In 2023, our tickets for Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan, were bought as a group of 6. It sent a single .pdf with 6 tickets. Unlike at Disney, we could not scan the tickets to our individual apps. We had a group talk the night before about what to do if the first pair to go managed to keep the rest of us from scanning the remaining 4 tickets in that .pdf. However, we did not have to all enter at the same time! The two who prefer to arrive early did so and were able to scan the .pdf…
TSA PreCheck is wonderful to have at a US airport— unless you cannot actually use it. Whether you can or cannot use it depends on what airline you are flying on. To check whether your outgoing flight is going to let you take advantage of TSA Precheck, see if your airline is on this TSA list: TSA PreCheck® Participating Airlines | Transportation Security Administration. If your airline is not on the list, you will be unable to use the TSA PreCheck line. Why would TSA PreCheck be related to the airline? Because on your ticket, they mark who is eligible…
The Windsor House Tea Room and Bakery in Lafayette, New Jersey, United States, is open from Thursday to Sunday. Afternoon Tea, advertized as “an authentic British tea session (with a few American twists!)”, is served in the tea room on Thursdays at 1 PM; Fridays and Saturdays at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM; and Sundays at 11 AM and 1 PM. The Windsor House does require reservations. My husband was able to make a reservation on Thursday for Sunday at 1 PM. He was allowed to choose 11 AM or 1 PM. He notified the Windsor House of…
Toei Park, or TOEI Kyoto Studio Park, is a fake old-fashioned town where period dramas are sometimes filmed. They bill themselves as the only Jidaigeki theme park in Kyoto. (And they are authentic enough that jigaideki filming takes place here.) The park clearly provides side work for make-up artists and stunt actors through the live shows and the dress-up-like-an-Edo-Period-person experience. The park reminded me of a Renaissance Faire— but Edo period. I had a good impression of them from the beginning. Tickets without an attraction pass were JP¥2400 (~US$16.21 in 2023) per adult if in a group of 25 or…
Before we begin, when we talk about gold here, we are talking about 24k gold specifically. Taiwan, being part of Asia, prefers 24k gold. There is often a cluster of gold shops in larger cities in Taiwan. They will display their gold buying and gold selling price prominently. I think it is per gram, but I have forgotten for the moment. Any gold piece in a gold shop has two numbers: a gold value listed as weight and an artisan cost in Taiwanese dollars. Because the cost of gold fluctuates day to day, they multiply the listed weight and the…
The Cutler Botanic Garden is a small free-to-visit learning and research botanical garden in Binghamton, New York, in the United States. It is meant to help teach visitors about horticulture in self-guided tours with the help of signs that explain what is going on. Visiting in April is a sort of dead time, because of the natural cycle of the plants. For example, the Rose Path was still on its winter Thorn Path variation. However, there are still things to see as things are preparing to bloom or starting to grow— all of which are neatly labeled— and fun landscaping.…
White tea is renowned for its delicate flavor and health benefits. Unlike black tea or green tea, white tea is minimally processed. The leaves are harvested while still young and tender— before they fully open. This gentle processing method gives white tea a subtle, mild flavor. Unlike black or green tea, white tea has low caffeine. Flavor Profile: delicate, light. Uses for White Tea White tea is one of my favorites. A plain white tea where one just enjoys the quality of a deceptively frail but definitely present tea. What is Commonly Combined with White Tea? White tea is lovely…
In my most recent trip to Japan in 2023, I purchased baby cooling gel patches from Pigeon, a line of baby products made in Japan. These patches, typically used for fevers, are a somewhat popular item with Japanese mothers that can be purchased at most drugstores and some Don Quijotes. It is easy to pack away; the box is neither very expensive nor large and can be squished without issue. To further reduce weight/volume, one could consider taking out the contents— which are labeled— and trashing the box. The penguin-decorated gel patches are designed for use by babies (For those…
I was very disappointed when I pushed a sweater aside to discover chocolate clumped on my carpet. For one thing, my daughter should have told me that she dropped chocolate from her ice cream instead of playing with a sweater, tossing the sweater on the stain, and wandering off! (I suspect that was the sequence, because the chocolate was not on the sweater at all.) For another thing, why was she in my nice music room with a chocolate-coated ice cream bar in the first place?! Fortunately, having handled similar situations— usually because of Small Sophie— I knew what to…
Sugi Bee Garden honey has been around for decades and presumably popular, given the number of locations they are sold at in their home country, Japan. In Taiwan, this honey seemed to be a popular souvenir gift for older people from their relatives who had stopped in Japan. I usually saw one of these containers in my grandmother’s fridge in Taiwan when I visited. To enjoy adding this to your drink, you should like honey and fruit flavours. Yuzu is the most common type you can find from other brands, so Sugi Bee Garden decided to set their honey apart…