
Postcards from Hanoi
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, food, hanoi, ikimasho, japan, photography, travel, travel writer, vietnam
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, food, hanoi, ikimasho, japan, photography, travel, travel writer, vietnam
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: ikimasho, japan, northern ireland, photography, tokyo, travel, travel writer
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: photography, photos, summer break, Travel Photography, travel writer
by joostay
From Tokyo to California: Summer 2019
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: California, photography, travel, travel writer, usa
by joostay
A photo essay of our 2019 trip to Northern Ireland
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: design, holiday, ireland, lifestyle, northern ireland, photography, travel, Travel Photography, travel writer, vacation
by joostay
A perfect base for exploring Hoi An’s Old Town – and the local villages beyond.
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, boutique, Hoi An, luxury, photography, se asia, Travel blogger, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, video, vietnam
by joostay
On Cloud Nine in District 1. My first ever massage experience.
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 5 star, asia, ho chi minh city, hyatt, ikimasho, luxury, Park Hyatt, photography, Saigon, se asia, travel, travel blogging, travel writer, vietnam, Zen
by joostay
Two days of gloriously doing nothing by the East Vietnam Sea / 南シナ海での贅沢な二日間
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, blogger, blogging, Danang, luxury, Luxury Travel, photography, resort, se asia, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, travelling, video, vietnam
by joostay
Pure colonial elegance in bustling Ho Chi Minh City | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 5 star, asia, blogging, design, food, ho chi minh city, hotels, interior design, lifestyle, luxury, photography, Saigon, se asia, space, travel, travel writer, travel writing, vietnam
by joostay
Exploring Saigon’s Doan Van Bo Alleyways – once notorious for their criminal gangs and mafia personnel.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, design, photography, Saigon, se asia, street, travel, travel writer, travel writing, urban, vietnam, Vietnamese
by joostay
IKIMASHO! | Daily life in Tokyo, Japan
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, photography, se asia, summer, travel, vietnam
by joostay
From Belfast to the world: Visiting Europe’s leading tourist attraction
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: belfast, design, northern ireland, photography, Titanic, travel writing
by joostay
From Japan to Northern Ireland for Christmas
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: japan, japanese, northern ireland, photography, travel
by joostay
You might be surprised by just how much food you’ll eat when travelling that comes from a street vendor. Some of the best dishes you’ll come across are commonly consumed as street food – here are six countries where you should try it for yourself. India You’ll be hard done by trying to avoid the temptation of vendors in India that cook up the most pleasingly fragrant and rich dishes the country has to offer. Don’t hesitate to tuck into […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan
by joostay
Working out how to do some working out in Saigon
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, fitness, gym, ikimasho, japan, japanese, Local Gym in Ho Chi Minh City, photography, Saigon, se asia, tokyo, travel, travel writer, urban, vietnam
by joostay
Modern escapism in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: aesthetic, design, five star, food, Ho Chi MInh, hotel, japan, luxury, photography, Saigon, tokyo, travel writer
by joostay
Right now I’m back in Tokyo after a week in Saigon. I didn’t visit one tourist attraction while I was there, instead choosing to spend my time as I usually do, wandering the backstreets and eating local food. I quickly found out that the most interesting daily life happens deep in the concentrated network of alleyways that exist away from the main tourist centre. By zooming in on Google Maps, you can clearly see areas in Ho Chi Minh where […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: architecture, city, daily life, design, food, Ho Chi MInh, photography, Saigon, se asia, travel, travel writer, urban, vietnam
by joostay
Noodles, tea, and a song. All served by the nicest person you’ll ever meet.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, HCMC, ho chi minh city, Saigon, se asia, travel, vietnam
by joostay
A cute cafe on the top floor of an abandoned apartment building in Saigon where they serve amazing drinks from skull pint glasses.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, Cafe culture, coffee, culture, design, food, ho chi minh city, photography, Saigon, se asia, street, travel writer, urban
by joostay
6am – 8am: SAIGON / SÀI GÒN
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: architecture, asia, design, food, ho chi minh city, photography, Saigon, se asia, travel, Travel Photography, urban, vietnam
by joostay
And so life goes full circle… In 2003 I touched down in Japan for the first time, living in this apartment block in Fukuoka city. Last weekend I went back to visit – a whopping 13 years later. I hadn’t been back during that time at all, but thankfully everything is exactly how I remember it, right down to my old post box, and the sign for the supermarket. It was such a strange feeling, and I experienced the ultimate sensation […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, fukuoka, japan, journey, life, tokyo, travel, travel writer, Zen
