Tokyo: Useful Tips & Apps

Tokyo had always been our dream to visit, and probably one of the first destinations on my mind since I was a child. So planning for the trip was a lot of fun. Despite the throngs of Western tourists in Japan, it’s a well known fact that the majority of the locals still do not speak English (or are simply too shy to). Having said that, Tokyo remains easy to navigate with most signs having English and Romanji for foreigners. But it certainly helps a lot if you planned some things in advance to avoid as much fuss and trouble as possible.

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Taipei: Half Day Trips

If you’re completely new to Taipei, there’re quite a number of things to see, take a walk around Ximending, visit the National Palace Museum, check out the night markets, have drinks around Xinyi Road or the National University, or simply, gorge yourself with the glorious food the Taiwanese are rightfully proud of. But if you feel a little restless in the city (Really?), there are always options to venture out a little for something closer to nature. Taipei, and generally the whole of Taiwan, is pretty convenient to get around. There are also local trains, and buses that connect you to most places. The inter-town railway line basically encircles the entire island. Continue reading Taipei: Half Day Trips

Shanghai: Zhong Plaza (Updated July 2015)

Shanghai’s landscape is ever changing. The boom in new restaurants, bars, malls, is bigger now than ever. It’s no surprise then that developers have thought that one Xintiandi is not enough and decided to create another food & drinks hub in an old quarter somewhere. They found their location in Jing’An. (And right behind our home, lucky us!) The new place is currently referred to as “Zhong Plaza” or “That new place on Taixing Lu”.

Most of the restaurants and bars are already open and are having their soft launch prices and menus, some are still in development, but all of them look promising.

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Taiwan: North Coast Day trip

We got ourselves some affordable tickets to Taipei for the week just before Chinese New Year. On one of the days, we decided to venture a little out from the modern city to the North Coast. For that, we got in touch with Christine via her page on ToursByLocals. Her husband, Jan, came along on the trip, as well as her brother, Leo, who was our driver for the day. Below were some of the main spots we managed to visit.

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