Here are some random pictures of all the Deelish food I ate and some of the fun activities.
The ultimate highlight of the trip: the Cambodian circus. This show was so mind blowing, I even bought the CD. It was so so good. The story behind it was about a young girl overcoming her nightmares of growing up with the Khmer Rouge and channeling all of her emotions through art. We did learn at the end that there is a school that does this in Cambodia, so cool!! The acrobatic skills were off the chart and the music could get you to shake your whole body in a matter of seconds. The cast was so lively that I wanted to be their friend and hang out with them… Next time 🙂 but really there was dancing, performing, live painting, and music making. So much to see it was truly remarkable and I was jumping out of my seat with joy.
live painting!! He was painting things and then putting them in the background to set the scene. On top of that he was also acting, it was incredible!How do their bodies do that? Makes me miss acro and dance so much
2 PEOPLE BALANCED ON ONE PERSON!!!! HOW!?!?!this picture couldn’t be more embarrassing but it’s too good not to post. I love them all.
Art experience: we went to a ceramic place and played around a bit on the wheel and also painted some things. It was KK’s first time on the wheel which was exciting! I personally was brought back to the camp days when wheel was my thang. Shout out to willow lake day camp! We would’ve had to pay extra for what we made on the wheel but the package we bought let us get the lesson from someone for help on the wheel. We also painted two things that were put in the kiln and then delivered to us the next day!! So cool 🙂
I made the one on the left and they gave us the one on the right. My other one I made is too ugly to share hahaworking it in action. Can’t say I’ve used the wheel before with a bare foot pushing it back and forth
TREAT YO SELF- Massages/Nails: they have ranged from foot massages to three hours treatment. I’ve loved them all and wish they were this cheap at home. Obviously the ultimate was the three hour shiatsu, feet and back, and facial for only $35 total. Hell yes
Sadly as always the manicure didn’t really stay but my toes are still nice and it always feels good to be pampered and cleaned up, right!?
Floating Village: So I was quite lucky that I actually went on the RIGHT floating village tour. Apparently there are a couple of these villages, but one of them is a complete scam. Like they just parade you around asking you to donate. Like a kid could be playing with a snake, they could show you a fake school, etc. etc. How do I know this for sure? Well this was the only piece of advice our friends who went to Cambodia last year told us. They got scammed and paid wayyyy too much money so they told us to make sure not to go there. Anna, Leah and Katiria all went on Thursday but I wasn’t feeling well so I went Friday. Sadly to report, they got scammed and went to the wrong one!!!
I went on a tour for $16 that included a van transfer with AC which was nice since it was quite a far drive. We left at 1:30 and didn’t get back until almost 8. I’m so glad I did it though because it was so cool to see how some people live like this all of the time. I can’t imagine what it’s like when it’s the wet season and the houses are actually floating. It also made me sad at some times because they really need better sanitation as well as medical care. There is no help really in this village. But it also amazed me how people still live so simply, even there house is made mainly of sticks and leaves- how crazy!?
off to go into our boat!mandatory selfiethe architecture of these houses were amazing, especially since they survive in order to float when it’s the wet seasonthe kids were so cute!!Normally this house would be floating on water…floating restaurant!casual crocodilesgorgeous to watch the sunset 🙂
Food (NOMZ): So random and lots of food but my favorite part was that Cambodia had such a diversity of all kinds of food. Japan doesn’t really have that and I miss that luxury that I’m used to in the states of having all different options of food to eat. Or even different ingredients to cook other kinds of food! So overall, the food and drinks were very cheap AND delicious.
Indian food for 20 peopledipping sauce for veggie samosa!Pariwar, you have competitionwarm coconut yucky haha$1.50 margaritasfeta “salad” slightly better than Japan but still kinda weeksimple mixed greens but so fresh and tasy!Khmer chicken curryFRUIT SMOOTHIES MY HEAVENhappy pizza … you can’t get that in JapanPad Thai!!delish egg burritoshopping in the market for food!
