One of the attractions I had been looking forward to visiting the most in Okinawa was the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Now, you might be wondering why a girl from Hawaii -- who's surrounded by marine life and has the Honolulu Aquarium and Maui Ocean Center right at her fingertips -- would be interested in going…
Continue reading ➞ Postcard 38: Whale sharks at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
A few weeks ago, as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, a former NHK TV personality tweeted that Shuri Castle, one of Okinawa's main tourist attractions, was on fire. He was joking, I thought. Either that, or he was talking about some other castle in Okinawa -- not the Shuri Castle I just saw…
In 2013, I took my very first trip to Japan, a country that had long been on my bucket list since before I can even remember. Though I barely scratched the surface, I was still fortunate to have gotten a well-rounded tour of the country, getting just enough of a taste of everything it has…
It's one thing to read about history in a high school textbook. It's another to see it with your own eyes. Pompeii was one of those of those elusive places that I could only visualize from the photographs in my history books but had no idea what it could possibly feel like to be there…
What makes Italy so unique is that no matter which part of the country you visit, you're bound to see something completely different from the last, yet equally as picturesque. Take the island of Capri, for example. Earlier, I had explored the ancient ruins and historic architecture of Rome. I never imagined that just a…
Prior to visiting Sorrento, I knew very little about this coastal town in southwestern Italy. All I knew was that it was near the town of Naples, which I had only heard about because of its association with the world's best pizza. It was a long trek from Florence to Sorrento -- roughly seven hours…
Out of State • Out of Mind 