For love of travel and food

I'm honestly not sure how I should write this post, but I feel like I should as a "you might want to know before you go to East Asia". I am by no means an expert, but it's something that I've observed and wanted to share so that there are no offences made. Also I try to look up these types of things before I go on vacation. While in these countries, I may have unknowingly did these things and received some stares. I'm only looking at this from a tourist perspective, so if you're going to move to any of these countries, you can still keep it in mind but there are probably more things to pay attention to. I am also trying very hard not to stereotype, but it's just good to be aware. Recently I visited Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei and many cities in Japan. It's not like I left my manners behind me, but I didn't realize or I may have forgotten certain things during my vacation. I will probably also list these things in my actual blog post. Publi...

My main reason for starting a blog is so that I can store all my recommendations in one place. Also, I can just direct my friends/coworkers to my blog if they were interested in a place I've already visited. I typically recommend things for Tokyo since I've previously lived there for one year. I usually tailor my recommendations depending on what I think the individual might like but there are many similarities. I will get to the general items here, and hopefully in the future I will make specific posts for each city I visited in September 2016. Pre-planning for people in Toronto: Free maps/guides available at 481 University Avenue, Suite 306, Toronto,  Ontario M5G 2E9 Canada http://ilovejapan.ca/ Has very handy  Tokyo  guide for all the sites and other items. JTB Toronto office Suite 1510, Carlton Tower, 2 Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1J3 CANADA **VERY USEFUL** Hyperdia - This is the website/app that has train schedule that can  help you ma...

In September, I visited Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei and Japan. I bought my flight in February for an amazing deal CAD$894.60 for four flights! It was truly amazing price. This time around, I didn't spend that much time in Hong Kong. This was my fifth time going to Hong Kong. The first three times, I did a lot of sightseeing around Hong Kong, but the last two times, Hong Kong acted more like a hub for surrounding cities.  Hong Kong holds a special place in my heart because it is the first place I visited outside of North America. This is a roundup of all the items I liked or was told about Hong Kong.  Victoria Harbour Places to Visit (not in any particular order) 1. Victoria Harbour Every time I go to Hong Kong, my favourite place is to go to Victoria Harbour. Exit Tsim Sha Tsui metro station and it's a bit of a walk to Victoria Harbour. Then you can overlook to Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon side. There is also the Avenue of the Stars walk, and there is a f...

While in Barcelona, my friend and I joined a half day tour to Montserrat Monastery, located in the mountain area. This was the first half day trip during my vacation, so it was pretty exciting to join a tour. After we arrived at Montserrat, our tour guide brought us around. We were first brought to a museum where we watched a movie about Montserrat. We were also taken into the Basilica. The main attraction to Montserrat is the Virgin of Montserrat statue. There is a separate line for people to line up to view the statue. There are some hiking trails for Montserrat as well. I didn't hike up a trail since my tour was a half day, and there probably wouldn't have been enough time. Behind this section is a trail that'll eventually lead to the top of the mountain The Basilica Montserrat is also known for the boys choir. My friend and I went back to the Basilica to listen to two songs. From the ground floor of the Basilica, you can view the Virgin statue that is on...

During our trip in Madrid, we joined a tour to go to Toledo. Toledo was the former capital of Spain. From what I recall from the tour, Toledo was growing and they eventually relocated the capital to Madrid. Toledo is the first city that I was part of a tour where I visited a mosque, church and synagogue. Interesting thing about walking through Toledo is seeing the Christian, Muslim and Jewish influences in the buildings. We were told by our guide that the religions were able to coexist in Toledo. Toledo is also surrounded by water, which would have helped during invasions but would have limited the expansion of the city. Within Toledo, you can see symbols from each of the religions. It is to symbolize that they had coexisted together Places of interest during the tour Catedral Primada Toledo Iglesia de San IIdefonso Jesuitas Iglesia de Santo Tom é  - famous painting called The Burial of the Count of Orgaz Mosque of Christ of the Light - former mosque which was changed...