Category Travel
Puerto Vallarta (Day 1) – Vacation!
Okay, so you know how every place has its quirky cultures and traditions? Like, how Seattleites pretend never to use umbrellas and all have purple-dyed mohawks and electric cars? Well, one of the Seattle quirks that I’m definitely on board with is using the grey, wet winter as an excuse to take springtime vacations to tropical places […]
China!
It’s official. The destination for this year’s Big Trip (Part 1) is China! Amanda and I bought our plane tickets tonight for a weeklong trip in early June to Beijing, Shanghai and, well, wherever else we can get to before we have to fly home. We have done exactly zero research; the only things we […]
Playing in Portland: Gardens & Art
We got up early on Sunday morning and headed back out to the Division Street neighborhood where we’d been the day before. Vanessa had recommended Pine State Biscuits as a good place for lunch, so we thought we’d check it out. In what began to feel like deja vu, we stood in line for a […]
Playing in Portland: N Mississippi Ave & SE Division Street
Okay, so if it’s Presidents’ Day weekend and you don’t get the holiday off of work, it’s just a normal weekend, right? Wrong! It’s time for a road trip to Portland with Amanda! Amanda flew in from Denver on Friday night and I picked her up at the airport. We were both on THE VERGE OF […]
Utah!
Oh man. How can it already be February? This year is going by way to quickly. And of course I’ve written about basically nothing that’s happened so far. A lot of it’s just going to need to be water under the bridge, but I did want to capture a great little trip I took a […]
Almost home
It’s Labor Day weekend! The official end of summer (at least as far as the public pools and rules about wearing white are concerned), so why not celebrate with one more trip to the beach? And by “beach” I don’t mean the chilly shores of the Pacific Northwest — I want sun and sand and […]
Finishing up Japan
Okay, I’ve finished writing up the rest of our stay in Japan. I’ve slotted the posts in where they fit chronologically, so if you’re interested in seeing the photos or reading the stories, check out the links below. Kyoto Bike tour through Kyoto: The Golden Pavillion, Ryoan-ji and the Bamboo Forest JD Kai Tasting Tour […]
Home again
When we flew to Seoul two weeks ago, I realized with a twinge of regret that we were spending the longest day of the year in an airplane. Not only that, but because we were flying west, we were essentially losing most of the following day, too. No summer barbecues or other celebration of the […]
Tokyo (last day) – Tokyo National Museum
Our last day in Tokyo was rainy and gray. We packed our bags, but our flight wasn’t until 7:00 pm. What to do until then? Well, first thing: breakfast at Denny’s. You might wonder why we would choose for our last meal in the food Mecca that is Tokyo an American chain that we would […]
Tokyo – Dinner at Ukai-tei Ginza
For our last night in Japan, to celebrate the conclusion of our trip and take one last moment to enjoy the glories that are Japanese cuisine, we went to dinner at Ukai-tei Ginza. This Michelin-starred restaurant was just a few blocks from our hotel and despite our best efforts to get lost (and contrary to Michelin’s […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 