Textures in a Thai Market
by joostay
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, backpacking, bangkok, graffiti, grime, hua hin, photography, real life, se asia, thailand, travel, urban
Category Archives: Travel: Outside Japan
Fracking: the consequences to land, water and community in Northern Ireland.
by joostay
Shale gas extraction and the dire implications for Northern Ireland, Japan & beyond… With the anniversary of the March 2011 tsunami just a few days away, thousands of demonstrators surrounded Japan’s parliament building on Sunday to protest against the government’s attempt to restart some of the country’s nuclear plants. After the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan is desperately looking for energy alternatives. However, to the concern of many, one of the solutions being explored is the dangerous gas extraction process known as fracking. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bangor, blog, energy, environment, fracking, global, green, ikimasho, japan, japanese, northern ireland, solutions, tokyo, travel
A Picture of Home
by joostay
Bangor & beyond… Piecing together the street I grew up in. The picture above is of the little street I grew up in. If you look closely, you can see that the photo is in two parts: both were pieced together by me, but neither were actually taken by myself. Confused? Then let me explain. Due to the time difference of living in Japan, the majority of the stuff I see on my Facebook feed is from my friends here in […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan
Ikimasho! in Wanderlust
by joostay
A previous piece I wrote about my connection with Japan – and how my dad unwittingly influenced me to travel – has been featured in Wanderlust Travel Magazine. You can check it out here.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, generations, ikimasho, japan, tokyo, travelling, wanderlust
My connection with Japan
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan
Christmas throwback + Ikimasho! 2015
by joostay
This time last year I was in Sumatra. The photos above were taken on Christmas Day in a small restaurant on Lake Toba. I wish I could remember this lady’s name, who agreed to cook me a full chicken in the back of her house using nothing but a bucket of hot coals. Earlier in the day I was taken to a place that served pig’s blood for my Christmas lunch. I really loved Sumatra, especially the hospitality of the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, brunei, ikimasho, india, japan, japanese, nepal, se asia, tokyo, travel
INDONESIA’S GHOST MALLS
by joostay
A population of 250 million, yet none of them are shopping. The last time I was in Jakarta I had a few hours to kill before heading to the airport. I was staying in the outskirts, so heading into the city itself was impossible. (Indonesians living in Jakarta have their own word for traffic jam – the inevitable “macet”.) Asking about on the street, a few people told me to head to the malls down the road. I don’t like shopping, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan
Homestays. The best way to immerse yourself when travelling.
by joostay
Biking it into the hills and staying with a local family in Cemoro Lawang, Java. Cemoro Lawang is a tiny mountain hamlet in East Java. With a negligible local population it would remain largely unnoticed if it weren’t for its giant neighbour, Mount Bromo, standing watch over the village and attracting visitors from all over the world. Despite Bromo’s fame, the village of Cemoro Lawang has managed to remain a quiet, peaceful place: one where locals go about their daily lives […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: accommodation, backpacking, blog, cemoro lawang, East Java, hindu, homestay, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, java, Mount Bromo, Probolinggo, tokyo, travel, volcano
Sulfur & Sacrifice: Yadnya Kasada Festival, Indonesia
by joostay
Mount Bromo shows its darker side at this haunting Hindu festival. This is Mount Bromo, an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. I took this photo while flying over the area from Denpasar to Surabaya in a small aircraft. Five days earlier, I had been standing on top of the volcano at midnight, about to take part in Yadnya Kasada – a haunting Hindu ceremony unlike anything I’d ever seen before. What is Yadnya Kasada? Yadnya Kasada is the biggest […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, Batok, blog, Bromo, cemoro lawang, climbing, crater, East Java, hiking, ikimasho, independent, indonesia, japan, Mount Bromo, Probolinggo, Semeru, summit, Tengger Semeru National Park, Tenggerese, tokyo, tour, travel, trekking, volcano
In Pictures: Mount Bromo region, East Java.