YUCKKKKKKYI was like a child covering my eyescasualold schoolveggies to prep!COOKING CLASS CREATIONS!! Banana flower salad and chicken with bok choy… so damn goodso beautifulChef Lirwin
I missed real breakfast!!!more happy happy pizzanot a fan of the chips but if there’s guac, I’m indon’t like shrimp but the veggies were good!love the presentation!fresh fruit!!
Overall, I am so glad I got to go to Cambodia. I was wondering how it would compare to Thailand but they were a bit different. Cambodia had a more powerful impact on me in terms of their history with the Khmer Rouge. It is also clearly evident to see how poor the country is, how young most of the population is and even civilians who still suffer with missing limbs from the landmines. However, I felt warmer vibes in Thailand even though it was more touristy here. In Cambodia I felt like I was being pressured to buy things constantly and felt really guilty if I didn’t buy something because so many people were so poor. This week also reminded me how grateful I am for my childhood and really all of my experiences that I have had thus far in my life. I couldn’t feel more blessed for this year and seeing more parts of the world.
I felt ignorant while I was there that I really didn’t know much about Cambodia and it’s history whatsoever. But, it also excited me to realize how much is out there. When it comes down to it, we are all people but with our cultural backgrounds and history, there is so much to learn from one another. Even though I know I’m definitely going back to the states this year, every time we make one of these trips I feel so alive and empowered to continue traveling. There is still so much to see and experience for myself, I can’t freaking wait.
For now, I will make the most of every single moment of my journey here in Japan with only about 11 weeks left. Absolutely mind blowing!!! Until next time 🙂
Since being here we really wanted to give back to the community, so we were looking for ways to help volunteer. Our last hotel was affiliated with a nearby school and hospital so we thought that would be a good place to start. However it didn’t end up being as fulfilling as we had hoped. The school took us on a tour and we got to see some of the adorable children but sadly the kids have classes in the morning and the afternoon. So we missed the kiddos =\ womp womp womp. So interesting to see classes with no doors and basically having class outside! It seems nice but I think I might personally melt down in about 5 seconds. All the power to them though. Seeing a class of about 40 kids with mixed ages and one teacher makes me want to move to a place like this. Even though there are so many schools where I would rather work, these kids need help. The new generation since the civil war here in Cambodia has so much drive to learn and to be successful it’s apparent everywhere we have gone this week.
kiddos handprints 🙂
Apparently 85% on the country is illiterate and most of the people we have spoken to this week are going to school for English but then want to go do something else. Katiria and I keep saying how lucky we are that English is our first language. I can’t imagine my native language not being commonly spoken like Khmer (what they speak here in Cambodia). That looks so difficult to learn as it is! Their language looks very similar to Thai with very intricate characters and specific pronunciation of the language.
The hospital if anything was worse than the school. They had us watch a DVD about how their hospital was founded. The hospital was funded by a Japanese man who saw a need to help the children here medically in order to save the country. Since the Khmer Rouge had wiped out 25% of the population, most of the people killed were older and the more educated people that they saw as a threat I suppose. Which means that now 85% of the population in Cambodia is under 15 years old. The video explained that the kids aren’t dying usually of abnormal diseases, they are actually illnesses that can be cured quite easily like pneumonia, diarrhea or even a fever. But the cost to just get to the hospital can be pricey for locals and sometimes too far from where they live. After seeing the video the lady working there walked us outside to see the out patient area with people just waiting around to be seen. So many sick children I could barely look. I felt uncomfortable like this privileged white lady being paraded around just looking at sick people. I had hoped we would be able to volunteer so I could feel like I was making a difference as much as possible during my time here. That wasn’t the case so we each made a donation and then ended up donating blood at another hospital later :)! Definitely felt more fulfilling giving back in that manner because it felt like we were actually saving lives.
