Well Hello Stranger

I have gotten out of the habit of blogging.  I could say I had some great excuses. Listed below: 

Finishing 4 graduate school courses. 

Completing Wildflower Olympic Distance Triathlon for the third time. Man was it a tough course! 

Bringing in new year! Here's to 2014. 

Spent more time with my family and friends. 

Visited Disney California Adventure park.

In general I would say I am striving to appreciate what I have and think about where else I would like to go. Depending on time I might try to fill in some of the great adventures I have had along the way.

Life is a fantastic ride.

Birthday Reflections

Last year I spent my birthday alone.  I really do not recommend that.  It was not bad.  I did have to fly home on an airplane which was disappointed.  It was something that I did not want to share that day with work.  

Since this year my birthday landed on a Sunday, a month out I realized there was an open water swim on that day! Lucky me.  The only catch was they wanted all swimmers to do a 'check-out' swim.  Due to my schedule I was not able to make it.  The event organizer emailed me back after I told him my swimming history.  

My birthday involved -

Getting up at 5pm,

Driving over an hour,

Getting sharpie numbers on my hands,

Getting my cool yellow cap

Squeezing into my wet suit,

Jumping in cold water,

Swimming 2 miles, (apparently there were bat rays underneath us.. I missed them.)

-I met my goal time and placed second in my age group (29 and under)

Yes I'm bragging here is my bling! 

Wandering around the beach area with my wetsuit and a t-shirt on,

Watching the awards ceremony, 

Getting my medal!

Meeting a good friend from college

Walking 2 miles back to my car,

Changing into real clothes,

Eating a delicious lunch,

Enjoying good conversation,

Starting the drive home,

Stopping for Pinkberry, (no birthday cake because I had a work trip)

Driving home,

Napping, 

Skyping with my family, 

Opening up their presents!

It may seem weird that I didn't have a party.  I really liked the way I celebrated.  I could not have asked for a better birthday. I feel really fortunate that I got to do something I love. 

Trip To Italy!

So all my waiting and planning my trip is finally here. I am going to spend a little over two weeks in Italy!

I get to visit many cities:

Venice, Verona, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Florence, Siena, Assisi and Rome. 

My Italian is poor. I have been told eating is an Olympic sport in Italy. I also long to taste Italian wine. I have read most of "Eat, Pray, Love" (yes you can roll your eyes) as well as a few guidebooks in preparation for the journey. I am relying some what on that History of Architecture class I took during my undergrad to guide me through some of these amazing places and spaces. 

Besides see the churches and art, I hope I get to swim in the Mediterranean & eat really good Gelato.

I do plan on back filling this blog with details about each day of the trip.

 Happy reading as I get them posted. 

Ciao!

I HEART Japan

Except for Japan is really cold in the first few months of the year. 

I got to go back to Japan! Lucky me. 

Last time I went to Kyoto and it was September. Saying it was hot was an understatement.

This time I went to Yokohama. It was freezing. I almost fell on black ice. 

I got to see a completely different side of land of the rising sun. It is also crazy to think that where I live now shares that same ocean. It is also the same ocean shared by Hawaii.

Ferris Wheel near my hotel in Yokohama. I liked that it told the time.

I learned how to navigate the train system. I really miss it. I wish that the United States would invest in more reliable public transportation. However, it really makes me wonder what would happen to Japan if they lost power? 

It seemed like everyone road the train from their house, to do much of anything- shop, eat, go to work, go to school. One of the things I really like is that little- kindergarteners can ride the train alone! I can never envision that happening here.

Rather than writing a huge post on Japan. I will split up my trip into the highlights. When I have time I will fill in the blanks, with food, one weekend involved a Buddhist temple, another involved Disney, Tokyo, Shibuya to name a few places. 

 One of my authentic dinners. I had to figure out how to order this in Japanese. I'm glad I didn't end up with something unrecognizable!

Japan is a really interesting country. I after staying there longer this time. I have a greater understanding of the Japanese tourist in Waikiki. I also can appreciate the differences between the USA and Japan. Japan has a rich past and rich traditions. I hope that I am able to visit again maybe I will time in for the cherry blossoms!

SUP

Otherwise known as Stand-UP Paddle. 

I just tried it a couple of weeks ago thanks to a few friends. I had a chip on my shoulder about it because SUP guys get in the way while surfing. They have this huge big scary paddle and a giant board. Needless to say I did not want to be a SUPper.. Maybe they should be shark SUPper. So my first time I paddled around a shallow area with no waves. 