by joostay
You can read about the local family I stayed with in Cemoro Lawang here.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, cemoro lawang, hiking, indonesia, java, Mount Bromo, nature, sunrise, travel, viewpoint, volcanic, volcano, walking
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
by joostay
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac You know what? Planet earth is an amazing, beautiful place. And we live here. Of all the places in all of the infinite universe, we have somehow managed to end up right here, right now, alive at this exact moment in time. We are floating in space surrounded by forests, mountains, cities, rivers, seas, avenues, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: australia, backpacking, blog, boat tour, buddhism, cambodia, canada, chinese new year, hong kong, ikimasho, inonesia, japan, japanese, laos, maid of the mist, malaysia, mekong, milford sound, national park, new zealand, niagara, riot police, road trip, round the world, sandboarding, singapore, stockton, sumatra, sumo, Taiwan, tokyo, tortoise tours, travelling, usa, vietnam, volcano, world trip, yosemite
Sticking up for Berastagi, Sumatra.
by joostay
A quiet town with not much going on. But that’s exactly why you should go. The picture above is one of my favourite photos, taken down a quiet street in the town of Berastagi in north Sumatra. There’s nothing spectacular about its content, but I remember the moment very clearly – a group of kids playing just down the road from the house I was staying in. Berastagi is visited by many travellers who use it as a base to […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, berastagi, blog, budget, carts, climbing sibayak, homestay, horses, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, roadtrip, se asia, sibayak, sinabung, street food, sumatra, tokyo, travelling
DIY: Travelling from Yogyakarta to Mount Bromo Independently
by joostay
How to get to Mount Bromo from Yogyakarta without joining a tour. Java, Indonesia. In my late teens I toured a lot in a punk band, doing gigs all over Ireland and the UK. It was very much a DIY ethos with Griswold, our drummer, booking any shows he could get his grubby little mits on – no matter how far the distance or how long we’d have to drive to get there. These wretched all-night jaunts soon became known as ‘Hellrides’, with […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: blog, Bromo, cemoro lawang, DIY, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, java, Mount Bromo, tokyo, train travel in indonesia, travel, yogyakarta, yogyakarta to bromo
The Man from Del Monte
by joostay
“Where are you going? Stay with us and look at this fruit!” About two years ago while flying from Yangon to Bagan in Myanmar, I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting beside me during the flight. He had a nice shirt tucked into a pair of pressed cream chinos, looking rather like a knock-off of the Man from Del Monte. Over a lukewarm beer, he told me how a driver would be waiting for him at the other end to take him on a full guided tour […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bagan, burma, DIY, durians, fruit, ikimasho, japan, myanmar, nofx, screw tours, solo travel, tokyo, tours, travel, travelling independently, yangon
Illegal Street Racing & Raving in Surabaya, Indonesia
by joostay
Saturday nights are fun in the port capital of Java I don’t think I’ve ever been stared at as much as when I unwittingly walked into a fenced-off compound on the outskirts of Surabaya, a port city in Eastern Java one Saturday night. Having only just arrived at 9pm – and having to leave again the next morning at 6am – I only had a few hours to meander about and see what Surabaya kids get up to on the […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, biking, blog, cliff jumping bali, drum and bass, hip hop, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, java, motorbikes, party, racing, rave, street culture, surabaya, tokyo, travel, travelling, tricks
Tokyo Travel Library
by joostay
34,000 books – most of which you won’t be able to read but who cares this place is great. If, like me, you spend an inordinate amount of your time loitering in the travel sections of bookshops reading Lonely Planets while the staff regard you as some kind of vagrant tramp with no home, then you are in luck. Just beside Tokyo station there’s a place where this kind of behavior is actively encouraged – a library entirely devoted to travel- and tourism-related materials from all over the world. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, book shop, books, flying, japan, lonely planet, magazines, tokyo, travel, travel library
