The closest I’ve come to a pod hotel is some unfortunate bunks in hostels in my early 20s and the Citizen M (a.k.a. the hotel with the toilet in the middle of the room).
I want to stay in a real pod hotel soon, and Kyoto seems like the place to do it. Cabbage Rose had a write-up of 9h (a.k.a. “9 hours”) which looks well-designed, sharp, and hyper-clean.
Tags:good design·hotels·Japan·Kyoto
Something about fall makes me want to be surrounded by piles of beautiful books. Books are the best way to dream about places to visit, aren’t they?
My fall list includes re-reading Alledaags, which I bought in the Netherlands this summer. It’s written by a Kiwi illustrator who put an image to each day of a year in Amsterdam. Check out the samples. It’s funny, clever, and true. What could be better?
But for this weekend, to visit a traditional Japanese inn, or ryokan, I wanted to do as much as possible under my own steam. The journey still involved a diesel-powered ferry, but for a trip to Kyoto without an airline ticket, it seemed like a fair trade.
Tags:Bainbridge Island·Japan·Kyoto·Regina Coeli Language Institute·Seattle
Seattle has a well-earned reputation as a city that loves books. It deserves a great bookstore to match. Even though the new Elliott Bay isn’t finished yet, it might be just that bookstore. Take, as evidence, this view from the second story: It has several elements that remind me of other bookstores I love. Wooden [...]
Tags:books·bookstores·Japan·Seattle
While it would be better to be out traveling, unless you’re Andy Jarosz, you might be at home, like me, dreaming about your next trip. I get my at-home travel fix with the one thing I don’t want to lug around in my carry-on: Books! Here are the four I’ll be reading this month. Pagan [...]
Tags:Japan·Kate Moss·London·Madonna·New York City·Paris·Peggy Guggenheim·Spain
Tokyo is on my top three list of places to go to next, and this kind of innovation is part of the reason why. According to Buzz-Beast’s helpful summary: looking at the building through the app can “display up to date shop information, interactive advertisements and even display the tweets that are coming out of the building.” Crazy, but kind of awesome.
Tags:dreamscapes·hyperbole·iPhone·Japan·Japanese design·Tokyo
Travel Photographer of the Year 2009 awards were just announced. The Guardian has a great photo gallery of eight pictures. Here are my three favorites, with captions from the Guardian’s original post:
