Category Archives for "North Asia"

Welcome to the ultimate 5 day Tokyo itinerary or how to see Tokyo in five days. From sumo to sushi, karaoke to kitsch, volcanic baths to spaceship-like toilet flush controls, Japan provides an intense cultural experience like nowhere else on earth.

As one of the most popular cities in the world, Hong Kong has her share of tourist traps. Yet she also combines the quirky and authentic like nowhere else on earth.

The snowy peak of Mt Fuji. The flashing lights of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Quiet temples, secluded gardens, geisha and blaring pachinko arcade games. The highlights of Japan include her traditions and customs as much as her places to visit and things to do.

Kamakura. It’s one of those words I’d never heard until I went to Yokote in north Japan.

Snow was falling as I arrived in the city, 260 miles from Tokyo. Softly at first, like…

Have Japan’s Okinawa Islands found the secret to a long and healthy life?

  Visiting the Stunning Reed Flute Caves in Guilin China It’s amazing what you can do with a little rock, water and patience. Well, a little water, a lot of rock and all the patience in the world, I suppose. Plenty of places talk about the caves they have but few have managed to entice […]

Hand-crafted Japan itineraries and a trip planner to help you make your next trip happen.

In many a culture, the lusciousness of a woman’s locks says something about her status. Kate Middleton’s hairdresser arrived a good five hours before Kate ventured outside holding the third king in waiting of England. And the symbolic photo of US pop princess Britney Spears’ meltdown involved her hair, or lack of it. After hairdressing […]

Nagasaki survivors: One of the most moving moments of my time in Japan, if not my life altogether, was speaking with a survivor of the Nagasaki atom bomb drop that took place in 1945. Shimohira Sakue was a child at a time.  Meeting a Nagasaki Nuclear Bomb Survivor I met Shimohira Sakue in the foyer of […]

Whenever I feel the cold breath of winter on my neck as autumn runs out of time, my tastebuds turn to octopus, the signature dish at…

I have a weakness for iconic summits.

So when I learned that the highest and most celebrated mountain in Japan could be climbed within a day, I was there faster than you can say shinkansen…

There’s such an exciting collection of day trips from Tokyo – and the clean and efficient rail system makes it easy. So, once you’ve checked out your five day Tokyo itinerary for inner city incense, pachinko, shrines and sushi, it’s time to head beyond.

As the sleek shinkansen train slid into Hiroshima station, I admit I felt nervous. Yet for all the studies and reports, I was still unprepared for what I saw.