The Backpack Adventures

A Letter to 2020 Thank you for the 365 days that we've shared together. It was just sad that the COVID-9 pandemic took a lot from everyone. Unlike last year where I made sure to have at least one trip per month, the Philippines went on several quarantine procedures to avoid a boom in infection by the virus which took thousands of lives worldwide this year. I took this opportunity to improve my blog by adding cover photos and checking the grammar of older articles. Aside from that, I also exerted more effort in promoting my blog on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Sadly, Facebook saw this as SPAM and blocked my blog. Luckily, my Pinterest and Twitter accounts are reaping dividends and my views doubled in the last few months of the year.  Let's look back and see what milestones we've achieved this year. 1.  This year, I was able to  publish 63  articles  ( 13 articles less than last year 😢).  2. I have finally reached 2.2  million views . (That's 204K  new views this ye

Our third adventure in Japan might have been long over but its memories still linger. To summarize our adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun, here's the list (complete with links*) of places and events that we have visited and experienced : * Please click the links to read the articles. Day 0 - Arrival Day 1 - Osaka to Kyoto Day 2 - Exploring Kyoto 1 Day 3 - Exploring Nara Day 4 - Exploring Kyoto 2 Day 5 - Exploring Kyoto 3 Day 6 - Exploring Osaka Day 7 - Flight Home Tips Japan's 4G Sim Card VS 4G Pocket WIFI Others Japan's Awesome Manhole Covers A Guide to Collecting Eki Stamps Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto City Kyoto Station Higashi Honganji Nijo Castle Tenryuji Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Kimono Forest Yasaka Jinja Shrine Maruyama Park Kyoto's Edo-style Starbucks Kodaiji Higashiyama Healing Buddhist Statues Ryozen Kannon Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Preserved Districts Kyoto Tower Pokemon Center Kyoto Kyoto Station Illumination Fushimi Inari Shrine Mt. Inari Tofukuji He

Japan is undeniably a collector's paradise. As a matter of fact, there are a plethora of different things to collect here that are catered to every collector's unique taste and preference.  Anime fans have their usual toys, mangas, and memorabilia. Pokemon fans have numerous Pokemon Centers that sell an assortment of Pokemon merchandise. Kitkat collectors have more than 300 flavors of Kitkat to try out. Pilgrims have the temple stamps called goshuin which I wrote about last time. These are but some of the numerous possible things to collect in Japan . A Guide to Collecting Eki Stamps However, since I'm promoting budget travel, my article today talks about something that you can collect for FREE . Yup, you read that right. All you need to have is a clean notebook or tickler and an ever-watchful eye. A Guide to Collecting Eki Stamps Eki stamps , also called train station stamps, are rubber ink stamps that are typically found in most train stations in Japan. These stamps f