I am much calmer here and sleep less than in the US. I think thequiet nature of the city is so calming after NY. It takes lessenergy to survive as a tourist, so I need less sleep. My food cravingsare dimmer and I am more grounded and my meditation space is clear.
The fact that so [...]

Photos: Kyoto garden near temple, tea ceremony, Buddha in Tokyo.
I explore Tokyo and Kyoto using the public transit systems. The subways are pristine, efficient, fast, and very quiet. The Japanese barely speak during their commutes. I know that their poor social skills account for a high suicide rate, but I am reveling in [...]

Photos: Kyoto garden near temple, tea ceremony, Buddha in Tokyo.
I explore Tokyo and Kyoto using the public transit systems. The subways are pristine, efficient, fast, and very quiet. The Japanese barely speak during their commutes. I know that their poor social skills account for a high suicide rate, but I am reveling in [...]

(Kyoto mikados posing for photographs. Tea house where geishas serve and entertain their guests.)
I am about to commit my next Japanese sin: walking to the breakfast room at the ryokhan in shoes. I didn’t realize that I am supposed to wear my slippers and robe inside the hotel and not just in my room. When [...]

(Kyoto mikados posing for photographs. Tea house where geishas serve and entertain their guests.)
I am about to commit my next Japanese sin: walking to the breakfast room at the ryokhan in shoes. I didn’t realize that I am supposed to wear my slippers and robe inside the hotel and not just in my room. When [...]

I’ve been following the Bhutto story ever since I met a French book publisher at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. He had just bought the rights to sell Bhutto’s autobiography in France as well as the memoirs of Clara del Ponte, the Hague prosecutor for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. He had also [...]

Photos: Restaurant in Kyoto
Kyoto Love House
I take the shensen bullet train to the ancient capital: Kyoto. I find a room in a ryokhan, traditional Japanese hotel with a rice mattress on the floor. After seeing the Golden Temple, I go for dinner in the historic Gion area, near the super expensive tea houses where geishas [...]

Photos: Restaurant in Kyoto
Kyoto Love House
I take the shensen bullet train to the ancient capital: Kyoto. I find a room in a ryokhan, traditional Japanese hotel with a rice mattress on the floor. After seeing the Golden Temple, I go for dinner in the historic Gion area, near the super expensive tea houses where geishas [...]

Left: “Have a comfortable time” Love Hotel.
Right: I am taking a photo of the electronic photo board of available rooms.
Rost in Transration (Lost in Translation) Japanese Rove Hoters (Japanese Love Hotels)
In Tokyo, I have to check out Japan’s famous “love hotels”. I have heard as much about them [...]

Left: “Have a comfortable time” Love Hotel.
Right: I am taking a photo of the electronic photo board of available rooms.
Rost in Transration (Lost in Translation) Japanese Rove Hoters (Japanese Love Hotels)
In Tokyo, I have to check out Japan’s famous “love hotels”. I have heard as much about them [...]