And then, arriving in bloom. As the train in the enveloping evening pulls through greater Kansai, I catch the blossoms peeping out form apartment blocks, the sudden bouquets that manage to even make the concrete sprawl of Osaka beautiful. Getting there, post-HK bender, not so much burned out as burned through—the fizzled sparkplug still smoking. Passing through … More And Then: Hanami, Japan’s Rebirth
Just how do people live here? It’s the question I kept asking myself in Hong Kong, this city of a million towers of twenty-story minimum. What’s it like, living your life midway between the noise and the sky? No such thing as parks or fields or an ocean that doesn’t send up fumes when it’s … More Hong Kong: Living the High Life
Coast Bound Three times a year, Japan unveils the Seishun Kippu 18, a specialty ticket that lets you use all the local trains in the whole country for five non-consecutive days. As someone who gets giddy, eight-year old style, every time they hop on the train, this sounded like a dream come true. … More Finding Freedom: Trains, Teahouses and Apples from the Mountains and to the Sea
Liam Scanlon 