by joostay
Quite often when you travel a lot – and particularly when you are a travel writer – so many little moments can get lost; photos relegated to the the depths of memory cards, overlooked in favour of bigger articles that are being written at the time. As a perfect example, I was freeing up some space on a card the other day when I came across a group of photos I hadn’t looked at since the day they were taken. Cycling […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, asian, backpacking, bali, blog, food, indonesia, japan, japanese, photography, sanur, se asia, travel, travel writer, travel writing, writing
by joostay
What’s round the next corner? Starting the year as I mean to go on.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 2017, bangor, blog, church, county down, japan, japanese, kircubbin, Lisbane, nature, northern ireland, photography, religion, sea, strangford lough, tokyo, writing
by joostay
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED IKIMASHO! IN 2016!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, festivals, ikimasho, japan, japanese, living in asia, living in japan, living in tokyo, photography, se asia, tokyo
by joostay
I’m back in Northern Ireland for a few weeks for the holidays. Today some of my old bandmates and I climbed up Cave Hill, overlooking Belfast. Cave Hill is thought to be the inspiration for Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, with Swift imagining that the Hill resembled the shape of a sleeping giant safeguarding the city.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: belfast, blog, cave hill, green, ireland, japan, nature, northern ireland, outdoors, photography, travel
by joostay
“A six-centuries-old tradition, showing allegiance to the mountain gods, feels like a religious test of endurance, writes Justin Egli recounting what he witnessed atop the volcano.” In 2014 I climbed to the top of an active volcano in Indonesia at midnight to witness a very unique festival. It was an extremely intense experience, with pilgrims throwing live sacrifices into the heart of the caldera. I’m really happy to have my account of the experience published by New Mandala – an […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, festival, geography, indonesia, photography, se asia, travel, travel writer, travel writing, volcano
by joostay
ANA recently got it touch with me about a social media collaboration. It’s the largest airline in Japan, and has a following of over one million on Facebook. It was a good opportunity for me to gain some new followers and get some good exposure. I have been fortunate enough in the last few months to work directly with high-end brands such as Shangri-La, Hyatt and now ANA – and I sincerely hope I can continue this onward trend into 2017 […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: airlines, ANA, asia, blogging, digital, flights, flying, ikimasho, japan, marketing, photography, tokyo, travel
by joostay
Hanging out with a crew of graffiti artists in Kota Kinabalu
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, asian, blog, borneo, design, ikimasho, japan, kota kinabalu, photography, sabah, se asia, STREET ART, tokyo, travel, writing
by joostay
Touching down in the bustling state capital of Kota Kinabalu On my most recent trip to SE Asia I visited three countries: Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia – specifically the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo. I had visited Sabah’s major hub Kota Kinabalu before, but that was seven years ago and so I was interested to see if the city had changed in any way. Fortunately, Kota Kinabalu has retained its character and has not changed dramatically simply in order […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, food, hotel, ikimasho, japan, japanese, kota kinabalu, photography, se asia, tokyo, travel
by joostay
The sights and sounds of the city within walking distance – or water taxi. I first visited Borneo seven years ago, spending three weeks in the Malaysian state of Sabah with my ex from Northern Ireland. On that particular trip I always remember toying with the idea of going to Brunei, but for whatever reason it just never happened. Perhaps it was because to get to Borneo we had to fly from Belfast to London to Kuala Lumpur to Kota […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bandar seri begawan, borneo, brunei, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, malaysia, photography, se asia, travel, where to sat yin brunei
by joostay
With its own mosques, schools and police station it’s the largest stilt settlement in the world. Built entirely of stilt houses and wooden walkways, Kampong Ayer in Brunei is a collection of 42 villages housing more than 39,000 people. It is the world’s largest water village. I was lucky enough to visit Kamopong Ayer a few weeks back, and it was probably the highlight of my most recent trip to Borneo. From a distance, the water village looks like a slum, but many of the houses […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, brunei, bruneian, design, ikimasho, indonesia, malaysia, photography, se asia, travel, urban planning
by joostay
Five-star luxury in Sabah – with design that gets better at every turn.