Gibbons & Gambling in Bukit Lawang, Sumatra
by joostay
Is it wrong to take money from those less fortunate from yourself? Not if you win it. Bukit Lawang is one of the main draws to northern Sumatra: a small village at the bank of the Bahorok River and your main gateway to the colossal Gunung Leuser National Park, famous for its mosquito-infused jungle treks and flourishing orangutan population. After climbing Mount Sibayak I headed to Bukit Lawang for a few days with the sole intention of lying in a […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bukit lawang, gambling, indonesia, japan, jungle, monkeys, nature, sumatra, tokyo, trakking, wildlife
Falling in love with Lake Toba, Sumatra
by joostay
Introducing my new favourite place to do absolutely nothing. Lake Toba has been part of traveller folklore for decades: the largest volcanic lake in the world, one so enormous that an island almost the size of Singapore sits in its centre. It’s hands-down the best place I have ever been to chill out, but it wasn’t always so peaceful. The lake itself is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption that occurred 75,000 years ago. This is actually the biggest known explosive […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, batak, hiking, indonesia, japan, lake toba, mas cottages, nature, samosir, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, tomok, tuk tuk
The day I drank with Sumatran gangsters in the jungle
by joostay
An intense experience featuring jungle juice, Mr. Samosir – and a pig’s head on a plate. While in Sumatra I met a guy my age who took me under his wing. He showed me stuff I never would have been able to find on my own. This is the story of the day we drove into the jungle. “Sit down.” As I’m ushered towards a makeshift table in the middle of a clearing I suddenly wish I was somewhere else. […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: arak, asia, backpacking, batak, gangs, gangsters, indonesia, japan, jungle juice, lake toba, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travelling, tribes
Climbing an active volcano: Mount Sibayak, Sumatra, Indonesia
by joostay
Above the clouds, Mother Nature rumbles below. The beautiful power of Mount Sibayak. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. Add violent storms, earthquakes and tsunamis into the equation and you’ve got one of the most geologically volatile countries on earth. Its shores and interiors are regularly hit by severe natural disasters, such as in 2004 when a 9.3 earthquake struck off the north coast of […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, berastagi, climbing, guide, hiking, indonesia, japan, jungle, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, volcano
Drinking blood with the Bataks. Christmas Day in Sumatra.
by joostay
Forget turkey and trifle. The Batak people of Sumatra do things a little differently. This is what I woke up to on Christmas Day in Lake Toba: my Sumatran friend Batin shouting “Look at me I’m Jesus” while standing on an underwater rock in the middle of the lake. He then fell in when he attempted to walk on water. It set the standard for the rest of the day: with constant reminders of it being Christmas, but with none […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: batak, blog, cannibalism, christmas, food, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, lake toba, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel
Japan to Sumatra. The most insane day of travel I’ve ever had.
by joostay
Lost bags, landslides & The Vengaboys. The epic journey from my house in Tokyo to Samosir Island in Sumatra. On 20 December 2013 I got up for work at 6am in Tokyo, worked a full day, came home, grabbed my bag and went to Haneda Airport to catch a midnight flight to Kuala Lumpur. From there the plan was to transfer to an 8.45am flight to Medan in Northern Sumatra, then take a taxi or public transport to Parapat on […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, blog, epic, how to get to lake toba, ikimasho, japan, journey, lake toba, parapat, samosir, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel
Merry Christmas & Sumatra Ikimasho!