the shirts that probably won’t fit us because Cambodian people are so tinyselfie with our nurses holla
Angkor wat on the other hand was breathtaking. I didn’t realize how freaking huge it is!! I though there was one main area that you could go to and just bop around all of the temples but that is not the case whatsover. You need a tuk tuk driver to take you around to all of the different temples. We only went twice but I’m so glad we broke it up in chunks. We also got to see it at two different times of day. The first time we went around late afternoon and stayed until sunset. We had a guide walk us around the main area of Angkor wat and learned a bit more about the history behind it. I was really taken a back by a couple of things. How other nations help support buildings across the world, currently the Japanese, French and German are funding some of the building/renovation. Another thing that took me back was learning that the holes in some of the rock were from the civil war and how clearly you can still see them. We enjoyed walking around (minus the extreme heat) and just taking in how incredible huge and precise the architecture is. The crowds and construction definitely took away some of the beauty as we were walking around. Especially at sunset we had climbed this up this huge structure to overlook all of the land and watch the sunset. However, there were so many people who were all taking pictures that it was difficult to tune them out and enjoy.
day 1!
love the reflection on the water!
I had to buy a t-shirt in order to go in and even at 5:30 PM I was still melting…
Which is why I was glad we also went in the morning. We woke up at 4:30 and I’m sad to say that the sunrise was quite anticlimactic. Buttttt there were less people and not as hot so in my eyes it was worth it. I think the weather was too foggy but we still knocked out a lot of yoga pics and basically had a nice photo shoot as we conquered the area together. We got blessed by a monk after we donated and I just realized how interesting it is that they give you a piece of red yarn just like you get in Israel. I need to look more into the connection here 🙂
like a Thneed from the Lorax!!!
What killed me the most about Angkor wat is how intense the selling of different items was. Trust me I love to shop, but I also like my space. It’s always hard when they are in your face about buying things but even more so when it’s kids who are selling. It breaks my heart and I want to give them all my money. But once I gave to one, then they all flocked and it was just so sad. Apparently, I also didn’t know that the best thing to do is ask them why they aren’t at school. Because if they continue to beg and receive money, they will be less likely to actually go to school. There is so much need for help here, I can’t wait to see what it will be like in 5-10 years once they continue to keep growing and building.
also seeing people from the land mines with missing limbs also makes me so sad 😦 They are all amazing musicians though!!we saw an ellie!!
Bayon Temple- temple of 1,000 faces 🙂
big smoooooch
I don’t regret my shopping because I have soo many gifts and things to remember my travels, I just hope I can make it on the plane without being being charged for extra weight. I will never learn…
these will be such a nice addition to my room!! #namaste
Throwback to Tired Thursday, aka PJ day before spring break!
I'm officially back in good 'ol Japan and even though I didn't want to leave Cambodia, it's always nice to be back home. Before I jump into Siem Reap, here's a quick update on Nagashima. The night before we flew to Siem Reap we went to Nabana no Sato to see the famous winter illumination. It is over at the end of March so we had to go before we left so we could see it. I've seen pictures of the epicness through Pinterest and Instagram but I had to see it for myself.
This was a bit trippy I felt like I was on drugs, so many lights!!
CRAZY LIGHT SHOW! It made it look like it was this huge waterfallThis was a horrible meal. I love and hate Japanese food all at the same time
Sorry I know that was a lot of pictures, but it was too beautiful not to share! Okay now onto Siem Reap...
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ជំរាបសួរ (Sousuday)!
It is currently 5:50 AM and I’m at Angkor Wat waiting for the sunrise. The last time I think I did something like this was at Masada in Israel to see the sunrise quite a long time ago.
Saturday we started the journey and after 7 hours of flying and a 4 hour layover in Seoul, we made it to Siem reap! During our layover I walked all over the airport just to keep moving and not waste time. We did a craft and made this beautiful little lantern, had some delicious bimbimbap, and a Balinese fruit smoothie.
