Three Memorable Meals in Japan
Aka. Three times I’ve said ‘This is the best meal I’ve ever had’ 2022 – Kyoto – とう和 (Touwa) During Golden Week in 2022, I travelled to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara with my residence abroad friends. We came across this restaurant on our first evening in Kyoto, unwilling to venture out much further than a…
Yunessun: A Review and Cautionary Tale
Overall, Yunessun Spa Resort reminded me of a UK holiday seafront: sad, faded, and well past its prime.
snapshots from a year well spent
In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat: there is only movement. The winter struggles to reign supreme, but, in the end, is obliged to accept spring’s victory, which brings with it flowers and happiness. The summer would like to make its warm days last for ever, because it…
gossip
of course I gossip with an egotism nourished heart
kamiyama’s requiem
Cicadas shout in watchful shade. The mountain waits slumped in the seeping humidity. A redback spider weaves its web between two moss-covered stone lanterns. She is there, carefully picking her way up the mountain, up the rough-hewn steps, as watchful of the spider as the spider is of her. Nearby, a river roars, the sulphur…
wind of change
On a typical November evening, on a typical weekday night, the wind is mocking me. Maybe not in a mean way, but in a teasing way that could quickly become nasty – schoolchildren-during-breaktime nasty. It’s almost a warning, a reminder of the promise I made – years back now – that the wind, even though…
on the journey to further than i’ve ever been
logs (iMessage form) from the longest flight of my life preface boarded a 16 hour flight to Tokyo, the following are texts i sent to family via iMessage that only delivered once i landed. entry one 3.5 hours in 18:32 GMT, time is moving quickly, the windows dim automatically and there are no blinds but…
hometown blues
The high street is smaller than I remember it being. HMV is long gone, an ephemeral garden centre in its place. The shopping centre has been gutted and abandoned after a failed attempt to turn it into a sparkling Westfield’s. It’s hard to believe that only five years ago I was giggling with friends weaving…
an old man on a bench
The local park, a few hundred metres away from the local chippy, early afternoon on a brisk spring day. I’m waiting on a bench for my friend to arrive. We’d agreed to meet at half-one but it’s two now and I’m beginning to get annoyed. Priya — my friend — is always late. She promises…
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Justine Russell 