• Ponderings,  Travel

    Why Japan isn’t ready for the Olympics

    Coronavirus aside, Japan isn’t ready for the Olympics. Sure, Japan has hosted the Olympics before but that was back in the 90’s. The 90’s were a time when people didn’t invest in traveling so much. It was also a time when barely anyone had the internet (super slow, btw) so they were limited in what they could learn about a country. They were restricted in learning about what they could do/see and needed to rely on travel agencies. Visiting Japan in those days, especially for the Olympics was truly for the privileged.

  • Food,  Travel

    Dining at Suimui in Okinawa

    When I first went to Japan, I never bothered to eat inside a restaurant. I was scared of ordering. I was scared of dealing with cigarette smoke. I was scared of eating wrong, etiquette-wise. I was also scared that whatever I ordered would be non vegan, let alone vegetarian friendly. So, I never bothered to dine in Japan.

  • Food,  Ponderings,  Travel

    Bizarre Japan

    The West has a bad habit of making Japan appear bizarre. And I get it. It’s because Japan is quite different from the West.

    Different language(s). Different food(s). Different custom(s).

    But when you really think about it, no one country is ever more bizarre than the other simply because every country is bizarre. It all comes down to one’s perspective. For example, Americans wouldn’t find Canada to be all that bizarre and vice versa, right?

    So, what is bizarre about Japan? I don’t know for sure but allow me to share my bizarre encounters in Japan.

  • Travel

    Overrated Nikko

    Of all the places I was looking forward to visit in Japan, it was Tochigi’s Nikko. I was drawn to Nikko due to my images of nature and its many world heritage sites.

    Unfortunately, Nikko couldn’t meet my expectations (whatever they were) and left me with much bitter disappointment. A part of the negative experience could very well in part be due to my travel companion being a major pain since the morning of the trip. She was just bitchy AF and for the life of me, I could not comprehend why especially when she didn’t do any of the planning for this trip. (I kid you not unless you want to call a calendar showcasing our departure and arrival date as planning… Begin the eye rolling, folks.)

  • Food,  Ponderings

    For To Go, please

    Beansprouts and Thai Tea

    I don’t know about you but I’m not too crazy about eating out.

    The costs associated with eating out is one thing but worse than cost(s) is this pathetic societal expectation that one must never eat out alone.