Monkeying around in Sarushima /猿島でサルごっこ
by joostay
IKIMASHO! | Daily life in Tokyo, Japan
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, asian, blogging, Boats, design, japan, japanese, photography, sea, summer, sun, tokyo, travel, travel writer
Tag: sun
What is visiting Tokyo really like?
by joostay
IKIMASHO | Daily life in Tokyo, Japan
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: architecture, asia, design, festivals, food, japan, japanese, summer, sun, tokyo, travel, travel tips, travel writer
Winter Sun at Canal Cafe, Iidabashi
by joostay
Watching the world – and the trains – go by…
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, coffee, design, food, japan, nature, photography, sun, tokyo, trains, trainspotting, urban, Zen
WALKING FOR RAMEN
by joostay
A sunny walk through my neighbourhood in Tokyo
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, eating, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, ramen, shimokitazawa, sun, tokyo, travel, walking
Natsubate / 夏バテ
by joostay
Right now I’m sitting in Starbucks listening to some god-awful freestyle jazz over the cafe speakers. If I was CEO of this place I’d just have Music for Airports by Brian Eno playing on repeat – my go-to music when I wanna bash out a load of writing. Sundays for me in Tokyo probably resemble that of many people around the world: laundry, cleaning, getting ready for the week ahead, yadda yadda yadda. But of course as well as a kindergarten teacher, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: advertising, asia, balance, bmx, career, CREATIVE, CREATIVITY, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, job, photography, se asia, sun, tokyo, travel, work, writing
Chilling in Tossa de Mar. How Spain’s Costa Brava killed my travel snob.
by joostay
Well, whad’ya know: Spain isn’t all just Brits on Tour & Butlins on steroids. When it comes to Spain I’ll admit I’ve always been a bit of travel snob. Visions of redfaced Brits eating egg and chips, hen parties with huge inflatable penises and drunken bastards singing the macarena. Growing up, I never had any real desire to go there, maintaining that you had to go further afield to get a ‘real’ travel experience, whatever that is. Of course, it was […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, beauty, catalonia, costa brava, europe, food, ikimasho, japan, photography, sand, sea, spain, sun, tokyo, travel, video
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
The Missing Wallet
by joostay
Be a nice guy and you’ll be rewarded with cash and ice cream… So the other day I found a wallet on the train with ¥50,000 in it. That’s £320 or $500. Along with the cash, there were about ten different bank cards, a million loyalty cards and the guy’s full medical history. There was also one of his own business cards – so being the nice guy that I am, I called him up to arrange to give the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, chiyoda, gaijin, japan, nice guy, reward, sun, tokyo, urban
My first Kanda Matsuri
by joostay
Dogs wearing clothes & revellers carrying portable shrines… One of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo returns after a four-year absence. Traditionally held on odd-numbered years, the 2011 Kanda Matsuri was cancelled due to the Tohoku quake and tsunami – meaning this year’s event was the first since 2009. Quintessentially Japanese, Matsuris like this are what makes living in this country so special.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, beer, culture, festival, guidebook, japan, kanda, matsuri, mikoshi, shrines, south east asia, street, sun, takoyaki, tokyo, travel
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