A few days ago, we visited the Akihabara neighborhood of Tokyo, which specializes in exactly two things: electronics and comics-related costumes. We were there for the former, trekking from store to store in search of a new phone for B. We hit up several superstores, like the old Best Buy or Circuit City, but times…
Our last day in Kyoto was rainy and depressing. What started out as precipitation devolved into the kind of rain that makes you feel damp right down to your skin. We were out in it because we had been working for a few days, so this was our last chance to see the city. On a friend’s…
I’ve noticed fun, unusual, and alarming signs during our travels. Here are some of them:
When we last left our beleaguered heroes, they were collapsing into a fancy bed after a long day of travel. So, it comes as no surprise that by the time they woke up, got ready, and figured out the Osaka trains, it was one in the afternoon. And they were hungry. They saw that the subway station had a…
Someone asked me why I claim to spend so much time travel planning, and I joked, ‘Because I’m OCD.’ The actual answer is that I research a lot before we step foot anywhere. That includes housing, customs, vocabulary, and activities. In case you want to do the same, here are the steps I take. I Book Housing I do this…
We are aware of how lucky we are to be able to travel around the world. And yet, we cringe a bit when our trip is called a vacation. Part of our reaction is that we work 15-40 hours each week at jobs in our respective fields. This requirement alone means that in each place we go:…
We were in Osaka for almost a week, and here is what we saw: 1) Kuromon Market: This is an excellent food market that leans heavily toward seafood. Unlike other fish-related markets, it isn’t smelly or dirty, and the path through the stalls is wider than many markets we’ve seen. We ate here several times, and I could go…
Our first day in Japan was not our smoothest arrival. Our flight got us into Osaka (the second- or third-largest city, depending on how you count) at 10:30 pm local time. Check-in at our long-stay apartment-style hotel closed at midnight, and a cab was supposed to take half an hour, so we needed to make it through baggage,…
We didn’t see as much of Kyoto as we might have liked, but there were still a few things that surprised us about the city: In many of the Kyoto subway stations, the subway worker – dressed like the conductor from the Shining Time Station show we watched as children – often says ‘Thank you’…
Neighborhood: Yamashina-ku Also Called: Otowa? Pros: It is a residential neighborhood, so you can see how people really live here. It’s pretty, with mountains and cherry blossom trees nearby. It’s quiet. It has plenty of dining options—though many are chains—and the employees/servers are very nice. It is right on a major subway line through the city, so…