Meadow on the Ledge

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Adventures at Tokyo Disney, and more

It's a rainy day here, so I am just taking it easy over here. The past week or so has been filled with quite a few adventures and exciting things, like... the SEAHAWKS going to the superbowl!! Fortunately, we were able to watch the game here, which was at 5AM Japan time!! I'm glad we woke up in time for the game of a lifetime.

On another note, Noah and I went to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea this past weekend!! It was crowded as ever, but we still managed to get on a number of rides, see the awesome sights, and enjoy our time over there. I am incredibly lucky to be dating someone who loves Disneyland as much as I do. :) It is also my dream to visit all the Disneyland parks around the world, so.. I now have 2 down, and 3 (soon there will be 4) to go.

The parks were definitely smaller than the Disneyland Anaheim, but it was really neat to compare the differences between the two parks. As for DisneySea, it was completely different. It had a romantic, vintage-like feel to the whole park, which was awesome to see and experience. I am sure we are going to go back before we leave again. With the strength of the US dollar, tickets to the parks are so darn cheap in comparison to what we would have to pay in the States.

Something that Noah noticed was the people's obsession with cute, chubby characters in all the Disney movies, like Lilo and Stitch, the green martian in Toy Story, and Winnie the Pooh. Of course, I love that because I LOVE Winnie the Pooh, and I saw SO many Winnie the Pooh souvenirs and such that are so darn cute. A new Lilo and Stitch ride is under construction in Tokyo Disney, so I am sure everyone is excited for that to come out. Also, the Winnie the Pooh ride actually has a fastpass, and that was sold out fast than most other fastpass rides! This was mindblowing to me, as the Winnie the Pooh ride in California is definitely not as popular and is never more than 20-30 minutes.

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland! This a picture of the castle from the park near Tomorrowland. This picture gives you can idea of how beautiful the park is!

I thought that this was a really clever way of displaying the vending machines! All the vending machines are like this, and each depends on which land that it is located in. This was obviously near Alice in Wonderland.

Noah, on our way to Tomorrowland!

The gorgeous castle! We both loved how this castle looked more realistic.

DisneySea

This is the first thing you see as you walk into DisneySea, a giant globe! If you look carefully, you can see Hawaii!

View on one of the lakes in DisneySea.

This is a picture of the Little Mermaid land. Most of the land is actually underground. It is similar to ToonTown with kiddy rides, but it was so neat to see because it was so creative! For example, one of the stores under the sea was inside a whale's mouth (almost like you're in Pinocchio).

Agrabah!

I wanted him to pose like Aladdin, but.. oh well.

Popcorn is a really big thing over in Tokyo Disney. They have all different types of popcorn scattered throughout the park, like honey popcorn (pictured here), strawberry popcorn, curry popcorn, soy sauce and salt popcorn, chocolate popcorn, etc. Everyone buys a souvenir popcorn bucket that they can refill at any of the popcorn stands. The popcorn buckets are really cool. We got Pooh Bear on a blue balloon (pictured below), but they also have a Mr. Potato Head, a martian, and so so so many more. It's kinda funny because almost everyone is carrying around one of these random buckets.

And here is our Pooh bucket ;) filled with.... delicious popcorn of course!

These.. were surprisingly delicious. They were the best food/snack that we ate at Disneyland! They are called little green dumplings, and they are like mochi balls filled with different flavored creams (chocolate, strawberry, and custard?).

A romantic, but not quite romantic (because of all the people), gondola ride.

Another view of the gondolas.

Are we in Italy..? Or.. are we in Disneyland in Japan!?

My love <3 td="">

That's all for our Disney trip! There are more photos, and these will be posted on Facebook. Other than going to Disneyland, Noah and I have been keeping busy! Noah has been keeping busy with work, and I have been keeping busy by walking around the area, visiting a few of the many parks around, going to the museums nearby, and working on puzzlessss! Pictures below.

Kannonzaki Park

The most recent adventure I went on was to Kannonzaki Park. To get to the park, I took a local bus, which took around 35-40 minutes. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just decided to hop on, and pray that I was going to the right place! Somehow, I got off right where I was supposed to get off :) and I think I even payed the correct amount, too. The park was gorgeous, with part of the park along the coast, and part of the park more inland. There was many great look out points, a lighthouse, and many great hiking trails around. I definitely got lost hiking around, but hey, that's what is supposed to happen! To get back, I decided to walk home, which was a great, but also not so great idea. It was about a 8km walk (about 5 miles), but I was NOT wearing walking shoes, so I was definitely glad to be home. Regardless, the walk was wonderful! I basically walked along the coastline the entire way back to the hotel, discovered an awesome Japanese grocery store, and picked up another puzzle for me to do on the way home.

When I saw these seeds, I immediately thought of Totoro! And then I imagined myself in the land of Totoro, roaming around in the forest. =P

This was on my walk home, not in the park!

This was also on my walk home, not in the park!

Chuo Park & Walk to Yokosuka City Museum

It was a rainy day on my way to the Yokosuka City Museum. I took this picture because I am proud of my clear umbrella!! It's surprisingly sturdy for 100 yen.

The best thing about this umbrella is that you can see in all directions!

View from Chuo Park.

