Fourth time back to Japan
This is also the fourth couple trip Theo and I have taken since the kids arrived. First was to Ho Chi Minh City in 2006, Bangalore in 2013, Seoul in 2014 and now back to ...
Sorting Out the Pieces
2016 came and in the turn of an eye, one third of the year has gone by. Perhaps it comes with age. The older you are, the faster time seems to pass. Compared to last ...
Day 9 – 11 Toys, Fish and Disneysea in Tokyo
Being back in Tokyo for the third time was a welcome relief after 8 days of finding our way around in Osaka and Takayama. We even have our own Suica card from our last trip ...
Day 6 – 8 Freezing in Takayama
Today we leave Osaka for the Japan Alps and according to weather forecast it should be snowing in the two days we are in Takayama. As we approached the town, we could see snow on ...
Day 5 Walking path of samurai in Kyoto
Kyoto is the old capital of Japan before the present day Edo/Tokyo. I had read so much about the end days of the Shogunate era before the Meiji restoration (thanks to the game Hakuoki) that ...
Day 4 Deers and Dolphins
What do deers and dolphins have in common? We saw both of them on this day of our trip which was in a way meant mostly for the children to catch some nature after days ...
Day 3 Himeji Castle
There were two things on our agenda today – visit Himeji Castle and shopping at Den Den Town. However we left our apartment relatively late and after spending more than 20 minutes exchanging our rail ...
Day 2 Walking around Osaka
Some distinctive features one can almost immediately observe about Osaka – its orderly gridlike road network, the number of cyclists on the road and the love for shopping streets which can be identified by the ...
Day 1 Konnichiwa from Osaka
It has been ages since I blogged about my travels. In 2013, I extended my work trip to Korea, then we went for a short family trip to Bali again. In 2014, we took a ...
Hakuoki – Analysing Hijikata Toshizo route
Hijikata’s route felt more like a historical account than a love story so it was quite disappointing from that perspective. However it still makes for a good and compelling read. Perhaps the futility of all ...