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, five star, hotels, hyatt, ikimasho, islands, japan, japanese, luxury, malaysia, photography, sabah, se asia, tokyo, world travel
by joostay
Reflecting upon a reflection in Bandar Seri Begawan
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, ikimasho, japanese, photography, se asia, travel
by joostay
I’m currently in Borneo after spending a few days in Taipei. Taiwan’s political and international status is messy: it has declared itself as independent, but The People’s Republic of China say sod that, Taiwan belongs to us – a claim controversial due to the unresolved Chinese Civil War. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know the ins and outs of it all: I don’t. Hell, I don’t even know the political goings-on of my own country. What I do […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, china, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, Taipei, Taiwan, travel
by joostay
Two days of VIP Treatment in Taipei’s most luxurious location Right now I’m back in my regular stomping ground of SE Asia for a couple of weeks. First stop: Taipei, capital of Taiwan. I’ve actually been to Taipei twice before, the last time being memorable for all the wrong reasons when I stupidly decided to break up with my ex-girlfriend in a hotel room on the last day or our trip here. Not something I recommend: an awkward bus back to […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, far eastern plaza hotel, five star, ikimasho, japan, japanese, luxury, photography, se asia, Taipei, Taiwan, tokyo, travel
by joostay
This time last year I was getting ready to go to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand for a couple of months. While looking through my camera the other day I came across some photos from my time in Isaan in the Thai countryside. I remember one day Allan and I went down to get haircuts at the local barbershop. The place was amazing – totally unlike any barbershop I’d seen before, with chickens running about and toddlers getting cool buzzcuts. It’s these daily experiences […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, cambodia, design, ikimasho, isaan, japan, japanese, photography, rural, thai, thailand, tokyo, travel, writing
by joostay
A rare glimpse into the art and culture of one of the world’s most intriguing countries. A few weeks back I was invited along to the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo to check out its latest exhibition of art and relics from the Kingdom of Bhutan – a country I’d love to go to. Unfortunately, the only time I have ever seen the Himalayas was from the window of an airplane as I was evacuated from the earthquake in Nepal. […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, bhutan, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, design, himalayas, ikimasho, japan, japanese, masks, nepal, se asia, travel
by joostay
“When the park was dissolved, the owners left the crocodiles there to become wild. There’s an urban legend that the crocodiles ate humans, another reason why the Balinese won’t go near the place” Of all my travels last year, discovering an abandoned theme park on the east coast of Bali was one of the highlights. I wrote a bit about it here on IKIMASHO! – but DAZED have picked up the scent (along with the crocodiles) so here’s my full report […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, blog, dazed, design, digital, haikyo, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, journalism, photography, taman festival, tokyo, urban exploration
by joostay
One year on. My thoughts are with Nepal today.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 2015, earthquake, kathmandu, nepal, story, thankful
by joostay
Happy to be featured in a list of top Northern Irish travel blogs put together by fellow countryman and friend Jonny Blair from Don’t Stop Living. Jonny is currently travelling in India (country 112) – but he also goes out of his way to visit micronations and disputed countries that most people have never even heard of. Check out his site to read all about his adventures in bizarre places such as Podjistan, Adammia, Austenasia, Karakalpakstan, Ladonia, Lagoan Isles, Christiania, Uzupis and Gorno Badakhshan. I caught […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bangor, design, japan, northern ireland, photography, tokyo, travel, writing
by joostay
Of the many countries I visited in 2015, I’d say Sri Lanka was the highlight. I was fortunate enough to be working with the Jetwing Hotel Group for a portion of my trip, and so was able to experience some really amazing hotels. When I wasn’t reviewing these properties, however, I chose to stay in homestays across the country: families who have turned their spare rooms into lodgings for travelling guests. (Another post about that here.) I fondly remember one family that […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: accomodation, asia, backpacking, blog, budget, design, food, foodie, japan, se asia, sigiriya, sri lanka, tokyo, travel, where to stay in sigiriya
by joostay
After 10 months and 10 countries I’m back living in Tokyo for a while! I originally left because I wanted to see more of Asia and the world, and I’m grateful I got to see so many amazing places and meet some great people in 2015. My first stop was Thailand where I stayed with my friends Allan & Fanfan in Isaan near the Cambodian border. From there I flew to Kathmandu in Nepal where I was involved in the earthquake, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, design, ikimasho, japan, northern ireland
by joostay
Did you know that if you are using Chrome as your web browser and type “my flights” into Google it will bring up a list of all the flights you have booked via gmail over the past two years? I really didn’t think I had flown as much as I had, and my own list surprised me. When I moved to Tokyo three years ago I still had a bit of an itch to see parts of Asia I’d never seen, but I think I’ve achieved that […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: air travel, asia, bagan, dougal, flights, flying, girls, hardcore, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, java, mandalay, monks, myanmar, rave, se asia, sumatra, toba, tokyo, train, travel, vibes, video, yangon
by joostay
Like IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: animals, bangor, country down, environment, nature, northern ireland, photography, travel, uk
by joostay
Quiet days. Simple food. And Monks playing hide & seek…
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, buddhism, countryside, ikimasho, japan, monks, Phetchaburi, photography, religion, rural, se asia, temples, thailand, tokyo, town, travel
by joostay
A room with a view… Taking time to unwind after climbing Kawah Ijen volcano.
