Tropical Thailand

This Yooper girl is NOT used to 90 degree temps, 8 million plus people, and buying water in a bottle.
As I landed in Phuket, in the south, the sweating instantly started and I realized it had been quite a while since I'd been this warm.... at least since the last trip to Kaua'i, 2 years ago.

The first night, my travel partner, Ben, and I stayed at the Phuket Backpacker Hostel. It was in Phuket town and pretty sweet! An in-house restaurant and bar, free wifi, clean and inexpensive. My kind of place :)

Phuket Backpacker Hostel

An Aussie family was checking in the next morning and suggested a restaurant around the block. I was looking for some good Thai food and they were right! Great food, great ambience and cool tables made from old singer sewing machines and wood rounds.

Cool tables!

There was a beautiful temple in the neighborhood and I stopped to take it all in. You must take your shoes off before entering. It was a wonderful feeling of peace....

That evening, I took a night bus to Bangkok to meet up with Shelby. We met at the Mo Chit bus station  at 8 am and took a taxi to our room at Marriott Suites. We shared our cab will a fella named Andrew who was headed in the same direction. Andrew is from San Fran but was studying in Papa New Guinea on a Fulbrite Scholarship. He'd been traveling for 9 months and was visiting a friend in Bangkok before moving onto Vietnam. We took him under our wings and brought him to the Marriott. It was only 10 am and our suite wasn't ready yet so we went up to the pool which was on the top floor. What a view! 

Bangkok 

Chillin' at the Marriott

After a few hours of lazing at the pool and snacking on street food, we stowed our bags at the front desk and met Nim at her school. Nim is such a delight! So funny and a sweetheart of a woman. I hope we see her again while here! Lunch was amazing... the locals always know the best places to go! 

Following lunch, Andrew moved onto his friends house & Shelby & I went back to our hotel to check in. We felt so lucky to have this suite. It was fancy shmancy... with a kitchen, dining room, full bath, separate bedroom with a kingsize bed, and living room. Thank you Equal for putting us up! 

Since we had a kitchen and love to cook, we had a couple Yoopers over for dinner! Sonali lives in Bangkok and her mother is visiting from Hancock. It's a small world!

The next morning we moved to a different hotel and spent the day at possibly the biggest outdoor market in Bangkok, JJ Market. You could easily get lost in this place. Luckily, Shelby's Thai friend Luck, her sister, and co-worker met up with us and toured us around. 

We made our way through the maze of merchants smooshed together under huge tents, many football fields in size and into an air conditioned 'mall' where we had lunch. The food was from their region of Thailand. Delish! 

Afterwards, it was time to do some shopping. On the way out of the mall, we stopped in a yarn store where Luck sells her knitted dolls. I have never seen so much yarn!!

It was at least 90 degrees outside and hotter under the tents. We saw some fellas playing checkers using bottle caps and a board they made them selves. What a good idea! I was impressed with their ingenuity and asked if I could take their picture. They obliged :)

My first few days in Thailand were amazing. There is so much to see and do! I still have 2 and a half weeks left and have a feeling there won't be a dull moment! I loooove Thailand :)

Last days in Japan

I can hardly believe I'll be leaving here tomorrow morning. I'm going to miss my family but am excited that we will meet again in Cambodia in 3 weeks! 

The last few days have been action packed. Sunday, we took the train to China town & Kobe harbor. As we walked through town, we stopped and listened to some beautiful music. Here's a dose for you all!

 On the way to the harbor, we ate our way through China town :) I wish we had food carts like this in the UP. Now, there's a business idea!

China town in Kobe

Zephyr 

The staff of Honey FM invited us on a cruise in Kobe Harbor for their 10th Anniversary. It was lovely to see Kobe from the water! 

Kobe from the water

They were so sweet to have invited us! Thank you Ai for being a wonderful hostess:)

The folks at Honey FM :)

Capt. Zephyr

There was a submarine at port. Very interesting to see! I had seen one only once before, emerging out of the water in Kobe harbor the last time I was here 4 years ago. 

Sub at Port

Small boat harbor

That evening, we met Matthew's friend, Bryan, at an organic, vegetarian curry restaurant called Lucy. Lucy is owned by Matt's friend, Sei. 

Sei and some of the best Shochu

Bryan is a fellow teacher and good friend of Matthew's. He is also Kazuyo's English teacher!

Sei makes the best organic curry in Japan!!

Sei and his wife wished me a wonderful trip and personalized our food :) Thank you Sei for the great food made with love. You can tell he loves what he does!

