Author Archives: Diego

Flight Report: MNL-NRT-MNL on Philippine Airlines PR 432 and PR 431

This wasn’t my first time flying with Philippine Airlines (IATA code: PR) between Manila and one of its several destination cities in Japan. Despite shortcomings in various aspects of the experience, I think it’s safe to say that it probably won’t be the last time.

Field Report: Saga Castle, Japan (25 March 2015)

Saga Prefecture doesn’t usually rank first in tourist itineraries (except for those chasing traditional Japanese porcelain), but rich cultural and historic rewards await those willing to invest a brief stop in this quiet corner of northern Kyūshū. After seeing one major attraction earlier in the day which represented Japan’s early, formative years, I travelled aContinue reading “Field Report: Saga Castle, Japan (25 March 2015)”

Flight Report: MNL-ICN-MNL on AirAsia Z2 884 and Z2 85 (February 2016 edition)

Unless an airline does something so phenomenally stupid that I slap them with a personal travel ban, I’d happily fly with them again – even on the same route and schedule as before. That’s why I found myself taking a third round-trip journey on Philippines AirAsia (Z2) this past Seollal weekend, between Manila’s Ninoy AquinoContinue reading “Flight Report: MNL-ICN-MNL on AirAsia Z2 884 and Z2 85 (February 2016 edition)”

Field Report: Yoshinogari Historical Park, Japan (25 March 2015)

Diego sets off on a journey to discover a very different, very ancient Japan – a land and society far removed from (and far older than) the samurai and shōgun that have long dominated popular conceptions of Japanese history. The destination: a complete, and quite enormous, Iron Age town resurrected from bare earth and ashes,Continue reading “Field Report: Yoshinogari Historical Park, Japan (25 March 2015)”

Field Report: A pleasant stroll in Yoshinogari, Japan (25 March 2015)

Some of my fondest memories of Japan have less to do with major tourist attractions and more to do with the journeys I had to take in order to reach them. When I close my eyes and cast my thoughts back to some random episode during one of my several trips to that country, IContinue reading “Field Report: A pleasant stroll in Yoshinogari, Japan (25 March 2015)”

Field Report: Dazaifu, Japan (24 March 2015) – Part 1 of 2

Fukuoka may be the nexus of power and prestige in modern-day Kyūshū, but over a millennium ago, that distinction belonged to another city located several miles to the southeast. Although reduced to a quiet suburb of the island’s sprawling present-day capital, one might say that Dazaifu merely traded one cloak for another: transforming from aContinue reading “Field Report: Dazaifu, Japan (24 March 2015) – Part 1 of 2”