Not Bret's Picture, http://ink361.com/natora
And a pic of my friend Wakana's hamster eating a kiwi for good measure
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Gelato by the Train Station
This gelato place has been here forever and it was never open when we were in the mood for ice cream (we always want to eat ice cream on Wednesdays?) but we finally went last Sunday and it was open.
The station is fairly busy, and the gelato place is listed in lots of local magazines and many people have recommended it, so it was pretty busy.
As soon as we walked in, I had about 6 children (7-12 year olds) staring at me with their mouths open, eyes wide, unblinking, not even looking away occasionally, just flat out staring. Oh and their moms were doing the same thing. Lovely. The shop was really small and cramped, and being 3 feet away from a gaggle of people doing this is highly uncomfortable. I can handle being stared at on the train, or walking by some people (though this rarely happens in Saijo, people are usually SO not like this), but this was really really unpleasant. Boo hoo, first world problems, yes yes yes. I still don't like it and it's really rude. People craning their necks to hear "the foreigner" talk while you're ordering ice cream kind of takes the fun out of things. Needless to say we ate outside.
This was literally 1 day after we were in a bento shop and some random middle aged man looked at me and Bret like we were aliens (we are, but at least we're registered!) and proceeded to talk to the shopworker about us right in front of us, complete with mimicking us in wonder every time we said anything in Japanese. This is only motivating me to study Japanese more, so when I do come across people with poor manners, I can at least make a quip at them and hopefully shame them into refraining from this behavior in the future.
Again, people usually aren't like this, which makes individuals with poor manners stand out all the more.
The station is fairly busy, and the gelato place is listed in lots of local magazines and many people have recommended it, so it was pretty busy.
As soon as we walked in, I had about 6 children (7-12 year olds) staring at me with their mouths open, eyes wide, unblinking, not even looking away occasionally, just flat out staring. Oh and their moms were doing the same thing. Lovely. The shop was really small and cramped, and being 3 feet away from a gaggle of people doing this is highly uncomfortable. I can handle being stared at on the train, or walking by some people (though this rarely happens in Saijo, people are usually SO not like this), but this was really really unpleasant. Boo hoo, first world problems, yes yes yes. I still don't like it and it's really rude. People craning their necks to hear "the foreigner" talk while you're ordering ice cream kind of takes the fun out of things. Needless to say we ate outside.
This was literally 1 day after we were in a bento shop and some random middle aged man looked at me and Bret like we were aliens (we are, but at least we're registered!) and proceeded to talk to the shopworker about us right in front of us, complete with mimicking us in wonder every time we said anything in Japanese. This is only motivating me to study Japanese more, so when I do come across people with poor manners, I can at least make a quip at them and hopefully shame them into refraining from this behavior in the future.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Oh Bosco
So, while we were on our holiday, we left Bosco in the hands of our friend, or rather our friend's mother. He was at a house with two other dogs, a shiba and a pug-shiba mix. Bosco loves other dogs, and our friend says he had a great 8 days running amok amongst his kind.
The trouble is, I'm not sure he's enjoying being back. We had a playdate this last Tuesday, and his best friend, Copper the pug mix came over. It was the happiest Bosco has been since we got back.
As the week went on, he's been okay, but today is my first day off since we've been back, and Bosco is not his usual self. We went on his morning outing, he played with the neighbor's dog a bit and we went for a walk. But after that he was mope-city.
I probably shouldnt have made things worse by trying to clip his nails. He's usually pretty tolerant but today I couldn't get past the fourth clip before he was screaming in protest.
Then he stormed off down the stairs and he's been in a strop ever since. What a drama queen.
I took him outside, tried to give him food, he met up with the neighbor's dog again, nothing! He cheered up a little after a car ride, but when he discovered he was back home and not with Copper he started moping again.
Fast forward a couple of days. Bosco is doing much better, he's still a fussy little diva. Everything is a chore when it comes to regular routine. He can be such a pain to walk! His doggy backpack came in the mail a few days ago, so we're trying to use that to wear him out and get him enough exercise. He is not a fan.
We went on a walk this morning, but it was pretty hot so we only did 40 minutes and went home. Now he's collapsed on the floor and will probably stay there until I get home from work. The pictures are all from today's walkabout.
The trouble is, I'm not sure he's enjoying being back. We had a playdate this last Tuesday, and his best friend, Copper the pug mix came over. It was the happiest Bosco has been since we got back.
As the week went on, he's been okay, but today is my first day off since we've been back, and Bosco is not his usual self. We went on his morning outing, he played with the neighbor's dog a bit and we went for a walk. But after that he was mope-city.
I probably shouldnt have made things worse by trying to clip his nails. He's usually pretty tolerant but today I couldn't get past the fourth clip before he was screaming in protest.
Then he stormed off down the stairs and he's been in a strop ever since. What a drama queen.
I took him outside, tried to give him food, he met up with the neighbor's dog again, nothing! He cheered up a little after a car ride, but when he discovered he was back home and not with Copper he started moping again.
Fast forward a couple of days. Bosco is doing much better, he's still a fussy little diva. Everything is a chore when it comes to regular routine. He can be such a pain to walk! His doggy backpack came in the mail a few days ago, so we're trying to use that to wear him out and get him enough exercise. He is not a fan.
We went on a walk this morning, but it was pretty hot so we only did 40 minutes and went home. Now he's collapsed on the floor and will probably stay there until I get home from work. The pictures are all from today's walkabout.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Beijing
I really wish I'd had a better impression of Beijing, but judging by it's airport and the people in it, the verdict is: don't go.
