Imagine being in a lush forest where two parallel paths are laid before your eyes. The one on the right has seemingly endless rows of torii (a type of gate usually found at Shinto shrines in Japan), and so does the left one, although peeking […]
All posts filed under: East
Nijo-jo: From the Hollyhock to the Chrysanthemum
When I was planning a trip to Kyoto, the wooden pillars of Kiyomizu-dera, the golden pavilion of Kinkaku-ji, and the endless vermilion torii of Fushimi Inari-taisha were among the things I thought of visiting the most as countless photos of them always seemed to appear […]
Kyoto’s Pavilions of Beauty
At midday in Kyoto James and I were enjoying a quirky Japanese TV show – a miscellany of over-excited hosts, cartoonish animation, and video game-ish sound – sitting cross-legged on the comfortable tatami mat inside our hotel room. At the same time on our laptops […]
Kyoto: A Prologue
In the final weeks toward the first ever use of an atomic bomb in warfare, a list of Japanese cities was compiled by the US military and scientists as potential targets to bring down the Asian superpower. Each city was carefully selected based on the […]
Kurashiki: A Glimpse of Pre-War Japan
Anyone who has explored big cities in Japan might notice the endless rows of incongruous concrete buildings dominating their skylines. Despite the elegance and restrained beauty the Japanese are famous for, I wondered why they built those ugly boxes of uninspiring edifices. Japan’s ambition to […]
The Invincible White Heron
In Ancient Egypt, the heron was believed to be the creator of light, while the double-headed heron symbolized prosperity. Halfway across the world in Ancient China, the bird was regarded as a symbol of strength, purity, patience and long life. However in Japan, an egret […]
Okayama Delights
Moving on from something good can sometimes be very difficult. And that was exactly what happened to me after my first trip to Japan last year. It was not the country itself that had me utterly captivated, although many things I observed and experienced there […]
A Tale of Three Cities: Hong Kong
This is a story of three Asian metropolises whose modern hustle and bustle dates back to many generations ago. Money and trade had helped propel these cities into prominence, and they will continue to do so in the years and decades to come. One is […]
Osaka Calling
One morning, more than twenty years ago when I was still living in a small city in the westernmost end of Java, I was having instant noodles while watching a Japanese anime on TV. My father who had been noticing this new habit I was […]
Impressions of Japan
Dreams do come true. It is something that we are constantly reminded about upon seeing other people’s dreams fulfilled as well as ours. However as we grow older sometimes we forget about the dreams we had when we were much younger, for there is no shortage […]
Macau: the World’s Last Portuguese Colony
Chapter 4, Part 3 Two years after the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511, Jorge Álvares sailed to the Far East and became the first Portuguese to ever set foot in China – at the Pearl River Delta to be precise. However, it took another […]
The Spice Odyssey, A Prologue
Asia. Home to 4.4 billion people, more than half of all human beings on this planet. It is where some of the greatest civilizations the world has ever seen flourished. It is where gunpowder, papermaking, printing and the compass were invented; where Hinduism was created […]
What an Amazing World! 