Sweden

Power of Ikea

I feel somewhat sorry for Swedish people, but when I saw the Swedish blue and yellow flag immediately after I got out of the Stockholm Airport, I thought ‘ oh, Ikea is there’ without thinking….

Sweden

Glittering windows

One thing I was impressed in Stockholm was the shiny windows. I wonder why…maybe because Swedish people are very keen of wiping windows, or something to do with the material of the glass,…

Sweden

Reindeer

It is enjoyable to eat local foods when you are travelling.Here in Stockholm, I found reindeer meat in the menu of a restaurant in the old town.Of course I chose that.To be honest…

Sweden

The Old Part of Stockholm

The old part of Stockholm is called Gamlan Stan, sounds like Indian or something. It is very nice with colourful buildings and cobbled streets. According to the guide, it is not too old,…

Sweden

Cold!

This is the first time for me to visit Stockholm. It is a beautiful city with a lot of water and very soft light. But, oh, it’s cold! It was middle of spring,…

Sweden

Hotel in Stockholm

We stayed in a hotel called Radisson Blu Royal Viking in Stockholm. We chose this because of the location, which is just next to the central station. Although it is one of the…

Japan

Cheer up, Japanese tourism

We travelled in Japan around one month after the earthquake and tsunami, and felt the difficulty of Japanese tourism. Around this Lake Ashi, there were some souvenir shops which seemed soon to be closed…

Japan

Wonderful ryokan in Hakone

This is the view from the balcony of our room in a ryokan(Japanese style hotel) called Hanaougi in Goura in Hakone.This balcony has got a open air hot spring bath, which was excellent!…

Japan

Pirates Boat on Lake Ashi

 I do not know why it has to be the ‘pirates boat’ for the sight seeing boat on Lake Ashi in Hakone, but it seems popular here and has been going for about 60…