Welcome to "Okonomiyaki"possibly my favorite Japanese food.Google it.
Living and working in Anjo City Japan. Follow me on my wacky journeys. Learn about Japan, learn about me, learn about other random Asian things, heckle me. Enjoy your stay!
I have a new edition to the blog for all of you. At the end of every month I will post the best random photos of that month along with a description. As I just thought of this idea during the last week of January, this months pictures will be few.
The sign says Nagara river. I cross the nearby bridge to get to work. This river runs through the city of Gifu.
The Rainbow brand of BOSS Coffee a very popular can coffee in Japan.
Junior High School boys bathroom. The worst place to be during the winter. It's horribly cold.
The display for a giant size burger that can be purchased at a bowling alley in Nagoya.
Saw a field of crows near my work place as I was going home.
Gifu castle in the far distance on to of Mt.Kinka.
After 2 years of being away I finally went back home to the States to visit. There are a few reasons I hadn't returned sooner. The cost of a ticket and the flight time were pretty high on the list but also I've enjoyed traveling to other countries and cities during my vacation. Other places in Asia which are closer, cheaper and were first time experiences for me. Finally I began missing home enough to take the trip back. I chose Christmas vacation because it was a good time to see a lot of my family at one time as well as I really miss the feel of Christmas in the US. It's just not the same here in Asia. It was a good 3 weeks. I've missed all the sarcasm and humor that comes with my family, a lot of it that I had to tone down greatly in myself in order to fit in better here. Also got to see a lot of old friends and remembered just how much I miss hanging out with them. I've not found that kind of closeness with people in Japan as I had with my childhood and college friends despite the majority of the college friends being from Asia.
Sister,Mom, and me
Our real Christmas Tree at home. Looks nice but the poor thing was super dried out.
Besides people, one of the best things about being back was food. I'm a fan of Japanese food, but I miss a lot of restaurants in America like Steak N Shake, Penn Station, Qdoba, and almost any pizza place. My city St.Louis also has some great not so Chinese Chinese food that you can't even find in other cities in America.
My Mom's home made cooking. Fried chicken, macaroni & cheese and string beans. So good!
Took my sister to have her first Thai meal.
Garden Salad from the restaurant called Red Lobster
Coconut fried jumbo shrimp. Big shrimp with coconut in the fried coating. A very interesting taste and the white sauce along with it had a sweet tropical taste.
Lucky for me the Japanese Yen is quite strong in comparison with the US dollar and so I got a nice extra bit of cash when exchanging my money over to dollars. I did a lot of shopping with this money. Clothes, candy, video games and especially a pair of shoes which is vital because finding my size in Japan is near impossible. Besides shopping, trips to the zoo and ice skating with friends was pretty fun.
With friends at the St.Louis Zoo
Spent the last night ice skating
I didn't realize how much I missed my 1st home until I visited and then left. It's been a little tougher being back in Japan just remembering how lonely I'm not when I'm back in the US. Honestly I'm afraid I won't be able to find the kind of friendships and relationships here in Japan but its my home now and I'm praying for a more active fulfilling life in the year 2012.
The first stop on my awesome summer vacation is the country/city of Singapore. I had a friend who was traveling there for a trip as well as a friend who currently works there and I had never been so I decided why the heck not. Besides I wanted to see these legendary "clean streets".
There is a lot of color in Singapore.
From Japan it took a little over 6 hours to get to Singapore which is the longest flight I've been on in quite awhile and Ive taken a plane 3 times since moving to Japan. It all just reminds me how much in agony I will be when I decide to take a visit back to the US. After arriving in Singapore I headed to the guest house and waited a few hours for my friend to arrive as he was coming from Bangkok. The adventures began after he arrived. The first thing that caught my attention about Singapore is how multicultural it is. There were so many people from different countries and it reminded me of a big city in US like New York which I haven't experienced in awhile. It was also the first English speaking country I had been to in a long while. Despite there being so many different people I did however feel that most of them stayed in their own groups which was a little disappointing. The second thing I notice was how colorful it was. Like from buildings to cars to plants everything was so colorful and pretty. Singapore also gives me a South American vibe.
Me and my college buddy Peter.
Singapore is a small place. I feel like you can travel the entire country in less than 2 days, but within this compact area there are a lot of neat things.