Yummy Curry :)

The following morning, Matthew and I went for a run and took a tour of Kobe Universities Maritime Sciences Department where he is a recently tenured professor.

Prof. Matthew John Rooks

Kobe's Maritime Campus

The next day we took it easy, as it was the last full day we had to spend together before Matthew was back to work on Tuesday. After all the running around, we needed a break! That evening we went to a local restaurant, Loss Time,  ran by another friend of Matthew's, Ryuki. Matthew has such wonderful friends!
His friend, Masanobu, came out to see us and brought his 4 month old son. He was a doll!

Add caption

We ordered many dishes for the table but the one we all were the most excited about was his signature baked curry dish.

Curry 

Well, that's it folks... that's the last on my travels in Japan. Tomorrow I fly to Thailand where I will meet up with Shelby(yup, our CH Shelby :), and spend a few plush days in Bangkok. I will have wifi and will be sure to keep this blog a rollin'!
I big ARIGATO goes out to all of my family and friends in Japan who made this trip so special. I promise to practice my Japanese, so when I come back next year I can talk with you all more! 

Kyoto Temples

The past few days have been one adventure after another!

Wednesday, Jan 16th, I walked Zephyr to preschool with Kazuyo and Gryphon. It was a new school in a nice neighborhood. When we walked out to the playground where the children were, many of them ran up to us and where saying the same thing in Japanese over and over. Kazuyo translated their words to, 'It's a new mommy!!'. They were so sweet and my face hurt from smiling :)

 Later that day, Kazuyo and I went shopping at the wharf. It was my first trip to the ocean since arriving in Japan, and it was a beautiful sunny day.....

Panorama of the wharf 

Kazuyo and Gryphon @ the wharf

That evening, we went to dinner at Grass with Gryphon's godfather, John. He has one of the best smiles ever which reflects his kind and loving heart. 

The next day, we drove up and through the mountains to Sanda, where Matthew and Kazuyo lived when I visited 4 years ago. Matthew hosted a radio show for the local station, Honey FM. 

Matt's Radio Show @ Honey FM

They had missed Matthew,  and the ladies were so happy to meet baby Gryphon for the first time. They invited us to join them on a cruise in Kobe harbor on Sunday, followed by bowling. Sounds like fun to me!

Qmi @ Honey FM

On Friday, we took the train to Kyoto to visit a couple temples. There was a light snow and it was a beautiful day! 

Let it snow in Kyoto!!

Out first stop was Kiyomizu Temple. Founded in 798, it's current structures were built in 1693, during the Edo period. The supporting structure of Kiyomizu-dera's Main Hall. It is constructed with 139 pillars and no nails are used.

Kiyomizu-dera's Main Hall- center

The spring, Otowa-no-taki, has been there for 1000 years. Visitors drink for health, longevity, and success in studies. 

Otowa-no-taki Spring

Otowa-no-taki Spring from the main hall balcony

Pagoda of Kiyomizu-dera

Nio-mon Gate

Jizo Buddist shrines

Following Kiomizu Temple, we hoped back on the train and headed to Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine. 

The earliest structures were built in 711. The main structure was built in 1499. There are many kilometers of trails lined with torii. The torii are the orange posts you see below...

Torii

Cousins :)

The white fox (Kitsune) is a messenger of the gods and a guardian. 

Kitsune

It was a steep hike up to the top. We hiked for at least an hour and started to tun out of daylight and had to go back the way we came instead of finishing the loop. Oh well, next time we will plan a day of it! 

View of Kyoto

At the end of the day, and after all of the fresh air and hiking, we made our way by train to the city of Takatsuki where we met up with Oda-san, Katsuji, and Carter at a favorite restaurant, Tsurukin. Again, we ate so much good food! And I even tried whale for the first time. It was red in color and tasted like a strong, dark ahi tuna but with more flavor.... and no, this wasn't the type of whale that is illegal to catch. It is some type of small whale. 

Katsuji @ Tsurukin

A few high balls (what they call liquor with soda water with lemon) later and with full bellies, we headed on foot to their friend's cowboy bar. Yes, this Japanese fella had spent a few years in Texas and fell in love with it. So much so that he opened a bar with a rodeo theme. He had bottles of whiskey on tap and largest selection I had ever seen. 

Oda-san gives this place a thumbs up!

