Dominique Ansel Bakery What-a-Melon and Creme de la Corn Soft Serve

I’m hopping on a a fairly timely topic! Look at me go! Over the summer, some videos and pictures of a watermelony soft serve from Tokyo made the viral rounds of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Those came from the limited summer specials at Dominique Ansel Bakery down in Omotesando, just a short walk away from […]

Furin (Wind Chimes)

Furin (foo-reen) are those pleasant wind chimes that you often see made of a globe of glass with the bottom cut out. Often, you’ll have another piece of glass dangling below to bump against the orb, producing sound. They are a symbol of summer here in Japan, and I thought I’d take a little time […]

Enoshima Island Spa

My first spa experience was at a wonderful place in New Orleans, and it was very relaxing for me. After getting beaten up by a traditional masseuse from the Lahu tribe on the Myanmar/Thai border, I was put-off by the idea of massages and spas in general, since massage seems to be such a big […]

Enoshima Island

Just off of the coast of Kamakura, south of Tokyo, lays Enoshima Island, a small island that hosts many interesting man-made and natural beauties. One rainy weekend during summer, I was able to make a stop on the island for my wife’s birthday and get a little taste of what the island has to offer.

Gojo Falls

Just 30 minutes or so outside of our fair city of Kawagoe rests a beautifully forested area near Chichibu, which I am slowly coming to adore. Mountains, rivers, and meadows dominate the landscape, and it was in this setting that my wife discovered a short hike to Gojo Falls. Easing me into an eventual hike […]

Omiyage

There is a nice tradition here in Japan called Omiyage (oh-me-yah-gay), which is a gift that you bring back to coworkers, friends, and family upon returning from a trip. In the States, we have all manner of knick-knacks and chachkies that we can buy, but Japanese omiyage is a big industry, so the level of […]

Akanasu Cat Pub

Picture a modest-sized bar where you order small finger foods and drinks. That’s known as an izakaya in Japan. Now picture a place where you play with cats as you drink tea. That’s known as a cat cafe. What happens when you merge the two? You get a cat izakaya (bar/pub), which is where my […]

Cool Biz

Having lived in both incredibly dry heat and super wet heat, I can say with certainty that life in these places without air conditioning is quite the challenge. Having a fan makes it manageable, but for how long? In Japan, there is an effort that started back in 2005 in order to help cut energy […]

An Introduction to Japanese Sake

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a closed event for sake tasting geared towards a more international crowd. The event had a lot of great information and free sake for the tasting. I’m not a big sake drinker, and didn’t know too much about the drink outside of popular culture, but […]

Tokyo Disney Foods

Food is very important to any trip but Tokyo Disney is branding itself in Japan as a go-to destination for delicious treats, meals, and drinks. When I started poking around for ideas on what to do at Tokyo Disney, I saw many blogs, articles, and vlogs centering around the amazing food available in the parks […]