Kawaguchiko Music Forest
A musical theme park, Kawaguchiko Music Forest is situated right by picture-perfect Lake Kawaguchi. With the right weather conditions, you could get a view of Mt. Fuji as well. This is a lovely setting...
View ArticleDen’s Inn, Lake Kawaguchi
Coffee and Hot Chocolate at this homey hostel cafe just across Kawaguchi Lake Forest. Den’s Inn looks Western outside but once you enter, traditional Japanese custom of removing your shoes at the...
View ArticleMaple Corridor, Lake Kawaguchi
A news crew documents the first day of Maple Corridor Illumination. Summer took long this year so the leaves have still been getting enough sunshine and chlorophyll, staying green and delaying autumn....
View ArticlePlanning Lake Kawaguchi Trip
Ideally, if you can do a Hakone overnight trip at Hakone, experience the onsen and explore the mountains, lake, and villages there, then the next morning, move to Lake Kawaguchi to continue to...
View ArticleAmasake Chaya, Hakone’s Last Edo Period Teahouse
Tradition. History. Culture. Food. Drink. Nature. Tale of the Faithful 47 Ronin: Check, Check, Check, Check, Check, Check, and Check! They come together in this 400 year-old thatch-roofed countryside...
View ArticleQueen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver
Queen Elizabeth Park is one of the top go-to places for Autumn leaf-peaking in Vancouver. It used to be a forest with salmon-spawning creeks, making it a favorite hunting ground for bears, wolves, and...
View ArticleCoal Harbor Morning Hike
“Nice bike!” a man on a bike hollered as he rode past! I was the only human within earshot so I soon realised that I had been hiking on the bike lane at Coal Harbor! Whether a straightforward “Out of...
View ArticleBowen Island Photography Hike, British Columbia
Still part of Metro Vancouver, Bowen Island is an island municipality in Howe Sound, a network of glacier-produced narrow ocean channels between bodies of land northwest of Vancouver. From Vancouver,...
View ArticleGastown Stroll and L’Abattoir Dinner, Vancouver
Since 2009, Gastown has been a National Historic Site of Canada. It was the nucleus from which the whole city of Vancouver, British Columbia grew. Its name was derived from the “founding father of...
View ArticleVandusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver
VanDusen Garden is a sight to behold! Named after Canadian lumberman and philanropist, Whitford Julian VanDusen, it is one of five parks in the posh Shaughnessy neighbourhood, occupying a parcel of...
View ArticleStanley Park
In 2014, Stanley Park National Historic Site of Canada [yes that’s its official name] got ranked “Top Park in the Entire World” by TripAdvisor [based on] consumer reviews. For about 130 years, it has...
View ArticleEnglish Bay
How many cities can say they have a beach park downtown? Well, Vancouver can… here at English Bay Beach. From the late 19th century, the legendary lifeguard, Joe Fortes, taught Vancouver residents how...
View ArticleThanksgiving Dinner from Granville Island Public Market
Granville Island Public Market is a food lover’s paradise. With fifty main retailers and over a hundred more rotating day-vendors selling local and international artisanal foods (and crafts), it has...
View ArticleOn A Given Sunday
Usually I’m able to catch up with the Sunday messages of my home church, CCF (Pasig) via livestream when I am away from Manila but on this particular Sunday, I wanted to see my teacher and dear friend,...
View ArticleLondon Heritage Farm, Richmon BC
Along the Fraser river in the coastline city of Richmond (British Columbia) stands the London Heritage Farm— a historic site complex consisting of a farmhouse, family barn, heritage and herb gardens,...
View ArticleMid-day at Fairhaven, Washington: Day Trip from Vancouver
The Fairhaven, Washington (USA) community was established in the late 1880’s; it became one of three cities [the other two being Whatcom City and Sehome] that formed Bellingham, the largest city of...
View ArticleAfternoon at Lynden, Washington: Day Trip from Vancouver, B.C.
The vision of Mount Baker’s poetic and pretty triangular snow-capped cone on the horizon kept me focused even if at times it seemed like we were lost among duck farms by the highway. [It’s actually...
View ArticleThe Road to Whistler, B.C. (Whistler Part 1)
“The journey is equal to the destination,” Brent declared about our trip to Whistler as he drove the tour shuttle from downtown Vancouver onwards on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. With a 7am pickup, it would...
View ArticleWhistler Village and Food (Whistler Part 2)
Before noon, we reach Whistler! Since the 1990’s, Whistler has always garnered top votes among North American resorts for alpine skiing. It gained further global recognition when it hosted the 2010...
View ArticleFrom Yolanda Survivors to International Performers: REO Brothers
I had the opportunity to meet the REO Brothers band as they provided the dance music for a 1960’s Beatles-themed party. Their band name honors their parents, Reynaldo and Elizabeth Otic [think Eph....
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