WTA Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis Finals 2022

I don’t typically watch sports on TV very often; I get very easily distracted. But plop me down in a stadium, and I could chill and watch sports for hours. That’s what happened with me and tennis as I found myself at the Toray Pan Pacific Open (TPPO) tennis finals this year.

Must-Eats in Nagoya: Ogura Toast and Tebasaki Chicken Wings

Nagoya has a bit of a boring reputation (there’s even an entire website dedicated to debunking this notion, to which I am very grateful). If you do find yourself without much to do in Nagoya, why not eat two iconic treats from the city?

The Comic Murals of Brussels

Brussels claims to be the comic book capital of the world, and has some impressive stats to back it up: the most comic book shops of any metro area, and Belgian comics are well-known across the globe. To celebrate their love of these printed treasures, over the years, the city has commissioned artists to depict […]

Belgian Waffles

Quite possibly one of the most iconic foods attached to any nation, the Belgian waffle might be the only thing from Belgium some people are aware of. Eating them in Brussels was a treat, and learning about their interesting history fed the hunger for knowledge as well!

The Peeing Statues of Brussels

You thought there was only the little boy peeing, didn’t you? Well, turns out that as of the 1990s, it has become a trio including the young boy (Manneken Pis), a young girl (Jeanneke Pis), and a dog (Het Zinneke). But why peeing? Why so many?

Higashi Chaya and Nishi Chaya Geisha Districts of Kanazawa

Most people know about Gion, the famous Geisha district in Kyoto, but are there any others out there? Well, there’s a hidden gem of a city, Kanazawa, that has not one, not two, but three surviving Geisha districts! We went to the two larger ones, the West and East Tea Districts, to check out the […]

Why Are Japanese Schools So… English?

If you come to Japan, or if you’ve watched any school-based anime, you probably know what I’m getting at here: There are a few sights and sounds in Japan that they took directly from the English. From sailor uniforms to a familiar school jingle, Japan owes a lot of its iconic school culture to England.

Goshuin: Temple Stamp Books

Listen, Japan loves paper. It is a very tactile country, and you can find many examples of this all across the culture. One such is the pervasiveness of stamps: You can get stamps from train stations, collect them from special events, and find them on special pedestals in museums. The granddaddy of them all, quite […]

Fun Japanese Slang: Car Edition

Let’s be real: Japanese people love playing with their language to create new phrases and words. As the summer holiday descends upon the country and more people hit the roads, let’s take a look at two of the fun phrases and slang I’ve managed to accumulate related to cars and driving while living here in […]

Watching Sumo Live at Ryogoku Kokugikan

Japan has many traditional sports that have come and gone in popularity over the years, but one that seems to continue to capture the imagination is sumo. After a pandemic and a bit of procrastination, a friend of ours offered us the opportunity to go to the main sumo stadium in Japan, the Ryogoku Kokugikan, […]