PIkachu craziness in Nagoya airportmeal on our flight to Seoul!beautiful sunset 🙂bimbimbap and dumplings with Leah!lounging chairs for free.. seoul airport I LOVE YOU … apparently I was snoring, whoops
Once we got to Siem Reap, unfortunately our transfer wasn’t there but we ended up getting reimbursed for our tuk tuk and the owner also treated us to lunch the next day. So I would say it worked out in our favor 🙂
luggage in a tuk tuk is dangerous…
After settling in, we had a beautiful room with one king sized bed and another full. Enough room for me to have dance parties and even do some stretching. Not mad about it. The room has a theme of black and white with beautiful paintings on the wall which are apparently different in each room. The next day we started with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Then we were off to go quadding! This was our first full immersion of viewing the countryside life of Siem Reap. First the guides took us out on the quads to practice and it took me a while to adjust to driving on the right side of the road again. Talk about flipping your brain back and forth. Once we got the hang of it we were given the A okay to go off on our own with the two guides with us.
view from our balcony. Kinda strange BUT HEY PALM TREESbeautiful paintings on the wall 🙂ready to ride dirtyyyyyy
We saw so much I feel like words won’t truly describe everything but I will try my best. I saw emaciated cows, children running around naked, and houses made out of leaves and sticks. My favorite part was definitely seeing the kids they were so freaking cute and every time that we passed by they just wanted to wave to us and show us some love. It was such a neat way to observe the countryside of Siem Reap. Even though there wasn’t much commentary from our guides, it was neat to just look around and take it all in for ourselves. What has blown my mind the most is how some areas are in such poverty with trash all over the place, people trying to sell you anything for at least $1 and they will hound you down just to make a sale, and children ruining around without any clothes. But then you see these other parts within the same areas that are being built up. New spas, hotels, and restaurants. It’s a very interesting combination between the two.
these kids just wanted high fives and their smiles were too darn precious
soooo much land for farming and emaciated cows… quite sad
After quadding we went back to the hotel where lunch was on the manager. But then we may or may not have gotten 3 wine bottles between the three of us within a couple of hours. It was a lot of fun just chatting with the staff and learning about them. Most of them are students and are working to help support their schooling. The managers belief is to support the community as much as possible. After we showered up and what not, we went to pub street which is the area with all the bars and restaurants. We had some Mexican food and margaritas which hit the spot. Katiria and I got mani pedi’s and foot massages for $8 what a deal. It hit the spot. We did wayyyy too much shopping and I’m officially cutting myself off cause my suitcase is full. It’s so tempting when everything is so cheap and I feel like Southeast Asia style fits with my style so well, a bit hippy 🙂
I apologize for the bit of a hiatus since I last wrote, we have been doing so much traveling. But I have been loving every minute of it, just bare with me and this long post.
This past week was an exciting one with a field trip, Elementary talent show and my birthday! For our grade field trip we went to Asuke Village. Katiria and I went there way back when to see the fall foliage, if you remember those gorgeous pictures. We didn’t know though that if you go into the village there they can teach you how they use the local resources to make different things which connects to our unit of sharing the planet! Super fun day and so great to hear the kids so excited about what they were learning and making connections to their learning in the classroom. 🙂
sticky rice nomminessthey are so cute I can’t handle it
The talent show was also pretty spectacular. The elementary student council organized it- they’ve been taking action lately and really making things happen. There were so many students interested in participating it was split up into 2 days. It was interesting to see all the talents the students shared with anything from magic, piano, to robot dancing. At the end, they played the song “Happy” and we had a huge dance party. It was one of those moments when I thought “I freaking love my job” 🙂
My birthday was really a fabulous day. I was quite nervous being away for my birthday and lately I’ve been a bit homesick and I just wanted to be home with my family and friends who know me so well. But I couldn’t be more grateful for my new “family” that I have here who made it so special as well as my friends at home who went out of their way to think of me! I was showered with love from the kiddos- birthday hugs up the wazoo and cards and little snack gifts (they love to give me chocolate and they should really stop haha). In the morning, the kids hid in the classroom after morning assembly and completely surprised me! Katiria helped organize this huge card that they signed with 23 reasons why they love me. I was so overwhelmed with happiness and love that I actually started crying. If this is a preview of what saying goodbye to these kids will be like in June, I am NOT looking forward to it.
gift from Hiroko!
