It rained pretty hard today, my last morning in Taipei. Got up early, had breakfast and went to the airport by taxi.The flight home was early, ...

It wasn't raining when I started out this morning, but the clouds were thick. I ended up at the 有記名茶 Wang Tea store which had a 118 yea...

An interesting and unique museum in the Beitou hot springs area. The building was a restored Japanese occupation era public bath, with beautiful st...

We had breakfast at the hotel, and then checked our luggage at the front desk. Those who signed up for the day tour of Beitou and Yangmingshan bo...

In the morning, I took a walk toward the nearby Dadaocheng Wharf, which was the site of the original landing for Taipei. Danshui River became more...

I met Deats in the morning near his hostel by the Taipei train station. Found some computer to do some chores on the internet, and then walked a li...

We are traveling Deats way today. Phil showed me how he travels the world using available public transportation... The main destination was Yeliu...

Taken over several days, here are some old baroque style architecture in Taipei, in particular the Dadaocheng area near the hotel I stayed at. I ne...

Since we were back in Taipei, our choices for different type of cuisines were pretty much unlimited. I wanted to find a good Shanghai style restaur...

This is a fantastic restaurant in Taipei serving Shanghai style food. The decor is also very classy. Most westerns are familiar with Cantonese styl...

Ann and Deats came to pick me up at the hotel in the morning and instead of having her drive far away to another trail, I suggested we just go to t...

The northeastern county of Ilan (pronounced yi-lan) in Taiwan used to be thought of as a remote and rural area, and it probably is st...

Taroko National Park is situated in the eastern part of Taiwan. It's most famous for scenery along the east west cross island highway, and also Suh...

The big destination today was Taroko National Park. We got started about 9am. Since I was the navigator I suggested we go up the coast first to...

(New Videos added)Deats and I had talked about where to go and what to see today. But it was raining when morning came. So we changed the plan and ...

I got to the train station, and tried to buy a ticket to Hualien on the east coast. I was told all seats were sold out on the one I wanted an...

I booked this hotel online (sorry, web site is in Chinese only, I rather doubt they spoke English either) because it was advertised as a "business"...

Today was a day of relaxation for me. After breakfast at the hotel, I wandered across the street to the small temple nearby. It's a temple for the ...

Today we are leaving Kyoto for Tokyo on the Nozomi bullet train. Kevin is flying home while I continue to Taiwan!Since our hotel in Kyoto is righ...

I saw a review by Siam (a fellow travbuddy) on this hotel, and booked it for my trip to Taiwan in March 08. Since I was by myself, my main criteria...

The big presidential election happens on 3/22, and many overseas Chinese head back to Taiwan to vote! My reason for going back was for a reunion ...

Our main goal today was to see the Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle. It was raining and we even bought another umbrella so we won't get too wet. The...

I had arranged with a travbuddy (ys484) Yuiko in Japan several months before the trip to meet up in Kyoto. She had to take a day off and be...

We arrived in Kyoto and checked in our hotel which is right at the train station. The train station in Kyoto was something special, looking almost ...

This is another example of how my trip was influenced by a travbuddy blog! I saw it and wanted to visit the castle, I didn't even know they had c...

The fact that the hotel is over a train station may deter some people initially, but don't let that happen to you! You will not feel the trains rat...

I have to thank another travbuddy for inspiring me to go to Miyajima.. ErinPatty wrote a blog and had her profile photo with the famous floating to...

It's beautiful in a haunting way. The trees next to the A-bomb dome (the building which survived the nuclear bomb) were bare, adding to the s...

In the morning, we had breakfast in our room. It's really nice to be served breakfast and dinner as part of the deal for the ryokan, we got t...

We shelled out additional money for the Nozomi from Nagoya to Hiroshima, because the train from Takayama to Nagoya would take 2.5 hours, and even t...

We transfered in Nagoya onto the fastest version of the bullet trains - the Nozomi. We had only about 15 minutes between trains, but the Shinkansen...

Hiroshima probably is not high on the list of destinations in Japan, because it doesn't have any 5 star hotels. We picked this one because of the l...

We left Takaragawa in a little bit of rain. took the bus back to Minakami train station in the morning. At the train station, I walke...

Takayama is a town with traditional Japanese (Edo period) buildings, and it seemed appropriate to stay at a guest house with a 250 year history ope...

Breakfast was Japanese style in the breakfast room. We got to see more guests in the hotel. There were more people than it would appear from not se...

Thanks for Fio on travbuddy who wrote the first review on Takaragawa onsen hot spa, we booked a room at the guest house and totally enjoyed our s...

Ever since reading Fio's review about this place I have been intrigued. It looked so beautiful. Now that I have been there, I am not disappointed! ...

We had our Japan rail pass starting today so we decided to travel mostly by rail and only take the subway when necessary. The fine food market ...

We woke up to a rainy day. Looking out the window from our hotel room, I saw people walking on the streets with umbrellas. The train track is ri...

We bumped into this restaurant Dining River in Ginza area of Tokyo. It has great ambiance, a small river runs through the restaurant! and you sit i...

I found this relatively cheaper 4* hotel in Tokyo, at about $200 per night. The location is very convenient, less than 5 minutes walk from the Shim...

After about 10 hours flight, we arrived in Tokyo  Narita airport after 5pm on Sunday. I had been to this airport numerous times, never going t...

To go from a part of Japan to another, the train is probably the most convenient way to travel. For foreign visitors, the JR (Japan Rail) pass is a...