Railay Beach Dinner

What We Ate on Railay Beach

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…

Tokyo's Nihonbashi Ward

Where We Stayed in Tokyo

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…

Japanese Menu

Speaking Japanese

One thing that stands out about Japan is the language. Specifically, the fact that they use it. Let me explain. Imagine you go to a grocery store. You’re checking out, and the cashier needs to ask you something. For example: how many plastic bags do you need? cash or credit? do you need chopsticks? do you…

Tokyo Sushi

The Price of Tokyo

Tokyo is not currently the most expensive city in the world, but it’s still in the top six. Certainly, housing plays a part, and I have found apartments and hotels to be more expensive than many (but not all) other places we’ve been. However, I also expected food to be expensive. After all, sushi at even…

Kyoto Manga Museum

What We Saw in Kyoto

Because we were finalizing summer living details while in Kyoto, we didn’t see as much as we could have during our week there. But here is what we did explore: 1) Nishiki Market: I didn’t find this market as friendly or interesting as the Kuromon Market in Osaka. Perhaps it was because the food was more expensive and the…

Otaku Costume

Mediterranean Looks

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…

Kyoto Botanical Garden

No Tea for Us

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…

How Lucky You Are: Reply to T

Dear T, Thank you for reading our blog and wishing us well! After reading some of our posts, you probably know us better than you think! We are having a very good time in Japan! We’ve been looking forward to it for our entire trip, in part because Japanese food is our favorite. Osaka—our first…

Country You Like the Most? Reply to T

Hi T, We’re so glad that you like our blog! The main reason that N (my wife) writes so many blog posts is to share what we learn during our travels, so we’re very happy that you learned about the cultures of the places that we visited! I would have never guessed it before this…

Strangest Thing You Have Seen: Reply to A

Hey A! I’m glad you enjoyed our blog! We really like to try new foods and learn about new cultures, and they’re fun to write about too. Where have you been on your travels? The strangest thing I saw was in Cambodia: a guy was carrying a small pig on his motorbike! Two other guys…