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Adventures in Tokyo and beyond. Potentially more social media I'm just going to forget about.

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A sneaker cartoon up on Jezebel today

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TRUTH

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I wanna be where the PBR

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My latest posting on my company's blog - about what working in a "bicultural" office means.

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Double decker commuter train in Sydney. Tokyo could use one of these...

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As seen at Robot Restaurant

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Last Stop Mandalay

The last city on our Myanmar tour was Mandalay, which reminded me a lot of Jaipur in India - it's a mix of old and new city, half-filled malls, street markets, textile mills and some glittering gold pieces for the right buyer.

The highlight for me were several boat trips. The first was in a tiny boat, which we opted to take after crossing over a rickety foot bridge and favored other methods to get back.

The second boat trip was up the river to a neighboring - you guessed it - pagoda. The temple had been badly damaged by an earth quake years earlier, and our guide called it "the world's largest pile of rocks." But the breeze on the boat the way there and back was lovely, even if we did feel a little pampered being the only people on quite a large vessel.

(Thought there was a little pampering in Mandalay...)

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Biking in Bagan. It was a hot ride (100 F!!!) through pagoda country, but very pretty views. And the pool back at the hotel was a nice treat.

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Shots from the market in Bagan... some flies, a lot of smells, and an unexcited Jon (standing too close to the fish)

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Yangon, Myanmar

First stop was Yangon, a bigger city in Myanmar and our first introduction to the many, many pagodas we would tour. No shoes and no bare legs (for ladies).

Both the structures and the Buddha statues were incredibly ornate, most covered in gold leaf and intricate design. I don't know if I've ever seen such a pretty Buddha (also, I always thought he was fat).

My favorite part may have been discovering the tiny kitties roaming around though...

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A Few Days in Singapore

Finally updating from my trip, nearly two weeks ago now. Singapore was the first stop - my friend and colleague Jon lives there, so I swung by to pick him up on our way to Myanmar (that makes it seem like a lot less travel, ha).

It was a good time to adjust to the heat and humidity, two things Tokyo does not yet have. I spent a fair amount of my time in air conditioning though, which is fairly easy with all of Singapore's many, many malls.

Here's the skyline!

And here Jon and I are, enjoying some wine before getting on with our journey.

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I like this about Japan

Just back from vacation and needed a little recovery time. I like that I can put on my big, noise canceling headphones, walk down dark alleys and sit in a park alone after nightfall to just take it all in. It's a pretty great city. Funny that I'm still thinking about New York right now. Vacation updates soon.

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Ask me about my Buddha

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A little NYC in #Myanmar

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At least social media makes me feel like I didn't just experience that train ride alone #cuddlingstrangers

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Cherry blossoms in full bloom #Tokyo #Hanami #followthefellows

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Will run for sake - couple shots from yesterday's #hash through the blossoming sakura

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Karuizawa Weekend (or who knew my Japanese flash cards could be turned into Cards Against Humanity)

Spring Equinox is a public holiday in Japan, so the marathon crew (L to R below: Rachel, Dan, Erica, me, Luke) decided to escape Tokyo and spend the three-day weekend in Karuizawa, a pretty little mountain town about 2 hours away.

There was a fair amount of snow on the ground, but it was still nice to be in nature. I also finally bought hiking boots at the neighboring outlet mall... good thing they actually were waterproof, as I found myself knee-deep in snow several times along the trail.

The highlight of the hike was either the rhyming game Rachel came up with (or maybe when it ended), or the onsen when we were done, followed by a solid local brew. Something about a hot soak after a long day is so relaxing - too bad I forgot to bring clean clothes to change into after. Rookie gaijin move.

Once back at the hotel, after a dinner of surprisingly delicious pizza, we entertained ourselves the good old fashioned American way: drinking games. What started as quizzing me with my Japanese flashcards (most of which I learned were spelled wrong) turned into a Cards Against Humanity hijack. The good news is I actually remember most of the vocab words - because I don't think I will be using those flashcards to study again.

Sunday Erica, Luke and I shopped around Ginza Street, which had cute shops and weird souvenirs galore. And then it was time to go home - unfortunately, the train back was more than a little crowded. Here's Luke enjoying the camping chair he made fun of me for buying, while Erica perches on her suitcase and looks unimpressed: