Old Japan in the Streets of Higashiyama
SGMT – Narrow lanes, lovely temples, traditional Japanese architecture and…free food! Why you should stay in — or at least visit — Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward. (Plus: where to stay in Higashiyama) _ I didn’t know Higashiyama was one of Kyoto’s best preserved historic districts when I booked a 2-night stay at the Gion Ryokan Q-beh […]
Eating Cheaply in London: How to Spend Only £4 a Day on Meals
SGMT – It’s surprisingly easy to eat cheaply in London — one of the most expensive cities in the world — if you’re not too picky and don’t mind convenience store food. It’s a big if, but when traveling you have to work with what you have, and if what you have is a food budget of £70 […]
Tokyo’s Skyscrapers
SGMT – If plans for the Sky Mile Tower in Tokyo are approved, it will become the tallest building in the world, with a height that will be twice that of the current champion, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. At a proposed height of 1600 meters — 1 mile, hence the name — it will be taller […]
Lake Kawaguchi: Fuji and Fall
. . The appreciation of fall foliage is serious business in Japan. Just as with cherry blossoms, there is an entire industry devoted to predicting when the leaves would start to turn where. In my case, I was going to be in Tokyo on the second week of November — not exactly peak koyo season […]
The Meiji Shrine
. One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Samurai X, the English-language version of the beloved Japanese anime series Rurouni Kenshin. It takes place in the early Meiji era and follows the story of Kenshin Himura, a feared wartime assassin who tries to make up for the murders he once committed by […]
Does your Cebu Pacific ticket include the terminal fee?
. . Have you ever finished checking in to your flight then wondered if you should still join the queue at the terminal fee counter? (No? Just me?) What makes it a bit confusing is that the answer to “Does your Cebu Pacific ticket include the terminal fee?” varies with where you are and where you’re […]