Trips around town: English Camp, Fancy Lunch, and Jazz...

So, all of these next three excursions happened within city limits. Let's move through the pictures, shall we?

First was our ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) volunteer English camp. We volunteered and worked for three days during what was otherwise holiday time for the kids to teach them English for 2 and a half days, with fun filled skits and activities. To the right are some of the kids with fellow ALTs interacting in English conversation; it was challenging, but rewarding, to see kids of all levels interacting (or, in more often than not, attempting to interact) with us in English. The kids ranged in age from elementary to early high school. Below are pictures of the much more interesting parts: making chikuwa, or ground fish patties, and cutting wide swaths of bamboo to cook rice inside of them (that was truly delicious!! its like pizza in a wood oven, baby... just, um, with rice instead of pizza...) Finally, me and the girls in my skit posing with King of Banana. our skit was about things that you should buy (in this case, a banana.) we all used some props that i brought to explain who likes bananas and why you should buy one. it was pretty interesting... even included the fact that people in Finland AND Hawaii eat bananas! (see, we're not so different after all... haha...) and of course, gratuitious pictures of the beautiful, serene mountain landscape... it was on the outskirts of town, after all!























































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Next journey, also on the outskirts of town towards the mountains (and right near a temple on the 88 pilgrimage, Yokomine-ji) was to a ryokan, or traveler's inn, for lunch. Often ryokan, traditional lodgings, here will serve their homecooked meals either for their guests or often just for visitors who just come to eat. We were the latter group; my fellow Japanese teachers at my base school and I all went out for a 4 course meal at this quaint little cabin like inn in the mountains. It even included a hot tub that looked out over a beautiful lake below (you can catch a glimpse of the view here, the hot tub is under the roof and you are supposed to bathe there naked.) So we entered the main hall of the restaurant/ inn and looked around, finally being brought into our totally private old style Japanese style room (complete with straw mats and sliding doors, of course!)
We sat down to our meal in the Saijo-style Cracker Barrel (except with fresh ingredients!) for lunch and were treated to pickled veggies, soup, tofu, and of course, noodles (yum!) and sashimi.. some pretty fresh sashimi too! hooray for yummy sliced raw fish from the Seto Inland Sea nearby! (the pot on the left side is our noodles boiling above an actual fire in an iron pot. and it was soo delicious!) After the meal I took a look about the inn, it was an interesting mix of rustic and streamlined design, I especially liked the ambience of the room with these interesting light fixtures! The inn from the outside was pretty
welcoming, I gotta admit. I had no idea a place like this was within my
city limits!























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Finally was a jazz concert at the dessert cafe Apple Pie (it does have some bangin' apple pie!) roughly a ten minute walk from my house. Although we had met the owner, or master, of the cafe and he told us he played bass in a jazz outfit, I wasn't quite expecting the rockin' time I got with this crew! They played what I can only conjecture were jazz standards, as the only other times I've listened to jazz has been unwillingly while hostessing brunches at the Light Horse in Jersey City. However, they really got into it and had such passion for all of it--it started with just the sax and the piano, then branched out to the Master (owner) on bass and the pianist and saxist, then the drummer joined in--he was my favorite, man, his solos were so fresh! Enjoy--and sorry, I didn't take any videos, you'll have to take my word for it ;).

Osaka Field Trip

April 17-18:
location, Osaka
(A is where I got my tattoo =)






Arrived on a Saturday morning in Osaka, and first it was off to Cafe du Monde in Osaka as usual, and then straight to Namba with me! The weather was beautiful, and I walked across the canal at Namba in Osaka and was surrounded by the surreal architecture of the FM Osaka building and nearby canal-crossing pedestrian footbridge. The sun was shining, and it was off to consult with the guys at Three Tides Tattoo in Minami Hori-E about my new ink. They showed me the prototype, and we made some alterations and from there got a price and time approximation hammered out. Then from there I had a nice picnic in the park, where I was surrounded with the surreal cherry blossoms in Osaka, perfect time to be there! Finally after lunch was some shopping, including at an incredible gallery cum art space called The Art House near the park where I had lunch, and there I picked up many adorable postcards, including this one of a girl wistfully drawing the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island saying in Japanese 'Man, I wanna go to Coney Island...' well, how can I NOT pick that one up! Along with that amazing postcard, came these other 2 very diverse looks, from a series about contemporary Asian artists. (hooray for curating postcards! Gotta start somewhere!) Tell me which one(s) you like!

(this last one is an artists rendering of Osaka)




















From there I went and checked into my capsule hotel (how cool did the tiny space-age capsules look! amazing. you could even control if you wanted to watch miniature TV or put on a radio station!) Then from there it was time to go grab some dinner and then I wound up listening to Japanese Billy Joel out on the waterfront at Namba's Ebisu bridge, the Times Square of Osaka.

