About Me

2020 New Year's trip to Japan, part 7: An epilogue, kind of. Starting this one off with a few more pictures of the Haneda airport. The flight back to LAX included an 8-hour layover in Kona, Hawaii. So, despite my poor planning of still wearing my winter clothes and backpack meant for Japan's climate, I took a ride away from the airport to check out a town close by. The drivers I had were amazing - they shared details and history about Kona and even tips on where to hang out as I watched the mostly flat landscape outside my window that was covered in black volcanic rock. I went to a beach near a hotel in an effort to possibly have them stow my heavy backpack and jacket for a fee but no luck there. So I was walking in the hot sun with all these heavy clothes and a backpack and wearing boots on the sand. I decided to check out a local brewery and got into a conversation with a guy next to me who happened to own the chocolate company next door. Anyway, it was time to go back and wait for my plane. As I sat on a bench, the sunset in my eyes, I had time to think...about this trip, my life, what I want to do. I don't often do things for myself and this was the first trip I took on my own. I'm not going to say it changed my life but it gave me time to think about what was important to me and to appreciate how far I had come. I thought about the people I was lucky to have in my life and those who helped me as well as those who challenged me. Even though it was hard sometimes, I'm grateful to be here now.

2020 New Year's trip to Japan part 6: On my last day in Japan, we did some shopping. As you can tell, I tried to eat and drink my way through this trip. We had one more beer together before I had to get on the train back to Haneda airport, which are what some of those pictures at the end are about (it's an amazing place and I encourage anyone visiting Japan to come through there to check it out). I had a really great time with an old friend and we got to catch up even though we stay in touch. It was my favorite trip and I can't wait to go back!

2020 New Year's trip to Japan part 5: Took a long train ride to Nikko on this day. I think it took 2 hours? There were some great views of the less urban areas of Japan during that ride. Once in Nikko, I got to try their specialty, tofu skin. Maybe it was the way they wrapped it, but it had a good texture. Richard said they had the best friend manju there and he wasn't lying. I'm going to have to eat my weight in fried manju next time I visit. We were headed to the temple where Ieyasu Tokugawa was buried. The elevation was the same height as the Tokyo sky tree so it snowed a little bit. On the walk up to the temple, there was a wide road that was lined with tents where people were serving food and souvenirs. There was yakisoba, okonomiyaki, fried mackerel, french fries, karaage, grilled squid, diner kebab, the list goes on...we ended the night by trying some horse sashimi. Richard's favorite place was closed so we tried this one...I thought it was kind of bland so hopefully we get to eat at the other place next time

2020 New Year's trip to Japan part 4: Got to see the Gundam statue in Odaiba! Then we went to Diver City. I could have spent all day in there! Was nearly blown off my feet by some strong winds that came off the sea on the way to the train station to come back. That night we visited a thunder God's shrine (forgive me, I can't recall the name) where I had some amazake. We then visited the Tokyo sky tree mall before returning to Richard's place to drink, watch Twice perform, and celebrate the countdown to 2020. KISS is still popular in Japan so they also played live on TV for the New Year celebration

2020 New Year's trip to Japan, part 3: I got to see so much this day - some of the highlights: I got to see a ton of nerdy merch in Akihabara that threatened to empty my bank account; we hung out with Richard's friend and went to an arcade where I successfully danced to Japanese pop songs such as "USA" by Da Pump; me and Richard's first visit to a maid cafe; we saw a Pokemon center; we went bar-hopping in Shinjuku's Golden street where we sampled different beer and nihonshu (sake), talked to bar owners, and found a shady Okinawan bar bathed in red light that blasted City Pop.

2020 New Year's trip to Japan, part 2: A very kind old couple who were Richard's students took us on a tour of Shibamata. They printed out an itinerary! We went to a museum dedicated to Tora-san, the lead character of a Guinness world record-holding film series that had been going on for 50 years. I got to eat koi fish (carp) sashimi, carp stew, and a DELICIOUS unagi-don. We then went to the Shibamata shrine and they taught me how to properly wash my hands and pray for good fortune in the coming year. The shrine was covered in beautiful wood carvings, each panel telling a story. Afterwards, we visited a Japanese garden and had matcha and a flower-shaped red bean paste treat. It was absolutely serene. I shared dinner with them that night in a traditional (historical) Japanese restaurant. They had you take off your shoes and you sat at a low table over tatami mats and women in kimonos served you. I had some very delicious fried oyster.

2020 New Year's trip to Japan part 1: now that I finally have some free time, I can finally post pictures/video from my trip to Japan to visit my best friend @domomyte . I used a prepaid SIM because I was worried I would get lost on the way to meet Richard once I got off the plane. I had to take a train to meet him at Asakusa and from there we walked around a little. It was early morning, so nobody was around and it was quite peaceful. My first thought was to get some 7-11 karaage that I sorely missed. Eventually, we had BBQ. Richard had me try a super hot garlic and I thought I was having a heart attack!

At Disneyland for Janice's birthday! It was hard to coordinate everyone's time off but it was worth it