Asia
My favourite city in Japan, Kyoto!
I was coming from Osaka, and Kyoto was the last city before coming back to Europe. I was there for three days and, as I mentioned in the post about Nara, Hiroko hosted me. She had just come back from a long trip to Europe. She started in Japan a few months before and went country by country (South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Turkey, and more…) ti…
Nara and Fushimi Inari
In Autumn 2019 I travelled for one month in Japan, I volunteered for two weeks in a village on Kyushu island and, for the other two, I visited the most famous cities in the country. I left Osaka by train and in around 30 minutes I arrived in Kyoto. I had lunch in an Izakaya at the train station and after I went to meet Hiroko, who would host me for three…
An origami in Osaka
In November 2019 after a four-hour bus ride from Hiroshima, I arrived in Osaka. From the central station, I had to take the metro to reach Takashi’s place, I was going to stay with him for two nights. It was late evening when I arrived so we had a small chat together before going to sleep. He is a nurse and he had to go to work in the early morning, but…
Moved by Hiroshima
After saying goodbye to Tami, in autumn 2019, I took a 4-hour bus from Fukuoka to Hiroshima. In the early afternoon, I arrived at my hostel, a traditional room with a tatami instead of a “normal” bed where I spent only one night, and it was a mistake: Hiroshima is beautiful with a lot to offer; now I think that I should have rescheduled my plans and giv…
One day in Fukuoka, Japan
After the volunteer camp in Minamata, in autumn 2019, I planned my way back to Tokyo stopping by some cities, but I didn’t have a clear program about which cities I wanted to visit. My friend Tami had to go to Fukuoka for her flight back to Jakarta, so I decided to follow her and visit Fukuoka.
A Sumo competition in Minamata
During the two weeks of volunteering in Minamata, in the autumn of 2019, I was invited to a sumo competition. Because of the volunteering work, I became friends with the junior high school students and they invited me to see them competing on a Sunday morning sumo match.
Volunteering in Minamata, Japan
From Tokyo, I went to Minamata on Kyushu Island in the south of Japan, where I participated in a 2-week volunteer camp. Minamata is known globally for the tragic environmental disaster that occurred in the mid-20th century. In the 1950s, the city became the epicenter of one of the most notorious cases of industrial pollution, caused by the release of me…
A bite of Tokyo, Japan
From Seoul, I flew to Tokyo to continue my trip to the Far East. It was the Autumn of 2019 and the plan was to spend a month in Japan, volunteering and visiting the country. I visited Tokyo two times, at the beginning and the end of the trip. The first time I was there 4 days and two Japanese guys hosted me, the second 3 days and I booked a capsule host…
Visiting Seoul, South Korea
In the autumn of 2019, I did a one-month solo trip to South Korea and Japan, I will make a series of posts describing city by city how it was travelling in these countries. First I went to Seoul, I visited for 5 days before going to Tokyo and visiting and volunteering in Japan for one month. I was positively impressed by Seoul and Korean people, I’m stil…
A short trip to Singapore
In December 2023 I went to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur. I travelled to Malaysia for almost a month, and here you can read about my experience as a volunteer there. Before coming back to Europe I decided to visit Singapore even if it was going to be a very short trip.
Off to Malaysia, part 1
When you read this I will be landing in Kuala Lumpur, so in this post, I want to explain what I will be doing and why I am here. Because now I have the opportunity, I’m finishing my PhD and just finalizing the dissertation, I wanted to have a long volunteering experience outside Europe again, the last time I did it was in
Off to Malaysia part 2
My First week in Malaysia was a mix of flavours that came, of course, from the food I ate and the different experiences I had: markets, people, traditions, but let’s start from the beginning: Istanbul. I did a long transfer in Istanbul, so, after 2 years
Off to Malaysia, Part 3
Second week in Kuala Lumpur, I feel that now I’ve settled in, I know the city better, with Lili we know better each other and we can work more productively. Now we set up a sort of strategy: we signed up to several websites that promote cooking class experiences and, of course, we are working on
Off to Malaysia, part 4
Third week in Malaysia, and I am starting to feel that the time is running out, I would like to do a lot of stuff so I have to organize better the time I have left. At the time I'm writing this, I have only 4 days left wich I will spend out of Kuala Lumpur so I will not have much time for all the things I wanted to do here.
Off to Malaysia, part 5
I’m back in Europe, and at this moment I’m writing from my home, so this post will be about my last days in Southeast Asia and some reflections on my trip. Before leaving Malaysia I went to visit the Masjid India Mosque, I went shopping in the Petaling Street market in Chinatown and I went to Singapore.
Kyrgyzstan, two months in central Asia
Bishkek Kyrgyzstan I had the opportunity to live in Bishkek for two months, while I was volunteering for a contemporary art association. Those two months were very intense, and they literally flew between amazing people, wonderful landscapes and discovering a new culture. I think that what I brought with me from this experience are human relationships, K…