Yesterday I finally had the chance to visit the most renowned onsen in Ichinoseki, the Kanpo Onsen. A beautiful setting, a little way out of town on top of a hill, the onsen is fed by reputedly 14 different hot springs. It is regarded as the best onsen in the immediate area and one of …
Category: travel tips
Getting Set for Departure
I have just under a week left in my home of two years now in Ichinoseki. We have been packing and preparing to shift down to Yokohama where we will live for six weeks before flying to Melbourne. We've been frequenting the second hand stores to sell off a few things - I just said …
False Spring.
Although the hills look quite beautiful today, I must admit to being rather sick of winter. Today was supposed to be the first day of spring! Oh well, Ichinoseki can be quite beautiful even with snow!
Top Five Backpacker Sleeps – Japan
Today’s look at budget digs centres on Japan, where I’ve been living now for two year and first visited in April 2011. Japan has some pretty awesome hostels. Not only are they friendly, with great facilities including kitchens, wifi and more, but they often organise free or very cheap tours and are simply a great …
A Traveler’s Guide to Toilets in India
Howdy all. I wasn't going to blog today, I was thinking it was a good day to rest from blogging. But I was working on 'Short Journeys: India' and decided to write a small section in it about toilets, and well, I thought it was interesting and a little amusing, so I thought I would …
Where the Wild Things Are.
Well, today was an interesting day! Not too far from Ichinoseki - perhaps 30km or so, is... wait for it... you won't see this one coming.... A SAFARI PARK! I kid you not. Somehow for 2 years I have resisted going. Perhaps it was the cost, or the fact that I didn't know where it …
Anniversary Dinner, in the middle of nowhere, happy surprise!
So, for those who don't know me, on Friday my wife and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We headed out in the car to a small restaurant run by a friend of my wife, not quite sure what to expect. But I have to say we were more than happily surprised by the quality …
Continue reading Anniversary Dinner, in the middle of nowhere, happy surprise!
The Self-publishing continues from home – Short Journeys: Japan
Whew! Well folks, I have finally managed to epublish Short Journeys: Japan. It's been a lot of work and it felt like I would never get the thing finished, to be honest, but finished it is and finally ready to buy on Amazon, Payhip and Lulu, all at the same time! Which is a first …
Continue reading The Self-publishing continues from home – Short Journeys: Japan
The Final Wrap – School’s Out!
Well... that's that! In a blink of an eye, somehow I am finished with teaching schools in Japan. Today, at my second school, a special needs school, I went to graduation. It was an interesting day, some happy faces, some nervous ones. It is interesting to me that comparing the two, very very …
Three years on – Great Tohoku Earthquake
It's now been three years since that fateful day in 2011 when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck. I remember the day well. I was in Vietnam, in a town called Dalat. I had just arrived, and went out for dinner with a nice chap I met at my guesthouse. We were talking through dinner and …
Andy's World Journeys 