Our home away from home in Bali is a breezy villa in lush tropical gardens on the edge of a rural village called Tumbak Bayuh, not far from Canggu and a long way from Kuta. Wedged between rice paddies and a football field, with a dog in the backyard, the only way our experience of … Read more
Our two-week stay in Tokyo, Japan’s capital, was so different to other destinations we settled into on our yearlong global grand tour. There were so many travel lessons we learned in Tokyo for slow travellers and lovers of local travel that we thought the experience warranted a post on our Tokyo reflections and Tokyo travel … Read more
I’m not going to name names, so don’t ask. But a Tokyo-based tour guide recommended to us emailed me to say he was away on a trip while we were in town. He apologised for not being there to meet us and kindly gave us his number in case we needed help. His one piece … Read more
Omoide Yokocho or Memory Lane in Shinjuku, Tokyo, is also called Shonben Yokocho or Piss Alley due to the lack of toilets here for many years. Home to dozens of smoky yakitori and motsuyaki joints, boisturous izakayas, and noodle bars, the atmospheric alleyways of Omoide Yokocho are a popular post-work stop for Japanese salarymen looking … Read more
Strolling the leafy lanes of the atmospheric quarter of Yanaka is like stepping back in time. Dotted with historic temples and traditional low-rise wooden houses, this laidback area is one of Tokyo’s oldest neighbourhoods, dating back to the Edo period (1603-1867). It’s also one of the few areas of the city to survive the Great … Read more