I like travelling alone. That way, I've only got one idiot to worry about.
In today’s report, we’ll see what it’s like to fly with the Philippine flag carrier on one of its busy Japan routes: a journey that will take us from Manila to Fukuoka in less than four hours.
Welcome aboard PR426.
Continue reading “Flight Report: MNL-FUK on Philippine Airlines Flight PR426 (22 September 2018)”
Terminal 2 (T2) of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) was originally designed to serve only domestic flights. However, the great majority of international routes operated by flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PR) are currently based at the terminal’s northern wing. In today’s report, we’ll see what it’s like to fly out of the country from this major gateway – and we’ll gauge whether the building is up to the challenge of hosting flights it was never designed for.
Continue reading “Terminal Report: Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) T2, Metro Manila, Philippines”
The long journey from Tōkyō to Hakodate isn’t as time-consuming as it used to be, thanks to the newly opened first segment of the Hokkaidō Shinkansen. That said, the shinkansen terminus serving one of the biggest urban centres in Japan’s northernmost prefecture is located about 16 kilometres from the heart of the city: hardly a convenient location for travellers staying in the downtown area. Bridging the gap is a new train service that links the shinkansen to central Hakodate, taking as little as 15 minutes each way.
Welcome aboard the Hakodate Liner.
Travelling between Tōkyō and Hokkaidō has never been easier, with new high-speed rail services whisking passengers from the Japanese capital to Hakodate in under four and a half hours. Today, let’s see what it’s like to zoom all the way up to the great big north on an unbroken run along two shinkansen lines: one of which is the country’s longest, and the other its newest.
Welcome aboard the Hayabusa – the fastest service on the Tōhoku and Hokkaidō Shinkansen.
Think about the sort of house you’d like to live in after retirement. Will it be a beach-side bungalow, or perhaps a small cottage out in the country? Whatever form your post-employment residential dream might take, it’s not likely to be on quite the same scale as the sprawling fortress that Tokugawa Ieyasu moved into after he’d quit his plum government job in Edo and decamped to what is now Shizuoka Prefecture.
Welcome to Sunpu Castle.
Continue reading “Field Report: Sunpu Castle, Shizuoka, Japan (01 October 2017)”
This quick café stop in the Okinawan capital almost didn’t make the cut – in blogging terms, anyway – as I didn’t gather quite enough material to compose a proper Food Report with. That said, I’ve already rolled out a couple of (Mini-)Food Reports in recent weeks, so why not one more? (Besides, I’m sure we’ll need a bit of sweet to balance out the savoury goodness of that steak lunch I wrote about yesterday.)
Welcome to Hands Cafe.
Continue reading “(Mini-)Food Report: Coffee and Dessert at Hands Cafe (Naha, Okinawa, Japan)”
Here’s a brief (Mini-)Food Report, covering a Japanese-style steak lunch I enjoyed in a restaurant at one of Naha’s major shopping malls.
Welcome to Wafū-tei.
Continue reading “(Mini-)Food Report: A Hearty Steak Lunch at Wafū-tei (Naha, Okinawa, Japan)”
For the moment, let’s skip over our second full day in Okinawa – though I do hope to tell that tale in due course – and move straight into the third, when we visited a large garden that was the setting for a secondary palace of the Ryūkyūan royal family. Not a place where East meets West, but one where East meets East: a masterpiece of the landscaper’s art that draws upon both Japanese and Chinese aesthetics to yield something that Ryūkyū can call its very own.
Continue reading “Field Report: Shikina-en Royal Garden, Naha, Japan (08 May 2018)”
The islands of Okinawa Prefecture are sprinkled with the remains of gusuku: massive stone-walled castles that are in some ways similar to, and yet in many other ways different from, the classic Edo Period castles of the Japanese mainland. Whilst none are as well preserved (or at least as well rebuilt) as Shuri Castle in Naha, even ruined sites such as Nakijin Castle serve as impressive reminders of the power and authority wielded by those who once ruled these lands before they became part of Japan.
Continue reading “Field Report: Nakijin Castle, Okinawa, Japan (07 May 2018)”
Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture is famous for its beaches, but what’s a chap to do when he hates going to the beach? No worries – there’s plenty to see, do, and taste in the capital city of Naha, even for someone who loathes the sea and sand.
Continue reading “Field Report: A Sunny Sunday in Sunny Naha, Okinawa, Japan (06 May 2018)”
Within striking distance