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I woke up pretty early and no one was awake, so I ended up walking around the area by myself. I found out that almost every parking garage had Batman technology – equipped with a spinning base and vehicle elevator! Hunger kind of set in and luckily there was an awesome bakery near our hotel, One Coin Bakery. I dropped by to refuel, headed off in a different direction and found an outdoor mini mall.

Here’s the hotel we stayed at, Hiroshima Kokusai Hotel. Check out our backyard!

After I got back from my morning walk, I took the rest of the gang back to the bakery. Yeah, I had a second breakfast. The lady who served me early remembered me and had ultra smiles when she saw that I brought more people.

Atomic Bomb Dome

After breakfast, we all got ready for walking around. Just a short ride over and we stopped at the Atomic Bomb Dome. The structure stands as a memorial to those who lost their lives on August 6, 1945. I can’t say how many times I got chills down my spine and most of the time my mind was going a million miles a second about the idea of what happened about 65 years ago.

Little did I know that there was an entire park, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in the surrounding area, so we all walked around.

The Hall of Remembrance

After splitting up for a while, we all met back up around the museum. I have almost all the plaques, but I’ll upload them later when I can piece them all side by side.

Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound

There was a huge open area just in front of the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, so I made a panoramic.

Okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style

We walked across the bridge and made our way to find some okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style. This was an awesome meal nonetheless. Ray wanted to introduce this, “taco wasabi” to me and I couldn’t imagine what the hell it looked like. When it came out on a little dish, I realized when he said “taco”, it was really, “tako” – octopus. It hit my nose hard, but it was freaking delicious! I need to find a place in the states that serves this.

We made our way back to the hotel, did some last minute shopping, packed up and got ready for our long trek back to Tokyo.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

We woke up to pack and catch a Shinkensen to Hiroshima. Joseph was even with us in spirit…or just on a window really. At the station, we found a Cafe Du Monde!

On these trains, there’s a lady with a snack cart walking around and I found the best candy ever! We had a one transfer and after you know, we got to Hiroshima.

After checking in at our hotel, we made our way to Miyajima Island. It was a really long ride, but worth it.

After getting off the last stop, we walked just across the street to hop on a ferry and head to Miyajima Island!

We were looking for the Itsukushima Shrine and took a short path around the island. Walking through this gave me time to enjoy the sights and just reflect on life.

Some people started getting hungry and others were getting cranky-hungry. We walked back down the path and into a small walkway. This coolest little restaurant’s bar area was completely filled by us.

After dinner we made our way to the five-story pagoda. It was a dark and windy night and I didn’t have my tripod with me. So improvised my beanie as a base, played with some settings, turned on the timer and crossed my fingers.

We made it back to the ferry and the rail ride back to the hotel was a complete blur. I knocked out for most of the ride. Some of us decided to grab another late night meal and Amy learned to use an egg separator for the first time, so you know we had to video record it. On our way back we realized we were right next door to Round1, a 7 or 8 story game place. The other guys knocked out, so Sarah, Amy and I had a little fun playing BilliBowl and darts!

More Hiroshima coming up soon.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

Sarah, Amy and I woke up early to find that Dan, Rami and Ray were still sleeping, so we decided to walk around and maybe find some breakfast. We found a crazy little corner store with ridiculously good looking, almost fake looking, fruits!

After Sarah got some strawberries, we went down some small alley and found the coolest little grocery store. Everything was perfectly packed – fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood – everything!

After getting back to the hotel we met up with the rest of the group and just decided we’d take a train to the Shijo Shopping District and walk around.

We got really hungry, so we stopped by some Tenkaippin near the Keihan Railway Gion-shijo place where you have to place your order at a ticket vending machine before coming in. There were a lot of these types of restaurants around Japan – so damn efficient!

This is a shopping district, so we shopped!

I was waiting outside of a shop and then all of the sudden a whole fleet of people in traditional Japanese attire walked down the street. Obviously, I had no idea why, can someone translate?

A the T-section of the shopping strip was a park. I still have no idea what the name of it is, but this was where the group of people congregated for a picture. Just inside were a lot of shrines and places with long strings with this prayer paper folded up and tied on them.

While walking down further, we ran in to a huge cherry blossom sitting area fully equipped with tables and tarp. I found a little stand with a ring of fish and had to grab one. It was delicious! We rested at a table and grab a couple beers.

Nearby, we found a really huge cherry blossom tree. It was completely blocked off and everyone stopped to take a picture.

