City Rumble – Shanghai versus Tokyo

Yes, back again with two Asian heavyweights in the ring is this week’s CITY RUMBLE. We have the centre of commerce for China, Shanghai, and Japan’s mega-capital, Tokyo lining up against each other. Both are amazing cities in their own right, both attract a lot of tourists, both boast a host of attractions and things …

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World Journeys Podcast Review

    Howdy all again. Today and for the next month or so there is no podcast. The podcast will be returning mid-July with a new batch of seven episodes. HOWEVER - today I thought I would give everyone the chance to listen to the first seven episodes again, or perhaps for the first time …

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Japan Survival Guide Point 4 – Food and grocery shopping.

So, you’re coming to live in Japan. You’re going to teach English probably, and you’ll have your own apartment and quite often you’ll be cooking for yourself. What’s that like? What is Japanese food like and what are my choices when I eat out? These are all important questions. Let’s start with self-catering and seamlessly …

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An Evening in Shinagawa

If Shibuya is Tokyo being pretty darned trendy, Shinagawa is Tokyo perhaps getting down to business. Well, my wife told me it was a business district, although to me there seemed to be a few hotels and restaurants there. It features the most impressive, in my opinion, of Tokyo’s stations. There’s a big arched roof …

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Fish Markets and Kabuki

I certainly had a busy day yesterday. I visited the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo and took in a single act performance of Kabuki Theatre, then discovered some more of Tokyo’s secrets (that’s for another blog because this one is going to be long enough). My mother-in-law had suggested that I go to the Tsukiji …

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Japan Survival Guide Part 3: Getting around Japan by Rail!

Whether you’re here to live, or here backpacking you are going to have to get from point A to point B somehow. I was considering doing a post all about transport in Japan and including driving, because for many people coming here to live and teach driving is an essential part of the day and …

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Living in Japan Survival Guide Point Two: Money

Continuing on with my tips from part one a week or so ago, today I am blogging a little about money in Japan. I can start by telling you the local currency here is the ‘yen’, or as the locals say ‘en’, and that it is worth just over 100 to the US dollar right …

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