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: ascott waterplace, asia, blog, boutique, five star, hotel, indonesia, japan, java, luxury, photography, review, surabaya, tokyo, travel, urban
by joostay
For the past week I have been living in the small village of Broken Road in Nang Rong, Isaan. Isaan is Thailand’s largest region bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east (along the border with Laos), and by Cambodia to the southeast. (Roughly speaking, the larger red circle on the map above represents the whole of Isaan, while the smaller solid circle is where I have been staying.) I’m visiting my friends Allan & Fanfan for the second […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: animals, ants, asia, bangkok, blog, butterflies, caterpillers, countryside, creatures, fauna, flora, ikimasho, insects, japan, japanese, moths, nature, photography, se asia, spiders, thailand, tokyo, travel
by joostay
Taking steps in my own life – and meeting the sulphur miners who risk theirs every day. After being involved in the earthquake in Kathmandu in April, I have to admit that for a few months afterwards I was slightly on edge. The five days I spent in the city pre-evacuation caused my brain to be in a constant state of heightened alert. Even after I arrived home in Northern Ireland, if a truck drove past my house and shook the building my heart rate […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: adventure, asia, CREATIVE, earthquake, extreme, humans, ijen, indonesia, japan, nature, photography, tokyo, travel, video, volcano, wildlife
by joostay
Two days of blissfully doing nothing in Bali’s cultural capital
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, boutique, CREATIVE, design, holiday, hotel, ikimasho, inaka, indonesia, interior design, japan, luxury, nature, photography, review, rice fields, se asia, tokyo, travel, ubud, video, wildlife
by joostay
❤ THANK YOU! / ありがとう! ❤ IKIMASHO! has made it through to the final for Best Travel Blog in this year’s Blog Awards Ireland. Thank you to everyone who voted for me! I guess now it’s a case of whether the judges go for a straight down-the-line entry or my oddball stuff. To be honest, despite there being a number of great travel blogs out there, there are also far too many generic sites around today: the whole scene is swamped with people […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, CREATIVITY, festival, ijen, indonesia, photography, se asia, thailand, travel, video, writing
by joostay
How different types of transport can influence the tunes you listen to…
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bus, colombo, CREATIVE, CREATIVITY, dnb, drum and bass, fitness, huntingtons, ikimasho, japan, kandy, photography, pop punk, punk, punk rock, screeching weasel, se asia, seba, sri lanka, the queers, tokyo, train, travel, video
by joostay
SAY HELLO TO COCONUT! Followers of this blog will by now be well aware of my fondness for tracking down crappy local gyms in new countries I visit. It all started when I visited Nusa Lembongan in 2013 – an island off the coast of Bali. During my stint there I found a hilariously bad (yet amazing) gym which was basically just a wooden shack. Fast forward a few years and I was back on Lembongan last week, so of […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, bodybuilding, coconut, fitness, funny, gym, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, mens fitness, photography, running, story, tokyo, travel, weightlifting, weights, working out, workout
by joostay
Exploring Galle with classic colonial style, cricket and Jungle music. Apart from a quick stopover in Negombo in order to make an early-morning flight, the historic fort city of Galle was my last stop on my three-week Sri Lankan itinerary. The trip from Mirissa was painless, my local bus taking under an hour as it belted along the palm-fringed coast. After having already stayed in three impressive Jetwing properties, this was to be my fourth, and once again it didn’t […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: architecture, asia, blog, CREATIVE, design, drum and bass, galle, hotel, ikimasho, interior design, japan, mirissa, photography, review, se asia, sri lanka, tokyo, travel, video
by joostay
Exploring the Indonesian theme park with no visitors – not living ones anyway… Right now I’m back on mainland Bali after spending a week on the small island of Lembongan off the east coast. During my time on the island I spoke a few times to a local guy called Niko about ghosts and Indonesian folklore: I specifically wanted to learn about the Pontianak – vampiric ghosts which are said to be the spirits of women who died while pregnant. (The city of […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: abandoned, bali, bizarre, CREATIVE, ghost hunting, ghosts, haikyo, indonesia, old, photography, sanur, spirits, street, taman festival park, travel, unusual, urban, urban exploration, video
by joostay
Sun. Sea. Sand. And a jaw-dropping villa to take it all in. With just one week left of my three-week Sri Lankan adventure, I decided to leave Central Province and head for the south. On this trip there were so many places I didn’t get a chance to see; there just wasn’t enough time. In the end though, I’m glad I took things slow as it meant I got a better appreciation of local life and Sri Lankan hospitality. I didn’t see Ella, and I […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, hotel, mirissa, review, se asia, sri lanka, travel
by joostay
A fisherman makes his last catch of the day as his wife looks on from the shore In travel photography circles, sunsets get a bad rap – widely considered as overdone and clichéd. The chances of taking a shot that’s different to the millions of others is slim, yet when the sun begins to set and the colours fill the sky most of us feel compelled to take out our camera. Photography means recording beautiful light. And sunsets are all about beautiful, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, beauty, buddhism, CREATIVE, japan, mirissa, nature, photography, se asia, sea, seascape, sunset, tokyo, travel, video