Japan

Ipstenu on July 1st, 2009

No, I didn't move. I started thinking about how commuting is perceived of in different places, and how there are some offices where it's fine to come in a little sweaty, and others would fire you for walking in with shorts on. I work for a Very Large Bank (often called Goliath [...]

Continue reading about Bicycle Commuting In .... Japan!

Ipstenu on June 29th, 2009

Just a year ago I went to Japan for the first time and was amazed. It was beautiful. Totally different than I had ever expected, but entirely worth the journey. I saw a lot of things I'd never seen before and attempted to take it all in with savoir-faire. One of the things [...]

Continue reading about Japanese Construction Workers

Ipstenu on April 2nd, 2009

Chicago's Metra has been getting a lot of crap lately. I admin admit, their website is lame (doesn't work right on my iPhone either) and the best I can say for them is that GoogleMaps has picked them up so I can plan things better. They still use paper tickets, with cash [...]

Continue reading about Metra: The Way to Really Fly

Ipstenu on September 29th, 2008

The last day was long and short. It was my least favorite kind of Henro-ing, being the kind on roads (in this case, I think we were walking along a highway) and we got lost a couple times. On the other hand, we only walked about 6km and the rest of the time [...]

Continue reading about The Longest Day

Ipstenu on September 15th, 2008

Free again from the strictures and bindings of towns, we returned to the mountains for Temple 20. Kakurinji Temple of the Crane Forest was a far less arduous hike than the tripe up Temple 12, but it was no less tiring. We started on the road, would up around the base of the [...]

Continue reading about Mother, may I take five giant steps?