People push, spit, and are generally rude. I could not believe my eyes. Literal disbelief. Anytime we saw someone acting properly, they were from Taiwan or somewhere not Beijing. It was really sad. Maybe I'd go there to see the Great Wall, but aside from that, I don't really see what the place has to offer (I just did a quick google image search and I am not impressed)
My favorite moment at the airport was when Bret went to the bathroom, leaving all his belongings with me in the seat next to him at the terminal gate. There were plenty of seats, but this random couple charged over, pushed aside his things, and proceeded to sit down. They were careful not to look my way, as I was giving them a what-the-bleep-are-you-doing glare of contempt. When Bret got back 2 minutes later he also gave them a what-the-bleep-is-wrong-with-you look, but to no avail. I could never live somewhere like that. Never ever ever ever ever.
My chinese friends say that attitude is generally prevalent everywhere except Hong Kong. Not inspiring.
Oh wait, that wasn't my favorite moment, my favorite moment was when we were trying to exchange yen to wuan so that we could get something to eat and the girls at the changing counter refused because, and I quote, yen isn't worth anything. Ummmmmmmmm okay. Sure......... Then they asked WHY we were exchanging money in the first place and we said we were trying to get something to eat at the airport restaurants. THEY POINTED AT THE PIZZA HUT AND SAID WE COULD USE OUR CREDIT CARDS THERE SO WE COULD SAVE THEM THE TROUBLE OF EXCHANGING OUR WORTHLESS MONEY. When we calmly said we don't want to eat at the Pizza Hut, they looked puzzled, and kept repeating that we need to go there, because we are American and they take credit there. So lame.
Anyway, we found another place that takes credit. This place looked good.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Kao San Road
Crickets, maggots, and scorpions
Don't buy drinks in Thailand, it is such a waste of money
The trusty tuk tuks
tourists as far as the eye can see :)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Not India
We didn't get to go to India. It was very sad/shocking. There was a problem with Bret's visa, some of the infomation didn't match up, and the sympathetic staff of KIX airport told us it was a no go. They wouldn't even print our boarding passes. We had happily skipped up the the ticket counter and left with our spirits crushed.
But, we were already in Osaka, after over 14 hours of travel and waiting, so we went on the airport computers and at 100 yen per 10 minutes of internet use, furiously tried to find the best alternative possible. Thailand was the cheapest place, so off we went!
We're still determined to go to India, and it's actually going to be great because over Christmas break I have a ton of time off, so we'll have even more time to explore.
How to check if you're not in a first world county: Are there feral animals everywhere? If yes, you might be in we'renotatthestagewherewefixouranimalsville.
Literally, dogs everywhere you look. When we were at a remote countryside temple, I was trying to take pictures of these awesome roosters and 3 huge dogs started barking and running at me full speed. I was sort of thinking that was the end for me, and started yelling No! No! Nonono! and they luckily stopped their charge and let me pet them. hahaha. phew! Good thing I kept a cool head :)
Six days was plenty for Thailand. Plenty. We had a great time, but you can only eat so much, buy so many 50 cent tees, and go to the Safari park so much before they give you the "you guys again" looks. It was a great experience for a week, but I am not a "sit on the beach" person, so it was plenty of time for me to see everything I wanted to see.
I was getting a massage (they are dirt cheap everywhere, like 6 dollars an hour sometimes) and overheard this guy asking how much it would be to get his entire upper body waxed. He was told it'd be 1,000 baht, which is like 36 dollars or something. He then argued about the price, trying to reduce it to 800 for about 10 minutes, while people all around are trying to relax. He kept saying, "no, that's too much, it's too much." UMMM NO THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH. We don't want to hear about your body hair problems, take a hike! First of all, no one wants to wax your upper body, weird indiscernible accent guy. Second, I don't want to listen to you being a miser. Thirdly, can you hear yourself? Do you literally have no shame? Ugh. You can/should barter/haggle/whatever when someone is trying to rip you off, or is clearly quoting a high starting "bid" but walking into an establishment with set prices clearly on display and arguing in front of a room of people is classless.The sad thing was the lady took his offer and told him to come back in 30 minutes.
But, we were already in Osaka, after over 14 hours of travel and waiting, so we went on the airport computers and at 100 yen per 10 minutes of internet use, furiously tried to find the best alternative possible. Thailand was the cheapest place, so off we went!
We're still determined to go to India, and it's actually going to be great because over Christmas break I have a ton of time off, so we'll have even more time to explore.
*Random closing rant*
One of the things that really bugged me while we were there was haggling. I mean, there are shanty towns everywhere, people are working hard to get by, and you get these tourists haggling over the lamest stuff. Oh, you got that for 100 baht instead of 150 (4 dollars instead of 4.75)? Do you feel like a big man? Congratulations on being such a savvy consumer!I was getting a massage (they are dirt cheap everywhere, like 6 dollars an hour sometimes) and overheard this guy asking how much it would be to get his entire upper body waxed. He was told it'd be 1,000 baht, which is like 36 dollars or something. He then argued about the price, trying to reduce it to 800 for about 10 minutes, while people all around are trying to relax. He kept saying, "no, that's too much, it's too much." UMMM NO THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH. We don't want to hear about your body hair problems, take a hike! First of all, no one wants to wax your upper body, weird indiscernible accent guy. Second, I don't want to listen to you being a miser. Thirdly, can you hear yourself? Do you literally have no shame? Ugh. You can/should barter/haggle/whatever when someone is trying to rip you off, or is clearly quoting a high starting "bid" but walking into an establishment with set prices clearly on display and arguing in front of a room of people is classless.The sad thing was the lady took his offer and told him to come back in 30 minutes.
*Rant over*
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