I’m not sure how this park is maintained, but giant ravens flock around this area. Maybe it’s be because of the food. We ran into a group of girls all in traditional attire, a little creek, a teeny tiny waterfall, and walkways with run off on each side – so smart!

We met up with Brent and Kristine and had to wait for the dinner place to open. Kind of lame, but we had time to rest along the river and had some really good food!

After getting back to the hotel, for whatever reason we got hungry again, so we stopped by another ticket vending fast food place…YUMM.

On our way back, we just wandered around and even caught a couple break dancers doing their thing.

Next up, Hiroshima.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

Ark Hotel – Day Time

After finding where to get our JR Passes and waiting in line to get them, we took a three hour Shinkensen ride to Kyoto, and then took a bus from the Kyoto Station to the Ark Hotel. We checked in and Amy found out that our defective window opened all the way and we walked outside on the ledge. The view was awesome!

Dinner, Part 1 of 2

After relaxing and walking around we randomly made our way to the best dinner ever at Gyuurakutei! I think the pictures speak for themselves.

We all headed off to find a bar and ran into some more cherry blossoms…can’t get enough. We ran around looking for some random places and for a while nothing seemed right for us.

Booze.K

We finally found a really tiny bar, Booze K, with one of the coolest setup and bartender. Here’s a video I found to give you a better idea of the size. There were tons of toys to play with, lots of drinks to choose from, and even a coaster from Saint Arnold’s. We pretty much took over the whole bar and before we left, we have him a dollar that we all signed with his little colored pencils.

Dinner, Part 2 of 2

Afterward, we then stumbled upon this little restaurant and had another dinner. Yes, multiple dinners a night became common for us. =)

After finding our way back to the hotel, we got a little distracted and stopped by a Starbucks and even a little hobby shop. Yes, I bought something from the toy store.

Ark Hotel – Night Time

When we got back to the hotel, some of us hung outside on the ledge. I’m not really good at taking night shots with people since it’s really hard to sit perfectly still for more than two seconds. I think most of these needed five to eight seconds at f/2.8 to come out like this. I think someone saw us through a window, so we decided to call it a night before getting kicked out.

We had free wifi and my dad sent me the awesomest email ever. He recently learned how to use GMail and still composes a new thread to reply, hehe. I made no modifications to the spacing. I died laughing. =)

Thanks. Have good time. Every thing is small and low.Please watch your head. HA ! HA ! HA ! ! ! ! !

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

One Whole Day Lost, Three Movies Gained

My brother dropped me off at the Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston on Saturday and I was in the air just before noon. I really wanted to sleep, but it must have been the anxiety and anxiousness that kept me awake. In order to help kill thirteen hours, I did about half of the crossword puzzle, watched some TED Talks podcasts, and read portion of a book or two. Somewhere in between I also ended up watching three movies:

• The Invention of Lying – This was ultimately hilarious, I’ll definitely be watching this again!
• The Men Who Stare at Goats – Meh, not at good as it was made out to be.
• Pulp Fiction – for the first time in my life in it’s entirety, awesome movie!

While sitting on the tarmac, I found out from a random conversation with the flight attendant that Continental started charging for my favorite seats: the exit row since it has more leg room. Not only that, the first week this was implemented, they made a million dollars!

Sitting next to me was an older guy who spoke broken English. I really hate it when people raise their voices as if that helps translate English to some magical universal language. I helped him get his bag in the upper compartments and ordering food and drinks. After hearing his accent for a while, I asked if he was Vietnamese and he was. We had a simple conversation and with my broken Vietnamese and his broken English, we talked for quite a while.

As we were landing, another flight attendant gave me one immigration form to fill out. I asked her for another form for the guy next to me and she gave me a confused look. I explained that we’re complete strangers and she gave me a sneer. Can’t two people who speak the same language sitting next to each other on a plane be unrelated?

Narita Station > Shinjuku Station > Ikebukuro Station

I was the last of the group [Ray, Sarah, Rami, Amy, Dan, and me] to land in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon (JST). It took over an hour to get through customs and then I was off to the Japan Rail booth to get a ticket from the Narita Airport directly to Ikebukuro Station. Little did I know, the one I took dropped me off early at the Shinjuku Station, but I should have known since I got two tickets. Luckily, a guy sitting in front of me helped me find my way to the platform to take me to the Ikebukuro Station via the Yamanote line. Fortunately, the Dai Ichi Inn Hotel was just right around the corner and with Rami’s directions, I got there quite easily.

Shibuya Station, Karaoke, and Food!

