This winter we decided to go to Vancouver for Masa’s birthday. We got up early to go to the airport. A summary of what we did today: We flew to Vancouver (3 hr flight) We had noodles for lunch We went to Granville Island We walked around downtown We went to the Vancouver waterfront Christmas market We ate at Miku restaurant Part 1: A 2 mile walk When we got there, we had about 40 minutes to spare before the…
We landed at around 7PM in Venice, so we just wanted to check into our hotel and grab a quick dinner before passing out for the night. Leaving the airport was relatively easy, and we were immediately greeted by a beautiful sight of the lights reflected on the water that illuminated the canals. We wanted to get a quick bite at a touristy place right outside our hotel, but I couldn’t read Italian so I missed the “per gram” written…
It’s been hard to write about or even care about travel during this coronavirus pandemic. I’ve been seeing people go back to basics: cooking their own food, baking bread, and even growing their own produce. I live in a highrise, so I’ve been growing a few herbs and leafy greens on my balcony in containers. I’ve also started cooking more, since I’m not eating at the workplace cafeteria more, and this has resulted in a bunch of fun dishes and…
Starting in New York, we had to hit a lot of stops before we got to Italy. We went to Norfolk, DC, back to NYC, then made stops in Oslo Norway, and Paris, France, before we were able to start our road trip. We took this trip back in 2017, when Norwegian airlines was still offering flights affordable enough for two college students to take international trips. Norfolk We first drove down the east coast to hit Norfolk, where Masa’s…
I started planning my trip to Japan pretty early on. We first made a list of things we wanted to do, and then put them on a map all at the same time. I divided each day into morning, lunch, afternoon, dinner, and night. I did all my planning in a spreadsheet. I’ll also rate each of the activities we did. 6/5: I will treasure this memory forever and still think about it all the time5/5: This activity was AMAZING4/5:…
I really enjoyed shopping in Japan and I just wanted to share what I got! We bought so much stuff, it almost didn’t all fit on the table! This is the tetsubin. It’s made by the brand Iwachu, and it’s a teapot called nanbu tekki, or southern ironware. In total, the teapot and teacup were $75. We bought this from a shop on the Kappabashi Dori shopping street. We also got these individual nabe pot sets on Kappabashi Dori street.…
Today was our last day in Japan. We woke up early and went to Starbucks to pick up our last Starbucks mug: the Tokyo one. Then we walked to a place that specialized in udon in Roppongi for our last restaurant meal in Japan. We had to cross through specific sides of the streets because we weren’t allowed to be on some. I think it was because they were government buildings. The officers were counting us, and communicating with each…
Our last full day in Japan. We woke up early and wanted to check out the Imperial palace, and then go to Tsukiji market after that for lunch/breakfast. We walked from Roppongi to the imperial palace, which took a while, and for some reason the streets were almost completely empty, except for 2 joggers. I felt like I was in a ghost town or something. The Imperial Palace is set in the middle of Tokyo, surrounded by a river. This…
With only 3 days left in the trip, we were in a rush to get all the goodies that are only available in Japan. Today was our first shopping day. Of course, we had to go to Shibuya again. I went to the lingerie/pajama store on Takeshita street and picked out this pink fuzzy onesie. Then we went looking for a suyasan jacket for Masa. We bought a panda bomber jacket for $300, and a panda shirt for him because…
The plan for today was to go back to Kyoto really early in the morning so we could stop by Fushimi Inari shrine (the one with the famous corridor of red gates), but we were really sick of Kyoto. We left a bit later, and went straight to the train station after returning the rental car. We planned to meet up with Masa’s sister for lunch but the train we took kept getting delayed at every stop, so we were…