I love them too much
That afternoon was also special because Hiroko came in with homemade cupcakes and we had a wee little party. The kids got to dance around and sing with GoNoodle (brain break website! If you’re a teacher check it out, it rules) so they loved it. The cupcakes were phenomenal and I’m not even a cupcake person. They were like s’mores with a graham cracker layer on the bottom, chocolate moist brownie in the middle and melted marshmallow on top. Nomnomnom. I had also told her I left some of the pottery I bought in Tokyo on the bullet train so she bought me these beautiful aqua blue cups! So lucky to have met her, she has made me time here so special. Then, at night I went to Pariwar with a bunch of people for dinner, because we all know how much I love Pariwar. The owner even got me flowers and I awkwardly tried to hug hi. I was so flattered but he totally dodged it with a bow. Whooooopsies. After dinner somehow I rallied and went to Zumba with my friend Trista. Even though I had a food baby I’m so glad I ended my birthday with a big ol Zumba party! This class is full of energy it so much fun I absolutely love it!
delicious cupcakes from Hiroko 🙂here was my sneaky camera action of the crazy outfits at Zumba heheZumba gals 🙂
I had also received two iherb packages from Bencan and one from chelc and mollz. A gift from my cousins/aunts and uncles to my FAVORITE store- athelta, now only to decide what to order hehe 🙂 Shout out to Dana, Leah and Nelson for the package that I received today with even more food goodies!! You all know me too well 😉 Thank you also to Kelli who bought me a beautiful bottle of wine and helped add to my collection of Starbucks mugs :). They have a different design for each place so I’ve started to collect them… yes, I know I have no idea how I’m getting home. Anywho, all the messages, cards, FB/Instagram posts made me feel like I was home with everyone, I truly felt the love coming from all over the world. I can’t thank you all enough 🙂
goodies from Chelc and mollz- ps that white chocolate pb is made from the gods 🙂 Thanks Kelli!nomminess from Dana, Leah and Nelson. Such cool spices and ALMOND MILK!!!
Last weekend we had a delicious and welcoming potluck dinner at the Grecu’s. The last time I had been over their house was over winter break when we cooked together. This time there were more people but there was so much good food it rocked. I hope we do this again because I love pot lucks! You get a little bit of everything which is my favorite.
We made coconut quinoa curry, zucchini lasagna and coquito (Katiria’s famous drank). Others made pizza, broccoli salad, pasta with asiago cheese. All so delicious!big table selfie!I may or may not have taught them how to play pteradactyl… if you like ice breakers I’ll tell you how to play heheme and bae ❤
Besides that we took a Japanese cooking class, I got a new pair of shades, and finally got to help out for Kidzuna. The cooking class was so cool and I definitely will be going back! Katiria and I had seen a sign posted outside of a house on our walk home from work one day. It was addressed to foreigner friends and it was an invitation to come and cook with them. It made me giggle because it seemed like a babysitting advertisement with pieces of paper to pull off with their phone number on them. We had no idea what to expect but we met the women, Choco and her husband it was a lovely evening. Since that week people in Japan had celebrated Hinamatsuri which is a holiday that celebrates girls, we made some dishes that are traditionally eaten for that holiday. We made tofu steak, clam soup, shirashi sushi, and inari. She truly trusted us because she quickly went over each recipe and just sent us off. I kept giggling cause I was wondering how this woman thought we knew where everything in her kitchen was haha. But somehow between the four of us gals we did it all, some mistakes here and there but not too shabby! It was so fun to learn some new dishes and besides the clam soup and the shrimp in the shirashi sushi, I loveddddd it all! Especially because we had made it ourselves with her help 🙂 we will be missing her next class since we will be in Cambodia but she invited us to come in April and do another class and she asked to do a BBQ sometime! It felt like our first true Japanese friend in our neighborhood, we were all so excited.
