Just a Gaijin

Gaijin means "foreigner" in Japanese. It has a bit of a negative connotation, but I embrace it. This is the blog of Japan though a half-American/Japanese college girl's eyes.

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Aquarius vs Pocari Sweat

One day a couple of years ago, someone asked me if I preferred the sports drink Aquarius or Pocari Sweat better. I never knew they were different (I thought it was like 7-Up or Sprite), but now I know Pocari Sweat definitely wins. It's sweeter!

[justagaijin]

Note to self

Size 7-7.5 in US women's shoes does not mean socks 23-25cm will fit.

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Stray Dogs in Bhutan

2-27-17, Monday, Thimphu It's 11:15pm. I leave Bhutan tomorrow. Every night, around this time, you can hear the dozens, perhaps hundreds of stray dogs throughout the city, all barking. There's a dog in the house next door. There's 4 dogs living in this household, but thankfully they're quiet, 3 of them sleeping in the furnace room, the fourth one in an unknown place - a true outdoor dog. Why do they always bark at this time? It will forever be a mystery, and a bit annoying when you're trying to sleep so you can get up early to catch a morning flight.

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2-16-17, Thursday, Thimphu, Bhutan Dog with eyebrows. Pretty sure they were not painted on.

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2-24-17, Friday Indian sweets! Bhutan isn't really known for their sweets (rather, they aren't really into sweets) so it's more common to see shops selling other countries' sweets instead. (For example, it's fairly common to see European pastries sold here.) Here were have two sweets... No idea what they're called. The left one has three flavors apparently (I only really tasted one) and was milk-based. There is edible foil on the top. Didn't know edible foil existed. Then on the right this is an orange... Rice (?) sweet which kind of had the texture between cous cous and rice. It was a tiny bit similar to the gluttonous rice desserts that is common in Thai food, but it was only mildly sweet and more mild and savory.

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2-23-17, Thursday, Phuentsholing, Bhutan One thing I love about Bhutan is everyone's apparently genuine admiration and respect of the Royal Family. Here is just one example - a petrol station with a *lit up* portrait of the family and their one year-old baby boy. Not everyone lights up the portraits they frame, but you can see framed photos of the King, the King and his wife, or the three family members together everywhere, whether it inside a bakery or outside a hotel, and even in families' homes.

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2-25-17, Friday Happy Losar! It's the Bhutanese New Year, according to the Lunar calendar. Apparently New Year here is celebrated on different days in different regions of Bhutan. Here's how my friend and their family is going to celebrate it: with outdoor karaoke, lights, bonfire, and lots of food~ It's usually celebrated over a span of two days, but we're starting a day early this time since I'm about to head back to Japan.

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2-17-17, Friday, Paro There are dogs left and right in Bhutan. Most of them are incredibly friendly, and this one followed us from the Buddhist temple to the nearby river. This is a "lion" Tibetan mastiff. There are two kinds of Tibetan mastiffs: lion and tiger. The lion one has a sort of thick mane, as you can see from the brown fur.

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2-16-17, Thursday, Thimphu trail Went hiking on a trail in Thimphu (capital of Bhutan) to test our hiking strength. Turns out, I'm weak. But even my friend, who loves hiking, was also struggling in this 2-3,000m altitude. This was where I first encountered the thin cloth flags that are flown in clean areas and the junction of the 4 elements (earth, water, air, fire). They are the hopes and dreams of the person who hung them, and Buddhist scriptures are written on them. So, you don't really want the flags to touch the ground and keep the hopes in the air. In the photo below, there are three tsa tsa. All tsa tsa are the same shape, but there are more than one way to create them. They're created out of clay and are therefore put in crevices and caves to keep them sheltered from the rain and wind (Bhutan experiences monsoon season in summer and clay will crumble). We also passed by crevices in which dozens were placed next to each other, or even piled on top of each other.

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2-18-17, Saturday, Bhutanese market We went to a nearby Thimphu market to see the goods and look for potential souvenirs. Although the market was not only intended for tourists (most of the crowd were Bhutanese), there were really cool items there. Here we have some masks used in cultural/religious dances in celebrations (although the top mask with the horns does not seem Bhutanese, the rest are.)

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2-16-17, Thursday, lunch time One of the first things I bought in Bhutan (actually my host bought them since we didn't have Ngultrum, the Bhutanese currency, yet) were Queen Cakes from the Swiss Bakery. I've never had them before. They were like muffins, but not as sweet or oily. There are a few Swiss settlers here in Bhutan, who have brought some of their furnace technology and food. Unfortunately, there were no other pastries available at the time as they were in the process of being cooked and restocked.

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2-18-17, Saturday, Willy's ice cream I'm in the beautiful country of Bhutan! This ice cream shop is run by a man who makes all-organic ice cream (it was more icy than milky, as it crumbled more easily than other kinds) in his home. I'm holding a banana flavored ice cream, and on the left is a sustainable ice cream cup made of pressed banana leaves. I love the idea! So much better than processed paper cups or Styrofoam or plastic. (The ice cream flavor is amaretto.)

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12-18-16, Sunday, Yokohama I had totally forgotten that Yokohama port was some sort of sister to San Diego.

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12-4-16, Hamarikyu Gardens, sunset The colors are a bit weird here, but it was the first time I had seen the "ocean" in several months, so I was happy to be here. It didn't quite smell like home, but it was beautiful.

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12-11-16, Sunday, 2:30pm Went to Odaiba for the day and visited the big Gundam! I heard it's going to be taken down next year to make room for something Olympics-related.

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12/11/16, Sunday, ~7pm in Odaiba There is a light show on the side of this office building every 20 minutes or so. It was a bit breezy out. It must be very annoying for the people in the building working, hearing this music so often (and having their windows light up).

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12/11/16, Sunday, Odaiba 4:30pm