Tag: tokyo

I’d Rather Fly Economy on a Japanese Airline Than Business on a U.S. Airline

Despite my affliction with Airplane Incidents Obsession Syndrome, I enjoy traveling by air.  I've flown domestically and internationally, in business and in economy, and on U.S. and foreign airlines.  What I've discovered through all that flying is that U.S. airlines are unbearably, unbelievably awful.

In fact, I'd rather fly 14 hours on economy class from New

Let’s Have More of the Winter

There are so many things that make winter the best of the four seasons, and what would make it even better is more of everything.

When I lived in the United States, winter always began on Thanksgiving week, just when the temperature outside starts to get comfortably cold in the Northeast.  Thanksgiving  means a lot of

Summer is the Memories of Discontents

There is only one good thing about the summer, and it's that it is followed by the most pleasant season of the year.

I was born in August, right in the smack of the summer, no doubt on a hot, humid and miserable day. My mom always wonders why I hate so much the season in

Why I Hate Running but Care for Hiking

I hate running.

A couple years ago, I tried to follow the regiment set out in Cool Running to go from a couch potato to a decent runner. I was committed enough to wake up at a god-awful hour of five in the morning to do a thrice weekly run for about six weeks before I

Swimming and Smoking Are a Lot Like Riding a Bike

When I was 6-7 years old, my family would frequently go swimming at a local pool. I would swim for nearly a kilometer (for Americans, that's 0.6 miles) a day nearly everyday. Even after I went to the United States, I kept up with swimming by taking hourly swimming lessons every week. There I would

Great Food But Portions, Not So Much

The food is great in Tokyo.   By that I mean the taste, not the portions.

Compared to America--where they feed you like a horse--the portions at Japanese restaurants are ridiculously small. It's pretty much assured that whatever dishes the restaurant trots out as a full-course meal is insufficient to satisfy your hunger. That's why I

Let’s Stay in Touch

I am starting my new life in Tokyo, where new challenges await.  I'm really excited, but the move still feels quite surreal.  I don't think reality has quite sunk in.

Twenty-one years, 3 months and 10 days passed between my residency in Japan.  That's a long time.  I haven't felt nostalgic yet, but I've started to

Stream of Consciousness on My Trip to Japan

A two and a half week absence from my blog has left me with mixed feelings: the gratification in knowing  people follow my blog but resignation in knowing they're only interested in my politics. For those who kindly encouraged me to break my silence as Ted Kennedy died and Japan went through an Obama-esque "change,"
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