If you’re traveling to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a trip to Chichén Itzá is a must. One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the ancient Mayan city and UNESCO World Heritage Site is the perfect side or day trip from Playa del Carmen, Cancun, or Tulum. Fortunately, visiting Chichén Itzá on your own without a guide or tour group is still possible in 2021. Take...
This last Thursday in America was Thanksgiving, a time when we reflect on our year and count our blessings. I thought about this year and despite the roller coaster it was I am most thankful for the people I’ve met in Japan. It’s been a week since I left my job and while my body has purged every last bit of stress that comes with working for a Japanese...
Over my spring break I learned several lessons, the most important being that there are two Fuji stations on opposite sides of the mountain, and they are very much not the same. I was so caught up planning my trip to Hong Kong that I probably spent a total of an hour preparing for my trip to the Fuji area after. With only one day to rest in between my four days...
The second half of my break was spent in Shizuoka, near Mt. Fuji. Coincidentally one of my students was in the area to visit her hometown Fujinomiya at the same time and graciously invited me to spend the day with her and her family (husband, sister, and ten-year-old son). I’d never heard of Fujinomiya before but I’m so glad that I had the chance to visit...
I spent the first four days of my Golden Week (spring break in Japan) traveling around Hong Kong and Macau. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in Asia so I want to travel both in and outside of Japan as much as possible. Hong Kong While I’ve been able to get in touch with my Japanese side during my time here I figured it was time to check out my...
On Monday, a couple foodie friends and I embarked on a food tour of Nagoya on foot, wandering to restaurants serving up Nagoya’s finest. Our Nagoya food tour included: miso katsu at Yabaton, dessert at Cafe Molly, and hitsumabushi at Shirakawa. Yabaton Honten- Yaba-cho The first stop on our tour was Yabaton, one of the most popular restaurants serving...
Here in Aichi, blossoming plum trees mark the beginning of spring. We had a rather late start and short season this year but I was able to visit two places: the Nagoya Agricultural Center in Nagoya and Bairin Park in Gifu. Bamboo to the left, plum blossoms to the right I had to look up the difference between plum and cherry trees since I’m not much of a...
This last weekend I had three days off so I took a short solo trip to Sapporo and Otaru, the capital of Japan’s northernmost prefecture Hokkaido and its nearby tourist port city, respectively. Sapporo is famous for its snow festival at the peak of winter, and the rest of Hokkaido is known for its beautiful, blooming late springs. The prefecture...
One year ago, I learned three things: exercising is dangerous, bad experiences make for good stories, and getting hit by a car is not a good enough excuse for missing out on good food. I love wandering around Japan on foot. Though the main streets have wider sidewalks, I appreciate the view the narrow, alley-like side streets offer and I often route my runs through...
In 2015, after 14 months of what seemed like sprinting through a marathon in a stress-inducing vacuum of a metropolis, a friend and I took advantage of a four-day weekend to disappear to Kumano Kodo and the countryside of Japan. Seiganto-ji Pagoda Kumano Kodo is an ancient pilgrimage route that people of all social classes and faiths walked along a thousand...