by joostay
Cliched as it is to say, it’s hard to believe that 2013 is nearly through. This time last year I was getting ready to visit my friends Allan and Fanfan in Bangkok, before hopping over the border to Myanmar. In January I went back to Taiwan to visit Jiufen, the real-life inspiration for Spirited Away, while in summer I spent a few weeks in Bali via Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Tomorrow I fly to Sumatra for my last trip of […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, indonesia, japan, sinabung, south east asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, trekking, volcano
Myanmar: Life on the Streets
by joostay
Dust, blood, heat, humidity. Village life doesn’t get much purer than a local Burmese market. One thing has always puzzled me whilst travelling around SE Asia: how the hell local people don’t get sick all the time. All over the continent, meat and produce is prepared in such a way that goes against everything our little western minds have been taught from a young age. There are no rubber gloves or hygiene certificates here. Meat is hacked up on wooden […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, burma, food, local life, market, myanmar, se asia, streets, thailand, travel, village
On Travel
by joostay
Tsugi wa doko. Where to next? It’s a question that’s always on my mind. I can’t get rid of it, and come to think of it, it’s always been there. While other kids were sticking posters of tits and footballers to their bedroom walls, I was down the local library photocopying pages from an atlas to stick to mine. Granted, I had tits and footballers too, but I also had a rather odd life-sized poster of a famous Swiss skiier […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: atlas, japan, map, tokyo, travel, world
Welcome to my crappy Indonesian gym
by joostay
Aircon? Nope. Equipment? Nope. Safety? Nope. Badly cut-out clippings of stumpy men on the walls? Yup. Welcome to my crappy Indonesian gym. I just renewed my gym membership in Tokyo. It’s expensive. Like proper expensive. Most gyms over here run in the region of ¥10,000 a month (£60). That’s a pretty standard rate. There are cheaper ones to be found, but this one is just down the road from my house and has pretty much everything I want. With winter just […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, gym, indonesia, island, lembongan, membership, nusa lembongan, se asia, south east asia, travel
On the list: Uzbekistan
by joostay
Despite having travelled extensively around SE Asia for the last ten years, I still have never ventured into Central Asia and explored the Stans: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. While some of these regions are currently off-limits due to conflicts, others remain settled and open to tourism. The most settled of all these states is Uzbekistan, renowned for its Soviet avant-garde architecture and friendly people. To be fair, not much has been written about Uzbekistan in travel-related […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan
Beautiful Bali: In the Shadow of Gunung Agung
by joostay
Beneath a sacred volcano lies a simpler way of life soaked in tradition The Balinese believe that Mount Agung is a replica of Mount Meru – the sacred Hindu mountain considered to be the central axis of the universe. Mythical tales tell of it being 672,000 miles high – with the sun and the all planets of the Solar System revolving around it as one single unit. It’s the be-all and end-all of everything. The centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. In short, a […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, beautiful, coast, indonesia, nusa lembongan, nusa penida, se asia, seaweed farming, south east asia, sunset
Kecak: Balinese Fire Dancing
by joostay
What better way to spend the night than with a trance-inducing exorcism dance. It’s 8pm in Ubud and the wind is picking up. Sitting in silence in the grounds of a ruined temple I notice that the dark trees surrounding the perimeter are almost indistinguishable from the darker clouds above. It’s hot. Thunder cracks in the distance. A lone gust threatens to extinguish a long line of lanterns that climb the set of crumbling stone stairs. The weather dies down, and in […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, dancing, fire, indonesia, kecak, ritual, south east asia, travel, tribal, ubud
Indonesian Independence Day
by joostay
PROCLAMATION WE THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA HEREBY DECLARE THE INDEPENDENCE OF INDONESIA. MATTERS WHICH CONCERN THE TRANSFER OF POWER AND OTHER THINGS WILL BE EXECUTED BY CAREFUL MEANS AND IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME. DJAKARTA, 17 AUGUST 1945 IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA SOEKARNO—HATTA
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 1945, asia, backpacking, bali, denpasar, festival, independence day, independent, indonesia
The day I saw a body being burned in Denpasar
by joostay
