Wilde Child Travel

During my trip to Tokyo a great deal of placed (cafes, bars, tourist sites) were closed, unfortunately. However, this was one place that was still open during the holiday season I traveled. The Kawaii Monster Cafe! During the day it's a cafe that gives performances and at night a colorful, crazy and unusual bar. I would suggest getting a drinks here, the food wasn't very impressive and it price was pretty high. Another piece of advice: the cafe also doesn't split checks, so download that Venmo!  Here's the latest video up on the Youtube Channel!! (Wildechild) If you haven't visited the channel or subscribed, please do so soon!

Your bags are packed and you're heading to the airport with a ticket and passport in hand. Ready to catch the flight to Japan? Not quite yet. Preparing for Japan, I was truly surprised about some of the things I did not know. These weren't novelty things, these were important facts I needed to know before stepping on that plane...or even before I packed my bags! What to know before you go: 1. Cash is King: Between Kyoto and Tokyo, it was always easier to pay in cash. My personal experience has been that splitting a bill between two or more people isn't something they do in Japan. Cash is the easiest way of paying your share of the bill. 2. JR Pass: You have to buy your JR pass before you get to Japan. If you don't have it before you land, you're sh*t out of luck. The JR pass isn't sold in Japan, you have to acquire it outside of the country. 3. Japanese Wall Plugs: North Americans may not need an adapter, but the voltage is different. Y...

Wandering around Kyoto on a cold December night  Menbakaichidai,  A.K.A Fire Ramen, was an obvious choice. It's a pretty popular restaurant to visit in the area and there was a very short wait, so we put our names on the list and waited for our turn. With a little bottle of sake and instructions in English, we were ready to experience Fire Ramen. The servers and cook ask where you're from so they can show you information and safety instructions in your language. Customers are permitted to wear a disposable apron and lap covering to protect from any oil or spillage that may occur.  The video says it all! Experience the fire for yourself 😃🔥🔥🔥 The staff were very accommodating. If you wanted to film the experience, there were selfie sticks hanging from the ceiling for every type of smart phone. They'll set the phones to record before the fire is poured.  The price of the meal was on the lower side, the staff was great, and the food ...

Japan was one hell of a trip. There were some events that were planned ahead of time and the first event was time at the Owl Family Cafe ! I've been beyond excited about this for months now and am very glad that I was able to do this!  At first the cafe was frustrating because we arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled time, as was instructed on my reservation. We arrived at the location stated only to find out that the cafe had MOVED ! It took 30 minutes to find the new location. I was really afraid that we would miss our reservation. Luckily the cafe understood the lateness and we got to play with owls!  The price was very inexpensive, about $15 per person, depending on how much time you purchase. I purchased 1 hour. The price included 1 hour with the owls, one hot or cold beverage, and the workers take photos of you with the owls on your behalf (using your phone or camera).  I loved the Japanese beverage shelves. The top shelf has a thick white ...

While planning for my next trip, between Christmas and New Years, I've been utilizing different travel applications. These apps have been extremely useful at keeping all of my information in one place. They are great resources while on the go; it's convenient to keep hotel, flight, transportation info in the palm of your hand - even if you're offline and without reception or wi-fi! Google Trips This is one of the most innovative travel applications I've come across, so far. Once the app is downloaded, everything you save for your trip will accumulate one location. Book a hotel or flight with your gmail account and the reservation will appear in the app once it's synced. Search google for events, save them, and they'll be saved in the app as well.  One of the things I love best about this application is that it breaks down all of the categories of travel and makes planning extremely easy.  Google Trips allows you to download your "Trip...

If you've been following me on Instagram (Wildechildyup), then you know I've been to New York recently! I have visited the Big Apple before, but I haven't experienced any of the famous land marks on the tourist checklist. This time I made sure to see Time Square lit up in all of it's blinding glory! From blocks away you could already see the hazy lights of one of the world's most famous tourist spots. The lights only get brighter the closer you get!   Although it was pretty cold and misty, we trekked out to the heart of the city to take in all of the bright lights. Time Square wasn't as crowded as I anticipated, perhaps it was the weather, yet it everything I had imagined and saw every year during the New Year Eve Ball Drop. There is no way I would ever want to be in Time Square for that! It would be way too intense and crowded. I'm glad there weren't mass crowds of people walking around during the night, we seemed to have picked the ...

As part of my birthday celebration I wanted to see a part of the famous Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. There are plenty of distilleries and well-known labels participating in the Bourbon Trail, and I picked Four Roses . Doing my research, I looked at numerous websites and settled on Four Roses based on the Spanish style of the buildings. The aesthetic makes the campus really beautiful!  Four Roses offers tours and tastings from 9 am to 3 pm for $5. I arrived in time for the 2 pm tour. Unfortunately, it was already sold out. However, there was still room in the tasting. I would suggest calling ahead of time to make sure there's still room for you, if you want to take the tour.  (gift shop & ticket counter) Here is my first stamp in my Bourbon Trail Passport! When you get all of the stamps, you can send in your passport and get a t-shirt. The tasting teaches the history of Four Roses and allows you sample the Single Barrel, the Small Batch, and ...