Category — Asia

People ask me for travel advice all the time, and sometimes I just don’t get around to blogging about it in advance. Here’s your chance to ask me anything about anywhere! If I have any good intel–I’ll gladly share it with you.

The question: “I’m finally making that trip to China I’ve talked about for so long – and will be spending 3 weeks in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Any advice would be appreciated!” 

Hong Kong is one of my favorite world cities, and neighboring Macau also holds a very dear place in my heart–so while I must admit I’m a little jealous about your impending journey, I’m excited to share some fun things to do!

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: in Hong Kong they actually do use bamboo for skyscraper scaffolding, as seen in every Jackie Chan movie ever made. This, I feel, is incredible.

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Shanghai might just be my all-time favorite Chinese city. This history-rich melting pot offers a little bit of everything you want—which shouldn’t be too surprising, considering its position as one of the world’s major global ports and the financial center of Asia, boasting a young, open-minded, and fast-growing population that currently tops off at close to 30 million. If you’re dreaming of visiting, here is a look at some of my favorite things. First, what to do, then, what to eat, and finally, where to sleep.

When possible, I’ve linked to the SmartShanghai.com entry, which gives you a map to help you find the location, the nearest metro station, and the option of a taxi printout in Chinese that you can give to a cab driver. [Read more →]

I wrote a guest post about the Shanghai Wet Market for the “Farmer’s Market Update” feature on Summer Tomato. It’s not your typical farmer’s market, unless you are accustomed to buying live poultry, snakes, eels, and frogs at an enormous, multi-block open market that’s open 24/7. Leave it to the booming metropolis of Shanghai to offer such a supercharged food market.

I love this picture of rice sacks in the market – to see much much more, you can travel along with me in the Wet Market on Summer Tomato. Thanks to Darya for letting me share my photos and stories from this incredible market!

People ask me for travel advice all the time, and sometimes I just don’t get around to blogging about it in advance. Here’s your chance to ask me anything about anywhere! If I have any good intel–I’ll gladly share it with you.

The Question: I’m heading to Tokyo for a business trip, and I want to find some really cool and unique shops for gifts, food, and a taste of Japanese pop culture while I’m there. What are your favorite shops in Tokyo?

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Some friends are heading to Bali for their honeymoon–and while I’m incredibly jealous, I had to share some of my very favorite recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and activities. Bali is one of my most beloved places in the whole world. There are many places that I visit and think, “this is great, but now that I’ve seen it, I don’t have to come back.” Bali is not one of those places.

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OK, so this is not entirely wordless. But then, it’s not even Wednesday. Kappabashi is the restaurant supply street of Tokyo. Everyone tells you to go and marvel at the many stores full of plastic food. But nobody warns you about the giant chef head and the gigantor coffee cups. To see them yourself: Tokyo metro to Asakusa station.

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I couldn’t resist sharing these neat and somewhat bizarre foodstuffs (and food-related) stuff I found in Japan!

• single serving glass of wine with sardine-can top from the Muji flagship store

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I was trying to book some intra-China flights on the web and found a lot of pitfalls and language barriers. For example, I happened upon this page entitled “Common Questions” on the China Southern Airlines page. Questions 1,2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 seem OK but check out #4.

WTF!?!?!

I came across these pictures I took in Japan that I had been meaning to post. It makes perfect sense that the nation that created the juggernaut that is the Hello Kitty diaspora would have so-cute-it’s-sick signage, even on the serious subway. Don’t they know about terr’ism?

The pictures are not all totally related beyond being roughly subway-related, so I will attempt to weave a compelling narrative around them so that they make sense as a grouping.

So many things in Japan are adorable when they needn’t/shouldn’t be. For example, on the subway, this chubby little bear, and the raccoon mommy and baby tell give you some safety advisories. I think these are a lot more fun than a regular boring old sign. And those raccoons are so cute I want to pet them even though if they were real they would probably eat garbage and have rabies. But they’re SO CUTE! And they don’t want you to hurt your hands! Awwww.

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When I was in Tokyo I took a lot of pictures of weird drinks I found in vending machines… enjoy!

• POCARI SWEAT – I don’t know what a “pocari” is but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to drink its sweat! Tastes like Gatorade but gross.