Christmas in Tokyo

January 22, 2018Japan, John Standard

We went in for some good old KFC. KFC means Christmas in Japan. For decades Japanese have been celebrating Christmas with a barrel of fried chicken. Some lights and a small Christmas tree we picked up in Akihabara set the holiday mood in our Kawasaki apartment. It wasn’t quite the same as home but itRead more

Bye Bye Kansai

December 17, 2017Japan, John Standard

Sarah and I left the Kansai region for Tokyo. Below is a photo collection of the quirky and cute little things we liked in the area. We will miss you, Kansai!  Read more

Japan

December 7, 2017Japan, John Standard

After two months of visiting our families in Canada and the USA we made our way back to Asia two weeks ago. We flew directly back to Nanjing, China and then took the plane to Osaka via a train to Shanghai. 45hours+ of traveling was not the most efficient way to reach Japan but wasRead more

Nanjing

September 19, 2017China, John Standard

Nanjing is just a 2-hour train ride northwest from Shanghai. The Shanghai train station was the busiest I have ever seen (even more so than in Beijing, where I was one year ago). We arrived early to deal with the security and lines and ended up sitting on the concrete floor waiting for our trainRead more

This is China

August 22, 2017China, John Standard

Sarah and I arrived in Shanghai a couple weeks ago. Shanghai, with a metropolitan population just shy of Canada’s, feels very different from Ho Chi Minh. Once we settled in and went for a walk my first impression was I’ve gone deaf. How could this city, one of the largest in the world, feel soRead more