Singapore Locations Sentosa Island Sentosa Island is a popular Island resort within Singapore. Located on the island is a Universal Studios, a beach, golf courses a mall and various other attractions. Sentosa is like the get away place for Singapore residents during the weekend and despite being a huge attraction it has a relaxing atmosphere and besides any place with beaches is a plus.
Setntosa Island with a view of the famous Merlion in the background. There are many Merlion`s in Singapore but this one is the biggest. You can even go inside.
We didn`t go in but you can never skip a chance to take this picture.
Riding the cable car up to Mt.Faber.
As advertised.
Wake boarding. Expensive but fun to watch people wipe out.
Pizza on the beach. That`s a vacation.
Sunset on the way to Mt.Faber.
There are also a few free shows that looked like they would be pretty good unfortunately our schedules were pretty packed so we never got a chance to see them. Theres a light show as well as a show involving two gigantic metal birds.
Singapore Zoo
According to a ton of websites the Zoo in Singapore is the best zoo in the world. I've only been to a couple zoo's in the US as well as in Korea but I am incline to agree with the Internet. The Singapore Zoo is pretty cool. They call it an open air zoo and it's hard to explain but there aren't a lot of cages. The animal areas are designed in a way that makes them feel very open like they are in the wild. There are some animal encasement's that completely confused me on why the animals don't just leap over the 2 ft wall they are behind. It allows for a more intimate feel with the animals.
Feeding time for the White Tigers. You can watch a lot of various animals being fed at this zoo.
These things are just running around all over the place at one encampment. You can even get close enough to touch them though I think that is frowned upon by the zoo.
The magic of the Singapore Zoo. You never know when a tiger is gonna jump out and attack you.
Along with the normal zoo they also have a night zoo. You can go and watch the nocturnal animals during night time. It brings a bit of a new perspective on the zoo experience.
It wasn`t night yet but if you wanna avoid the huge lines you need to be waiting at the Night Zoo a bit early.
Clarke Quay
A nice area near the water Clarke Quay is the perfect place to hang out with friends for a night out of dining, dancing and enjoying the atmosphere. The night time atmosphere is especially vibrant. It's a good place to spend your weekend nights.
Another Merlion. This one spits water.
Sunset on the Clarke Quay
A lot of fine dining can be found.
Little India
I've never been to India before but I felt like I was there when walking through Little India. Lots of Indian restaurants and shops and strangely enough a ton of Indian people hanging out at night sitting in groups on the road. I don't know if this is Indian culture but I found it interesting the amount of the people randomly sitting on the sidewalk or lying in nearby grass. Little India also houses the Mustafa Centre which is a huge 24 hour shopping center.
A temple that despite it being late was pretty lively.
24 hour shopping center
China Town
Every big city has one. It's China Town. I've been to a dozen China towns my favorite being either the one in San Francisco or Yokohama but they all feel a tad different and Singapore already has a huge Chinese population. If you aren't speaking English in Singapore you are probably speaking Chinese. Like most China Towns Singapore's is filled with cheap shopping and delicious Chinese food. If you are looking for souvenirs this is the place you should be visiting.
Expensive but good.
Every night looks like a festival night.
Something that really came as a surprise to me was the price of things in Singapore. I had heard it was expensive for a South East Asian country but I was shocked by how expensive and I live in Japan. Unless its Singaporean food pretty much everything in Singapore is imported and the high prices reflect it. A plus side to Singapore is the easy and efficient train system. It's the first city I've been to to have a touch screen for buying train tickets. Singapore is also popular for having a lot of laws and they do indeed have money fines for a large variety of thing's you shouldn't do. One of the most famous is the ban on chewing gum. Littering is highly frowned down on and there are huge fines for those who are caught doing it. Even chewing gum has been banned. I couldn't even find it on sale in the convenience stores. Gum feels like a some kind of drug which by the way if you are caught with drugs you will face the death penalty. Singapore does not play!
It was a good trip and while I don't have a huge urge to return except to visit my friend it was definitely worth the first visit. I think it's more of a place to live then to travel to.
Here are some other interesting pics of Singapore!
Hanging out with my Korean friend (The girl behind me.)who works in Singapore and her roomies.
View of a mosque from the guest house window.
This is a long slide from top floor to the bottom. Oh and it`s in the friggin airport!
The floating boat looking structure in the distance has a huge pool on top. (Marina Bay Sands)
