My Great Adventure

I came home back to Japan, and ventured out to do things I've never done before--far, far away from San Jose. There, I saw...

...Kami-sama's amazing red gates,

Colorful flags as I sailed the blue seas,

Prancing puppies in the water,

The gang welcoming me,

My smooching newborn brother,

Natsuko fighting to soar the skies,

A great abundance of greenery,

And I definitely can't forget the blue,

The warm hearts of my family at my birthday,

The magnificent Shisa warding off spirits,

A bright light some distance away,

What I thought was heaven,

The beauty of clean water,

Schoolchildren excited for an English lesson,

Miyakojima just like how a bird would see it,

Grand temples,

With people hoping,

Myself immersed culturally,

The guy who took this picture,

Ropeways gliding down,

Wonders in the mist,

A connection between two hideouts (I'm kidding),

The flow of time---

STOP!

Let me take a deep breath. Gasp. Okay, let's continue--

For the first time a polite and caring sign worrying about my health (LOL),

Two peaceful lovers,

A duck...

...controlled by my family,

A girl quietly fishing,

An ancient temple from thousands of years ago in Nikko city,

Followed by modern high rises,

Hachiko (ハチ公), the dog who waited for her owner even after he passed away,

The Sea of People,

A wonderful singer,

One confused man and another cracking up at a busy station,

Wishes made from around the world,

More puppy love,

Naked trees,

Endless tunnels that last almost half an hour,

Cute morning notes left by my Hitomi...

...followed by my reply,

Crying bears on the dock with no place to live,

People turning their heads trying to read all the signs in a colorful shopping district,

The glistening reflection of the pier,

The Rainbow Bridge glowing in front of the city,

The Statue of Liberty,

Along with the prominent Tokyo Tower,


The sun going to bed,

And the city waking up

...all from a fancy room,

And when it was time to head back to San Francisco, I was handed a U.S. Customs Declaration form in Japanese.

I signed it, but decided that was too boring so I stamped it instead. The customs officer ended up thinking that I was illegally holding dual citizenship. I popped a smile.

I miraculously time traveled back 6 hours and went into San Francisco...

...just to see it shrink away in the distance. I'm beginning to miss home now.


The end. :)
Now it's down to Los Angeles.

Lost Articles

Just like I said when I got back to America two years ago,

"I left my heart in Japan."

I found it in chains today at Odaiba. No wonder why I still love this place.

Asakusa

Here's a shoutout, to Abby and Kimberly.

Afternoon Drive

(I'm in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan! 沖縄県宮古島市)

I absolutely cherish the road trips here. Outside of the city, there are just green grass fields and spectacularly blue skies and seas. Getting to them is pure bonding time.

Yuki: In Japan, this line on your hand shows your marriage life--oh, there's three.

Me: That means I have three roads to choose from!

Yuki: (nods) Yup.

Me: I'll pick the longest one. (grin)

A Person of the Free World

If you're not letting me out, I'm letting myself out.

It sure looks great out here.


(Photo used with permission from Leesamaree)

Smile and the World Smiles with You

Nothing more, nothing less.

The world around us is almost like a mirror; you can do extraordinary miracles for the first time, something never done before, and everyone would follow you and do the same.

Everyone is given time to live; that time is all yours. You can do whatever you want with it. It's your choice to use it to lament and weep or to dance and sing.

People see each other when they meet. You can see through them or see in them. Seeing through would only get you as far as the sights interest you, but seeing inside opens up a never-ending journey of exploration.

Life is precious. If you've think you've lost just about everything, nope. You still have a future, full of hidden surprises and chances ahead of you. You just can't see it yet, so keep on walking. There are corners you haven't peeked in yet.

Just some of the things I've learned from this thrilling chapter, and now it's time to close it and turn the page. Would you like to follow along?



Let's!

Today was a wonderful, casually heartwarming day.
(Photo used with permission from ontoshiki, taken in Shibuya, Japan.)

Two Decades Back

As lame as things were back then, there's always a bit of some nostalgia from the '90s. Fashion and technology, yup, all of its culture.

Remember how they dressed back then?

"Honey, do these make my butt look big?"

Yes, they do.

I can't forget those retro sunglasses! Then...

...the environment-unfriendly gas hungry cars... (My dad used to own one!) and locally, the patrol cars. Whatever happened to them? Probably scrapped and sold.



And finally, their technology.

Burger King, too.



Go, go, Power Rangers! HAHA.

Make the Asian the yellow one, the African American the black one, and the redhead (or so it seems) the red one. Let the cute one be pink, and for every other color let there be a white guy. Funny how I never noticed this as a kid. :D

(Obviously, none of these pictures are mine and they belong to their respective owners. I would actually bother to go out and take them myself if they still existed. SJPD patrol car photo used with permission, from Ack Ook.)

Itsies & Bitsies

Quite a bit has been going on in the last few days of school, now in its single digits. I've been trying to cram all the things a high school student could possibly ever do before I begin a new adult life.

Tuesday, May 11th: I made a companionship with a drunk guy at a bar. With eyes glued on the TV, I was drawn to the Vancouver Canucks vs the Chicago Blackhacks hockey game when a voice from the right called out, "You from Chicahhgo?" (Notice the Chicago accent) How random was that? I tell him no and he begins chattering away his game remarks, and needless to say, we got along pretty well. We were both rooting for Chicago and wanted to see them play against the SJ sharks soon. For that moment, I got to taste the moment of how men bond with a mix of beer and sports. (LOL)


Okay, I lied, it wasn't really a full on bar, but I was really at SmokeEaters, trying out their deal of the chicken wing deal of the day. There were no seats left except the stools on the bar of the store so I sat there. So stop making me feel bad, I had no where else to sit on a crowded discount day. So the food, yes it was FANTASTIC; I'm HOOKED. I came back on Thursday for their weekly tender deal and sent my stomach and taste buds to heaven. Omnomnom. Burp.

And since I brought my camera that day, I decided to stroll around downtown and snap snap. It's my playground in America.

Looks like Las Vegas. But this was just between 2nd and 3rd streets at San Fernando.

Night lights of the historic district.

On Wednesday, May 19th, my friend Derek and I conspired to cut school and have fun. Gosh, I don't know, it's my first time. :B Okay, well it was for a reason, and that was to see the Amgen Tour of California for the last time in the Bay Area. Took lots of pretty pictures, or cool ones, I thought.

Picture of me and Derek.

So after we took this picture, a man asked me to do the same with his much more expensive camera. He said, "Don't drop it, or I'll smack you." Oh, you Americans. (He was obviously joking.)

Jons Voigt, the famous professional German cyclist.

YES, my picture of Lance Armstrong! It was definitely hard shot with people's hands and heads in the way.

Start gun fired at 11 AM.

Picture with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. Man, this guy's cool.

Picture with Chuck Reed wasn't easy either. After shouting at the Mayor asking for a picture and he agreed, I had to jump a crowd control fence past stage security and was yelled at. Whatever, I didn't care, neither did the mayor. Well, mostly because the guard's English was masked by an thick accent making it unintelligible. So we snapped in right front of the guard to get him out of the picture (not the yellow guy on the right). Shut up, jeez.

So that's that.

And now here I am. 7 school days left, ready to go.
I am thankful for another mom from halfway across the world who wakes up at 4 AM to reply to my emails. A mom who, with just keyboard strokes and nothing more than ordered characters, still manages to be able to send her uplifting emotions by intangible means. Like magically sending smiles.

I am grateful for everything this year and much, much, more grateful for those who have taken their time to care and to love. Friends and family. I love them all, with all my heart.

Graduation's going to be a bitch for me.