A chance encounter with Ngaben – the traditional Balinese Cremation Ceremony. My curiosity is going to get the better of me some day, I swear. Cycling round the potholed streets of Denpasar I was prepared for the traffic, the pollution, the general insanity. Pure city life in SE Asia is often a free-for-all: people selling animals (dead or alive) on the street, kids playing in desolate alleyways, a general feeling of structured chaos. I’m used to it. What I didn’t […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, buddhist, ceremony, cremation, denpasar, hindu, indonesia, ngaben, reincarnation, south east asia, travel
Visiting Denpasar: The only tourist in town
by joostay
Like it or loathe it, Bali’s bustling capital doesn’t care what you think of it. Bali’s capital, Denpasar, is untamed. There’s something about it that sets it apart from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh et al… cities which, over the last fifteen years, have become firmly established on the tourist trail. These cities, once exotic, are now epicentres for the travel industry, with virtually all foreign visitors on the SE Asia loop passing through them. As a result, travelling […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, bangkok, cambodia, denpasar, guidebook, hostel, hotel, indonesia, kites, Kuta, puputan square, sanur, satay, south east asia, street food, thailand, travel
To infinity & beyond…
by joostay
∞ Hey mister where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. Where to? I don’t know. You want a ride? Good price. Where to? I don’t know, where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. Where to? I don’t know. You want a ride? Where to? I don’t know, where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. ∞
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, indonesia, indonesian, motorbike, nusa lembongan, poetry, scooter, south east asia, taxi, travel
A little village in the forest
by joostay
No other way to describe it really. Pure rural Asia. Every time I’m faced with a scene like this I’m reminded of how crazy modern life has become. You’ll not find anyone bitching about how their $5 Starbucks cappuccino isn’t hot enough here. Actually this compound is probably better than some of the shithole venues I played with in my old band. Better accommodation anyway. I stumbled across it purely by accident in the middle of nowhere on Nusa Lembongan, Bali. […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, camping, indonesia, local life, nusa lembongan, remote, rural, south east asia, travel, village
Cliff Jumping in Bali
by joostay
Believe me, 43ft looks a long way down from the top… Cycling round Nusa Lembangon and Nusa Cengingan – two islands off the east coast of Bali – is a great adventure. Starting off at Jungut Batu and circling the circumferences you’ll come across remote mangrove swamps, hidden villages and the bluest water you’ve ever seen at the aptly named, Blue Lagoon. What makes this rugged coastline even more spectacular is that you can jump off a 43ft high cliff […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, blue lagoon, cliff jumping, diving, extreme sports, indonesia, nusa ceningan, nusa lembangon, south east asia, travel
The Early Risers of Sanur
by joostay
The early bird catches the worm. Or the sweetcorn. It’s 7am in Sanur, Bali, and the beach is buzzing. In a good way. Locals hit the sand from sunrise, eating breakfast, gossiping, swimming. There are no tourists about. Only a sprinkling of foreigners inhabit Sanur beach during the afternoon, but during the morning it’s strictly a Balinese affair. Boys fly colourful geometric kites overhead while old toothless women toast sweetcorn on makeshift grills. It’s peaceful, certain parts of the beach […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, beach, indonesia, morning, sanur, south east asia, travel
Blackout over Lembangon
by joostay
The smell of a mosquito coil is unmistakable. I must be passing a shop or someone’s house. I can’t tell. It’s pitch black. As I pass an alleyway I squint to see a pair of eyes peering back at me, the glow of a cigarette burning brighter as he or she takes a long, deep drag. Further down the street the headlights of a dozen mopeds dance in symphony like fireflies, swerving back and forth back and forth to avoid […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, blackout, electric, lembongan, nusa, power, satay, south east asia, street food, travel
Smiling with the Indonesian artists of tomorrow
by joostay
Travel with a smile and the whole world smiles with you… OK, brace yourself. I’m about to say something extremely cheesy so please bear with me. Someone once asked me what the most important thing was to pack when going to Asia. I simply replied, “a smile.” Cheesy or not, I still stand by it. It goes for whatever country you visit. Body language is universal. I can’t speak Burmese but in the past I’ve been beckoned over to eat […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, backpacking, bali, experiences, guidebook, indonesia, sanur, smile, south east asia, travel
Global Domination. Sort of.
