The World is My Oyster

This is about my non American life. It started out with my lovely study abroad in Sweden and now its about my life in Japan. I try to update as much as possible, but sometimes it just gets away from me.

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Shanghai Disneyland It was a rollercoaster. lots of flight issues and stress, but Disneyland is the happiest place on earth for a reason. Once we stepped onto Disney property we were able to forget our troubles as the friendly Disney Staff helped us navigate the MASSIVE park. The best ride? Tron. Its a rollercoaster, but the seats are styled after motorcycles. So the speeds feel that much faster and the drops that much more intense. If I couldve ridden it all day I wouldve, but with one hour waits on practically every ride I figured it was better to get other experiences. We also splurged on a dinner in the Storybook castle. It was SO much fun. we got to feel like royalty. I think im ready to go back...

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IM BAAAAACK

Did you miss me? Ive been travelling but just,a bunch of mini trips. back to Hokkaido to try Sumo, Tokyo for eats, Shiga for a boat ball, Okinawa for an Usher concert, Hiroshima for a sake festival, went back home for winter vacation, and lastly to Gifu to see a friend. All fun things dont mistake it, just all weekend trips trips squeezed in between work weeks, (and do you REALLY wanna hear about my trip home?) anyway. this next trip Im stoked for. Im going to the new Happiest Place on Earth in Shanghai! and also to Hong Kong. it should be good fun! and this time ill remember to write!

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Whew! What a whirlwind trip! Saw the war memorial, a post office museum (to be fair the sign said post office, so I thought I could buy postcards there... I couldn't...), Deoksugong Palace (complete with guards dressed in traditional garb), Seoul Tower, the History Museum of Korea, and a lot of Cafe hopping... All in 3 days! After which I dived straight into work. I'm glad things are settling and I have a moment to post pictures of my venture, but a little sad that I can't really go into detail now. Maybe this means you'll just have to go yourself someday! ;D

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I've got Seoul but I'm not a soldier

Going back to Seoul for a small vacation! Exciting!

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my Osaka Adventure! I had two sets of friends passing through Osaka and a 3rd set came down to party it up! It was hectic, but fantastic. The first thing the 3rd set of friends and I did was visit an Owl Cafe! It was really cool. Not only was it interesting to be so close to the owls, but it was fun to pet them and hold them. Chatting while holding an Owl is a really cool experience. After that first set of visiting friends and I went to the Floating Gardens Observatory near Osaka station. It was great to see the beautiful view of the city on such a nice sunny day. Afterwards I had to say goodbye to them,as they were ending their trip in Japan and heading back to the states. As soon as I said goodbye. I ended up saying hello to my other friend just passing through. We ate dinner together and met up the following morning to see the Housing and Living museum and then on to Himeji Castle. Himeji Castle is beautiful and serene. I wish more cherry blossoms were in bloom, but as you can see in these photos, it wasn't really needed. The weekend was so hectic, but so wonderful. I'm so lucky to have so many friends to visit and bond with.

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OSAKA! Here I come... Again....

It seems like I'm always going to Osaka. Whether it's for a party, to use Kansai airport, or just to remember what a big city feels like, I just keep coming back. But this visit is different because I will be sightseeing. I won't be there for one specific thing. I'll be there for it all I guess. So I'm gearing up to buying my Amazing Osaka Pass. And on Friday morning, away I go! And some friends from near and far will n be there to greet me. How lucky am I?

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SAPPORO (Except the ice cream. Thats Otaru delishness in 7 different flavors.) The first photo is of an Ainu man. The Ainu people are indigenous to Hokkaido and look more western than Japanese. They have a strong culture and history. I sadly just dont know much about it. At the festival, everything was made of snow. Even the stage! It was amazing to see and a great reason to go to brave the cold of Sapporo. More photos to come.

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OTARU I stayed in otaru, which is about an hour out from Sapporo. It was having its own festival and is famous for its handicrafts, so i just had to go. Its a beautiful quaint port town with a specialty in glassblowing. Everything shuts down at 9, but as you can probably tell, I still got a lot in. (Even buying "imperfect" glass wobble cups at the glass market!)

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my next journey is that red/pink area also known as Hokkaido. Im going for the Sapporo Snow festival. But this prefecture is famous for more than just its massive snow sculptures. It has an original take on Ramen, and is said to have the best dairy products. The foodie in me is thrilled!... and so is the adventurer...

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so many ruins! 

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Turn Down for Wat I mean, don't get me wrong, it definitely lives up to the hype. It was breathtaking at sunrise, stunning to traipse through and awe-inspiring when I saw the view from the top. But as I was waiting in line to see this magnificent structure, I found myself asking: why am I taking pictures? Is it costing me my time with this beauty? I think I sometimes get wrapped up in the prestige of the sights I'm seeing that I forget to just stop and think about why it's prestigious So I set my camera down. I breathed and looked around. And found myself thinking "...this. Is. Amazing...." Rendered almost speechless. And then 5 minutes later after I found myself thinking "my friends would want to see this view" Sometimes I wish I wasn't so connected to technology. That I could just unplug and not find myself thinking about my friends or how good this moment would look on Tumblr. Just existing in the moment. So I said turn down for Wat as a cautionary tale. Don't get so Turnt up about it that you spend too much time finding the shot to brag to your friends about, and forget to just set the camera down, and turn down, so you can soak in its magic. Even if for only 5 minutes.

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Last Day in Chiang Mai. We learned to cook Pad Thai, Curry, and fish cakes. The fish cakes are not pictured on account of my eagerness to try them. It was a beginner's cooking class, many things were prepped for us, but it was still a great thing to do. This may become a habit for me in the future!

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New Years Eve We stayed in a nice hostel and met a nice girl. She invited us to dinner with a friend of a friend. Turns out he owns one of the swankiest seafood joints in Bangkok, if not Thailand. He treated us to MAGNIFICENT food. After we were doused in decadence, we set off to go back to the Golden Mountain Temple to see fireworks from the top, hear the Buddhas chant, and maybe get a blessing. What we got was to participate in their New Years ritual, and see the fireworks in THE WHOLE CITY from the top of the mountain. The pictures dot do it justice. Sometimes you get what you ask for, and sometimes you get so much more.

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Our Bangkok Temple crawl

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Pictures from "Chiang Rai for a Day"

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Chiang Mai Day 3

More like Chiang Rai For a Day.

We took a tour out to the White Temple. It’s about a 3 hour drive. And our tour guide gave interesting facts about the country Formerly-Known-As-Siam. He talked about the royal powers and how the country became known as Thailand. The temple was very crowded. This weekend is not only a long weekend, but it’s a religious holiday for many Thai Buddhists. So everyone flocks to Chaing Mai for its legendary temples. It was beautiful, and pics will be posted soon.

Other things we did during this tour: Boil quail eggs in a natural hot spring See the Long Neck refugees (a rather sad story actually) Lunch Laos for 30 minutes (tried some gecko whiskey… Not bad) Went to the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Back to hostel.

It was all interesting, and fun to see, but a long trip.

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Today was an amazing day of riding elephants, petting tigers, eating bugs, visiting local markets and learning Thai history.

And I end the day by ripping the elephant pants I bought.

Somehow I think that’s only fitting.