Lateral Movements

Busan is one of the few Korean cities that had been on my ‘must-visit’ list for some time. Actually, it was the only one. Despite the many attractions in Korea (LotteWorld, Jeju Island, Dokdo), the only one that tempted me was Busan. This is in part because I lived in Gangwon-do, where the scenery is [...]

Flights between Korea and Japan can be surprisingly expensive, especially given that the countries are so close to each other. Jared and I found flights from Seoul to Osaka for 99,000 won each with budget airline Eastar Jet, but the return journey was almost three times as much. The 18-hour overnight Panstar Ferry came to [...]

If there’s one thing I can tell you about Kyoto, it’s that it has some seriously hot summers. I accessorized most of my outfits with streaks of back sweat and humidity-inspired ponytails, perfecting my haggard tourist look. Every time I saw a person in jeans, I was bewildered and felt stifled on their behalf. Every [...]

When I told people that Jared and I were going to Japan for our summer vacation, many people said the same thing. “Tokyo?” Actually…no. Eight days isn’t really enough to see all of Japan, so we sacrificed the electric skyscrapers of Tokyo for the ancient temples of Kansai, and got cheap tickets directly to Osaka. [...]

Whenever I think of nightingales (which, admittedly, isn’t often), I think of the scene in Disney’s “Cinderella”, where she sings this song called, “Sing, Sweet Nightingale.” So when Jared told me about this book he’d read years ago, “Across The Nightingale Floor,” I wasn’t really listening, because that song kept running through my head. “Basically, [...]

This is how I initially tried to sell the city of Nara to Jared: “It was the first permanent capital of Japan and one of the temples is home to the world’s largest seated indoor Buddha. Or something like that. Plus, it’s only 30 minutes away from Osaka.” This is why I really wanted to [...]