First-person travel notes, city stories, photos, and videos from the Travel Map archive.
#Tokyo A micro-attraction in Tokyo is Toranomon Kotohiragu, a temple tucked away right among the skyscrapers in the business district. That's exactly how I imagine it: a hundred years ago, there was a field and a village, and a temple stood there. It…
#Tokyo Some people here still dress up nicely and don't want to live in boxes!)
Little Korea in #Tokyo! While walking around Shinjuku, I accidentally discovered that there's a full-fledged Korean Town in Tokyo. Considering how close the two countries are culturally, for a tourist, it's almost like being in Korea itself. The same…
#Tokyo On the same day, a summer festival is already being celebrated in the Shinjuku area. People are dancing to live drum music, and stalls are selling grilled delicacies. Interestingly, the festival takes place at a temple, where eating and drinking are…
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe A little further away from the bustling center of Kawagoe, you can stumble upon a couple of nice temples. There are far fewer tourists here, and you can finally take a breather. If you come at sunset, you can catch the moment when the…
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe A little further away from the tourist street, you can find a ruined village. It's not clear what exactly happened here - whether it was an earthquake or just decay - but it's obvious that no one lives in the houses permanently. I wonder if…
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe I've already shown you so much entertainment - but the Japanese still want more. On top of that, a procession of dressed-up soldiers and samurais is marching through the city, firing a salute at every intersection. The procession is led by…
Originally, the city was a transit trading point on the way to Edo (what was then Tokyo). The iconic black-roofed houses were built from clay to be fire-resistant and were used as warehouses. But the builders somehow miscalculated, and most of them still…
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe Surprisingly, there's very little written about Kawagoe on the internet, and I only found out about it by chance while researching places to visit from Tokyo using ChatGPT. The town largely relies on domestic tourism from the capital, but…
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe At night, when the heat drops to a welcome +33 degrees, the real fun begins!
#Tokyo / #Kawagoe I went to Kawagoe (a district in the northwest of Tokyo, an hour and a half's drive from where I live). My first thought was - you know, here in Russia, people hang out on the street in -30°C weather, while in Japan it's +38°C with 80%…
#Tokyo Sometimes some fun starts, but since you don't understand anything, you just clap along with everyone)))
#Tokyo A real barbecue in Japan can only look like this. An old low-rise district, entrance by stairs to the second floor, a bunch of office workers gathered for a beer, waiters who don't know English but are still ready to help anyway.
#Tokyo It wasn't until my second trip to Tokyo that I realized just how shitty Shinjuku is. There's no point in visiting here during the day - you won't see even half of what happens here after sunset)) Homeless people, drunkards, trash, vomit, wandering…
#Toronto Another small update of the house - the Chinese corner In the middle, there's now a tea table with seats and a mini gong-fu set (essentially a tasting set) By the wall, there's a dresser with tea sets for all occasions, incense sticks, and a few…
#Toronto A walk along the waterfront.
#Toronto The planning of the city's budget for 2025 has begun, and on the official website, they're offering the opportunity to fill out a survey about how the city's money should be spent. I also filled it out, thankfully, you don't have to be a citizen to…
#Toronto More photos of downtown that I liked. In one of them, you can see a blocked street - this is how the film festival was going on in early September. It's cool when there are no cars, but unfortunately, all the trams were closed, so I had to walk 20…
#Toronto This is the harsh Canadian weather at the end of August Whoever guesses how the summer snow fell, I'll give them a pie😁
#Toronto Every year in early September, the Canadian Air Show takes place in Toronto. It's hard to miss, as the sounds of jet fighters flying over the city can be heard even through the windows of buildings. The event is highly controversial and not…
#Toronto Carpet factory, carpet factory... Why are you so beautiful?
#Toronto By the way, if you're thinking of studying in Canada, here's something to know: For residents (those with PR), the prices are several times lower than for foreigners. For bachelor's degrees, the difference is even more staggering - 5-10 times…
#Toronto University of Toronto. They say it's in the top 30 in the world. Is this just hype or showing off?
#Toronto It was a shock to me, but in Toronto, there's a state monopoly on alcohol sales. You simply won't find it in regular stores. Just a month ago, restrictions on the sale of low-alcohol drinks (up to wine) were lifted, but so far, they're not even…
#Toronto Tommy Thompson Park is a purely natural area, unlike the islands. There are no houses here at all, just a few bike paths with branches for pedestrians. The vegetation is really cool. In some areas, it seems like you're in the forest or in the…
#Toronto Finally found the time to take a bike ride and check out Tommy Thompson Park at the same time. Well, what can I say? Overall, it's possible to ride, there are bike lanes on major streets, and the park is really beautiful. In residential areas, it's…
#Toronto - A little dig at NYC It's considered one of the most famous buildings in the city, built at the end of the 19th century. I'd like to tell an interesting story about it, but there isn't one. It's just a cool corner building, which is already an…
#Toronto I'm absolutely obsessed with urban parks with views like this, even if they're just the size of a small square.
#Toronto Nearby, the tallest building in Canada is being built - an 85-story skyscraper called the One. It had a difficult history with the developer going bankrupt during the COVID pandemic, and the price tag exceeded $2 billion compared to the planned $1…
#Toronto My neighborhood in the early evening. Bloor & Yonge intersection.
#Toronto The main stage of furnishing the house is done👍. Yesterday was the day when I finally slept in a normal bed instead of an inflatable mattress. Today, I assembled the remaining furniture. Finally, I can live properly now!
#Toronto Canadian Innovations
#Toronto Evening vibe
#Toronto First encounter with raccoons. They only come out at night, so it's really hard to film them.
#Toronto 22 C$ for a half-liter of sake. Not a bad deal. Made, as usual, in California.
#Toronto Another interesting point about rent, or more specifically, the increase in rent prices. In the province of Ontario, there is rent control for all buildings built before 2019 (and this threshold is raised approximately every 20 years). Rent control…
#Toronto The first heavy package from Amazon has arrived!) The apartment is finally starting to make sense now.
#Toronto Now, let's talk a bit about how renting works and what rights a tenant has. For the entire province of Ontario (including Toronto), there is a standard lease form. All necessary information is included in this form, including payment, deposit,…
#Торонто No way is this real guys
#Toronto I want to do a series of posts about renting an apartment in Toronto. The first one will be about the candidate selection system. Despite the fact that Canada has an open housing market (where landlords can set any price and choose any tenant),…
People who are giving great ratings, have you watched the video? 😂
#Toronto The street where I live.
#Toronto Some streets in the city center give the impression that you've ended up in Detroit.
The real #Toronto moment is when you're walking down a run-down street past old two-story buildings, you see a poster, approach it, and there it is... "So basically, we've bought this piece of land and want to build a 76-story residential complex here. What…
#Toronto I installed the internet in my house. I submitted an application yesterday evening, and today two guys came over, spent a couple of hours setting everything up, and then left. The installation process and the router itself are free, included in the…
#Toronto Hallucinations again today.
#Toronto A full view of the apartment + balcony and the views from it + a photo of the bassinet. For those who have been to Asia, there's no need to explain this - it's standard for condos. On the common floor, there's also a 24/7 gym, a meeting room, a…
#Toronto The promised tour of the apartment. I'm moving in today, and so far the only things I've brought are an inflatable mattress and various small items I managed to buy. The rent is 2,250 CAD/month (1,656 USD / 151,000 RUB) + insurance (~30 CAD) +…
#Toronto Over the past month, I've collected a lot of photos of old/strange housing here. I don't really see the point of summarizing them, so I'll just post them as they are.