Happy Lunar New Year to everyone! May you and your family be blessed with happiness, health, luck, success, and the chance to read my blog many times this year 🙂 I thought I’d spend a little time researching the glorious Inter-Web to learn more about this great tradition. Even as an Asian growing up with
I just spent 11 marvelous days in Japan for vacation. It’s a beautiful country, with lots of history, culture, and innovation. Japan and China are probably the two most influential nations in Asia. I’m glad to have the fortune of visiting both places. This trip was very memorable and rewarding. Lots of things to write
Japan is a land rich in culture. One cultural aspect that the Japanese are particularly proud of is their food. You are probably familiar with many Japanese foods already: ramen, sushi, tempura, teppenyaki, Kobe beef… It was a delight to taste the foods of Japan firsthand. And of course, I had to devote an entire
Now that Thanksgiving is behind me, I am ready to continue my blog thread on Japan. Today’s article is on Kyoto. Kyoto is located in central Honshu (the big island in Japan), a three hour bullet train ride from Tokyo. We spent four days in the Kyoto area. Kyoto is the perfect foil to Tokyo.
Japan’s society is a fascinating blend of old and new. On one hand, Japan is rich in history and tradition. This Japan is polite, conservative, and full of rules to follow. On the other hand, modern Japan is full of creativity and innovation. This Japan is flamboyant and risk-taking, and it seems to crave the
Tokyo is the largest city on the planet. It is the city of cities. There are over 35 million people in Tokyo Metropolis. This is almost twice the number (20 million) of the next most populous metropolitan areas (Seoul, Mexico City, New York City, Mumbai). As a resident of Chicago, I feel like I live
Berlin is Germany’s capital and largest city. It’s large, it’s modern, it’s sophisticated, it’s multicultural. This was my first visit to Berlin. My impression was that Berlin is Germany’s version of London or New York City. When I think of Berlin, I can’t help but think about its role in 20th century history. Most recently,
Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic. Also known as the “golden city” and the “mother of cities,” Prague has been a major city in the region for over a millennium. It was once the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and of Bohemia. Of all the great cities of the world that
We needed a distraction from the huge crowds and many liters of beer of Oktoberfest. So we did some wandering around in Munich. This gave us an opportunity to appreciate crowds and beer in other areas of the city 🙂 Marienplatz (St. Mary’s Square) is the town square at the heart of Munich. It’s been
I was pretty excited to travel to Munich for Oktoberfest. How many crazy big parties are there in the world? Carnivale in Rio, the running of the bulls in Pamplona – what else? Oktoberfest is right up there – one of those things you need to do before you die. I’ve been to Oktoberfest in