And of course,  you can't go out drinking with friends with out playing some poker at some point in the evening!!

left to right~ Dune, Carter, Nanae, Katsuji & Matthew

Matthew called up Nanae, a friend who often goes out with them when they are in her neighborhood. She is a ballerina and teaches locally. Turns out she is awesome and I made a new girlfriend :) I think she speaks good english but she doesn't think so and wants more practice.... and so, we became FB friends and will write back and forth.

Nanae and I 

We were having so much fun that we had to run to catch the last train back home! A big thank you to Matthew and friends for another wonderful day! 

Only a few days left here in Japan before heading to Thailand. I will be sure to write one more blog while here, as these last few days are sure to be action packed as well. A big thank you goes out to my family here in Japan and my new friends who have all made this trip so special :) I am so grateful for this life! 

2 Days of Tradition

The last couple days have been full of tradition. I was told that I was very lucky to have had the experience I did yesterday.
Mathew's friend, Taichi Oda, invited us over for a New Years party. He met us and the 3 other guests, Katsuji, Dennis & Maiko, at the train station and walked with us back to his home. None of these friends had ever been to his home before and were surprised to find that it was a traditional Japanese home. Built some 200 + years ago, it was amazingly beautiful and very large in comparison to most homes here in Japan.

Oda-san's home

Much of the woodwork was hand carved and some of the artifacts dated back to the Edo Period (1700's). The doors which double as walls (all of the walls of the homes in Japan are built this way), were hand painted by a famous artist.... all 20 of them. Below is a photo of the children and Oda-san's wife, Tomoko in front of some of these doors.

Beautiful people and hand painted doors

This is the alter at which you pray...

I love to eat, so please excuse my excitement over the food here. Japanese food is sooooo good! And on this day it was especially good. There were many courses to the meal. The first served was sushi, homemade chicken nuggets and french fries! 

After about an hour, Tomoko, brought out Sukiyaki in an iron skillet which she set on a burner on the table where we cooked, ate, and cooked some more. With this, we drank wine from southern Spain and when that was gone, Oda brought out the Sake.. the best Sake I have ever had! 

After a few hours of eating and drinking, big plates of fresh fruit were brought out.. then almond cake and more fruit in a sweet sauce.....and more Sake. How do Japanese people stay so slim???

What a marvelous Sunday day it was. Domo arigato Oda-san for your generosity! 

Monday was a holiday, coming of age day. Matthew had the day off from work and we all went to a traditional Japanese mineral bath. The mineral bath house was built above the natural springs many years ago. It is separated, men's and women's. Kazuyo forgot that there are no tattoos allowed, due to old tradition when the only people who had them were gang members. So, I had to be extra sneaky and throw a hand towel over my shoulder and make sure no one saw my tattoo. It wasn't very difficult and no one did...phew! As we entered the building, we took off our shoes, placed them in their own shoe locker by the front door, locked it, and brought the key to the front desk where they took those keys and gave us new ones for our clothing lockers. As we walked into the locker room I noticed that all of the lockers were made of birds eye maple.... fancy place. 

After undressing, we walked through sliding glass doors into a dimly lit bath area where first you must shower. At these showers you sit at your own tile vanity, close to the ground. There are a bunch in rows with little walls between for privacy. On the vanity is shampoo, conditioner, soap and a bowl to put water in and pour over your body. There was a regular spout and also a shower head wand. After washing, we sat in one of the indoor tubs with the baby then went outside and sat in a tub in the light rain. It was beautiful, with plants surrounding, water falls, and a woven bamboo cover over some spots. It wasn't too large of and area and quite an intimate space. When Kazuyo went in to get the baby ready, I went into the salt sauna. It's like a regular sauna but there is a 3 foot tall wooden bucket of salt which you rub all over your body. It tingles and afterwards your skins is soooooo smooth! I will start doing this in the sauna back home when I return!! 

I could not take photos of the bathhouse but was permitted to in the restaurant we ate lunch at in the same building... traditional style... sitting on cushions on the floor. You pay for the whole thing before you leave the building. It cost a total of 2000 yen a piece. That's about $25 for lunch and mineral bath. Amazingly inexpensive! 

Upon returning home, I watched the children while Matt and Kazuyo went to look at possible land to purchase and build their home on. They are hopeful it will work out but much of it is steep and so, they will have to wait to talk to their architect about possibilities. 

That evening, Kazuyo taught me how to make nabe. She is a wonderful cook and I am eager to learn from her and share my knowledge with friends and family back home.

I big THANK YOU goes out to my family and their wonderful friends for making this trip so special! More to come in a few days :)