Sunshine and Rainbows- Hawaiian Summer 2011

First trip ever to Hawaii-- went with friends to Oahu last summer.
1st destination: Hanauma Bay

Went snorkeling- I kept breathing in water through the snorkel tube so I gave up after a while. Really windy and strong tides that day. Friends had near-death experience from swimming out to far.
#2 Diamond Head Trail: hiked up along the mountains, great view. Lots of stairs near the top, but overall wasn't a super strenuous hike.

Fairly easy hike and amazing view at the top? That I like :)




Strolling along Waikiki at night- the sunset was beautiful~


















Next day, we went to the botanical garden. I didn't expect it to be amazing, but it turned out to be one of my favorite places in the whole trip. There were so many interesting tropical plants I haven't seen before, and the garden was huge! At the parking lot, we saw massive mountains in the distance covered with a heavy layer of white fog. Quite a beautiful scene. I'm a sucker for big trees and natural places like this :)
It was so quiet and peaceful here..























Waikiki beach at night~ so many ABC stores (convenience store) around Waikiki! There was
always at least 1 on every block..

Went to the Paradise Cove luau to be touristy- Loved the fire show at the end, but everything else was just alright.
It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, but the food wasn't that amazing.



For some real Hawaiian food, go to Ono's Hawaiian Food....

Real Hawaiian food is incredible! (I need more positive adjectives to describe delicious food)
I really liked the baked taro leaf and pork (that green thing in the picture). I tried poi (purple stuff you dip things in- made from taro) for the first time and it was really good.
So many different flavors were playing in my mouth~
There was a lot of food though...it was kind of hard to finish even though we loved the food so much.

We also discovered a food truck somewhere in Waikiki..it didn't really have a specific name, but the steak, shrimp, rice..everything..! It was heaven on a plate. Food trucks are the way to go.

Got to go to Turtle Beach, where we saw a sea turtle very up close!












I forgot to mention that it felt a bit like I was back in Japan when I walked around Waikiki. So many Japanese people..and Japanese stores!


And a torii?!
It's like a mini Japan!

This was a torii Hiroshima gave to Honolulu.

So Hawaii really is how I thought it would be.. Beautiful sunny blue skies, so many rainbows, lot of Japanese people/things, slow and relaxing atmosphere, gorgeous beaches, sea turtles....
I have to live here someday!!

Cons: People here CAN'T DRIVE. Damn. and cockroaches in the summer...

Wrapping up- precious memories of a time abroad

Must finish this overdue blogging on Japan!

A week or two before leaving Japan:

Went to Tokyo again for the second time- got sick for a whole day (heat stroke?) so didn't get a chance to explore Akihabara, but the next day we went to Harajuku and Shibuya. Takeshita Street was so fun and playful!

Went to Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka- wish we had summer festivals here in the states :'(

Met up with Japanese friends as much as I could up to the day I left...ate and played as much as I could!


Some of the many things I will miss:
<-- Okonomiyaki from "Fuugetsu" in Osaka <3
Pretty much all the food in Osaka!!

Living by myself in the awesome weekly mansion in the heart of downtown Kyoto. Lovely view from my balcony.


Biking down Kamogawa, lined with sakura in the spring, lush green trees in the summer~




Gion and Kamogawa- provided a glimpse of traditional Japan. So beautiful--
Too many good drunken times (and sober!) at the lovely Kamogawa <3







I miss you, beautiful Japan! Too many great memories, met so many good people.. また行きます、きっと！

The Spirit of Okinawa: July 17-20, 2010

Alright, 2 years behind in updating awesome times abroad in Japan, but I will finish this before my trip next week!

I can't end my Japan blogging without talking about bright and colorful Okinawa.

This island definitely had a different feel from Kyoto. Weather was hotter/muggier, the overall pace was slower, people were very chill.. and the food-- Not super healthy tiny little portions like everywhere else in Japan, but actually tummy-filling yummy food.One of the first things we saw when we hopped off the plane in Naha was Okinawa's mascot, the Shisa (some sort of lion/dog). Looks rather Chinese to me. First thing we ate in Okinawa-- Blue Seal ice cream. I had the sugar cane and Okinawan salt cookie flavors. Ube (purple yam) was also really good, but once out of the airport, everything started melting like crazy.

