Asia

On yet another Tokyo adventure, I stayed in the Wise Owl Hostels, featuring capsule beds! They are like your own little private room; I immediately fell in love. Probably it also helped that the mattress actually had some support to it and they provided a feather pillow, compared to my room in the dormitory featuring […]

Hiroshima is one of those places everyone wants to go to because of its historical significance in world war 2, little do many foreigners remember there is more to Hiroshima than the atomic bomb. I myself fell into this trap and planned a trip to go to Hiroshima to see the atomic bomb museum and […]

Today was probably one of the most exciting days for me since I have been in Japan: I went to Universal Studios Japan (USJ)!! I have wanted to go to USJ since week one of being here, but I needed it to be warm enough to actually enjoy walking outdoors all day. It’s been excruciating […]

Anytime anyone ever asked me if I like to eat crab I would have said no. I had never actually tried crab, but crab lies in the same seafood category as fish and I don’t like fish so I assumed I would not like crab. This narrow minded view never allowed me to try any […]

Anytime anyone ever asked me if I like to eat crab I would have said no. I had never actually tried crab, but crab lies in the same seafood category as fish and I don’t like fish so I assumed I would not like crab. This narrow minded view never allowed me to try any […]

About half a week before going to Kobe, I asked around what people in my laboratory and dormitory suggested. After giving me a “why are you going there” look, all people could suggest was Kobe beef and Nankinmachi, Kobe Chinatown. Taking these suggestions, and a thorough google search, I realized it might only be an […]

A coworker recommended Monter au Plus Patisserie for my next outing, and so when sightseeing had lulled I decided to treat myself to a fancy afternoon. My coworker warned me it would be expensive, and right she was with small cakes starting at $5. After weighing whether the experience was worth the price, I forged […]

Embracing being the classic Osaka tourist, I headed out to explore Osaka’s Aquarium: Kaiyukan. The aquarium borders the ocean and a shopping mall. Kaiyukan is famous for its whale sharks, and so there are countless pictures and statues displayed of these enormous creatures. The aquarium did a great job with the wow factor. Almost as […]

You know that communication will be difficult when going to a different country, but it is a whole new dimension of difficulty that I found myself in after moving to Japan. You think everyone will be able to understand your English? Wrong. You think enough research beforehand will prepare you not to make any cultural […]

My company apparently really likes parties, and so we went out one night for chicken sashimi. I didn’t know what chicken sashimi meant, but I like chicken and thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know my coworkers outside of work. The restaurant was very traditional; we had to take our shoes […]