Japan trip- Cute yukatas at the Hotel New Akao in Atami

The Hotel New Akao is known as resort in Japan and is famous for its hot springs and public bath house. While I didn't get a chance to enjoy the hot springs, I still enjoyed my time there.

They let men, women, and children wear yukatas, a sort of casual kimono that you can wear anywhere. The hotel provides the yukatas for guest to wear when using their hot springs. Guests aren't allowed to walk in with their clothes on, nor can they simply just walk in naked. I think that would offend people's sense of decorum. :P

I loved wearing my yukata, since it is probably the closest thing I will ever wear to a kimono. I felt so cultural.

The rooms were also like traditional Japanese rooms in that they are small (measured out by tatami mats) and multifunctional. They can be a living space and later a bedroom when the Shiki Futons are laid out.

The Shiki Futon and comforters are kept in the closet until they need to be laid out.

Next up...eating an egg that supposedly can add seven years to your life.

Mice, Skunks, and Exploding Soda Can Oh My!

Things have been pretty exciting in California. While the fire seems to be finally gone (you never know in this kind of weather!), the migration of animals to suburbia and the heat are still around.

My good ears heard little tapping feet squirming in the kitchen. Red beans doubled bagged in its original packaging and a 99 Ranch Market bag were broken into.

The mice problem should have been tipped off when we got back from Japan. Bags of peanuts, cashews, and almonds were chewed through. The remaining crumbs were intermingled with little black pellets. But the Chinese solution is to just double bag everything. No pest will work that hard to get food! Yet the dispersed beans proved that a more extreme measure had to be taken. Off to Home Depot.

Not too long after the mice problem, we were greeted with a more smelly problem. The scent of a skunk would seep into the house, most notably near my room. I've heard of skunks letting out its scent as a fear response, but...man...I could swear that this skunk was doing it to declare this house as its property. It was as if it was telling all the other animals nearby "Stay away from my territory." Turns out, one skunk had burrowed itself under the house and died. Unable to regulate when it will "fart" anymore, its scent lingers and roams freely and picks up whenever the wind blows.

And there was today. After being on the NBC lot for seven hours, I came back to my car and noticed the peacock feather I left on the passenger seat was stuck to the window on the driver's side. Glancing around, I quickly saw a deformed can. The carbonation trapped inside pushed the top of can to its breaking point. All I can say is...can of soda mixed with heat and direct sunlight do not make for a good combination.

Why I have ignored this blog...

This blog being created has been delayed in so many ways. Initially it was the fact that in a foreign country, internet access wasn't readily available. When I finally got ready to start the blog in another foreign country, I debated how to approach it. Past experiences of following people on Friendster, Xanga, and Facebook through their albums and "tagged" photos was enough for me to know that even random people would come across this blog and want to explore what happened in "Summer 2009."

But being that this is a blog, I knew all to well that it also had the power to change my future. Budding photographers post pictures, develop a so-called "word of mouth" following and end up becoming professional photographers. In other cases, the blog in of itself develops a life of its own and opens up new, unimaginable career opportunities. Julie and Julia, anyone?

With that in mind, I thought about what is it that I wanted this blog to express. Did I want this to blog to be merely about me, have a theme like traveling, or be an experiment for writing. Blog world what do you think?

Day One - Aqualine, Kamakura, Odawara Castle, and cute yukatas to wear

It looks like an apocolypse outside.

But in Japan, things are always green.

Japan's weather is probably similar to Oregon's, another "green" state. The sun only comes out 100 days a year. But even in the midst of the fog and the rain, you can feel the humidity cling to your skin.

Cultural differences still abound. While I consider Japan a more westernized country than let's say China, there were little reminders that, clearly, we weren't in the States anymore. Case in point:

Example 1

Photo by Mailin Chan

Example 2:
I have never seen claw machines with stuffed animals that just might be bigger than a person's head. They have a whole arcade at Umihotaru dedicated to this venture.

Did we leave?

The terror of swine flu, having family members become ill, and having an international trip be booked so late in the game, all seemed to be signs that we weren't supposed to leave the states. Add the latest event of our gate wing being closed and evacuated by the LAPD hits the nail on the head that this trip is predestined not to happen.

Nonetheless, we wait it out. Like sheep, we listen to the LAX employee who tells us to stay until she receives further instruction and information on what's happening. Ironically though, I find myself as well as the other passengers take this frustrating situation in stride. We sit, stand, play, go to the bathroom, etc.; we do anything to pass up the time.

And...of course we leave!!! :)

After waiting half an hour, we receive the news that LAPD had reopened the gate and let all the evacuees return. We zip on over to our terminal where we again resume sitting, standing, playing, and going to the bathroom before boarding the plane.

Two movies, three meals, and countless beverages later we land in Narita, Japan.

Gozai-Imas!

Los Angeles to Narita

After months of planning, the three week trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan was finally booked a week and half before we were to set to leave.

We packed our clothes, bought all travel gear necessities, and brought a pharmacy load of medications (after all, who knew what weather, medical ailments, and number of squatties would be encountered on this trip :P ). It's always best to be on the safe side than on the...not so safe side?

Our flight was set to leave at 12:30 PM. We checked in our luggage and passed through security easily with an hour to spare. The trip that had been difficult to plan, coordinate with everyone's schedules and book through the cheaper Chinese travel agency was finally happening.
We were actually GOING.

When we arrived to our gate wing, we noticed that airport employees were redirecting the flow of traffic and telling people to go around. No problem. With all the remodeling and upgrading at LAX, I thought we were just going a round-a-bout way to the gate. A few escalator walkways later, my sister realized something was wrong. There was no round-a-bout way to our gate. In fact, the two internationals wings at LAX never connect with each other. We quickly stopped dead in our tracks and turned around.

The airport employees were still redirecting us away. When we finally asked one of them "why," all she could say was that LAPD had shut down our gate wing. To top it all off everyone who had been in that wing had also been evacuated.

So much for us going.