by joostay
Supper in Tokyo. Breakfast in Kuala Lumpur. Lunch in Jakarta. Dinner in Bali. When I was still a wee lad in short trousers I remember my grandparents telling me that in ‘their day’ a ‘holiday’ meant taking the suicide-inducing local train from Belfast to Bangor for the afternoon. That’s a 30-minute journey. 14 miles. To eat a poke (that’s an ice cream to you and me), dunk their feet in the paddling pool and then go home again. I don’t […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, bangor, beach, belfast, indonesia, japan, java, kuala lumpur, malaysia, northern ireland, south east asia, sun, tokyo, train, travel
Home is where you lay your head…
by joostay
Right now I’m looking into arranging a homestay in rural Bali. It got me thinking of some of the amazing (and not so amazing) places I’ve stayed over the years… 1. Primary Rainforest – Borneo Three hours from civilization in a 4×4 lies Borneo Rainforest Lodge, a spectacular resort buried deep in the Danum Valley Conservation Area – 438 square kilometres of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. Indulgent luxury, each room with its own outdoor hot tub […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, chunking mansions, danum valley, deer farm, hong kong, hotel, japan, malaysia, milford sound, nature, new zealand, rainforest, rainforest lodge, san francisco, tenderloin, tokyo, travel
Summer Plans: Bali & beyond
by joostay
I’ve been in Japan 16 months now and I’m grateful for the opportunities living here has given me. In that time I’ve been to Taiwan twice, watched the sun set over the Temples of Bagan in Myanmar, drank moonshine in my friend’s apartment in Bangkok and next month I’m off to explore Bali. Time/cash permitting I’d also love to hit the Philippines before the end of the year. In August I’ll also be visiting Nagoya for the first time for […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, food, holidays, indonesia, japan, south east asia, summer, tokyo, travel, ubud, vacation
Spirited Away in Jiufen, Taiwan
by joostay
A visit to Taiwan’s Jiufen – the real-world inspiration for Ghibli’s Spirited Away Few animation studios have been as consistent as Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. Founded in 1985, its animated fantasies are made with just the right blend of humour, melancholy and surrealism to make them appeal to audiences of all ages. . The official Ghibli Museum is actually only 25 minutes from my house in Tokyo, but I still haven’t been. Ironically it took me to fly 1,500 miles to […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, Chihiro, Ghibli, guidebook, Hayao Miyazaki, Jiufen, mountain, Spirited Away, Studio, Taipei, Taiwan, tokyo
CAMBODIA
by joostay
Some photos from my time in Cambodia, including a short article on Happy Pizzas for Lonely Planet magazine. The happier side of Phnom Penh In the 1990s, Cambodia was a bad boy’s playground. Cheap drugs and even cheaper sex meant that the whole country was an ideal place for deviants to escape the humdrumness of the West; you could even blow up a cow with a grenade launcher if you were that way inclined… Nowadays, the deviant element is in decline – you’re more […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: angkor wat, asia, backpacking, cambodia, culture, food, guidebook, phnom penh, siem reap, south east asia, travel
VIETNAM
by joostay
Over the last ten years I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited a good few countries around the world. As such, I thought it’d maybe be nice to collect together a few of the shots I have taken along the way. I’m not going to provide any narrative on these posts. These photos hold memories for me. But I hope they give a flavour of some of the places I’ve visited. First up: Vietnam.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, food, hanoi, ho chi minh city, pho, south east asia, travel, vietnam
Bangkok from the inside
by joostay
Travelling in a city you’ve been to a few times before is always a bit difficult. You know what to expect culturally, financially and logistically ??? but because you’ve already hit the main sights on your first few visits you don’t quite know wha…
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bangkok, food, japan, myanmar, nomad, nomadic, se asia, thailand, tokyo, travel
IKIMASHO! 