Hungry and lost on dark empty streets without a cent of local currency to our name was, not surprisingly, a familiar sensation. In our travels, my fellow editor and I have had our share of rough starts to new cities. Québec City it seemed, was no exception. And though I was confident we would eventually find what we were looking for (a working ATM), I was less confident that we could find that which had brought us Québec: the sense of boundless adventure that accompanies international travel. Instead, we found a city that wasn’t the “Europe of North America” that we’d expected, but a unique city unto itself.

In the winter of 2009-2010, we traveled to three of Asia’s largest cities. Tokyo, Japan was by far the most impressive when it came to flashy signs of modernity. Lightning fast bullet trains, expansive shrine complexes in the middle of a bustling city, and avenue upon avenue of clean, well-lighted streets give Tokyo an irresistible electric charm. Here we showcase some of our favorite pictures from Japan’s capital city.

Warsaw (“Warszawa,” and remember ‘w’ = ‘v’) was once the “Second Paris” of Europe, situated at the crossroads of Central Europe and famously marked by its beautiful architecture and cultural diversity. That is, until various superpowers had a go at air raids, bombings, destruction of cultural sites, killing of its citizens, sovietizing its architecture, and a number of other general atrocities. But such is Polish history.

By the time our fourth night in Shanghai rolled around, we figured we had earned the right to do something at least a little touristy, so we hopped on the No. 2 Metro line and six stops later we had crossed over (or under, as it were) the Huangpu River to arrive in Pudong, Shanghai’s financial district and home to such recognizable buildings as the Oriental Pearl Television Tower.