Gear The Joy of Slicks: Review of the Slicks Travel System backpack After more than a year of use, here are my full unbiased thoughts on the Slicks Travel System backpack. If you’re a bag geek like me, this is the Slicks review that you’ve been waiting for.
Japan Meeting Japan’s most handsome gorilla at Higashiyama-koen Zoo Higashiyama-koen Zoo gets a lot of female visitors who come to meet Shabani, a gorilla with handsome, almost human features. I wanted to see if he's as good-looking as they say. And also if he'd be my wingman.
Japan Five things to do in Osaka during a typhoon The weekend Typhoon Lan hit Japan, some friends and I decided to visit Osaka and Universal Studios. We drank Butterbeer, met the Glico Man and ate poisonous blowfish.
Taiwan Your new year’s resolution should be to visit Taipei Forget losing weight or reading more, the one thing you should do in 2018 is visit Taiwan’s capital city. Partly because it’s an awesome place, but mostly because it’s where I’ll be living soon.
South Korea Five things to do in Seoul before North Korea blows it up In trendy Hongdae, spicy meats are BBQ’d, cosmetics are purchased, and attractive young people stumble out of bars, drunk out of their new double-eyelids on soju and beer. I really hope Seoul doesn’t get blown up. Because I kind of like it here.
Interviews How to swear like an Ethiopian, what to eat in Addis Ababa and why your awful opinion about the refugee crisis is entirely wrong One of the best things about travelling and working abroad is meeting people who are up to even more interesting things than you are. I asked my friend Kati a few questions about her work for an NGO in Ethiopia.
Japan Gaijin Smashed: The best places for foreigners to get drunk in Tokyo The Gaijin Smash is when a foreigner breaks the strict rules of Japanese society. On a night out, this might land you in a bar run by a porn star, or bumping into Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys.
Japan Japanese ghosts and where to find them Let’s look at how traditional beliefs crop up in present-day Tokyo weirdness by checking out a few of the places you might experience some ghostly happenings.
Japan Dave, this is why you should go to Kyoto (and Nara) To ensure my friend Dave has a good trip to Japan and I don’t have to commit seppuku, here are the reasons why he - and by extension, you - should go to Kyoto.
Japan Five totally bizarre but amazing Japanese souvenirs If you’re in the market for something your loved ones will relish more than bean paste cookies or a predictable set of chopsticks, here are five weird items that really get under the skin of Japanese culture.
Work Lesson 01: Introductions I’m really not a big fan of self-introductions, so let’s try something I do with my students. Play along…
Japan Getting weird in Japan's geek capital, Akihabara Godzilla, samurais and vending machines selling used panties. Tentacle porn. Kimonos. That famous temple in Kyoto. A futuristic megacity. A lot of people think Japan is like Memoirs of a Geisha by day and a pervert’s version of Bladerunner by night.
Japan Oktoberfest: Germany vs. Japan In Japan there seems to be an Oktoberfest every couple of months, regardless of the season. This is how the Yokohama version stacks up against the original.
Nepal Top 10 things to do in Nepal In 2011 I spent two months in Kathmandu teaching English to Buddhist monks. Of course, the life-changing experience I got was nothing like the one I expected.
Japan There aren't any rare Pokémon at the top of Mount Fuji You’d think the highest mountain in Japan would have some special Pokémon to catch. Alas, you'll just have to make do with the view. This is my guide to climbing Mount Fuji.
Japan Learning to be a ninja at Edo Wonderland in Nikko After a student gave a presentation about this historical theme park in Nikko, two English teacher friends and I decided to investigate.
Work How I spent my summer recession Looking back, it was obvious that I was never suited to working indoors at a desk, let alone in the media. This is the story of why.
Thailand The WORST way to travel from Chiang Mai to Koh Mak There are plenty of horror stories about South East Asian transport: accidents, breakdowns and buses falling off cliffs. My friend Matt and I’s trip from Chiang Mai to Koh Mak was worse than any of those though.
Thailand You definitely should NOT go to Koh Mak After stumbling across the perfect Thai island, I'm reluctant to share it with anyone else. You don't want to read this blog post and you really don't want to go to Koh Mak.
New Zealand Welcome to Hobbiton, New Zealand This movie set from Lord of the Rings is one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist attractions, and also what many Daily Mail readers think England used to look like before all the brown people arrived.
Japan Take your Tinder date to a Japanese penis festival March is penis season for the Japanese. A week after I arrived in Japan, I decided to meet a Tinder date at the most phallic of festivals in the city of Kawasaki.
