Japanese Zen: Kyoto Green

Post No. 50 is short and sweet with lots of photographs. Very green. Very Zen.

If you live in Tokyo, a place that has its own way of instilling inner peace given its orderly everyday functions, I would recommend that you take the 2-ish hour Shinkansen Train* to Kyoto to find Zen or tranquility or your heart center rather than a foo-foo yoga class.

Revenge of the Monkeys: Ubud, Indonesia

In my quest to be more "open," I try to give people at least two chances. In this case, it was monkeys. Monkeys/humans, poh-tay-toh/poh-tah-toh.

Ubud has a few things going for it: it boasts cooking schools and a cool respite from the south of the island, making it unnecessary for aircon at night. Yes, I adapted to using 'aircon' vs 'AC.' I have no explanation for my behavior. I found out, only after leaving Ubud, that the area was made famous by Eat, Pray, Love, a book that struck me as really stupid precisely after paragraph number one. It  wasn't until paragraph four that I decided to chuck the book, so I have no idea what the writer did in this town.

Jerk.

Aoto Change: Japanese Transportation on Day 1

Taking a cab from Narita Airport to the center of Tokyo costs about $300. The only way to travel is via train or subway. This is my tale.

Panic. Damnit. Despite hearing that Tokyo's transit system is the most comprehensive of any in the world, I neglected to look up detailed directions from Narita airport to my hotel. Nearing 11pm, I was also worried that train service would stop soon: Tokyo's one drawback when compared to the NYC's MTA system.

Busiest Pedestrian Intersection + Photo crashers

The Good, The Bad, and The Awesome: Post Trip Thoughts

Two weeks of travel are sometimes hard to summarize, particularly with the amount of variety that can be packed into those two weeks. Summarizing months of travel? Interesting. I have been getting this question a lot, especially now that I am back in NYC, What was your favorite part? Some asked me what my least favorite parts were as well. I will do my best to keep this post brief as I have been starting to get retrospect of my trip in the weeks to come.

Blazing Heat: Bagan, Myanmar

It was hot. Like, Dante's Inferno hot. We had come off the overnight bus mere hours before, in the twilight hour of 4AM, to be let in by our generous hostel without a charge for an extra day. Most others were forced to start temple gazing at those inhumane  hours–both exploring and sunrise watching. Though it wasn't the best place we stayed in Myanmar, thank you, May Kha Lar, for letting us pre-temple nap.