Asia

Malapascua, a tiny island in the Visayan Sea north of Cebu, is well-known for its thresher-shark cleaning station, where divers gather daily to see these beautiful creatures ascend from below to be cleaned by fish before returning to deeper...

Imagine hundreds of tiny islands, coral reefs, limestone cliffs, turquoise water, white sand beaches, and hidden lagoons. Basically imagine a tropical paradise and you have the Bacuit Archipelago surrounding El Nido on the island of Palawan in the...

We lose ourselves in travel, work or play. Becoming fully engulfed in the moment is all to frequent. This photo was taken in the Sindang Market in Central Seoul. It is tough to put a finger on Sindang Market, it is a place where you can find an...

I go to Dongdaemun Market (Dongdaemun Stadium Station) to see how the locals live. The market is made up of 26 shopping malls over multiple blocks. There are more than 5,000 shops. You can find everything from food to clothing to electronic goods...

Chong-gye-cheon stream and park is a several-miles-long ribbon of pedestrian tranquility in the heart of Seoul. For decades, an elevated expressway ran through the heart of Seoul. The air pollution and congestion made people forget that a stream...

Dongdaemun, the old East Gate of Seoul, has been the site of a market for generations. Today, the double-roofed stone arch no longer marks entry into the city, but the capital's residents still come here to haggle over everything from shoes to...

"Dongdaemun" is the old east gate of Seoul. The word is also synonymous with the massive market area that surrounds the gate, both above and below ground. Several of the nearby subway stations connect with underground shopping arcades. You can...

Seoul's Folk Flea Market is a place where you can buy anything, I mean anything! This scary contraption looks like an invention of a comic book super-villain, but for the small price of 5 dollars you could be tightening those crow's feet and...

Myeongdong is a dizzying shopping mecca where every major Korean cosmetic and fashion brand has a store—or several. The Korea Tourism Organization estimates that more than 1 million visitors pass through the area every day. Anchored by the...

There is a definite rhythmic buzz along the streets of Myeong Dong, in the heart of Seoul. From the energetic calls of salesgirls thrusting skincare samples into the hands of passersby to the throngs of trendy travellers stopping at the roadside...

"Oh-deng" is a street-food classic found on the streets of Seoul. It's kind of hard to describe: formed crab-cakes, or white fish sausage (sounds weird, tastes great!). Late one night in Seoul's Myongdong district (think Times Square meets the...

En route from Namche Bazaar, Nepal, we stopped to visit the Tenzing Norgay Memorial Chorten. Norgay was a member of the first expedition team to summit Mt. Everest in 1953, along with Sir Edmund Hillary. While trekking in the Nepal Himalayas on...

We rolled out of bed in the dead of night, hopped onto our mechanical bull - a 600cc whirling dervish of unsteady power - and rode off into the mountains. We arrived at SangKot, a favored sunrise destination for many people whom visit Pokhara, and...

There are few places in the world where you can so quickly and completely be enfolded in the tender embrace of nature than in Taiwan. From rock climbing to jungle treks, there are active pursuits for everyone, but one of the most scenic is a rice...

Yu Garden - This is the traditional Chinese garden, a very large garden. The feel is very zen. Again, I went there in pouring rain, but still very pretty. There are other major sights that you should go once in Shanghai: 1. The Cheng Huang Temple...

A serene respite from the towering urban sprawl nearby, this traditional Tang Dynasty–style landscaped garden is based on the design of the famous Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province. Winding paths lead visitors past pines, cypress, and...

LockCha offers traditional tea service and vegetarian dim sum in a stunning colonial-era building with elegant furnishings, carved wooden panels, and framed calligraphy on the walls. When it first opened in 1991, it was a simple tea shop, but...

This restaurant is part of the Setagaya group, which has locations worldwide. They serve a light, briny shio, or salt broth, made from dried sardines and scallops. Although the original spot is lunchtime only, the location at the Tokyo Ramen...

Running for nearly five kilometers along an old right-of-way west of the railway station, the Railroad Culture Park is one of Xiamen's hidden secrets. This linear park is a fantastic example of urban planning and creative reuse, taking a remnant...

Learn to mash your own washi, traditional japanese paper, at Ozu Washi, where masters have made sheets from the fibers of kozo (mulberry) and other native plants since 1653. Or, skip the DIY and just buy the final product from the floor-to-ceiling...

Eating at Mutsumiya is like taking a trip to Hokkaido, an island in northern Japan. The place serves the classic Hokkaido miso-based ramen, created with water brought over from Hokkaido. The shop is located on the Tokyo Ramen Street, a collection...

The Mandarin Oriental’s new Gourmet Shop is a gallery for international pastry (babka, yuzu macarons). Better yet: chef René Redzepi of Noma—named the world’s best restaurant (again)—will host a pop-up dinner series in the hotel this January. Read...

Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita. All across Japan you'll find machines selling all sorts of items—coffee in cans (hot or cold), sushi, umbrellas, alcohol, pornography, trinkets, noodles, books, eggs, and so much more....

View of Tokyo at dusk as seen from the 54th floor observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Nishi-shinjuku. Admission to the observatory is free and well worth it for a fantastic, sweeping view of the Tokyo skyline.

Shibuya is a center of Japanese fashion, culture, color, noise, and light. Harajuku girls? They're in Shibuya. Manga? Find it in Shibuya. Biggest scramble crossing in the world? Sit at the Starbucks in Shibuya and marvel at the madness below. You...

When I took my beautiful wife to Tokyo to celebrate her birthday in March, because we only had three days in town we had to very carefully curate our dining choices. While we did visit an old favourite, most of the restaurants we visited were new...

Everyone knows Japan is famous for certain things—sushi, geisha, Mt. Fuji, samurai and ninja, Godzilla, and of course giant robots. And in Tokyo, even the latter is real—at least, life-sized mockups of them are. A great place to see one is Odaiba,...

Last November my wife and I had an 11-hour layover at Narita Airport, and so we took the Narita Express and then the Yamanote line into Shibuya. After Shibuya, we walked to Yoyogi Park. It was a Sunday morning, and the dry cold air made us feel...

Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake created this experimental design museum, and star Japanese architect Tadao Ando constructed the building. The museum always has great installations by artists such as the industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa. —...

Koji, a volunteer for Tokyo Free Guide, knew only that I wanted to experience something in the city related to food. Instead of taking me to the Tsukiji fish market, he led me to a shopping mall in the Ginza neighborhood. We descended into the...