If you come to Japan, you’ll likely stay at a hotel that has an onsen or sento. Both are bathhouses, but there’s a difference. An ONSEN is a bathhouse that uses hot spring water – naturally heated mineral water. In … Continue reading
Category Archives: explore
Signatures – “Antigone” by The Classical Theatre of Harlem
July 29th 2018. The last night of a free performance of “Antigone” in Marcus Garvey Park. Free art, in a park? God, I love New York. My sister took me to see the play. It was her second time. A … Continue reading
Secret Street Art in Butterworth, Malaysia
Everyone knows Penang street art. The cool kids flock to Penang island, Malaysia, where hipster cafes, gentrified shopfronts selling artisanal breads and barista coffee abound. While Penang island itself is trotting out the reclamation of heritage buildings for an overseas … Continue reading
Nozawa Onsen’s Dosojin Matsuri (Fire Festival) – how NOT to be a douche at the Fire Festival
Every 15th of January, the villagers of Nozawa Onsen gather for the highlight of the Dosojin Matsuri. Matsuri means festival, and Japan is filled with many matsuri throughout the year. The “Dosojin” are Shinto guardian deities, and come in various … Continue reading
A visit to the Studio Ghibli Museum – Mitaka, Japan 2016
How should I start? Why do I love this museum so much, and why is it so different, so irreplaceable? I’ll let Hayao Miyazaki tell you with his own words, from the Ghibli Museum’s official site. This is the Kind of … Continue reading
A traditional Ryokan in Nozawa-Onsen: Kiriya Ryokan
If you ever head to Japan, you have to try staying at a ryokan. My experience is based on our stay at Kiriya Ryokan. Nestled in the hot spring village of Nozawa-Onsen, it was suggested to us by a ski-mad friend, and it’s … Continue reading
The best cafe in Nozawa-Onsen
If Studio Ghibli ever made a movie about a cute, loving couple who ran a cafe that served fantastic lattes, mochas, hot chocolates, baked curry, cakes, other home-made comfort food, and THE CUTEST cookies in the world…THIS cafe would be … Continue reading
Shanghai, but not as you know it: ZhuJiaJiao water township
Forget the Bund, the shopping madness, the city lights…..get out of Shanghai and see something different. ZhuJiaJiao is an ancient water township about an hour by rail out of Shanghai – and another 15 mins by taxi. We caught the train from … Continue reading
What did I learn from Lhasa?
It was hard to say bye to Lhasa. We'd been wandering the streets around the Jhokang Temple and Bharkor street for over 10 days. Our last afternoon was spent doing another kora, walking around the Jhokang Temple with the … Continue reading