TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I am always looking for food markets when I am travelling and in Bath I found two food markets. The 18th century  Bath Guildhall Market is one of them and is the oldest market in the city. Here is an excerpt from their website: ‘The Market is one of the longest running shopping venues in Bath, serving the community for around 800 years and operating from its current venue in one form or another from at least the 16th century. As the Guildhall Market, it came into existence in the 1770’s and acquired its famous dome in 1863.’ The market now is smaller than it used to and is trying its best to adapt to the 21st century. It’s a nice place to stop by to grab some food items. There is a bakery and a convenience store. There are also cafes in the market which are great venues for a quick chat and a cup of coffee. The market is just across the beautiful Pulteney Bridge. There are some cool shops selling gourmet food items such as specialty beer, liquor and cider, as we...

Those striking red-orange and yellow (they look like maple?) leaves hoisted on top of the shops had me wondering if they were real or not? Nakamise-Dori Street is one of the oldest streets in Asakusa situated between two important gates leading to the Senso-ji Temple, the Kaminarimon Gate and the Hozomon Gate. It is said that through the centuries many pilgrims come here to shop, perhaps for food, offerings and whatnots before proceeding to the temple. Nowadays, the street offers a vareity of food stalls and craft and souvenir shops. The side alleys are also lined with roadside hole-in-the-wall eateries, as well as traditional local restaurants. The street is approximately 250 metres long and is always teeming with people. I have to say that I really love this street. It may be too touristy but the high energy, the variety of food stalls and the bright autumn leaves hanging from the roof of the shops, which left me wondering by the way if they were real or not, made me truly...

Ginza in Chuo City is all about high-end luxury shopping. You can compare the atmosphere of the district to Gangnam in Seoul. It’s a combination of business and shopping opulence, a very good mix of course when you have the will and the means. I have not seen something similar like this yet in other countries or perhaps I need to travel more, but in other major (shopping), especially western cities in the world, they have a more tamer approach when it comes to luxury shopping. Flagship stores of expensive signature brands are usually spread out in the city. Some take retail store lease contracts at large exclusive department stores, whilst others tend to group together in a specific street such as Bond Street in London, PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam, Champs Elysees in Paris and 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue in New York City. Moreover, they do not have massive flagship stores such as the likes here in Ginza, Tokyo or in Asia in general. Perhaps it is to say that the Japanese have a...

1970’s for me were my childhood days. I grew up glued to television: Sesame Street, The Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Popeye, Moby Dick, and played all sorts of Nintendo ‘Game & Watches’ and board games such as Scrabble and Millionaire’s Game (my favourite). These were the years as well that I went totally gaga over Japanese Animes: Starzinger, Voltes V, Heidi, Mazinger Z, Astro Boy. My favourites were Voltes V and Mazinger Z. When they play on TV (I think at 17:00 in the afternoon), I would stop playing with our neighbours and scuttle back home as fast as I could to watch. Ah, those were the days. I get nostalgic about the 70’s and 80’s. Life before was simpler. Anyway, you might wonder what the difference is between Anime and Manga. Anime is a term used for Japanese animations usually made for television, whilst Manga is the written and drawn version for comics. As for comics I used to be fascinated with Archie and Snoopy. It’s funny, in High School I made a lot of Snoopy bo...