Next morning, it was sleep in and get ready for the day! Did some vintage home shopping and popped back over to the park for a snack and got to witness the Osaka Police Band, right at the end of their act! (These are the gentlemen and Ladies exiting in formation from their performance.)







Next, it was an afternoon (well, really about 2 hours) of, hm, extreme discomfort for this lovely beaut to be added to my upper back.












Then, I ran back to an art gallery where I had met an artist earlier with his pet dinosaur (he created this creature out of aluminum foil, including several other creatures on the floor that all made noise when plugged into amps. He also created this kitty, seen here on my purse.)















The gallery was called Oso Blanco, and along with Art House became my new favorite place to frequent in Hori-E! There at 6 pm was where I saw this lovely Butoh dance performer react and dance to the moving, clicking aluminum sculptures around her. (Butoh is a form of modern dance unique to Japan that emphasizes how the body moves and reacts to certain sounds and situations spontaneously. Also this woman doing the dancing seemed legit crazy, she was from Kyoto. I loved it. Definitely not for kids.) These are some shots of her performace.




Well, I didn't take too many photos because the entire trip was full of experiences interacting with many of the young (and older) Osakans I came into contact with; in fact it served as more of a field trip for me and less of a photo opp. But definitely a memorable trip!

Night Cherry Blossoms vs. Day Cherry Blossoms

location: my town, Saijo
So, I went on 4 separate cherry viewing trips, but I'm just gonna talk about 2 of them here.
First was the night viewing with friends out in Tambara, on the outskirts of town. We pulled up to a nicely lit riverbank complete with food stalls and sprawling night lit cherry blossom trees and all sat down to drinks and snacks, and just chattin about whatever. It was a nice night of comradery and cool breezes by the river.


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Next was my day party with Jennifer a couple of my Japanese friends, Rie and Tako, and a couple of the other JETs in my area. My friend Rie made this delicious looking sushi cake! Thats right, rice krispies on top, rice and sushi in the middle. Yum! We all hung out under the cherry trees by a small creek under the bright sunshine. Usually, cherry blossom viewing is seen as a way to socialize with your friends and enjoy the beautiful marker of spring season, cherry blossoms (the blossoms themselves only last for about 10-14 days,
depending on the weather...) so, we all hung out, Jennifer and I wound up explaining the Thong Song to Rie and Tako (haha...loong story!) and then the others showed up and we all goofed off and ate this delicious feast. I hope these pictures do justice to the beautiful blossoms of my town!

Thailand, pt.3: A Revolutionary day!

