Mmmm...donuts....

Today has been such a wonderful day! There was a holiday in Japan, so I slept in 'till, well, late :) Then I headed over to Mr. Donuts for my hard earned Pon de Lion pillow!! It's taken me a while to rack up enough points, and I think I've gained at least 10 pounds, but I really wanted it!
So I ate donuts and drank coffee, went shopping, redecorated a little with new pictures and cherry blossoms, and went for a walk around the castle. The weather couldn't have been better, and I saw one lonely little cherry blossom blooming. Hopefully the trees will bloom while my mom is visiting in the next few weeks.

More Amusing Signs

Here are some more signs I found amusing:

Japan’s version of fast food. They have vending machines for everything! Even “A Law Egg” and a “Mini Sarad.”



And you thought movies were expensive in the US – check out Hong Kong!



Ok, this one might be stretching the funny limit.






By the way, my hearrt didn’t connect with anything on that strreet. Maybe durring my next trrip to Kobe.



Just when you thought it was safe to go shopping in Hong Kong…






Wow, and I thought she couldn’t look any stupider than just being in the starfish costume.









And this one’s not even a hair salon.








Dust and trash are not synonyms!!!!! Stupid dust bin. Now everything, including a large cardboard box is “dust.” So I guess my closet is just dusty and not full of crap.








Can you guess what “Sunnykeeper” is for? Salt to de-ice the sidewalks of course! I bet you already knew that.

What Easter Candy Are You?

If you are bored, take a short quiz!
I was hoping I'd be a chocolate bunny or a peep, but jelly beans are good too!

You Are Jelly Beans

For you, Easter is all about fun and sweet treats. None of that Jesus dying on a cross stuff!

What Easter Candy Are You?

I found this one too!

Your Leprechaun Name Is:

Wee Greentoes

What's Your Leprechaun Name?

Meiwa Graduation

On Monday, I saw my first graduation ceremony here in Japan. It was at Meiwa, the biggest Jr. High School in Wakayama City, with about 230 kids from 7th-9th grades. In Japan, students are only required to complete through Jr. High, so they have the option to work after graduation – at age 15! Most, chose to go to high school and college. At one school, there was one student going to work for her family, and at this school I think about 5 are not going to high school.
The ceremony was similar to ones in the US with many speeches, parents (mostly mothers) there to watch and take pictures, and crying students who are leaving their friends. The whole ceremony itself was eerily quiet. No cheers and clapping when the students named were called. I think the whole auditorium looked at me when my camera beeped. At least I remembered to turn off the flash! We had to bow about a million times and there were many songs. The students singing and in the band were all very good, amazing in fact. I realized that we don’t sing much in Ca. Probably too much of a hassle to force the kids to do it. Many people here don’t realize that the kids in the US are required to go to high school, and they also think that right after graduation, we head straight to prom. I guess they see it in movies or something.
After all the 9th graders walk in, bow, and sit the homeroom teacher calls out their names, then one student goes up to the stage and the Principal hands them their diplomas/certificates. I took a short video, but I’m not sure if I can put it up on the blog.
After the ceremony, the last thing we did was make a walkway, and the students walked through as we clapped saying goodbye. Then they were free!
The 9th grade teachers each got a bouquet of flowers, and all the teachers (even me!) got a smaller bouquet of flowers too. They are beautiful! Then we were treated to a “special lunch” which was very beautifully presented and not quite the foods I would have chosen. I ate most of it, but luckily there were lots of leaves and garnishes to hide the things I didn’t want to eat under. I wasn’t brave enough to, but I saw another teacher twist out and eat the snail thing. My eyes were as big as saucers.
So today is pretty quiet with all the 9th graders gone. Most of my classes were cancelled, so next week I only will teach on Monday. I’d like to take vacation, but I guess I’ll just show up and practice sleeping with my eyes open.