After checking in, I found my way back to Shibuya and met up with Rami at Hachikō, the famous dog – I didn’t know, but after reading the story, it’s a pretty neat story. We walked be over to karaoke place a couple blocks away. HOLY SHIT, MY FIRST NIGHT IN JAPAN!

After karaoke, we went with the group and some of Ray’s friends who live in Japan to a little restaurant, Village Vanguard Diner, that served an awesome burger with a fried egg and jalapenos. This is where I found out that despite how awesome the service, you don’t tip in Japan.

Dai Ichi Inn Hotel

Back at the hotel in Ikebukuro, Sarah, Amy, and I played blackjack and had some shots of sake from a paper carton that Dan bought earlier in the day. Ah, bed time.

Don’t drink sake from a paper carton, ever.

Waking up in the morning, I still could not believe I was in Japan. I looked out the window and realized that I needed to take photos of the comically small room I was in. The bathroom was really narrow, the tub itself was about one third the size of a normal on in America, even the ceiling was really low.

“Everything is small in Japan,” they weren’t joking.

Next city: Kyoto!

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

B A T E N O N N M

This was one of the weirdest and most interesting Vegas trips I’ve been on. From an awesome old wise Italian driver (Mike), to a blackjack dealer full of jokes (Peter), and even a waiter who sat with us for coffee (Thuong). “What’s the secret your marriage” -Ann “She smooths out the bumps in the road” -Mike, our Italian driver “I say ‘holy mccow’ because I’m Chinese. *awkward pause* If I’m Indian, I saw ‘holy cow’.” -Peter, the blackjack dealer

I would write the whole story, but you just had to be there to get the full effect. I’ll be adding more pictures as I go through them. It’s unfortunate that the Grand Canyon pictures (or any picture really). James put it right in his post about Washington, “I am small and insignificant“.

So two weekends ago, a few of us (Marie, Sohel, Vikram, and I) took off to Chicago to meet up with Mai.

Thursday, June 19
Vik left for Chicago around noon.
Sohel was supposed to leave around 3:30 PM, but it was delayed.

I left work a little early to start packing and leave with Marie to the airport. I check the status and our flight is also delayed…cool more time to pack. So I pick up Marie and we head to the airport. The storms have subsided and weather looks fine for flying. By this time the Portugal has completely lost to Germany and were giving Sohel shit about it on the way from the parking lot to the terminal.

I get a phone call from Orbitz about our flight being delayed by an hour; they’re a little late, but a notification nonetheless. So we go through security and Marie didn’t believe me when I told her that we had to take off our shoes. What a NOOB! We arrive at the gate and I check the screens…11:20PM. Wait. ANOTHER delay?! Well, what can you do, right? So we sit and wait. I get a little pissy so I walked around to find a drink. EVERYTHING IS CLOSED. We’re heading back to the gate when I see everyone who was just there five minutes ago leaving. THEY CANCELED THE FLIGHT. Marie and I are walking back with the group with our two bottles of Vitamin Water. Long story short, our flight was rescheduled to 1:20 PM the following day and we got to extend our Sunday morning flight to an evening one.

Anyway, I remember Sarah wanted to go to Deco to see Kaba Modern. It was filled with teenie boppers, blah. I had a few drinks, relaxed and just hung out with Sarah and Marie.

Friday, June 20
I got my rest and we were off to the airport again. Marie took off her shoes at the security line without question. She’s a quick learner, hahaha. At the gate, we learn that our flight is delayed, but this time due to mechanical problems. They couldn’t tell us how long the delay was since they didn’t know how long the mechanical problems were going to take to fix. Eventually, they found another plane for us to take and we moved to another gate to wait to more. So we finally board and I don’t have to sit next to Marie on this flight, WHEW! We take off and I’m thinking, “what else can go wrong?”

Well, on our way in, we were in a holding pattern because of the weather in Chicago. After about thirty minutes, the captain comes on and lets us know we need fuel. Ok, cool fuel…let’s land in Chicago and get fuel. We landed in St. Louis. We didn’t have a gate ready for us to get fuel when we landed, so we hung out at the tarmac fora while. By this time I’m even considering taking a train from St. Louis it Chicago, lol. We finally fuel up, take off and FINALLY land. Awesome, time to PARTY.

