More Toilet Tales

I know, I know.  I thought I was done with my bathroom rants, but alas, I had forgotten about something.  Though I had my sights set on Europe, with all her nice bathrooms, I had forgotten about Zanzibar.  Oh Zanzibar, with your idyllic beaches and lovely people.  Oh Zanzibar, with your crappy hostels and filthy [...]

Diesel is a Saboteur, or the Return of the Diet

I have a nagging suspicion that Diesel is trying to sabotage me. Call me crazy, but I can’t help but think that he has been covertly working against my diet. Yes, that diet. My inkling that he was NOT the guardian of my diet, but instead, a saboteur disguised as my husband, started in Hiroshima. [...]

Muffins and Cupcakes, or On Underwear – Part II

 Now, I am well aware that I have become a bit pudgy since the beginning of the year. And although I vehemently deny being a muffin top, as Diesel has pointed out, I do admit that I am on my way, preferring to call myself a cupcake top, slightly smaller than a true muffin top. [...]

Couchsurfing in Osaka with the Japanesy Kiwi

After our awesome experience couchsurfing with Laura and Heather in Kyoto, we decided to give it another go and contacted several people in Osaka. Oddly enough, most of the hosts in Japan are all white, since most of the Japanese in the couchsurfing network live with their families. So it came as no surprise that [...]

From Africa, With Love

Hey! We made it to a new continent! We are in Zanzibar now after two long flights and a 2 day self drive safari through Kruger Nat Park where we saw so many amazing animals, I can’t really begin to explain. we saw lots of lions (9 total!), giraffes, got within 50 ft of a [...]

Okayama

The closest big town to Kurashiki is Okayama and we decided to stay there for a couple days as it was good jumping off point for the contemporary art island of Naoshima, which we will get to later…

The bride – these taken by a nice man we met in Okayama park. Stunning picture.

Kurashiki and Ryokan

After Miyajima, it was off to Hiroshima to catch the shikansen (bullet train) and head up to Kurashiki, a small town just south of Okayama. Most travelers running through Japan skip these little towns, which is unfortunate because they show a glimpse of an older Japan, away from the rush rush of cities like Tokyo [...]

Miyajima, Vending Machines and Drunken Women

Seen in every Japanese guidebook, the floating torii or Miyajima is one of the most famous sights in Japan. In the old days, the fishermen from the town would go in and out of the torii to keep the bad spirits out. Torii protect against those evil spirits, ya know…

Yukata Festival!

If you read the last post, then you might be sad by now. Sorry about that, but you can’t talk about Hiroshima without talking about the bomb…
But I’m sure if you live in Hiroshima now, you don’t want to talk about the bomb anymore. It happened 70 years ago and while you most likely know [...]

Onto Japan

Konichiwa! Genki desu ka?
Hello! How are you?
We had booked our return flight home out of Osaka so we had to make it Japan. And we wanted to make it to Japan because we had such a good time in Tokyo during our unscheduled stop on our honeymoon. Because we had already been to the big [...]