Postcards from Bali
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, blog, design, ikimasho, indonesia, photography, travel
Tag: indonesia
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Viceroy Bali
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, ikimasho, indonesia, luxury, photography, travel, travel writer
Fried Bananas in Bali
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
IKIMASHO! x NEW MANDALA: Indonesia’s Yadnya Kasada Festival
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
My base in Brunei: Badi’ah Hotel, Bandar Seri Begawan
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
Walking about Kampong Ayer Water Village, Bandar Seri Begawan, 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
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: EXPLORING AN ABANDONED (AND HAUNTED) THEME PARK IN INDONESIA
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
TWO YEARS WORTH OF FLIGHTS…
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
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Ascott Waterplace, Surabaya, Indonesia.
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
Climbing Kawah Ijen Volcano, Java, Indonesia.
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
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Villa Sabandari, Ubud, Bali
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
IKIMASHO! IN THE FINAL FOR BEST TRAVEL BLOG (+ OCTOBER TRAVEL PLANS)
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
MY CRAPPY INDONESIAN GYM JUST GOT CRAPPIER
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
Taman Festival: Abandoned Theme Park in Bali, Indonesia
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
HELLRIDES: KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA) TO NUSA LEMBONGAN (BALI)
by joostay
Back to Bali – and escaping the End of Days. I’ve written a bit before about Hellrides – those horribly twisted and depraved long-distance drives my old band used to do every night in order to play a farcical gig in front of no one. My touring days may be behind me, but travelling in Asia often means cramped conditions, squalid surroundings and not quite knowing if you’ll end up at your intended final destination. Not much change from playing on the DIY punk circuit then, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: airplane, bali, belfast, boat, CREATIVE, dangerfields, hellride, indonesia, ireland, journey, northern ireland, photography, punk, punk rock, story, train, travel
IKIMASHO! x WANDERLUST [The World’s Lamest Gyms]
by joostay
“I asked how much the gym was and he told me he didn’t know. He said he just bought the owner petrol now and again. I told him I didn’t have any petrol so he said for me to just go in and use it for as long as I wanted. So in I went.” I’m in Wanderlust Magazine this month talking about some of the funniest gyms I’ve come across on my travels. Check it out here.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, bangkok, blog, fitness, gyms, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, marrakech, morocco, thailand, tokyo, travel, working out
The immense Danum Valley Conservation Area. Sabah, Borneo.
by joostay
One of the last strongholds of undisturbed tropical flora and fauna in the world The Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438km2 tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp rainforest deep in the heart of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This vast stretch of forest holds unique status in the sense that before it became a conservation area there were no human settlements at all, meaning that hunting, logging and other human interference was non-existent. Recognized as one of the world’s most complex ecosystems, […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, indonesia, malaysia, nature, photography, rainforest, sabah, wildlife
Medan: Entry point to North Sumatra
by joostay
Nice for a visit, kind of. Would I want to live here? Hell no. Quite often when I travel to new cities I judge them by whether or not I could live there. Kuala Lumpur has a great food scene with unrivalled access to the rest of SE Asia. Bangkok is crazy busy, but in a nice way. Even Denpasar in Bali, which is certainly more grubby than the other two cities, has a certain charm hiding behind its chaotic […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, city, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, medan, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travelling, urban
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
IKIMASHO! 