cooking in the tiny kitchen with Choco!the spread
Kidzuna (the event I volunteered for on Sunday) is something that NIS started doing this year to create opportunities for our students to connect with other children from Japanese schools in Nagoya. They are always on the weekend and a couple times I went to volunteer I was sick. Strangely enough I was sick last weekend too, but discovered that it’s been allergies! I’ve never had such strong allergies but thank goodness for Zyrtec! They have been themed around holidays or other events so this one was for world book day. I did a read aloud with another teacher and then the kids rotated around some activities. I enjoyed chatting with the parents of the kids who go to other Japanese schools, all very nice people. I love hearing other peoples stories of where they are from and how they ended up to where they are now. Lastly, I got some new shades since the lovely ocean snatched mine in Thailand.
reusing the snapchat pic haha
This past weekend we went to Nagano which I have been looking forward to for a while now and it was EPIC. I wish I actually had another weekend to go back. Friday night we took the train and didn’t get to check into our hotel until later probably around 10 or so. It was nice because the guesthouse was a super close walk to the station which makes everything so much more convenient. The owner of the guesthouse was also very helpful, I highly recommend staying at morimotizu backpackers in Nagano if you ever go! After settling into our tatami room (which thankfully was bigger than our hole in the wall ryokan in Kyoto), Katiria and I went downstairs to the living room to hang out. The only other hostel I stayed at was that one in Ueno, Tokyo. The hostel was much newer and in better condition than this hostel, however I didn’t interact with other people as much. This hostel people were very friendly and really made an effort to interact in the living room which was nice, we chatted with a Japanese man who spoke good English so we could understand his story and Katiria could also practice her Japanese 🙂
On Saturday we had been hoping to see the snow monkeys and then go to the beer festival that was being held this weekend. Sadly we found out that the beer festival had two sessions, one during the day and one later at night, but the buses stopped at 5. So we couldn’t do both since the monkey park closed at 4. I was really torn because the beer festival sounded like something different and could be really fun. Buttttttt the main things I wanted to do in Nagano were the snow monkeys and to go snowboarding, the beer festival was just an added bonus. At first I was the only one out of the four of us that was going to skip the beer festival which I would’ve made the best of it but truthfully wasn’t happy about being alone completely all weekend. I’m glad Katiria changed her mind last minute so I had a pal 🙂 We ended up buying some different kinds of wine so we could pretend we were at the beer festival, slash both of us don’t even like beer anyways so it really worked out in our favor. We tried Sakura (cherry blossom) wine which looked so elegant in this little to-go glass! We also split a bottle of wine made in Nagano that they are known for. I also bought a peach wine to test out but it tasted like bad baby juice. Yuck.
After taking a bus to the snow monkey park, it was about another 30 minutes of walking until you actually got to see monkeys. Since it’s been warmer the snow was melting and slushy but also very slippery. Katiria didn’t have the proper foot wear and I couldn’t help myself but giggle the whole walk because she was slipping like a slipper penguin all over the place! We finally made it to the monkeys and it was absolutely incredible. There were monkeys everywhere and doing everything. Some were bathing in the hot springs, playing around with other monkeys, rolling down a hill, picking up rocks on the ground and examining them, staring out in the distance, and the most common was that they would check each other’s fur- still not sure if it was for bugs, dirt or something else? It was so amusing just observing them in all of these activities. They really paid no attention to the mounds of humans who were all up in their faces to take their picture. So many people had nice cameras with these HUGE lenses, I’ve never even seen a camera lens so big. My favorite thing to watch was the mama monkeys cuddling their baby monkey 🙂 once we had enough monkey cuteness, we headed back on our trek and stopped for a quick lunch, the best part was definitely the tempura sweet potato! We also picked up some kit mats that I’m starting to collect to bring home- new flavors are apple and hot red pepper, interesting, huh?
there are no words for how precious this is. Look on my facebook for more monkey pics 🙂
At night we tried a Vietnamese restaurant that was recommended by a friend that was so darn good. After we stuffed our face full of random dishes I can’t pronounce, we went to do some karaoke because why not. It was so fun to just belt it out and have fun, I pretended I was DJ Lir and got really into it, no shame.
BUBBLE TEA!! I missed you way too muchspring rollsjust a small selection of the food we got. It was all so freaking good.We couldn’t resist dessert =) We split vanilla ice cream and this chocolate cake with berries that was to die for.