Hong Kong part two

The next day I decided to go to one of the smaller islands and look around. I chose Cheung Chau because it said there were some ancient rock carvings. Well, the rock carvings were actually just one rock and one carving, but the island was nice to walk around anyway. There were some nice beaches and it was certainly very peaceful. Then I went to Aberdeen to see the giant floating “Jumbo” Chinese restaurant. It was really dirty and unsafe looking, so I didn’t go on it. Then I went to another shopping and dining district, and after went to the harbor to watch the “Guinness World Record Winning” light show. I would liken it to someone with a synthesizer, a flashlight, and a laser pointer. Not really impressed.
For my last full day, I decided to take a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. It is very small compared to the one in California. But they had Space Mountain so I was happy. There were no crowds, so I practically walked onto each ride. I also saw some shows, which I usually don’t have time for. I lucked out and caught the tail end of the Chinese New Year’s celebration. The Disney characters were all dressed in Chinese outfits and they had a special show with lion dancers. Then I stayed to watch the fireworks show. That night I stayed at the Disney Hollywood Hotel. It was beautiful! After staying at that hostel for 3 nights, I relished the space, big bed with down pillows, and hot water. The grounds were also really nice to wander around in after a big buffet dinner. I wish I could have slept in, but I had a plane to catch bright and early the next morning.
Overall, I liked many things about Hong Kong. The food was wonderful and very diverse. Transportation was very easy and convenient. At the beginning of my trip I got an Octopus card that worked on the buses, subways, and even ferries between the islands. The shopping and dining areas were great and quite beautiful. Almost everyone speaks English, so it was easy to communicate, and most of the people were friendly and helpful. Some things I didn’t like were the crowds of people, the feeling of being in TJ with people coming at you from all sides pulling on you and pleading with you to buy things. About half the places I saw were really clean, and the other half were really dirty. My hostel room was pretty clean, but the building and halls it was in were atrocious. Next time I would like to see more cultural things like temples and Buddha’s.
It was certainly a great experience for me. I am glad I went, and even though traveling can be a little scary to travel alone, I still love seeing new places and experiencing new things.

Hong Kong

I’m tired! I just arrived home from Hong Kong yesterday. Overall the trip was pretty good. If I were to go again, I know what I would do differently. The hostel I stayed at was in a pretty bad part of town, but it was cheap and near some shopping districts, so it was ok. The hostel owner was helpful and gave me good directions to places I wanted to go. They also had a cute little chubby Chihuahua that was very friendly and never barked. The room was big enough for the bed, and the bathroom was a combined toilet room and shower with a plastic hood over the toilet paper so it wouldn’t get wet. There were a few ants, and I was warned not to drink the water, but I survived.
There are three main islands, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and Lantau. Most of the time I was on Hong Kong Island and next time that is where I would stay. Kowloon has cheap shopping districts, and Lantau has the airport and Disneyland.
There is a lot of shopping in Hong Kong (I even found pants that fit me!). Some areas are the ones where you bargain for cheap copy goods, and others are expensive high-end malls. Both were fun to wander through.
A few interesting things, when you enter Hong Kong, you get your temperature taken with a heat sensor. Then at Disneyland, they took my fingerprint.
On my first day I went to “The Peak.” It is a point at the top of a mountain that looks down on the city. You ride up on a tram at a very steep angle. I happened to go on a hazy day, but the view was nice anyway. There is a small shopping mall up there too where I bought a of couple books. Then I took a bus (almost all the buses are double deckers) to the other side of Hong Kong Island to visit Stanley Market. I had a nice lunch at an Indian restaurant and did some shopping. After that I went back to the downtown area, did more shopping, and saw “Letters From Iwo Jima.” The movie theater was an AMC Theater and was probably the nicest one I’ve ever seen. I am glad I finally got to see the movie too. I also visited a place called The Western Market, which was pretty boring. I went through the first 2 floors, and decided to head up to the third floor which was a bit dark, but there was music, so I wanted to check it out. As I was riding up the escalator, I realized I was intruding on a wedding reception. The escalator went right into the middle of the dance floor. I looked back but couldn’t turn around and go down, so I arrived between some couples and I tried to hurry off the dance floor, but I couldn’t find the exit right away, Very embarrassing.
I have included pictures of some food I ate, a few buildings, inside a bank, and views of the Peak.
More on day two later.