A very large structure of some sort.

A guy, and me.

Verny Park

This is another one of the many parks in the city!

Relaxing on a bench!

Mikasa Park

I went to this park with Noah!! Apparently there are lightshows at this park, so we will definitely have to go again.

Other random things

DELICIOUS RAMEN!! Josh recommended this shop, and wow, it is delicious!

We went to a Korean all you can eat BBQ place with Noah and his coworkers. Of course, it was delicious! You cook your own vegetables and meet in the hot pot or on the hot stone.

This is how I keep myself entertained while Noah is at work. I'm already on my second puzzle.

Phew, that's all for now! I will post more often so that I don't have to cram so many things into one post next time. I hope all is well in the States! Go HAWKS!

Friday, January 9, 2015

The other side of the Pacific Ocean

It's been about 2 days since Noah and I arrived in Japan. We started our journey at 2:30AM on Wednesday morning, and after a late taxi, a late shuttle, a cancellation in our original flight plans, a late plane, a 24-hour journey, and a hotel change, we are finally settling to this strange, new world on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Despite all of the random and sudden changes in our travel plans, we arrived safely and within a somewhat timely manner. It's all just part of the adventure!

Something that I did not come prepared for is the language barrier. Looking back, I now wish I had taken Japanese rather than Chinese and Spanish. It is quite a challenge, more of a mental and emotional challenge than anything else. At first, I felt embarrassed to say a simple thank you, or arigato gozaimasu. Well actually, I am still embarrassed to say that, afraid that I am not saying it correctly. Thankfully, everyone is very respectful, and with time, I am sure that I will become more comfortable with the language and the area that I am in.

So far, Noah and I have explored the area we are staying in for a little bit, and pictures are posted below (which are mostly of food, because of course we love food)!

The sunset from our plane! If you look carefully, you can see a mountain in the background.

Our plane food! Soba noodles, tofu (?), pickled foods, egg, snap peas, fruit, and salmon. I was quite pleased with the food served on the plane. I think it is the best I've had when traveling overseas.

This is our "first" official meal, and it is from 7-eleven, which is just outside our hotel. To our surprise, the food was deeelicious, and nutritious!

MMmm.. dat chiken doe..

We wanted to try to McDonalds here, so this was our second official lunch in Japan! The teriyaki chicken burger, is.. well.. delicious of course! I wish they sold these in the states.

Our first "grocery" trip. Well actually, it was more of a snack trip. At least we have some fruit and well, one type of veggies.

Well, that's all for now.

Monday, February 3, 2014

I am from

A poem in progress. I wrote a former version of this poem as an exercise for a session at res life training, and I actually really loved it. I don't really write poems, and I'm not so great at it either, but I did enjoy writing this one.

I am from

I am from
my mother
the most caring woman
my father
the most adventurous man
the constant buzz and companionship of my siblings
the loving arms of my grandparents
family
the taste of McDonalds hamburgers
but also the deliciousness of fresh sushi and dim-sum
boba tea every friday night after youth group and church on sundays
creativity
an over active imagination
the belief in a magical world
the belief of fairies and leprechauns
weekly trips to the happiest place on earth
weekly trips to see Snoopy and friends
conservative, yet not too conservative values
the saying that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it
the golden rule
the knowledge that God loves me
the idea that Jesus is in my heart
the reality that money does not come on trees
the endless fields of Bakersfield, California
the loving home of San Dimas, California
the small island of American Samoa
the outdoors of Lake Oswego, Oregon
the clouds of West Linn, Oregon
the suburbs of Irvine, California
the wheat fields and sweet onions of Walla Walla, Washington
the gloom of Tacoma, Washington
wishes and dreams
the discovery of my purpose to love and to be loved
the multitude of all the experiences and opportunities I've been given
the opportunity to receive an amazing high school education
the opportunity to to pursue a college degree at not one, but three different colleges
the opportunity to discover and pursue my dreams
the struggles of leaving a place that I came to love
the thought of moving forward and keeping myself busy to keep myself falling into a mindless state of tiredness and depression
the idea that I must get the highest grades to validate my self worth
the endless hours of studying
the pursuit of something different
the idea that I must succeed
the water
the ocean
the swimming pool
the summer days spent splashing and swimming in the waters
the feel of stand between my toes
flip flops and bare feet
the obstacles and joys of swimming and water polo
the ambition and strive I have to live a full life
not settling for less, but striving to the best
the many friendships I have made
the permanent bonds I have made with these friends, who I may call my second family
love
I am from...

Thursday, December 26, 2013

A Year In Photos: 2013

What a year, what a year. 2013 has been indescribable. 2013 has been most likely the absolutely most crazy, interesting, your life is going to change kind of year. It has been one of the most incredible years of my life - really. In 2013, I managed to pack up my life in a mere few days and start a new life in Tacoma as a junior at University of Puget Sound in January, try to find a home and community at the school, make a few but AMAZING friends, struggle through the life of a transfer student, get a 4.0 my first semester at UPS (yeah, will likely never happen again), and find (well, not really find but I was pushed to be friends by my good friend Patti) the most amazing boy who has enriched my life with so much sunshine.

And here is 2013 in photos.

January 2013