• Vietnam – Saigon to Tam Hai Island

    Most people’s view of Vietnam, including mine, is mostly shaped by the numerous movies about the American War. Most of them were made by Americans so they all are biased in one way or another. But, being here it becomes clear very quickly that the Vietnamese have their own view of things. Well, at least […]

    Read More

  • Japan – Harajuku girls got the wicked style

    “Harajuku Girls you got the wicked style. I like the way that you are, I am your biggest fan.” sings Gwen Stefani in the song conveniently titled “Harajuku Girls”. It’s about the Cosplay-zoku, or costume play gang, which are teenage girls who assemble each weekend at Harajuku’s Jingu-bashi bridge in Tokyo dressed as goths, kimono […]

    Read More

  • Kyoto, Nara, Takayama & Tokyo

    After another day of temple-watching in Kyoto we made a day trip to Nara last Monday. More tempels, but a few special ones: Todai-ji , the largest wooden building in the world, and the Kasuga Taisha shrine, surrounded by paths with hundreds of stone lanterns. Beautiful! The sleepy mountain town of Takayama was the next […]

    Read More

  • Big in Japan

    Do you remember the song ‘Big in Japan’ by eighties band Alphaville? Listen to it on Youtube if you don’t… now that I’ve mentioned it, you will not be able to get the stupid song out of your head. I know I’m not!): Although Osaka is a convenient port of entry to Japan, it is […]

    Read More