Contemplating a trip to Tokyo and Osaka, but unsure about where to go between the two visits? Why not get a JR Hokuriku Arch Pass to appreciate the UNESCO World Heritage gasshou-style (合掌造り) architecture in Toyama? Skip to: gassho, what’s that? First, let’s briefly delineate the Hokuriku area. The three mainstay prefectures are Fukui, Ishikawa, and […]
History
Airline Route Maps
Let’s stir up controversy with some airline route maps. JetBlue is in the news for having displayed Palestinian Territories on its in-flight map. I don’t care. What I do care about is a plane landing safely at its intended destination. But wait, maybe I do care … such stories make for great rabble-rousing here. To […]
Chinatown Around the World
As a child, I used to think that the Manhattan Chinatown was one of the coolest neighborhoods to wander around. Whether it was the detailed writing system, the food, or the history, I was enthralled. But how would it compare with other Chinatowns around the world? After starting to travel, I realized that New York […]
Taiwan’s Back in the News, so Here’s a Brief History of KLM asia
In 1995, KLM set up KLM asia specifically to fly to Taiwan. This was because the Chinese government wouldn’t allow national carriers to fly to both Taiwanese and Chinese destinations. Basically, to capitalize on growing business and tourism demand from both Taiwan and China, a number of airlines set up subsidiaries to appease the mainland; […]
Mexicana 2: Electric Boogalu
Speaking of phoenixes, it appears that Mexicana will be taking to the skies by Q4 of this year. Good thing I didn’t include them in this post. But before we get into the latest news, I have fond memories of flying with Mexicana, which was one of the world’s oldest carriers before it went belly-up […]
Japanese Sewer Cover Trading Cards. Seriously.
Japan might be the ultimate country for hobbyists. It’s a place where the brilliant train system attracts photographers amateur and densha otaku alike, limited-edition Kit Kats are misnomers, and vending machines sell everything from raw fish to bouquets. Yet, perhaps the most unusual things to come out of Japan in the last decade are sewer […]
Coins, Coins, Obnoxious Coins
Coins are obnoxious. Kudos to Canada for stopping the minting of the tangible penny. Denmark’s central bank hasn’t produced paper money or coins, nor did it have a single bank robbery in 2022. Moreover, why can’t we change this metal at a currency exchange place? Too many irritating reasons. Yet on the flip side, a […]
Never Flying Again
That’s right! These airlines are never flying again. Yes, these carriers once served a purpose, be it skidding off of runways, or skidding back onto runways. Occasionally, they took to the air. Now, their memories for me last only in the form of years-old digital photos taken back when I was a more jittery flier…which, […]
