This tray had cold vegetables (black mushroom, pumpkin, tofu, and a colorful gluten thing), grilled peppers and eggplant, and tempura. We were surprised that the tempura was served cold, but it was still good.
Get Thee To A Monastery March 24th 2018 Before embarking on this trip, I suspected (correctly, as it turned out), that Kyoto would be overrun with tourists. I knew I wanted to experience a culturally significant site without too many tourists, and I also wanted to experience shokubo (temple lodging). Scanning through the blogs on this site, I found that pretty much everyone who had blogged about Mt. Koya (commonly called Koyasan) ... read more
Asia » Japan » Wakayama » Koyasan In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more
About Me:
I am a native of Singapore and a professional expat. Since leaving Singapore in 1994, my life journey has taken me first to Bangkok, then to Manchester UK, and then to the United States - starting with Los Angeles, then Honolulu, then Silver Spring, MD, and then back to Honolulu. I took some time off from work between July 2017 and March 2018 to travel and reflect (check out my Midlife Crisis Flashpacking series). I'm now back in the corporate world with a renewed attitude towards life and work. I plan to take another extended trip ... full info