The Wandering Chocoholic

Welcome to Himeji Castle Himeji Castle is one of the largest and most impressive Samurai castles in Japan. Its maze-like structure and rich history make it one of the most visited attractions in the country. It’s also been the site…

Day two in Kyoto. I really think I could have spent days in Kyoto, but instead, I tried to get a flavour for the city in just a day and a half. Yes, my feet are very tired. Fushimi Inari…

Hi from Kyoto, a city that blends ancient empires and shrines with modern technology in a way that is utterly representative of Japan. Good morning, Buddhist style Wake-up time was at 6am, which sounds worse than it felt after having…

A Buddhist retreat Koya-san, high in the mountains near Osaka, is a famous Buddhist town and retreat. Getting there required taking a subway to a train to another train to a cable car to a bus to the temple where…

Shopping, shopping and more shopping Today was a day to explore the different neighbourhoods of Osaka. From my hostel in the Minami (southern) district, I headed to the electronics neighbourhoods to see rows and rows of cameras, cell phones, and…

Some first impressions of Japan, from Day 1 in Osaka… Where the streets have no name As is typical for Japanese cities, Osaka’s streets do have names, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a street sign, let alone an address,…

After a long but uneventful day of flying, I’ve arrived in Japan and have managed to find my hostel in Osaka, despite the very confusing maps and lack of street names or numbers anywhere. Who’s impressed? So, first impressions of…