TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Izakayas are found all over Tokyo. They are Japanese gastropubs or food pubs. They are basically café restaurants selling alcoholic beverages and food. Usually oily kinds of food served in small plates for sharing that go well with beer and sake. Most of these joints are frequented by salaried men who enjoy booze + food + social camaraderie with colleagues. It’s some form of popular local social scene among corporate workers in suits after work. Most izakayas have a red lantern (see below), sometimes white lantern outside the establishment. However, some of them do not have any, as seen in the above example. It’s very interesting to see the ‘male supremacy’ culture in Japan. The gender roles are still very traditional. Japan’s breadwinners are the men and the women are supposed to quit their jobs and stay at home once they are married. The independent and strong-willed leader (before joining the Japanese Imperial Royal Family), Crown Princess Masako, among many other thin...

Perhaps the most random thing we saw on the streets of Tokyo, which I guess you will not see on other streets in cities around the world, are the ubiquitous automated beverage vending machines. We stayed in Chūō, Tokyo which is also called as Chuo City. Chūō means ‘central ward’ and the district is located in the heart of commercial Tokyo. In Chuo, we stayed in the Kodenmacho neighbourhood which is part of the Nihonbashi area of Chuo. On the streets in Kodenmacho we quickly noticed the random automated drinks vending machines everywhere. They really stand out. They are placed along the side streets, at street corners, beside parking lots and basically, just everywhere. Some of them are grouped in two’s or three’s and offer a variety of beverages, such as water, cola, tea, coffee, ale, fruit juice and energy boost giving drinks. I find these very handy, but most importantly, this gives us a peek into the Japanese’s highly developed culture of convenience, technology and trust. ...

We flew from Amsterdam to Tokyo via Fukuoka, a large city in the southern part of Japan. Japan's airports are divided into domestic and international and they are a (free) shuttle bus away from each other. Because our flight from Fukuoka to Tokyo is a domestic flight, we have to transit from the international airport part to the domestic part, but first, we have to go through immigration and then pick up our luggage. Finally arriving at the domestic airport of Fukuoka and having just checked in for our flight to Tokyo, I was looking forward to my first meal in Japan: A warm noodle soup lunch. I was not feeling well and I needed some hot soup to warm up my stomach. The Dutchman on the other hand did not want anything. The noodle bar at Fukuoka Domestic Airport. Udon noodle with a vegetable tempura fritter.  Fukuoka is famous for its Hakata Udon Noodle and I have read that Fukuoka is apparently the birth place of Udon, so that made me a very curious foodie. I need to ...

Hello! Konnichiwa! Tokyo skyline by day from the Mori Towers in Minato ward district. Tokyo skyline with the lighted Tokyo Tower at dusk. The tower is an observation and communications tower similarly designed to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Finally, Tokyo skyline at night. Go here to see more skyline pictures: Tokyo City View from the Mori Tower Observation Deck I have been battling Influenza and Bronchitis in the last two weeks. The sad part is this all happened just before and during my travel to Tokyo, Japan and the Philippines. The timing could not have been so perfect *sigh*, and well, hence my silence. Having said that, I have not seen much of Tokyo, which is really a let down as I have so many things packed in our travel agenda. I spent most of my days in the metropolitan city snuggling under the sheets, with a high fever and a persistent cough in the four corners of our hotel room, luckily with the Dutchman nursing me. I am now in Cebu, Philippines with...

I am always happiest when I am at home and with the Dutchman or when I am travelling, with or without him. When you are happy, you become contented. Now this means that the act of travelling makes me a very contented woman. It is a vicious cycle I guess, the happiness and travelling thing, alhough recently, my thirst for travelling has slowed down a bit. I guess contentment has slowly catched up. It worries me somehow though because I still want to see the world, but at the same time this brings a warm, and new, yet familiar feeling within. Can you relate? This trip to Monschau was a last minute plan when I missed my flight to Riga, Latvia last March. It was all my fault so I am not going to moan and cry over milk that I spilt over myself. Instead, I took charge and moved on. Monschau and Lille became the substitutions =) This is Monschau on Google Maps and my driving route from Utrecht, the Netherlands: You can move the map by holding it with your mouse, as well as zoom...