The more I travel the more my boundaries are pushed and the smaller the world becomes. Despite my (sometimes) heart stopping discomfort of flying I still force myself, from time to time, to get on a…
I learned from GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire series that each city in the world has a distinct smell. Despite living here all my life I haven’t put my nose out for…
“Our behavior toward each other is the strangest, most unpredictable and most unaccountable of all the phenomena with which we are obliged to live. In all of nature, there is nothing so threatening to…
“Oh, I know that hotel, it’s only about 5 minutes from here by taxi.” “Or a 15 to 20 minute walk. Kyoto is so beautiful, so we’re trying to see as much as we…
By now, it’s a familiar story – the housewife who has lost her way. I just never knew it would happen to me. I’ve been opening myself up to joy – whether it’s finding…
After almost two years of not boarding a plane, I finally set off to Singapore with my family; my parents, sister, grandma, husband and of course my 15 months old, Chloe. Five days, four…
Empress Tea just had its one year anniversary! So to celebrate, we’ve compiled another fabulous group post with the theme, Firsts. There are nine bite-sized stories – perfect for reading on the go, or…
Due to a series of un/fortunate events, I spent the weekend with my best friend in Venice and typed this yesterday on my mobile phone. Remind me someday to get a laptop… As I…
First, a footnote that we’ll come back to later. [1] When I graduated from high school I wasn’t keen on leaving my smallish BC town for university. I wanted to stay close to family, friends…