Sunday we dragged our booties out of bed to catch an 8:20 AM bus to go skiing! There are so many mountains to choose from in Nagano it’s really overwhelming. We took a recommendation from some people from school who have been to Nagano quite often. There was a sweet deal where you could pay $40 which included a meal, lift ticket, and the bus! That is unheard of in the states. Once we got there we were able to rent the ski equipment and all snow gear for only $40-45 how insane is that!? I don’t hate it though. I’m pretty sure us big girls were rocking guys snow clothes and I was dying cause we looked ridiculous. But hey it did the job. This mountain ruled because it wasn’t too big but it also wasn’t too crowded. The conditions were IMPECCABLE I’m talking no clouds in the clear, blue sky and so much sunshine! My cheeks are even red from today :). It felt so good to be snowboarding and even though I was worried my body forgot how to, thank goodness for muscle memory because it came back quite easily. I actually wish I had more time to do a couple more runs but we didn’t want to get back too late. The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking and unfortunately my iPhone couldn’t capture it so you’ll have to take my word for it. It was KK’s first time skiing ever and she did such a good job! I was her personal instructor for a bit and then let her spread her wings on the same trail to master her turns. Somehow I was able to convince her to come all the way to the top of the mountain with me to see the view. Even though I know she wanted to poop her pants, she did it and I’m so proud of her!!
gearin’ upthe bluest sky ever!
sad face of having to go hunt down my scarf- left it at the restaurant! whooopscouldn’t resist getting Starbucks with the cherry blossom cup!
Overall, it was a great weekend full of adventure, giggles and lots of fun 🙂 we have so many travels planned ahead it’s crazy! I’m just throwing my money into the wind and not looking back because the experiences are more worthwhile. Next weekend we head to Cambodia for spring break BAHHHHH I can’t wait! I’ve heard such good things, and I can’t wait to be in the sun!! The bigger trips we have planned are Seoul, South Korea, Hiroshima, and then Okinawa to go to an island in Japan at the end of May. We have some other trips/exciting events or festivals planned in between so there won’t be many dull moments between now and when we leave in June. I’m looking forward to embracing every moment and enjoying it all 🙂
So I have definitely learned the lesson firsthand this year that “the grass is always greener on the other side”. I really love Tokyo and every time that I have been there to visit, I wonder how my experience here might have been different if I lived there. There’s always something to do and every time that I have been there I have always seen at least one new thing! But hey, maybe I’ll be back one day. Who knows 🙂
on the shinkansen drankin’ our wine bottle, the ushe
After staying at the air bnb’s in Osaka/Kyoto, I’m hooked. Japan doesn’t have too many exciting options but there were some better deals in terms of location and pricing. We stayed closer to Shinjuku Friday night so we checked in to our place and then started heading towards the bar area on the hunt for food. We saw a Thai place and since we were hangry (hungry + angry) we just went for it.
Thai food- green bean sauteed veggies
Sadly, I couldn’t fully enjoy this meal because I stupidly tried to start drinking while on anti-biotics and my stomach immediately rejected that. If it weren’t for that, I would have said this dinner was perfect. But the feeling of needing to vom at a meal is not so fun in my opinion.
chied with a hot chili sauce
We headed towards the Golden Gai afterwards, the area with all of the small bars that I went to with Sherry. I couldn’t really enjoy the green tea liquor, but KK liked it! We bopped around a bit and went our separate ways.
The next day we pulled ourselves out of bed to see the light of day. First stop, Shinjuku gardens! This has been on my list but I really was hoping to see the rikugein gardens that my friend has been raving about. I didn’t end up going to the second one because after seeing Shinjuku gardens, I quickly realized this is obviously not the time to see things full in bloom. It’s okay though because we enjoyed zooming in REALLYYYY close on the 1-2 trees with flowers haha
posing at the ONE blossoming tree in Shinjuku parkhow beautiful!? KK has some photo skillz
After the gardens we checked into our place in Roppongi which took us a while to find. The directions were clear but all of these buildings were close together and we kept walking around in circles. Silly little Americans. Anyways, this 2nd place was a bit disappointing because it was more expensive and we didn’t realize it was a private room. It was a small room in this little Japanese apartment. I can’t complain because the location was sooo good, very close to the train station and the going out area. But still strange. The other people living there were a sweet couple but they had a bird that creeped me out. Plus it was just way too close proximity with another couple for my liking.
