Year of the Cock

Winter & Spring Festivals The New Year The first weekend in April, I attended the Kanamara Penis Festival in Kawasaki. However, I first thought it would be fun to catch up on some of the other festivities we've checked out this year. The New Year is perhaps the most anticipated holiday in Japan. Last year we …

Feeding My Seoul

Seoul, South Korea I admit I was visiting Seoul to use China's 72 hour Free Visa Transit program that is available when travelling to Beijing between two different countries. When Mike informed me that he would be in South Korea for work. I realized Will and I could go to Beijing then meet Mike there. …

Viewpoint

Fuji Five Lakes, Japan We'd originally planned on spending Thanksgiving in the Fuji Five Lakes area. However, the weather forecast included rain and snow (which we even got at our house) so we canceled our trip. I was looking at the weather a week ago and realized the upcoming weekend could be absolutely fantastic. I …

Spoiled

Kamikochi, Japan I am not a morning person but I do like to explore, so occasionally we get up at the ridiculous hour of 3:30 AM to get on a bus for a day of sightseeing. Today we were heading into the Japanese Alps to hike the Kamikochi Nature Trail in Chubu-Sangaku National Park. I …

On the Ancient Path

Wakayama, Japan Fall Trip Part 2 FRIDAY Since we'd accomplished all our Kyoto goals, I'd hoped to get an early start for Wakayama prefecture on Friday morning. We were taking the train to Nara, picking up a rental car and then stopping to explore in Shirahama before arriving in Nachikatsuura. Mike had gone out the …

Butterflies, Rainbows, Stars and a Heart Shaped Cave

Izu Peninsula Big Sur, California is thus far my favorite place on earth. There were moments when driving down the East Coast of the Izu Peninsula that I was reminded of the Central California coast. It was an absolutely lovely day and the beautiful views were getting me more and more excited about our Labor …

Milking Furano

Daisetsuzan Part 2 We woke up Saturday morning to rain. We were originally planning to stop and hike at Mount Asahidake on our way to Furano, but decided to postpone until Tuesday's return to the airport. We stopped briefly at the Otokoyama Sake Museum in Asahikawa. Unfortunately, the pourer didn’t speak English nor did a …

Playground of the Gods

Sounkyo Gorge, Japan Daisetsuzan Part 1 Hokkaido is Japan's northernmost island and the least densely populated. Known for its natural beauty and national parks, Hokkaido has been at the top of our Japan bucket list since we arrived. Settling on an a specific destination on this large island was difficult, but we finally decided on …

Surviving Golden Week

Golden Week is a string of public holidays that occur very close together from the end of April through the beginning of May. A lot of Japanese people take off the days in between the holidays to make it a week-long vacation. This year's Golden Week was expected to break travel records as the dates …

Just a Saturday

Kamakura, Japan Today was one of those days that we felt lazy, but knew we should take advantage of the beautiful weather. We decided to go hiking and quickly selected one from a short list of hikes in Kamakura. The description basically listed the hike as being mostly along a ridge between the Kencho-ji and …