We spent two weeks in Bangkok, though we didn’t love it, unfortunately. Here is what we visited: 1) Yaowarat: This is Bangkok’s Chinatown. Like Chinatowns in many countries, that means lots of little houses close together with small alleys and many stalls selling some things Americans don’t necessarily consider food. (A soup made out of…
Here are some things we found surprising about Japan as a whole – added to the surprises in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo specifically: Attire All of the locals are well-kempt. You don’t see people with loose threads or worn spots or pills on their sweaters or worn-out shoes. It’s not that they don’t have hand-me-downs, but that they seem…
In honor of my mother’s love of all things cow, here are some bovines around the world:
There are a number of things that are part of living in the US* that Americans may not realize are unique to this country. Here are five things that are very American – and not found worldwide. 1) Flags In the US, American flags are all over. Many schools have flag poles with one, many houses have one in the…
When we were plotting our return to the US, we thought we might need to drive our car from San Francisco to Milwaukee. Unfortunately, some work circumstances changed, and we came up with an alternate plan that didn’t require such a road trip. However, the work of planning the trip was already done, so I…
Out of all of the Thai islands/beaches we visited, Koh Phangan seemed to have the most authentic and affordable food. Phatchara Boutique Hotel [Thong Sala/Town]: The people at our hotel were very nice, offering us fresh juice at arrival and even upgrading our room without us asking. So, we overlooked the fact that their prices were…
Here are 14 things that surprised us about Tokyo specifically. There were a lot more about Japan overall and about Osaka and Kyoto. There are a lot of brightly-colored flowers planted all over town, along sidewalks or on road medians. These are not flowers planted by individual households, but by public workers using city funds. This…
The re-entry process is never quite smooth when you’ve been away for a while. Here are some observations from our return to America: Japanese bathrooms are small: a small tub, a toilet, a sink, and room for you to actually enter the bathroom. I mean, airplane bathrooms are bigger! So, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when I managed…
I struggled to write this because, like Susan, I found the food on Krabi’s Railay Beach to be watered-down tourist fare at inflated prices. I don’t have any real recommendations, other than to eat non-Thai food here. Pranang Cuisine: We came here looking for free wifi, since the service at our hotel was weak. The wifi…
Neighborhood: (Nishi)Waseda and Takadanobaba Also Called: N/A Pros: Because these are both university neighborhoods, there is plenty of affordable dining – from restaurants to grocery stores. At the 7/11 in this neighborhood, they’ll even heat your food for you, in case your place doesn’t have a microwave. Because these are both university neighborhoods, places like cafes or…