Thursday, September 20, 2018

Kyoto: A Journey to Japan's Heritage



The urban landscape of Nagoya quickly changed to vast ricefields as the shinkansen train gained speed. My mom, being a first-timer aboard this state-of-the-art bullet train, didn't notice that we were traveling close to 400 kilometers per hour. While peering out the window, thinking of the possible things to do in Kyoto, she got caught off guard by the speeding opposite bound train. The ride to Kyoto was only 40 minutes. I wished it was longer, but my wallet is already screaming – our one-way fare to Kyoto was even more expensive than our roundtrip fare to and from Manila!

I wasn't expecting a lot about our trip to Kyoto. We were scheduled to stay here for three days and two nights. I have already seen a lot of photos and read blogs about this former Imperial Capital, so there was not much of a buzz the moment we stepped out of our train. Boy, I was wrong.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Summer in Nagoya



Surprisingly, we took off Manila on time. The 4-hour journey to Nagoya was rather smooth, and I purposely requested a left window seat to capture the majestic sunset en route. It was already dark when we started our descent towards Nagoya. All I see was pitch black. I couldn't even make out where the land and the sea was. I guess we were only a few thousand feet when we finally emerged from the clouds, and I could see the distant lights of Nagoya's central business district.

The warm and humid summer air of Nagoya greeted us as we exited the terminal building. We rode a train to Kanayama Station, which is a 30-min ride from Chubu-Centrair Airport, where we would meet up with my aunt. While on the train, I couldn't help myself but observe. There's something about Japan that strikes you real hard - the efficiency, the politeness, and the generally peaceful urban environment.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Discover a different side of Thailand with a “One Night Stay with Locals”



From southern provinces that you may already be familiar with such as Phang Nga and Chumphon, to the more remote northern provinces of Lampang, Nan and many more, 13 destinations have been carefully chosen by Tourism Authority of Thailand as part of this newly-launched “One Night Stay with Locals” project. Not only are these villages very remote (meaning you will beat the crowds even in high season), there is also a huge variety of community-focused activities available, such as getting your hands dirty picking fruit in orchids with the locals, taking tractor rides through the jungle to waterfalls or heading out on fishermen’s boats to find the catch of the day!