FOTO FRIDAY: SUTRO BATH RUINS, SAN FRANCISCO

FOTO FRIDAY: SUTRO BATH RUINS

Every Friday I’ll be sharing a photo from someplace in my travels. This week’s photo is of the Sutro Bath ruins in San Francisco. The Sutro Baths opened in the late 1800s as the largest indoor swimming complex in the world. Somehow surviving earthquakes, fires, and other natural disasters, the baths finally saw their demise when […]

FOTO FRIDAY: JAPANESE LANTERN ON TIDAL BASIN

FOTO FRIDAY: JAPANESE LANTERN ON TIDAL BASIN

Every Friday I’ll be sharing a photo from someplace in my travels. This week’s photo is of the Japanese stone lantern on Tidal Basin in Washington DC. This stone lantern is one of two made in honor of Tokugawa Iemitsu’s death in 1651. The pair of lanterns were put on display in Tokyo’s famous Ueno Park, until […]

FOTO FRIDAY: BUCHAREST FROM ABOVE

FOTO FRIDAY: BUCHAREST FROM ABOVE

Every Friday I’ll be sharing a photo from someplace in my travels. This week’s photo is of Bucharest as seen from the InterContinental Hotel. Sadly, most of Bucharest’s historic buildings were destroyed by ex-dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who cleared the way for larger and grander buildings to be made in his honor. The neighborhood of Lipscani was also […]

#FINDINGASIA: JAPANESE TEA GARDEN, SAN FRANCISCO

#FINDINGASIA: JAPANESE TEA GARDEN

Nestled amongst the 1,017 acres of Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden is truly a gem in San Francisco (alongside their Japantown). It is the oldest Japanese garden in the United States, and one of the most authentic. It’s lush greenery is primarily made up of plants native to Japan and China and it utilizes many classical elements […]

WHAT’S IT REALLY LIKE TO STAY IN A U.S. HOSTEL?

WHAT’S IT REALLY LIKE TO STAY IN A U.S. HOSTEL?

As I planned my extended trip around Europe, I knew staying in a mix of hostels was a given. Yet for some reason, planning my trip around the U.S., hostels not once crossed my mind. When I first met Hostelling International USA last fall at a travel blogger conference, I stupidly asked them if they had many hostels […]

#FINDINGASIA: SKOSHBOX & DEKABOX SUBSCRIPTION BOX

#FINDINGASIA: SKOSHBOX & DEKABOX SUBSCRIPTION BOX

Skoshbox is another popular monthly Japanese candy subscription box. Pronounced su-ko-sh-box, the name is a play on words from the Japanese word sukoshi (少し), meaning ‘a little’. Appropriately filled with sample-sized snacks, these boxes start at just $10 per month depending on your subscription length. Meaning, the longer you subscribe the cheaper it gets. For those who are looking for more than […]

FOTO FRIDAY: SUNNY CHICAGO

FOTO FRIDAY: SUNNY CHICAGO

Every Friday I’ll be sharing a photo from someplace in my travels. This week’s photo is of downtown Chicago as seen from the South Loop. After what felt like an extended winter followed by weeks of rain, the weather is finally looking up here in Chicago as warmer temperatures and blue skies roll in. Luckily, that means […]

SINGAPOREAN LUXURY IN SAN FRANCISCO AT THE SCARLET HUNTINGTON

SINGAPOREAN LUXURY IN SAN FRANCISCO AT THE SCARLET HUNTINGTON

Complete with the grandeur of Straits Chinese architecture and that timeless San Francisco charm, The Scarlet Huntington hotel exudes luxury from the moment you lay eyes on it. If that sentence is at all confusing, I’m going to assume it’s because of the Straits Chinese part.  Straits Chinese, also known as Peranakan, refer to those who were […]

#FINDINGASIA: THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

#FINDINGASIA: THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is said to be the second largest cherry blossom festival in the U.S. after the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. So after spending a week in blossom-filled DC, I packed my bags and made my way to sunny San Francisco. Held in one of the country’s three remaining Japantowns, over […]