Somewhere in this world...

Long time no see :) haha. Here's a little update from the last month new year trip :) Happy day!

This is my new year's Japanese traditional meal called "Osechi". My mother and I prepared this. It took a lot of time to prepare this including dumping LIVE pranws in boiling water. But it was a good meal. Many say this traditional meal "Osechi" doesn't taste good but my mother's motto is to make it better. So we change the tradition a little to make it better and it was worth it :) In addition to this, we had my favorite champagne, Billecart Salmon. It was a good first day. How was your first day in year 2010?

• I think I blogged less for the last two years. But since I upgraded the platform and found an easier way to create a slide show, I don't have a good excuse to leave this site without updates :) haha. I will see.
• There are many foriegn tourists lately and I usually get asked by them for directions. When I was walking to get a cup of coffee after the new year's meal with my family, one couple approached me and asked "Do you know the best sushi restaurant around here??" Many restaurants/shops are closed on New Year's day but I gave them a direction to one hotel with a good sushi restaurant. Honestly, when the market is closed, it's not a good time to have Sushi because it's not fresh. Bad times (New Year's holidays and Mid-August "Obon" holiday)
• I think I finished packing. Yay! I am going on vacation from tomorrow. And I packed a lot of stuff for souvenirs this time!
• This year's resolution for me is to climb the tallest mountain in Japan. Mt. Fuji (the 5th slide)!

Okay, for the long flight tomorrow, I should go to bed and sleep :) Here is to your wonderful year 2010!! Thanks for visiting! bye!

• Did you know the first Christmas celebrated ever in Japan was in 1552..long before pilgrims celebrating their first Christmas in the New world? Three years after the Jesuit missionaries came to Japan, the first Christmas mass was held in Yamaguchi, Japan (where my main family is from).
• Do you know why Santa's Coat is red? It's because Coca-cola did the massive campaign and colored the coat with their corporate image color, red. :)
• I still don't understand why there is a long line in KFC in Tokyo on Christmas eve. However, they do have "Christmas package" that comes with a little Christmassy gift.
• I am going to midnight mass tonight even though I will be so tired... I sometimes curse the fact I was raised as half Catholic in the country where Christmas is not observed as a holiday....

Happy Holidays, everyone!

It was a different trip and I want to go back there again next year as well! Happy Weekend!

I had wanted to come here for a long time but could not because there were things. Anyway, this is not the first time to be here in this country for me because I have come to this country several times for business. However, my work strictly prohibits going out and the policy tells me to stick with the hotel food, I was not exposed to the local culture during the biz trip. However, right now, I am on my own. I deal with local people. I am not sure if I can explain this right in English since my English is bad (and, yes, I still use this "I have not used English on a daily basis" card) Anyway, I got here to my dream vacation destination this afternoon and I am enjoying it. The weather is beautiful and my driver is very friendly and nice. The hotel staff treats me nicely with the usual nice Asian attentive services. But this country is still on the difficult side in the world. Whenever I am about to buy a bottle of water in front of the touristy spot, many, i mean more than ten different street vendors, try to get my attention. It was like selling a $1 water bottle is the life and death competition. There is a child free clinic and in front of it, I saw more than 500 people in line to wait for their turns. (Will they all get the necessary medical attention by the end of today?). Children try to get tourists' attention to get them buy some things. On the other hand, in the same place, in the same city, I am typing this on a newly bought mini computer in the huge spacious suite room at this 5 star hotel. I am a tourist so I enjoy good food and nice safe water in the same city while there are people who are not lucky enough to get everything they need. I have mix feelings about this. Do I feel guilty? hmm.. maybe. maybe not.... However, one thing I can clearly say here is that it totally made me realize that I was missing how great my life was even though I seem to complain about things from time to time. It did not even cross my mind that I should appreciate what I have and what I can get. I thought that was normal until very this afternoon. Yes, I sometimes think something like that when I watch a documentary for Africa or something on TV but this is me witnessing the real things with my naked eyes. I am thankful I can enjoy my vacation like this and I should appreciate it more. However, I am not going to think about this all day long during my visit. I will not think they are unfortunate, either. That would be too cheap for me to be pity like that. I still see smile on their faces. :) I will enjoy my vacation here in this city. And I will upload my photos when I return. (the internet and cell phone systems are unstable here...) anyway, I hope what I wanted to mention came out right. Yes, this vacation is more than what I expected. in different ways :) anyway... Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Happy Hump Day!

This is from last Sunday after the previous video I posted earlier this week. I know it's nothing special but I thought showing a boring driving thingy in Japan can be actually something you don't see everyday. so here it is.
Happy Weekend!

OH MY. I sound awful but I took this as I thought it would be interesting for those people who are driving on the "other" side. Anyway, I got up very early and I am now tired but as I always like driving in my favorite city, I hope you can get some "feeling" about it. Yes, the narrator is awful but you should put up with him!
Happy New Week!

As you can tell, I was bored and finished my second batch so I did this. :) Although my condition is not as serious so it's totally manageable. All I can say is be aware if you have to travel to severe air polluted cities!
Happy Bojolais! Though it will have to wait until I finish work today! Good night!

I know I've been saying my favorite city on this planet is always Tokyo and I don't think this will change. There are so many things I like about this city. However, just like Plato said, there is no perfect ideal stuff. There are some things I do not like about Tokyo.

1. This should actually be true in any city in Japan but lots of people do not let the emergency vehicle come through and walk in front of it or drive.
2. Many walk abreast slowly.
3. Conditioned air in the building or any train is usually ridiculously warm and stiffy.
4. Many give me the dirty look when holding a hand with a guy. (Not currently as I am single but back then when I was attached.)
5. I don't like the voice signals on those trucks saying "Turning left. Turning left. Turning left" Shut the fudge up!
6. The international airport is very far. (almost 2 hours from my place to the airport. However, this will change as the domestic airport in the city will have slots for international flights next year :)

However, even with these, my favorite city on this planet is still Tokyo. If you haven't been here, you should come over here to see how great this city really is. :) Have a great weekend!