On the monorail from Naha airport to downtown- What's up with the Hawaiian shirts?







It was a rather gloomy, overcast late afternoon/evening when we landed, and as we walked around looking for our hostel, we noticed that the streets looked rather like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie..

But! Naha's popular street, Kokusai Doori, was teemed with life. Lots of people walking around, lots of bright lights and colors, souvenir shops..
We tried taco rice for the first time, which was one of the popular dishes in Okinawa. The name is self-explanatory-- it's stuff you put in a taco. Over rice. Kind of like a Mexican-Asian fusion? But damn! It was good. Really good.
The next day, we woke early to take a bus tour to famous sites around the island. The city seems to look better during the day.
One of our first stops- a famous historical site. Forgot the name, unfortunately, but beautiful nonetheless.







There were a couple of other stops, but the one I really looked forward to was the Churaumi Aquarium, supposedly the world's 2nd largest aquarium (the first being Georgia. Is that true?!)
But my god, it was absolutely breathtaking!

Our last stop was a pineapple plantation, which I will not elaborate on. It was mainly a tourist trap..Lots of pineapple flavored food and drink. At night we had Okinawan soba (can't find the picture), which tasted kind of like thick ramen. The chashu was pretty good! I still prefer normal soba though.

On the 3rd day, we went scuba diving here. The instructor gave us a quick lesson at their scuba center on scuba basics, and then off we went to dive into the sea...
Kind of scary since we didn't get much prep, but such an incredible experience. Another thing off the bucket list :)
After that, we got dropped off at another beach, which we later found out was nothing compared to the other beaches we could have gone to, but we still had a good time swimming and tanning.

Took the taxi to American Village---felt just like home!




Had a real burger there, none of that fake healthy Mos Burger stuff (no offense to Mos Burger fans), root beer, boba (their Quickly's sucks though).. Nice to see some familiar things, but I came to Japan for Japan, so this was nothing special.

So many cities have a ferris wheel..

Fourth and final day- one last stroll down Kokusai Doori to buy some more souvenirs. I got insanely addicted to chinsuko (traditional biscuit..sweet and salty) after this trip, which meant that I pretty much ate all the souvenirs I got... Luckily, a friend found a store in Kyoto that sold chinsuko, so I had something to bring back home (and more to eat!! >:D)
Also, finally ate a popular Okinawan dish- champon! So. fucking.good.
Had to skip couple days of school for this trip, but totally worth it. Should have skipped more.
Hopefully next time I will get to go to another part of Okinawa, perhaps the more rural part!

Hiroshima Day 1 - 6.5.10

I took the yakou bus with a bunch of girl friends to Hiroshima for the weekend since there was a festival at that time. Every city I've been to has a very different feel.. It's kind of hard to describe the sense of peace I got when I was in Hiroshima. Somehow I feel like time stopped there and everything is very still that morning we arrived.



We took a boat to Miyajima to see the Floating Tori (gotta see the Floating Tori!), which was a very touristy place but well worth the visit.
The island is just gorgeous! It was a great day to visit the place..sunny blue skies. Let's get a closer shot:
One of the must-see places in Japan!


After lunch, we went to see some of the temples there, which were thickly encompassed by trees. Lots of greenery, lots of blue skies and fresh air.


Too many photos for this trip! Long story short, we took the cable car up a really high mountain, hiked the rest of the way up, and saw the amazing blue.
Then some of us were frugal and decided to hike down rather than take the cable car down. Took 2 long, painful hours. My feet died.

Let us not forget about the food! Some of the famous foods: oyster over fried rice cake, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (has soba noodles)..YUUUM

At night we walked around the festival, but to me it was like other summer festivals..lots of little food/game booths, many people in yukata, more food.. Very fun, action-packed day though :)

6.3 Umeda Sky Building

OSAKA UMEDA SKY BUILDING

40-story building, fancy dim-lit lounge areas, 360 degree breathtaking outdoor view on the top. Definitely a stunning night view of Osaka, but I realized too late that it was an ideal spot for couples, as that was all I saw.