Life through my eyes

Ottawa

2012-01-29T07:29:00.000-06:00

Leaving San Francisco was bittersweet, but it's time to move to the next amazing place! We stopped in Ottowa since, I am ashamed to admit, I've never even been to Canada. It seems as though you visit the places closest to you the least. It was freezing, but aside from my wussy-ness, it was beautiful. We arrived in Ottowa at 3:00 p.m. and did a little bit of sightseeing before the sun set.

I left my heart in San Francisco

2011-11-09T07:09:00.000-06:00

It's been really nice being in a place where everyone speaks English! I guess I can't really complain...I did move to Japan with absolutely zero knowledge of the language. I have gotten to spend time with my family. My sister and I decided to go out for dinner at my favorite Thai place in the city. The moon looked super creepy!

I really wanted to get a picture of the food when it came to the table, but I was so hungry I absolutely forgot. As you can see, the drinks are super cute and the food is perfection.

My little sis just turned 21 so we decided to go wine tasting in the Napa valley and it was really fun. We started off in downtown Napa and moved our way up valley. The artichoke dip at this place had proscuttio in it and I almost died.

The drive was beautiful as we rode into the valley. I really see why Napa is always compared to Italy...

Now, on our way North. I heard it is freezing in Canada right now, so we will see how it goes.

Going back to Cali

2011-11-03T06:51:00.000-06:00

Hottie and I decided to take a trip back to San Francisco for a much needed vacay. I mean, not working and spending all of my free time on social media is really draining! I got to go a few days earlier than him because he had to work, and I was lucky enough that the middle seat was empty!

I landed and went straight to my parents house and then to sleep. I did happen to catch a picture on the way home...

I can't wait to spend some family and friend time here. The plan is to hang out here and then go up to Canada for a week and see the sights in Montreal. I have never been so it will be exciting to visit and I will definitely be posting the pics soon.

Kyoto

2011-09-21T04:58:00.000-06:00

Hottie and I went to Kyoto this weekend and all I can say is WOW! It was "respect your elders" day, so hottie had Saturday, Sunday and Monday off, and we wanted to do something really relaxing and memorable. Kyoto is the place to go if you want to experience traditional Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, etc. are all big cities, so you don't really get the old timey feel of Japan like you do in Kyoto. We ended up staying at the Westin and it was gorgeous. As soon as we enterd, we saw a beautiful glass sculpture with water streaming down, and a woman was singing amazing grace.

We went up to the room and it was beautiful. They even had a double shower! I had a great pic of it too, but I accidentally deleted it...

We took it easy on Friday night, and just had tepanyaki dinner (amazing) and went to bed a little early. As soon as we woke up, we got ready and headed out to a Japanese tea garden. It was the most beautiful thing I have seen since we have been here. There was a bhuddist monk chanting in garden and it made it so much more amazing. I thought it would be rude to snap a shot of the monk, but I did get some of the gardens.

It is too beautiful for words. It felt so amazing to be in such a quiet place and not just see the beauty in it, but to feel how amazing the place that surrounds you is. After the tea garden, we went to Nijo castle, and although not as scenic, the old Japanese buildings are stunning.

As we were walking around enjoying ourselves, a torrential dounpour dumped rain and we ended up being stuck in a seating area for an hour until it slowed down enough to leave.

As soon as the rain stopped, we got on the train and headed straight to the hotel. It was too rainy to do anything that night, but the hotel was so beautiful, we didn't mind too much. We woke up early and headed to do some shopping and back on the bullet train. The thing goes 300kph! Crazy! It was one of the most serene, beautiful and amazing experiences of my life and if I get the chance again, Kyoto is definitely on my list of places to visit.

Minato Mirai day

2011-09-12T00:52:00.001-06:00

So I went to minato mirai this weekend. It is probably the best place to go in Yokohama. They have the tallest building in Japan, landmark tower, and an amusement park. Hottie and I rode the water ride, the spin-coaster and went through the haunted house. We didn't have the balls to go on the ferris wheel. That thing is huge! This pic is from the moving platform to landmark tower so you can see how it looks from afar.

Japan

2011-09-12T00:24:00.000-06:00

Japan is amazing! Everything is very small. The cars, the apartments, the people, the chairs, the busses, the buildings, the clothes...you name it, it's smaller here. I'm actually even smaller since I got here! It's beginning to get lonely though, especially with no job. Since I know zero Japanese, there will be no job here. There is plenty of shopping though, and the styles are much cuter (IMO) than in the U.S. Any ideas to quell the loneliness? I've read about 30 books and have watched an endless amount of movies, so any suggestion is welcomed.