The next time out, I thought about catching waves but I just started paddling to get pretty far from the beach. All of a sudden I was near boats! Another SUPper actually paddled over because he was worried I was out there alone. Frankly I thought it was awesome and it wasn't until he said something I started getting scared about being alone out there. All in all, I got some great pictures. 

  Yes, I was in Hawaii. 

 My home away from home.

 See I was by boats!

Tsunami

Tsunami - is a word of Japanese origin. It is defined as a very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. After watching the footage from Japan recently it serves as a strong reminder how powerful the ocean and the forces of nature are. We are all at the mercy of it.

With this being said it is hard to believe I was in Japan this fall. I have no idea what condition all the buildings I saw are in. My heart goes out to all of those impacted by the earthquakes and the Tsunami. Japan is a beautiful country and I hope I can visit it, again. As I sit here comfortably,  I feel helpless in making an impact to the relief efforts. 

I leave you with a couple pictures from my trip to Japan. In the spirit of donating if you like the pictures please consider finding a way to contribute to the Tsunami relief efforts.

The Golden Pagoda

  Ryōan-ji

Karesansui (Dry Garden) 

 Buddha Statue on same property as Ryōan-ji

Up in the Air and down again

Recently I had to extend my travel for work. It was awesome because I learned a ton. However, returning home, I forgot about the food in my fridge. Soy milk after it's expiration date is really disgusting. I also had moldy lemons. If life gives you moldy lemons I don't care what people say THROW them out! 

Needless to say now my fridge is bare. I went looking for my rental car in the parking lot yesterday at work. I was worried I did not clean up enough in the morning for the maid... then I realized I was the maid.

There is a quote in the movie Up In the Air-"All the things you probably hate about travelling -the recycled air, the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap sushi- are warm reminders that I'm home." 

Well I was beginning to relate to that with regards to many other activities, such as clean-up after myself for the maid and  eating at restaurants by myself or with co-workers. 

Ryan Bingham, the main character in the movie, is right about one thing: "If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life... were you alone? 

Life's better with company."

Snorkeling with a Sea Turtle

It was Sunday North Shore on Oahu, Hawaii. This spot called Shark's Cove. I captured this footage.  It doesn't do actually swimming with sea turtles justice but it's great to see the memory.

Happy BIrthday To Me

Yet another year has come and passed. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with my parents. Look at the awesome homemade birthday cake my mom made for me. Really it's the little things in life- like a birthday cake that remind me it's okay to get old just never grow up!

 Yes it is appropriately themed sand and surf.

Check out this other awesome shot from home. Sometimes I wonder why I left. 

One final note no one wished me happy birthday on my birthday in person. I am very thankful the cards, notes, and messages but it did teach me to go out of my way to say "Happy Birthday" to anyone on their birthday. 

Week One-Post Grad

Well post college was filled with a lot of driving and traveling. I cannot complain! I got to visit the heart of Los Angeles for a bit. I was on the 18th floor of one the sky scrapers for a bit!

I am obsessed with the movie 500 Days of Summer. I often have a hard time rewatching movies unless I find them spectacular. I have watch 500 Days of Summer four times! It was a really cool treat to see the same skyline that Tom and Summer sat at. I did not know that there is a trolley up and down Angels point. I took the stairs :) Bottom line watch 500 Days of Summer and walk around historic downtown LA afterward is totally worth it.

To the Right

To the Left



 The following day I spent some time in San Deigo. It was so beautiful. Since I did not grow up near the ocean I am still in awe of it. I wonder if I grew up near it if I would still appreciate it. The water looks much more inviting than it does on the Central Coast of California. It has this great blue green hue.

San Diego

Officially a College Graduate!

Well today as I am wandering around a train park in Phoenix, I get a phone call from my school number. It was the degree evaluator. He said in a few more words -"Congratulations, I just posted your degree." 

And the world did not end! 

Random tangent: It's too bad magic does not exist in this world because how cool would that phone call have been if a cake or card or something had popped out of thin air. I know my paper diploma would have been an awesome addition. But I guess that would make it more like a birthday celebration. 

If you have been reading hopefully my writing skills have not been too terrible but it is probably obvious I did not graduate with Bachelor's of Arts in English or any other language.