A King Kong-like gorilla hangs from the top of this commercial building in Tokyo.

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.

Not quite the menace it once was, this monster still has some chops.

Every color in the rainbow awaits.

A 20-meter (65-foot) robot towers over Tokyo Bay.

If Hello Kitty were Mickey Mouse, this would be Disneyland.

A Japanese concept restaurant that feels like a party thrown by the monsters in your closet.

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

A taste of the macabre Tokyo's ritzy shopping district.

A magical place that lets you play in and explore the world of Studio Ghibli.

This lucky bronze frog was gifted to Madrid by a casino.

This amazing abuela became a diehard metal fan late in life and an icon of Madrid's '80s rock scene.

The fictional star of "Breaking Bad" is memorialized with a real-life gravestone in his hometown.

The official atomic museum of the United States explores the explosive and productive history of a much maligned energy source.

If drivers cross the rumble strip on this stretch of Route 66 at just the right speed it plays "America the Beautiful."

A former poultry store that looks like a giant duck and is one of the "seven wonders" of Long Island.

This small Catskills village has six independent bookstores and more bookshops than restaurants.

Constructed in the 1920s, this former pencil factory is now an office building.

A forsaken wonder in the middle of the East Side neighborhood.

The attic and basement house two museums stuffed with oddities like swallowed spoon handles and a shrunken head.