Dec 23 - 25
It was nice to return to Osaka after spending a full month traveling around Japan. I felt like I was able to understand Japan a little more and truly appreciate Osaka, which is certainly a unique city. When I first arrived in Japan, Osaka seemed daunting and confusing. When I returned a [...]

Posted on February 7th, 2009 by admin
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Dec 18 - 20
After spending a week with Chika and Shinsuke, then a few days with Chika’s family, I packed my bags and headed to the train station for Nikko. I didn’t make any hostel reservations, so I’d just have to show up and hope there was room for me. Chika was so worried [...]

Posted on January 24th, 2009 by admin
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Dec 15 - 16
At the end of my stay with Chika, she told me she wanted to take me to visit her family. They live in a small town called Hokuto in the Yamanashi Prefecture. The town wasn’t listed in my guidebook and Chika said that probably no [...]

Posted on January 18th, 2009 by admin
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Periodic visits between Dec 8 - 21
I’m not usually a huge fan of big cities, but Tokyo kinda sucked me in. It’s quirky, colorful, and perfect for someone who just wants to walk around endlessly and and stare at everything. Shopping districts and neon lights occupy much of Tokyo, but there are some nice parks [...]

Posted on January 17th, 2009 by admin
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Dec 7 – 15
My friends Chika and Shinsuke (who I met first in Austin) live in Kawasaki and so I made plans to meet up with them. They met me at the train station and showed me the way to their lovely house. They were the sweetest hosts I could ever have asked for and [...]

Posted on January 15th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Japan | 3 Comments »

Dec 5 – 7
Hiroshima is a place everyone should visit when they are in Japan.

Based on the recommendation of a guy I met at a hostel in Osaka, I stayed at the World Friendship Center. The room was a little more expensive than I was used to paying, but it was a really good choice.

The [...]

Posted on January 5th, 2009 by admin
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Dec 4 - 5
Nara is a good place to wander around alone. It’s small and manageable, there’s lots to see, and you can see most everything in one very full day. You can also walk wherever you want to go, which is a nice change from the bigger cities.

It was kinda fun to be back [...]

Posted on December 24th, 2008 by admin
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Dec 1 – Dec 3
In the morning I made it to Kyoto, which is only about a 30 minute train ride from Osaka.

Chika and Akemi, two amazing Japanese girls I met in Austin, had both been sending me emails saying they were very worried about me. Apparently they thought I was going to call them [...]

Posted on December 22nd, 2008 by admin
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Nov 27 – Nov 30
It was a 5hr flight from Perth to Singapore (during which I met a really nice South African couple and got great areal views of the western edge of Australia).

Then it was a 4 hour layover at Changi Airport in Singapore (where I made wood block prints, ate Indian food, visited [...]

Posted on December 13th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Japan | No Comments »