By now, everyone who’s wanted to see the newest Star Wars entry should have already. For those who’ve not had the time or have been living under a rock, the seventh entry into the Star Wars film franchise was released on December 18th and has smashed pretty much every box office record there is…
Europe is a dream destination/continent for many travelers. It can seem a distant likelihood, however, as it’s fairly far away from both Japan and a good portion of North America. If you’ve been able to afford a visit to your home country, though, a European trip is not outside the realm of possibility!…
Though no lightning cracked the sky, electricity still hung heavily over the city’s residents. Snowflakes drifted lazily to join their fallen brethren covering everything in sight. Atop a freshly blanketed rooftop crouched a cat with long, dampening fur that stood starkly against the white of the snow. It began padding along, leaving…
Welcome to February! Hopefully this month is kinder to celebrities than last month was. What a way to start the year, huh? Cancer sucks. On February 2nd last year, my father asked if I wanted to go to Monaco with him. It sounded great! I said yes, then scrambled to prepare as I was leaving…
At the most recent book club, which took place on December 13th, we covered Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. A relatively short novel (at least for bibliophiles), coming in at a little under 400 pages, it nevertheless succeeds in painting a Wonderland-esque parallel reality that is rather dark and well-fleshed out. In addition, it is essentially…
Nagasaki served as one of Japan’s primary ports for many years, with the result that the city now has a very distinct atmosphere compared to other mainland Japanese cities. Chinese and European influences are easy to observe, largely through cuisine and religion respectively. The Chinatown is one of three in the nation, and…
Happy New Year, everybody! January is in many ways a false start. Besides the year, one of the few things to begin again are school terms. And those aren’t even the start of a new school year! At my university, the month was dedicated to intensive month-long classes, and I partook all three Januarys during…
For any travelers out there (of which I suspect there will be many this month), layovers are often a necessary and incredibly cost-effective evil. Below you will find my experiences (or how I imagine my imminent experience will be) with five airports. These airports often serve as gateways to SE Asia, Europe, and…
An Instructional Guide on Dragging People Around Japan It may not happen for everyone, but eventually you may receive long-distance visitors. In as many months, I had two friends from America make the long trek to the land of the rising sun. Naturally, I was expected to serve as guide, translator, and planner for…