Chumpon up to Bangkok, by bus/train
Bangkok

so, boarded the ferry to go back from Koh Tao back to the mainland; specifically, the town of Chumpon. While on the ferry, approaching the shore, i realized we should be outside on the bow enjoyin the evening breeze and the setting sun--but it turned out we enjoyed a lot more than that, as we ran into a ska band that had played the previous evening on Koh Tao and was headed back as well, enjoying the evening sun with beer and cigarettes and the appropriate ukelele. so, after playing one of their songs--they got the whole front deck to sing along!--it was 'sell out' by reel big fish, a crowd favorite! (if by crowd you actually mean me; i wouldve preferred 'beer', which would have been more appropriate considering me and cookie went and bought them all beers, but hell ill take any RBF song to be honest with ya!) then i asked them if they liked other ska bands, like dropkick murphys or streetlight..being true ska musicians, of course they were fans! i was pretty stoked...we even got a cd for free (considered it fair trade for the 30 bucks' worth of beer! ;P) well, all good things must come to an end, and we eventually got kicked off the front end of the boat for causing a disturbance--and cuz we were almost to shore. probably the only time ive ever been kicked off a part of a boat and banished to another part. (oh, what rebels!)
so then we arrived at the pier
...
except it was really about a 250 foot long rickety ass pier made out of driftwood..no kidding when we really reached the beach the people getting off the boat looked like ants!
well, then it was on board the bus to Chumpon in order to get on our train to Bangkok..except me and Cookie got put on the immigrant bus, basically, and got to the train station way before everyone (their bus broke down.. nanny nanny boo boo! haha nah im just glad everyone made it OK) and so we went and grabbed cold coffee from the cafe across the street (where the shopgirls were watching true blood in thai subtitles! interestin...) saw a blinged out ghetto sports car, and got to eat some crepes, fried rice, and other thai street food for dinner. Finally, they showed up and we went to wait for the train... and the Oriental Express, complete with butlers and waiters clad in tuxedos in the chandelier-hung dining car, showed up (!) classiest thing I've ever seen on tracks! Finally our, um, not so classy train showed up, and we bunked up and tucked in for the night...
...aboard the demon train, which seeemed at times to fly over the tracks more than, um, ride them. Cookie poked his head up in the morning like...'so was that the scariest train ride you've ever been on?' and i was like 'um yeah i was thinking the same thing thanks' haha. oh, boy.
then it was arriving at the station, and everyone splitting to go their own separate ways, all sleepy-eyed and half awake. our separate way just happened to be *clears throat* the Grand Hyatt Erawan, in the shopping and business hub of Bangkok's Central Square area (which has been since taken over by the red shirt revolutionaries calling for a repeal to the current government. bit of a messy situation!) but, at the time it was still live and bustling... we pulled up and got checked in in the lovely spacious chandelier heavy, poshly decorated and spacious lobby (hey, it's the nicest place I've ever stayed let me get a little excited about it!) and then went up to our room with a view over the city on the 24th floor, hallways dripping with contemporary artworks by Thai artists (whoever curated these walls gets my stamp of approval!) then it was a short nap and setting out on our day trek across the city! It got started on a good note, as neighboring Erawan Shrine, for which the hotel is named, was playing host to a party of religious dancers doing a worship dance in full costume. Very graceful and dripping with golden ornaments, and the headresses! Those things must be heavy... then it was off to the monorail like train system that runs through central, business Bangkok... up to the Victory Monument, another huge roundabout just like the Democracy monument, then a hot, sunny walk over to near the current King's Palace, and although you could only see the tops of buildings from outside the palace walls, we got to take pictures with some cute mural animals near the zoo and encountered lots of troops resting and preparing for the ever greater swarms of protestors that kept infiltrating different key areas of the city trying to cripple the government (we walked along the road with all the major government buildings--the Dusit Throne Hall, which we wanted to see, was closed because of all the commotion going on, they were serious about keeping things on lock!) so then it was back to meet up with Matti, my friend Nancy Marie from college, who is currently in the Peace Corps north of Bangkok teaching English. she showed us around the major shopping centres, and we even got to spy on how new Audis and Porsches on the 4th floor (!) of the shopping complex. Pretty snazzy! Then it was back to the hotel to primp and prep for our wonderful evening dinner on a rooftop restuarant near the river. And. although we left an hour earlier than intended, it turned out being just the right time, as it took us almost an hour to go what amounted to less than 10 miles by taxi. Oh, Bangkok traffic! The protests didn't help, of course, but on that note our taxi driver was more than happy to share his opinion: 'the guy in power now is driving us out business-the taxes have become so high I can't afford to be a taxi driver anymore and have to move back home. thaksin was a much better man to have in power, thats why i'm a red shirt. he at least kept things reasonable.' he made being a red shirt sound so rational, it's hard to reconcile his mild mannered comments and recollections of his kids and family back home with the violent attitudes and extremism that is being repressed by the government now in Thailand. Interesting bit of civics for me, that day. Finally we arrived at Sirocco's, the rooftop restuarant on the, ahem, 64th floor of a hotel near the river, complete with nearby Sky Bar. We were all dressed up, and the walk down a curved staircase to the restaurant overlooking the entire city made you feel like royalty! It was simply incredible, the food, the wine, everything. The service was impeccable, unlike anything I've ever encountered, and the food was pretty good as well! We spent 2 hours just dining, talking and enjoying the view, eventually after dinner sidling over to the Sky bar to get a better view towards the river. Time was winding down, however--we had to make it back to the Hyatt in order to savor an experience at the basement floor cigar bar. And enjoy we did, a Macanudo and single-malt scotch whiskey each (i did the Glenlivet, myself) later, it was reveling-in-the-glories-of-our-trip heaven. We were on top of the world!




Well, that was the end of our trip.. the next morning was our flights back to Japan, then off to our own respective countries *tear!* Can't wait to go back to Thailand, but hopefully the country will calm down and recover from the violence and turmoil it's experiencing right now. I echo the words of a Bangkok resident when I say 'Thailand is the land of smiles, and I can't wait for all the turmoil to subside so people can go back to being their happy, laid-back selves.'

