Destination: Asia
Another ‘Slightly Creepy’ North Korean Night Out
by Eva Holland | 04.06.10 | 1:27 PM ET
A couple of weeks back we met the chain restaurant as done by North Koreans. Now, the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos offers a glimpse of a more “upscale” North Korean restaurant experience in Beijing. A sample: “[T]he experience is not, in the traditional sense, relaxing. The food is serviceable, though it always arrives with the slightly creepy sensation that dining out on North Korean fare just might be an act of exceptionally poor taste.”
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Yahoo! BuzzWorld Travel Watch: Airplane Safety in Peru, Metro Bombings in Moscow and More
by Larry Habegger | 03.31.10 | 10:50 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
Top Four Reasons Why Soichi Noguchi is the Coolest Astronaut Ever
by Jim Benning | 03.29.10 | 5:21 PM ET
4. The Japanese astronaut has been posting amazing photos from the International Space Station of Earth via Twitter—the Telegraph has collected a dozen of them here.
3. He has posted videos on YouTube from space, including this one looking down on Madagascar:
2. He recently became the first space traveler to make a sushi roll in space. Behold the feat—and what a salmon roll looks like in zero gravity:
1. He has the coolest Twitter handle ever: Astro_Soichi.
The Chain Restaurant, North Korean-Style
by Eva Holland | 03.24.10 | 2:07 PM ET
Slate’s Sebastian Strangio goes inside the Pyongyang restaurant chain, a government-owned operation that brings a taste of North Korea to diners across East and Southeast Asia—and, allegedly, launders money and funnels foreign currency back to the North Korean regime.
World Travel Watch: No Alcohol in Brunei, Air Strikes in Europe and More
by Larry Habegger | 03.24.10 | 11:10 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
Photo You Must See: Setting Sail in Shanghai
by World Hum | 03.22.10 | 4:11 PM ET
REUTERS/Nir Elias The Azamara Quest cruise ship leaves Shanghai over the weekend. The sailing marks the first gay cruise to depart from China.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Trailer
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.10 | 2:43 PM ET
The movie version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s blockbuster travel book “Eat, Pray, Love” comes out this summer. The trailer was just released:
In December, World Hum contributor Liz Sinclair reported from the set in Bali.
Early Images of Singapore Saved From Bonfire
by Michael Yessis | 03.17.10 | 11:38 AM ET
Good catch to whoever rescued “Views of the China Seas & Macao Taken During Capt. D. Ross’ Surveys by M. Houghton” from the flames. The book contained some of the earliest known drawings of Singapore, dating back to 1819. It was just sold at auction by the unnamed seller to an unnamed buyer for £43,000. (Via @roncharles)
World Travel Watch: Protests in Thailand, Dingo Trouble in Australia and More
by Larry Habegger | 03.17.10 | 11:35 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
Photo You Must See: Imitation Mao in Beijing
by World Hum | 03.15.10 | 1:52 PM ET
REUTERS/David Gray A Chairman Mao impersonator poses for photos in Beijing's Tiananmen Square
Lover’s Moon
by Pico Iyer | 03.15.10 | 11:21 AM ET
iStockPhoto Pico Iyer on the power of travel to make a forgettable Glenn Frey song last forever
You and Me, Girlie
by Susan Jane Gilman | 03.12.10 | 10:19 AM ET
Photo by François Bourru In an excerpt from her book "Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven," Susan Jane Gilman recalls 1986 China -- and a swaggering, lascivious man named Trevor
Japan Airlines Flight Attendant Uniforms: Big on the Black Market
by Michael Yessis | 03.11.10 | 3:23 PM ET
You can probably guess for whom the uniforms hold a “mysterious power.” From the Times:
For decades, the crisp, no-nonsense outfits have appealed to male Japanese tastes. New Japan Airlines (JAL) uniforms have long been in demand in the local sex industry for customers keen on role-playing fantasies, while rare specimens that have actually been worn are hugely sought after by fetishists and are worth their weight in gold.
Countless shops will sell a very credible imitation for a few thousand yen, but the real thing can fetch a fortune. Historically, says Yu Teramoto, the owner of a specialist costumier in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, real JAL outfits have been virtually impossible for buyers to lay their hands on. However, the post-bankruptcy prospect of huge layoffs at JAL—especially among uniform-wearing air-crew—raises the prospect that former staff will attempt to sell their outfits for a profit.
One stolen uniform previously sold for about 11,000 pounds.
World Travel Watch: Typhoid in Fiji, Khmer Rouge Tourism in Cambodia and More
by Larry Habegger | 03.10.10 | 10:41 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
This Gamer has Some Issues With Japan
by Michael Yessis | 03.08.10 | 1:27 PM ET
Tim Rogers’ rant at Kotaku about expat life in Japan is racking up the page views—and has stimulated quite a conversation. So far, more than 2,300 people have commented. Rogers’ dislikes about Japanese culture include:
- Anime
- Smoking
- That everything in Japan has meat in it
- Mandatory parties
- Screaming
- Japanese comedy
- Passive aggression
- The prices
- Apologies
- Pachinko
But he does like Japanese trains! (Via The Morning News)