Travel guides

My fourth day in Vientiane, Laos. After walking along the Mekong in the afternoon with my shirt clinging completely to my back, I decided I absolutely had to sit indoors. I went in…

Tokyo's Akihabara is a neighborhood where it's hard to say you've seen everything in a single visit. I've come multiple times across different seasons, and each time the signs chan…

Exit from the Hibiya exit of Tokyo's Shimbashi Station, walk toward the elevated highway for about three minutes, and suddenly you'll see a line of people stretching along the side…

Every time I come to Tokyo, my feet find their way to Ueno Ameyoko (アメ横) without fail. This time I entered from the Okachimachi side and worked my way toward Ueno Station. I've met…

Getting nails done in Phuket is usually spontaneous. You notice a sign on the way back from the beach, pop in, spend about 200 baht having your nails trimmed, and leave. But this p…

As you walk through the alleys of Patong, you see a massage shop sign every ten steps. I stopped in front of Karahill Massage because the interior was clearly visible through the g…

Glodok is an old Chinese commercial district in West Jakarta. Walking through alleys tangled with jewelry shops, herbal medicine stores, and mobile phone parts shops toward Pasar G…

Walking south from Jakarta's Kota Tua, you encounter a gray stone archway that stretches across the middle of the road. "SELAMAT DATANG — KAWASAN GLODOK PANCORAN — CHINATOWN JAKART…

On the west side of Merdeka Square, along Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, sits a low neoclassical white building. It's Indonesia's National Museum, though locals still call it Museum Gaja…

Once you exit Nakamise-dori at Senso-ji in Asakusa, there's a stretch where tourist density drops noticeably. That's where I wandered into Kura Sushi Asakusa—purely because the wai…

Asakusa in Tokyo's Taito Ward. The moment I emerged from the subway exit, what caught my eye wasn't the temple—it was a delivery truck. A SAGAWA truck was parked right at the inter…

When you emerge from the alley behind Sensoji Temple, the sound suddenly changes. Instead of the murmur of worshippers, you hear the clank of metal and screams, along with musty ba…

If someone asks me where I spend the most time in Asakusa, Tokyo, I say Azumabashi Intersection—not inside Senso-ji Temple. It's right where Exit 4 of Asakusa Station on the Ginza…

Tokyo's Akihabara is a neighborhood where it's hard to say you've seen everything in a single visit. I've come multiple times across different seasons, and each time the signs chan…

Exit from the Hibiya exit of Tokyo's Shimbashi Station, walk toward the elevated highway for about three minutes, and suddenly you'll see a line of people stretching along the side…

Every time I come to Tokyo, my feet find their way to Ueno Ameyoko (アメ横) without fail. This time I entered from the Okachimachi side and worked my way toward Ueno Station. I've met…

Once you exit Nakamise-dori at Senso-ji in Asakusa, there's a stretch where tourist density drops noticeably. That's where I wandered into Kura Sushi Asakusa—purely because the wai…

Take a tuk-tuk fifteen minutes northeast from downtown Vientiane and the road suddenly widens, with a golden mass rising abruptly beyond a wall. Pha That Luang. The very stupa that…

Vientiane is fiercest at two in the afternoon. Shade does nothing to help, and you can feel your shirt clinging to your back. That day, while walking through downtown, it became un…

On an evening when the breeze from the Mekong River drifted across the street, I stepped into Le Vendôme Restaurant tucked into an alley near Wat Inpeng. Whenever French cuisine co…

I never originally planned to spend this much money on dinner in Vientiane, Laos. This is a city where a plate of stir-fried noodles costs around 30,000 kip at the riverside night…

On the outskirts of Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on the way up toward Kulai, there's KIPMall. You walk in expecting an air-conditioned shopping center like a typical mall, but instead yo…

Whenever I have business near Monkiara Solaris on the weekend, my feet almost automatically head to this place. Chicken rice signs hang on every street corner in Kuala Lumpur, but…

Kota Tinggi, Johor State, Malaysia. A town you reach driving east from Johor Bahru—one that appears in travel guides only for its waterfall. But this time, instead of the waterfall…

During my stay in Kuala Lumpur, I spent an entire day entirely within one block of KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre). The Petronas Twin Towers are Malaysia's most iconic building, ma…

Summer is peak season in Cappadocia's Göreme. I went in February. Morning temperatures drop below freezing, and there's a thin layer of white powder—frost or light snow—along the r…

Kaleiçi, the old town within the walls of Antalya, Turkey, is a maze of narrow streets tucked inside ancient ramparts. When you first arrive, you can't quite tell where the sea is.…

In Antalya's old town of Kaleici (Kaleiçi), Turkey, the city walls remain intact atop a cliff, and beneath that cliff lies an entire yacht harbor. On a map it looks like 'one harbo…

Walking through Kaleici, the old city of Antalya in Turkey, you'll reach a point where the tourist trail suddenly ends. Rather than descending the stairs toward the harbor, venture…

Glodok is an old Chinese commercial district in West Jakarta. Walking through alleys tangled with jewelry shops, herbal medicine stores, and mobile phone parts shops toward Pasar G…

Walking south from Jakarta's Kota Tua, you encounter a gray stone archway that stretches across the middle of the road. "SELAMAT DATANG — KAWASAN GLODOK PANCORAN — CHINATOWN JAKART…

On the west side of Merdeka Square, along Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, sits a low neoclassical white building. It's Indonesia's National Museum, though locals still call it Museum Gaja…

I went to the Harmoni area in central Jakarta on business and grabbed lunch inside the Harmonie Exchange building. Indonesian buildings use different floor numbering than Korea's.…

Getting nails done in Phuket is usually spontaneous. You notice a sign on the way back from the beach, pop in, spend about 200 baht having your nails trimmed, and leave. But this p…

As you walk through the alleys of Patong, you see a massage shop sign every ten steps. I stopped in front of Karahill Massage because the interior was clearly visible through the g…

Heading east from Bangkok and entering Rayong proper, most travelers head straight for the beach. I did too at first. But Yomjinda Road—that old shophouse alley running through dow…

From Pai, taking Highway 1095 through Mae Hong Son's downtown, then driving another 40 minutes deeper into the mountain roads, tea plantations suddenly unfold before you, and a lak…

Gardens by the Bay on Marina Gardens Drive is always a "place where I miscalculate time." I go in thinking two hours will be enough, but I end up spending four. This visit was no d…

When choosing a shopping mall on Singapore's Orchard Road, I don't usually head to ION or Takashimaya. Too crowded, and thirty minutes there with a kid leaves me exhausted. The Cen…

I've heard many times that Universal Studios Singapore (USS) on Sentosa Island is smaller than the ones in Tokyo or Osaka. It is, when you walk through it. But the real problem isn…

The only thing I did after waking early in Kunming, Yunnan was wander around a local market near my accommodation, but that morning stands out the most from this entire trip. I've…

On the outskirts of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, between rice fields and warehouse-style buildings, stands a large wooden structure. What catches your eye before the sign is a long mes…