Himeji Castle (姫路城), also known as White Heron Castle (白鷺城), it’s one of Japan’s three premier castles (along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle). Unlike many other Japanese castles, Himeji Castle has survived through the wars, earthquakes, and other nature disasters. This over-400-year-old castle remains one of twelve original castles in Japan. It is a designated National Treasures (国宝) as well […]
Tokyo Skytree, located in Sumida ward, is the world’s tallest free-standing broadcasting tower with a height of 634.0 meters. Opened in May 2012, Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) has become a new symbol of Tokyo and remains one of the city’s most popular landmark. Usually there is a long waiting time for admission tickets. On a normal day the wait time […]
I love Yuzu… and I can never have enough delicious Japanese cuisines made with fresh Yuzu. Yuzu (ゆず), a Japanese citrus originated from China, is one of the most popular fruits in Japan. Yuzu’s flavor is sour and tart, but its aroma is incredibly amazing. It is rarely eaten as fruit, though it has been widely used in Japanese cuisines as […]
It had been a while since my last visit to Yokohama. Although it was very close to Tokyo it didn’t make into my itineraries for the last few trips. This time we decided to spend a whole day in Yokohama for Stephanie by visiting the Cup Noodle Museum and Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum. Located about half an hour south […]
Ghibli Museum (Mitaka/Kichijōji) My last visit to Ghibli Museum was more than 10 years ago, when I was a student and doing study aboard in Japan. I can still remember how amazed I was when I first saw the 5-meter-tall Robot Soldier (from Laputa: Castle in the Sky 天空の城ラピュタ) on the rooftop of Ghibli Museum. (Laputa: Castle in the Sky is […]
This January, we took Stephanie on her second international trip to Japan and Taiwan (again). For this trip, we had decided to make Tokyo our first destination. At first, I was hesitant on whether or not we should stay in Tokyo before heading to Kansai (関西). One of my biggest worries was getting around Tokyo with my 2-year-old. I […]
Uji I ❤ tea! Whenever we visit Kyoto, I always try to arrange a half-day trip to Uji if time allows. The city of Uji is well-known for its premium quality Japanese green tea (Macha) and is one of the 3 major tea growing regions in Japan. Uji is located in the southern part of the Kyoto prefecture. It takes approximately […]
~Day 1~ Kyoto Itinerary ☼ (½ day) Taxi ➞ Kiyomizu-michi – 清水道 Walk ➞ Kiyomizu-dera – 清水寺 Walk ➞ Gion Touzan | Tsuji-hana (restaurant) – 祇園東山｜つじ華 Video Copyright Whitney Zhu
Stephanie’s first international flight!! After a 10-hour flight from San Francisco to Tokyo (Narita Airport), and 3+ hours of train rides, we safely arrived in Kyoto! Video Copyright Whitney Zhu
When Stephanie turned one, we took her on her first international trip to Japan and Taiwan (as usual I had my sister Whitney tag along). We expected that traveling with a one-year-old would be challenging, so we purposely chose destinations that we are familiar with to make things a little less adventurous. John and I travel to Japan and Taiwan fairly regularly to visit friends […]