OH WELL, we survived! I wanted to also try this falafel place because I had met the owner way back when I went to the Chabad in Tokyo. But…
It was closed 😦
It’s okay though because we stumbled upon this EPIC Pakistani place.
Some entertainment during lunch- rugby is intense…
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I did lots of this sleeping in public thing this weekend but it was nice
We both wanted to see the Imperial Palace which was sooo much bigger than I had imagined. We really didn’t walk around too much. KK was a genius and we just plopped on down on the ground and soaked up the sunshine and took a quick shooshie.
Doesn’t this look like dandelions on fire? I loved this tree. After my shooshie (mommy words for nap- is this Yiddush? Who knows…) We parted ways. KK headed towards Harajuku and I went to check out Kappabashi. I had heard sick things about this street which is all kitchen related items. There were some stores with just pizza ovens or woks and other stores had everything from a-z.
Kappabashi was crazyyyyy funDo I need one of these?
I was really tempted to buy one of these because they used them a lot in Takayama and you can slow cook food on top putting a leaf down first. It’s super nommy but I can’t decide if I would actually use it. I’m trying to go back to Takayama again so I have some time to decide. Any input friends!?
Why just why? I really got a kick out of the plastic food. I almost got these for you chelc cause I thought they were ice cube trays but they are actually chocolate things hahaThis crappy ish is so pricey I don’t get it
I had to literally pull myself away from this street because I could’ve bought so many more things and walked around forever. SELF CONTROL LINDSAY. When I realized how many bags I had to carry and reminded myself I need to ship all this, I was a bit less hesitant to stay. I was supposed to meet KK in Asakusa next. She was further than me so I just chilled on a curb people watching for an hour and enjoying my favorite gelato ever from the market. Coffee + green tea = foodgasm
ice cream = happy Lirwin$50 for this glass cat which is about the same price I paid for 10 pieces of beautiful pottery… #winningtesting out the selfie stick HAYYY
After walking around the market area and checking out Senso-ji we popped into an Izakaya. We had reservations to try this place in Roppongi that was recommended by a friend but we missed it 😦 Wah… next time!
She was excited
I have to report for the record, I made it out until almost 6 AM!!! This day should go down in history. For all of you know me well, I can be all forms of a human- a baby, grandma, and a crazy college kid. Usually a grandma/baby who needs to sleep and eat right or becomes cranky. Somehow I stayed out and pretended I was a college kid once again. KK can vouch for me. Hit her up if you want to double check.
We dragged our hungover selves out of bed and stepped out into the rain (meep) and headed towards Tsukiji market. I haven’t been here since Sherry was here but I was on a mission to try some fresh sushi for breakfast. See below and insert *drool*
TSUKIJI MARKET FRESHNESS- so damn good
Here are my pottery collections. The little panda cup is for KK 🙂
MY POSTCARDS!!! I stopped writing postcards to people because no one loved me enough to write back. So I am going to collect them now and do something crafty. Any ideas!?
March is going to fly by and so is the rest of this year *insert panic face*. This weekend I want to go on a hike, we are doing a cooking class with a random Japanese man, and are also doing a potluck with friends from school!!! My birthday is next Thursday (I DON’T WANT TO BE 23!!!) buttttt this month is all celebrations and I’m so pumped. The following weekend we are going to Nagano to go snowboarding and see the snow monkeys. Then it’s spring break and we will be in Cambodia!! We also booked tickets this week to go to Seoul, South Korea for our long weekend in May. WEEE so excited! 🙂
Sadly as always the manicure didn’t really stay but my toes are still nice and it always feels good to be pampered and cleaned up, right!?
The Traveling Teacher 
