Where I'm At: Tokyo Edition
A weekly newsletter of great travel reads and links.
Flying over the Mekong Delta.
I’m back in Saigon after a week that included Japan, Australia, and Singapore. More Travel = Less Blogging, so I have a backlog of writing before my next trip later this month.
Here is the pick of travel reads from around the web for this week.
~ James
Where I’m At: October, 2017 – Tokyo edition
Where I’m At: October, 2017 – Tokyo edition. A monthly update of what I’ve been up to, site news, and where I’m going next.
Where I’ve Been
Greetings from Tokyo! The month began at Singapore Changi, which set the pace for a busy travel month. It’s been years since I’ve done so much travel, and certainly the most since my back injury last year.
London
I visit Europe once a year which always begins London. This is a tradition that began in 1999 when I moved to London to work for 2 years. I’ve been back every year since, making London my longest travel run for any destination. The yearly visits has also made Heathrow my second most visited airport (yes I keep track of such things). It’s still a pain to pass through when a bunch of long-haul flights have disgorged themselves first thing in the morning. I’ve since passed the point where I wished to live in London, but it still remains as one of my favourite cities in the world.
Tallinn
When I visit Europe I like to pick some destinations I haven’t visited so this year I went to the Baltics. I’ve been to Tallinn before but it made more sense to visit the three Baltic states together. I was last here in 2000, so I barely remembered what it was like. I was also interested to see what the city is like in the age of the digital economy and the e-residency program. I wrote a longer post about my observations (see below).
Riga
I was on my way to visit Riga in 2000 when I got a bus from Tallinn. It turned out that Australians needed a visa to visit Latvia (or a visa from any Baltic state) to enter. This was before the Baltic states joined the EU, and I never considered that I would need a visa if I was freely allowed into Estonia. I was turned back at the border so I had to get the bus back to Tallinn. I said I would return, so 17 years later I did.
Riga is a damn cool city. It has an old town with winding, cobbled streets, and outside that, the newer-but-still-old town is reminiscent of the Pest side of Budapest. It has a good mix of old-world charm and Euro-city grit.
Vilnius
I finished the Baltic trio in Vilnius. Like Riga and Tallinn it also has a UNESCO World Heritage Old Town. It’s set on a pleasant little river, and they have sensibly put the new business district on the other side. Each Baltic capital is about 4 hours about by a comfortable bus, so I spent a day and a half in each city. This was a very easy 6-day trip that felt like a holiday.
Minsk
When I was planning my trip to the Baltics I saw that Minsk is close to Vilnius. The visa to Belarus used to be costly and involve tedious paperwork. Since 2017 there is a free 5-day visa for 80 countries, so I took the opportunity to visit. See my trip report below.
Berlin
With the Belarus visa requiring an entry and departure from Minsk airport I just picked a nearby city to fly out of, which happened to be Berlin. I keep saying that I will spend a month in Berlin one year. This year is not that year, but a two day revisit is better than nothing. I have a few friends there as well, so it was good to catch up with while I was there.
Saigon
From Berlin I flew back to Saigon via Frankfurt and Singapore. I wouldn’t normally book two trips so close to each other, but seeing I rent a room here it felt good to have a base to return to.
Sydney
Yes, Sydney! I am in Tokyo on behalf of a Japanese tourism board based in Australia, which required a Sydney departure for my trip. So instead of flying from Saigon to Tokyo I went SGN > SIN > SYD > HND.
I haven’t been to Sydney for maybe 10 years, and that was only a day when I had a long transfer between flights. I confused many of my Australian friends that I was in Sydney for a day, and not even in Melbourne. I stayed in the city so as soon as I dropped my bags off I walked straight to the harbour, which is always an impressive sight.
Tokyo
I visited Tokyo for 5 days in 2007, and I’m sitting here wondering why I didn’t come back sooner. Tokyo is considered as the biggest city in the world (depending on which metric you use) so it’s no surprise that I love this city. Being based in Vietnam this is like an infrastructure holiday, and I am in awe and envy of the railway system. I also didn’t appreciate Japanese food last time I was here, so this time I am eating well.
Good Reads
You’ll Be in Hanoi Soon. Get Your Head Right.
“The difference between having the time of your life and leaving the city cursing its very existence can be as simple as understanding how to approach it. Get ready for Hanoi.”
A great piece of observational travel writing.
Natural Born TV Killers
“They are young, mostly under 30, run their own companies, jet set around the world like it is nobody’s business and make hundreds of millions of rupiahs recording videos of themselves.”
The Bilbao effect: how Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim started a global craze
“Opened 20 years ago this month, the glittering titanium museum had a wow factor that cities around the globe were soon clamouring to copy.”
Telling the Tales of Trees Around the World
“More than just providing of shade, fruit or wood, trees are nature’s documentarians, witnessing – and sometimes playing a role in history.”
How Chinese tourists are changing the world
“How surge in mainland Chinese tourists is changing the world.”
More Japan Reads
I still have Japan on the brain so here are some more good Japan links I found this week.
How an Angry Man Revolutionized the Modern Sushi Industry
“Kisaku Suzuki, creator of the world’s first sushi robot, once ran a company that made candy-wrapping machines. And he was angry.”
Giant Straw Animals Invade Japanese Fields After Rice Harvest And They Are Absolutely Badass
“In Northern Japan, the Wara Art Festival recently rang in the September-October rice season, and it’s a wildly inventive and fun way to repurpose rice straw left over from the harvest.”
Southeast Asia Railways
News related to Southeast Asia railways, as part of the Future Southeast Asia Map project.
Laos merely a bystander as China pushes Belt and Road ambitions
“Costly China-led railway project offers questionable benefits to host.”
Thailand-Cambodia rail link a step closer
“Cambodia and Thailand are set to hold a ceremony early next year to celebrate the official opening of the line that will connect Phnom Penh and Bangkok”
This have been on the cusp of opening for years now, so I won’t believe it until I see it.
[Sultan Mosque - Singapore.]
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