thepismire CURIOUS THOUGHTS OF AN ANT

Archive for February 2010

Kyoto

Kyoto was the former capital of Japan, and it is a city rich in history. If you look on the horizon of the city, you could see the tops of temples everywhere. There are over a dozen shrines, temples and castles that are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it was a must [...]

Tottori

I left Tokyo and headed out to Tottori. More specifically, a little town called Kofu to visit my old friend and college dormmate, Brian. I knew he was teaching English out in Japan, and decided to stay with him a couple of nights. For all I knew, I imagined Kofu to be just another city, [...]

Tokyo

Well, I arrived in Japan. Flew in to Osaka, then took a train out directly to Tokyo. Coming from China to Korea to Japan gave me a progression of cleanliness, and all the stigmas that people told me about Japan were pretty true. Expensive, politeness, cleanliness, technologically advanced-ness (in some aspects). However, I was expecting [...]

Bulgogi Bakes & Everland

During my stop in Korea, I decided to extend my layover for a couple of days to hang out with some peeps. More importantly, it was one last time to hang out with the roomies. On the first night we had another Binge Fest: Korean Edition. 1. Good ol’ home cooking at TP’s grandma’s home [...]

Chiner Keepers: Beijing Guo An

Beijing’s own football (soccer) team is the Guo An. I was able to go to a match, and I’ve never heard something so obscene being chanted in unison. Maybe the direct translation makes it seem worse only on the English side, but boy did they make sure everyone knew what they were saying. We won [...]

Chiner Keepers: 798

The 798 is definitely my favorite part of Beijing. I like industrious looking places. When they are converted to a different function, it’s even cooler. The 798 is a collection of different factories for military purposes. Once it was abandoned, the art community moved in. Now it’s bustling with galleries, small cafes, random art installations. [...]

Chiner Keepers: No More Bunz

Finding pleasant surprises in Chiners is money, especially if it’s a food item that you thought this place would never be good at. No More Bunz was introduced to us by Jason, who is pictured above. This post is also dedicated to him. The rest is history. This place has become a regular spot for [...]

Chiner Keepers: Old People Hanging Out

The Temple of Heaven was pretty neat, but even neater was the old people community teeming right outside. It was busy, and they were straight up playing the er hu, doing coordinated dances with various items, playing them cards, singing, ballroom dancing, having impromptu choirs, tagging calligraphy with water. The place was insane, son. The [...]