The Grand Bazaar and Spice Market have been commercial hubs since Ottoman times. Walking through them envelops you with exotic scents of the spices to the sights which ranged from handcrafted copper to jewels to Turkish textiles. We had a cup of tea at a cafe on the roof above the bazaar where we could look down on the undulating rooftops that Tom Cruise hopped and skipped across on his motocycle in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. People actually pay to take a to

In Tokyo, we chose Context  to book our tours. We appreciate both ToursByLocals  and Context, and our choice usually depends on what each company offers for the destination we're visiting. Additionally, I find it optimal to stick with one company per location, though there is room for flexibility. Context typically features guides with a slightly higher academic background. We spent the entire day with Angel, an aspiring PhD candidate from Spain, who is studying the impact of

Our first exposure to the Ginza  area of Tokyo was to have dinner at a bustling Italian restaurant called The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo Ginza . The food was decent, but the service left much to be desired. We experienced a long wait for our meal, and they played loud heavy metal rock music. Eventually, Scott's dinner came out but we still had to wait another ten minutes for mine to arrive. As a former New Yorker, I have no problem expressing myself and in this case, I pulled ou

There are many historic sites along the Singapore River, such as The Fullerton Hotel , the Old Parliament House , Chinatown , and Little India . Another "must see" is the top of Marina Bay Sands SkyPark  for a panoramic view of Singapore: we did not see any obvious crazy rich Asians. One observation is that there are no grocery stores on the streets. I believe you can learn a lot about a place by visiting its supermarkets. We discovered a network of underground malls that in