Pets
Adoption Culture in Asian Cities: Pets, Not Purchase
The pet shop window used to be where Asian pet ownership started. Increasingly, it starts at a shelter, a foster home, or a social media post about a dog that needs a second chance.
Wellness
Wellness
Thai Massage, Done Right: A Guide to Finding the Real Thing in Bangkok
The ฿200 massage parlor near Khao San Road will crack your back and waste your money. A real Thai massage, from a skilled practitioner, will change how your body feels for days.
Wellness
The Art of Doing Nothing: Asia's Best Spaces for Productive Idleness
Asian cities are famous for their work ethic. They should be equally famous for the spaces they've created for doing absolutely, gloriously nothing.
Wellness
Meditation Retreats Near Asian Cities: Silence Within Reach
You don't need to trek to a mountain monastery. Some of Asia's best meditation retreats are a two-hour train ride from downtown, and they'll change how you hear silence.
Japan
The Onsen Experience: A Foreigner's Guide to Japanese Hot Springs
You will be naked. Everyone else will be naked. The water will be too hot. You will think about leaving. Thirty minutes later, you will understand why Japan has built an entire culture around sitting in hot water.
Seoul
Jjimjilbang Culture: Why Korean Bathhouses Are the Best Third Place
A jjimjilbang is technically a bathhouse. Functionally, it's a living room, a bedroom, a restaurant, a social club, and a therapy session, all for about twelve dollars.
Fitness
Outdoor Gyms and Calisthenics Parks: Asia's Free Fitness Revolution
While Western cities charge $200 a month for gym memberships, Asian cities have been quietly building world-class outdoor fitness infrastructure that costs exactly nothing.
Fitness
Running Clubs in Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore Are Replacing Nightlife
At 7 PM on a Wednesday in Tokyo, 200 people are gathering not for drinks or dinner but for a 10K run through Shibuya. The after-party has kombucha.