The captain comes on as we’re taxiing, and tells us that the original gate we were assigned was taken and we’d have to move to another gate. OMGWTF. We head to the other side of the airport it looks like and right when it looks like we’re about to be done with this adventure, we end up going back to the original gate we were assigned. I’ve never been on any delayed or canceled flight before, so I guess I’m taking my fair share of it on this trip to Chicago. Hopefully, I don’t get this crap again…

So, it’s time to party at the Enclave with Mai. Here’s a summary:

• We drink.
• Vikram drops his drink.
• Marie wants to sleep. Marie gets shot with cold air. Marie wakes up until the next shot of air hits her.
• We bump into a couple who are also Chicago noobs and we all try to go to another club, but it’s packed as hell.
• Mai and Chris take Marie home because she’s weak sauce.
• Sohel, Vikram and I go to Rush and Division. We somehow end up at Dunkin Donuts.
• The Octagon.
• Security pays us a visit.
• ZZZzzz…

Saturday, June 21

Marie left without getting her wallet and phone from me the night before. She would have had a really hard time finding her way back, but thanks to Mai’s phone she finally gets back to the hotel. I was hungry as hell, so I popped open a bag of sunflower seeds while everyone was getting ready. Once that was done, we started our day trying to find Giordano’s. We got lost a few times, but we finally got to it…and man was it worth it! We were way too stuffed to finish ALL the food.

We decided to take the Architecture Tour. We tried finding a bus to get us there, but waiting sucked, so we took a cab. We got in line and guess was in front of us? That Chicago noob couple from the night before, crazy. If anyone visits Chicago, I highly recommend this tour. It’s really relaxing (so relaxing Sohel passed out) and you get to hear about all these artsy-fartsy terminology I kind of remember from Art History class a few years back.

We start heading back and trying to figure out what to do. We go to the theatre district and took a few pictures in front of the Chicago Theatre. I’m not too interested in this, so no pictures.

The night in summary:

• Sohel lost his ID…possibly at Rush and Division, Dunkin Donuts or in cab on the way back to the hotel, BOO.
• We go to SoundBar and the anal bouncer wouldn’t let Sohel in.
• It was supposed to be free, but the anal lady upstairs said we were one minute late.
• More drinking.
• Guys in the corner throwing ten whole one dollar bills in their own area, talk about ballin’!!!
• “Dough for a Blow” bachelorette party girl.
• Marie falls down on the stairs trying to walk up.
• We all head to Wiener Circle.
• Vikram takes a pit stop in a low-lit area with a metal gate.
• Vikram passes out on one of the red benches.
• The crowd DAWGS on the Canadian’s inability to drink.
• Mai orders and we eat, YUMMMM!!!
• Vikram throws up while we try to head over and get a cab.
• Vikram almost gets a chocolate milkshake.
• Back at the hotel to find Sohel up, packed, and ready to hit the airport due to some new ID requirements.
• ZZZzzz…

Sunday, June 22
Morning comes, and the alarms sounds, but Vikram still sleeps. He’s supposed to make the same flight back with Sohel, but because he’s Canadian and can’t take the alcohol, he misses his flight. Good thing United doesn’t charge for rescheduling a missed flight! Marie and I are on our own and we go to Millenium Park and Shedd Aquarium.

After getting our bags, we head over to Mai’s area to have dinner and we headed off to the airport. Good thing Mai checked us in! On our way in, we check our flight take a wild guess what the status was: DELAYED. This time by an hour. You have to love flying! I guess through all that crap, I got lucky, on the flight back, I sat next to a United employee. He got the first class meal, but when he got it, he offered it to me! Cheese, meat, fruits, crackers, YUMMMMMMM!!!

I need another trip to Chicago to do all the stuff I want to. Hopefully the flight won’t be as bad as it was on this trip.

Part Five of a Five Part Series.

Day 5 (Monday):

It’s the last day of enjoying Colombia before heading back to the United States and it’s packed with plans. First was a trip to la Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. Did I know where I was going? Nope, but we did pass up the Exito we visited the day before. This is the death place of Simon Bolivar, a.k.a “El Libertador.” The place is now a museum and monument with an awesome garden.

Afterwards, we visited the port again, but this time with sunlight. It’s totally different during the day…and hot. We stopped to get a cup of camaron from a well known cart near the beach. I wanted some gifts, so we walked around the streets and stopped by another Exito. We ended up back at the market street and I’m craving some more sapote, so we grab a cup…YUM!

After returning to the house, we rested up and I got ready to play photographer for Leah and Marcelo’s pictures, while David got ready to become the god father for his niece. Off we went, just in time for the sunset and lighting. I was a bit nervous because I haven’t shot direct sunset photos before and didn’t know what to expect. There’s a really small time frame when the sun is just right for photos and you have to make the best of it. When it was all over, it was time to head back and get ready to celebrate David’s newly baptized niece. Yes, this means more eating, more drinking, and definitely more vallenato.

Part Four of a Five Part Series.

Day 4 (Sunday):