Ever wonder what a Dutch village would look like if constructed in Japan? ...Well, a Dutch village of course, packed with Japanese tourists! There are windmills, tulips (in spring), wooden shoes, Japanese restaurants, canals, tall ships, museums highlighting the Dutch-Japanese history, classic European cars, and little Japanese kids running around yelling "Sugoi!!!" ("Wow!!!"). It is quite the site! This past Saturday I was down in Nagasaki watching a friend play baseball and decided that while I was in the area I would check out Huis Ten Bosch ("House in the Forest"). With beautiful blue skies and a temperature of around 25 C, it was the perfect day to 'escape Japan' and travel to the Dutch-inspired grounds. Constructed in 1992, this reconstruction of a Dutch village offers everything from beautiful gardens, bicycle rentals, and cute riverside cafes ... read more

ARGENTINA: Saturday, April 19th to Friday, April 25th We only had one full weekend during our trip to Argentina so we opted for the Tigre Delta Cruise on Saturday, and roaming the streets of San Telmo and La Boca on Sunday. Although I am rarely sick, I came down with a strange bug on Saturday and unfortunately spent most of the delta cruise with my eyes closed. I did, however, manage to wake up to take a few pictures of former President Sarmiento's old cottage. For the first time in my life I saw an important house, which, instead of being transformed into a traditional sort of museum, has been completely encased in a glass box. It was quite a bizarre site!! Glass box aside, the Delta area really was quite pleasant, and it was ... read more

One of the most exciting things about a vacation is the anticipation of the adventures to come, and sometimes (as was my situation), the excitement of being reunited with loved ones. Six months ago I purchased my plane ticket from Osaka, Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and for the last six months counted down until my long overdue family vacation. I started counting down by months, then I changed it to weeks, and as time grew even closer, I started to count down the days. 50 days.... 35 days.... 19 days.... 8 days.... less than one week!.... 2 days... and finally, the day arrived - April 12th, the day I embarked on a 32.5 hour journey to meet up with my family. The trip was long, and anything but comfortable, but being reunited with my family ... read more

Malaysia PART 1: "Malaysia Truly Asia!!" (Kuala Lumpur) Malaysia PART 2: Malaysia Truly Jungle! (Taman Negara) Malaysia PART 3: Malaysia: Georgetown Adventures (Georgetown) Malaysia PART 4: Malaysia's Island Paradise (Langkawi) The last stop of our Malaysian adventure was the beautiful northern island of Langkawi. Arriving by ferry around noon on the 30th, we were more than ready to hit the beaches of Pantai Cenang. Pantai Cenang is not known for having the best beaches on Langkawi, but it is the more populated beach on the island, and that was exactly what we were looking for for New Year's Eve. After checking into our hotel, "Nadia's Inn Comfort" (later nicknamed "Nadia's Discomfort"), we decided to head straight to the beach, and that is basically where we remained for the next three days. Actually, with the exception ... read more

Malaysia PART 1: "Malaysia Truly Asia!!" (Kuala Lumpur) Malaysia PART 2: Malaysia Truly Jungle! (Taman Negara) Malaysia PART 3: (Georgetown) Malaysia PART 4: Malaysia's Island Paradise (Langkawi) After yet another late night of craziness in Kuala Lumpur, Jenna, Brian and I opened our sleepy eyes at 9am on the morning of the 26th to pack up our bags and head downstairs to meet our driver for the day. Our destination - the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Temerloh, followed by one night in the small town of Jerantut, before proceeding to Taman Negara, the world's oldest rainforest. As is the case in any country, your guide/driver can either make or break your trip, but with little to no control on selection, you always just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Luckily ... read more