This is the chapter of my life I’d like to share about fighting against censorship and book bans in Alabama. After uprooting our life in Japan and moving around the world to Birmingham, Alabama, I found it hard to adjust. Reverse culture shock set in as we started to rebuild our life from the ground …
Dear Apartment 9F, To my childrens’ first home—I guess this is goodbye. I didn’t know I’d grow to love you as much as I did. I remember walking in, newly married, seeing the empty walls and the few pieces of furniture we had brought over from the US. We started and grew our family here. …
O snail, Climb Mt. Fuji, But slowly, slowly! Kobayashi Issa Yesterday my husband, Kris, and I climbed Mt. Fuji. Since we have around 1 year left in Japan, this is the last climbing season we’d be able to climb her. We haven’t done much hiking in Japan other than hiking Mt. Takao, but we knew …
Singapore is a stunning city unlike any other place in the world. An incredible blend of nature and city, it’s been nicknamed “The City in a Garden.” It is one of the world’s greenest cities, with 47% of Singapore being covered by gardens or parks. This was evident right away, with buildings everywhere having trees …
Last month my in-laws came to visit and we all took the bullet train down to spend 6 days in Kyoto and Osaka. Our first three days we spent in Kyoto, which used to be the capital of Japan. I’ve always heard “If you want to experience the real Japan, spend time in Kyoto instead …
Alice in Magical Land is an Alice in Wonderland themed cafe in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Located just a few minutes from the west exit of Shinjuku Station, it’s on the basement floor of the HALC shopping center. It was a large group of us (5 moms, 5 babies, and two other adults) so we called ahead …
Although traveling around Tokyo with a baby might seem daunting at first, with a little planning it’s not hard at all. Here is our experience spending a few days in Asakusa with our baby. Asakusa is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Tokyo, largely in part to the famous Senso-ji Temple. You might …
Mt. Takao, a highly revered mountain among the Japanese people, sees over 2.5 million visitors every year. This means it attracts more hikers than any other mountain in the world. With a close proximity to central Tokyo (50 minutes by train from Shinjuku Station), it’s an easy day trip for residents and tourists alike. Mt. …
This weekend marks one year in Japan for me! We celebrated by accomplishing a major milestone; taking the train into Tokyo for a day trip with our six month old. Sure, some moms have been doing this since the beginning, but it was always easier for us to just drive and spend the night. Let’s …
A few weeks ago, we made plans to drive to Yokohama. This Japanese port city is a little over an hour away from us, if you take toll roads. Although we’ve done our fair share of local road trips, this was our first time on the highway! We debated taking the longer route to save some …