Thailand, pt. 2: The Islands to the East

Days 5-8: Koh Samui through to Koh Tao (Koh Tao is the tiny white island in the very middle.) So, first was our ferry ride out to Koh Samui, the Seaside Heights of the Thailand Gulf (eastern side of Thailand, opposite from Phuket.) We hung out on the ferry, playing cards--I even won a grandpa-aged Thai admirer, and offer of beer from said grandpa (no thanks gramps, says I!) Arrived on the island, checked into the hotel and wandered off onto the beach--the glorious beach! Ahh, aside from the European men in mankinis, the beach was perfect--placid waters, transparent and warm, with nice soft sand. Actually, it was perfect--but definitely not my favorite beach, I prefer waves, and this beach was wayy too calm for my tastes, although very, very beautiful! and right down the beach was a chill beachside snack bar where we could get pizza, fruit shakes, and enjoy the beautiful weather!
So, then it was back to decide our plans for the night over dinner--and decide we did! It was over to the main 'shopping road' of the island--complete with starbucks and gaudy same T-shirt stores everywhere (with a few higher end items off on side streets!)--and souvenir shopping. Luckily Dana stuck by me while I deliberated over exactly the right gifts for others--oh, and tropical clothes for myself!--and we made it to the bar to hang out with the group, then on to a dance club. dance clubs are so fun, even sober! the music was good, we did a 'dance off' with everyone, and even wound up dancing on stage! What a long--not to mention awesome--night. Next day it was sleeping in and enjoying breakfast before our ferry ride out to Turtle Island--Koh Tao, the farthest in away in the Koh Samui archipelago, and supposedly tiny. And it did turn out to be small, but it's not THAT Small--probably about the length of Houma from Evergreen to Hollywood Rd., the downtown area of Greenville from the river over to the Shipley's road, and Manhattan from South St. Seaport up to Houston St. (hope that helps everyone!) So we were waiting for the ferry, not letting ourselves get bored, me and Dana decided to play a little game of melt-on-the-chessboard-not-in-your-mouth checkers with peanut m&ms (used our brains AND our taste buds!) and on the way to get the M&Ms, and provide slapstick comedy for the shop women when we hit each other with the door getting out of the dang store, we noticed a sign for the Koh Tao festival--and we were going just in time for it! How awesome! So finally board the ferry and make for Turtle Island, arriving just in time for some sightseeing, and boy, did we! First, it was to the beach yet again, and how long this beach was! And much less crowded, fortunately! The sand was just as lovely, and even in the sandy stretch near our hotel there was the smallest bit of remnants of coral reef, that was explorable borrowing our friend Thomas' goggles. So then, it was renting a bike to explore the island, and get off our resort property (um, and what a resort! The rooms and restaurant and everything was perfect.) And we did, got to see sunset from the north end of the island, and we even explored an empty construction site--erm, site of my future home, of course! Then on the way back to the resort, we ran into the festival--literally! It was as though the whole town had turned out--so out we all went to the festival, eating some street food for a good cause ...raising money to keep Koh Tao ecosystems safe! So, the theme of the festival was underwater festival, so there were all these cool decorations to make you feel like you entering an underwater grotto. But what a cool, delicious food and fun filled underwater grotto! I had some fried chicken, green curry, even learned the dance to Rocky Horror, thanks to a dive team that was entertaining for a good cause. After dinner, it was off to try our hand at the carnival games, where we came up short winning a prize but met some winning older gentleman who were gracious and, um, quite hiliarious. one of them even noticed the st. christopher medal around my neck and noted that he liked that ' i was a good catholic girl and not afraid to show it.' LOL! you say it, old dude! haha.. well, then it was off for sweets, and I enjoyed a crepe while playing peek-a-boo with a Thai toddler. Well, after a long day it was time to turn in...and wake up early the next day to go witness sunrise on the southern side of the island at the well-marked on the map John Suwann point--only, once we got our bikes up to that side of the island, the roads kept ending at--condos. Until, finally, we got to the end of one of the roads and found a promising wooden post that said "Path -->" so --> we went! And, the better part of an hour and an exhausting climb up a partially marked path later, there we were, enjoying a cloudy sunrise over the best view of the island! Nothing wrong with that, although knowing the extent of the hiking we were to endure beforehand would have been nice! And so, we enjoyed our time at the roof of the world (at least in terms of Koh Tao!) and then it was back down to bike around for our free door--after a nap, of course! So we went searching for lunch, and even found a little hidden beach down a dirt road to a 'resort', and wound up renting snorkel masks for a few bucks and exploring a beach with gorgeous (but painful! yikes!) coral reefs. I got to see the many kinds of coral in all shapes and sizes--yeah, they're all different!--and fish of all different colors and sizes, along with the waves rushing in, I had to be careful not to get water up my snorkel tube--sputter, sputter, gasp! On the other side of the beach was another reef, where among the fish I bid good day to, was a bottom dweller shark! It was kinda flat and white, and totally pre-occupied (oh, and a mere 4 ft--a baby!) so I wasn't too worried. Then it was brief beach cleaning and off to another, much smaller beach, that was uphill on another dirt road, then down through a housing tenement and even someone's house/restaurant. It was starting to get dark at that point, so we hung out near the surf and talked. Then it was back down the treacherous road and back to the resort to meet everyone for Italian food! Yum! we had great brick oven pizza, and even had some tiramisu to celebrate Dana's birthday! double yum! Then it was down the beach to go check out an oceanside lounge, where we hung out before going back to the resort and all playing cards together. Then, the next day was already time for our return, by ferry, to the mainland---sigh, end to the island adventures, and it was wayyy too soon!