some more samurai district history and everything that goes with it. Or so I thought. Apparently, Golden Week started that day and it was packed. Hard to move, hard to see things, and more importantly, I was pretty disappointed in the city as a whole. The samurai district; which is what the city is famous for, was really touristy and most of the interesting things....really weren't that interesting, in my opinion. I would duck into shops and they were all selling the same thing. I would try and ... read more