Red banners touch the sky and golden stars decorate monstrous monuments. In courtyards of ancient stone, dragons play in the sunlight and the legendary Phoenix spreads its wings to the sun. But this is not some fantasy world. This is Beijing, the capital of China. Let me take you on a whirlwind tour of this fascinating city and leave you inspired with its ancient history and modern wonder.

If you’re ever in Tokyo, go and check out Yellow Submarine in Shinjuku. It sells loads of role-playing paraphernalia in both English and Japanese, including some things you might not find so easily elsewhere.

A “rare” find.

I love teaching English in Japan. It’s a great learning opportunity… even if the stuff you learn is sometimes totally random. Such as when I asked my students to draw a robot and I got back pictures of Doraemon, a little blue robot cat. This is the home of Asimo right?

Asimo or Doraemon, who would you choose?

If you’re on DeviantArt why not check out my other deviations: cptphoenix.deviantart.com.

Meet Momo Kobito, or Peach Dwarf.

“I’m the Peach King, bow to my fruitiness.”

Kobito, in Japanese, means dwarf, but these guys, Kobito Dukan, have all the qualities of gnomes. YouTube says it best:

A Gundam is a gigantic, human controlled, fighting robot and the stuff dreams are made of for many Japanese men. I teach Japanese high school boys, and they can’t get enough Gundam. You can’t say Gundam’s are big in Japan. They’re huge! A recent ad on Japanese television (YouTube Link) shows just how big they are, literally and figuratively.