Karatsu Castle

Just outside of Fukuoka is Karatsu, a small city with its own castle. I imagine this will be a common theme with many places I go in Japan, but, finally, I got to visit my first castle. The trip was a bit of a whirlwind, having only an hour before a work function to tour […]

What to do if you have one day in Fukuoka

One of the unforeseen perks of my current job is that I sometimes get to travel to different regions of Japan to help recruit students. In the summer, I got to go to Kumamoto and Kagoshima. This fall, I was able to go to Fukuoka. I usually get one night in a hotel and a […]

Spider Lilies in Kinchakuda

One thing I’m learning here in Japan is that everything is ruled by the seasons. Japanese people love the fact that the change of seasons is so notable here, and many tourist activities are very time-bound in accordance with the seasons. Right now, it’s peak time for spider lilies to be in bloom. One of […]

Cafe de One Piece

Living in Japan, I figured I’d see all sorts of cool and unique themed restaurants and cafes, especially those themed around popular anime and manga. Imagine my surprise when, in Korea, I stumbled upon a massive replica of the Thousand Sunny, the pirate ship of the Straw Hat Pirates in the popular Shounen Jump series […]

Seoul Craft Beers

While in Seoul, I had a small chance to partake in some local beers, brewed there right in the heart of the metropolis. I was not able to visit an extensive number of breweries or pubs due to time and money constraints, but the ones I was fortunate enough to visit offered a diverse offering […]

Bukchon Hanok Village

When in Korea, I met a new friend who told me that south of the Han river was the new Seoul, while north holds the more of the history and tradition of old Seoul. In the northern part of Seoul is a nifty little neighborhood by the name of Bukchon Hanok Village where I spent […]

Bukhansan National Park

In my continuing efforts to train my body for the elevation challenge that Mt. Fuji will present to me, I move from a leisurely waterfall hike to a more vertical hike through Bukhansan National Park in Seoul, South Korea. Our goal was to reach the summit of Bukhansan, the main mountain, standing at around 800m […]

Royal Refreshments at Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest and probably most famous palace in Seoul, sitting right behind the statues of Admiral Yi and King Sejong along the main road that cuts through Seoul and houses the Head Office of the police and the US Embassy. While I could write about the history and the changing of the […]

The JSA and DMZ

On Saturday, North Korea marked the anniversary of its founding. There’s been a lot of threats and posturing the past few weeks and tensions were high. The day I arrived in Korea, North Korea had performed its sixth nuclear test. While visiting the South, I was fortunate enough to book a last-minute trip to the […]

Hachi-Mangu

In Kamakura, there is a very large Shinto shrine, Hachi-Mangu, where you can really engage with some very cool cultural activities. When I visited Kamakura with my colleague, we were able to visit the shrine and spend some time wandering its grounds.