Goodbye Japan! Goodbye Asia!

Today I decided to go to kamakura. I left later than I wanted to cuz I slept in a bit, but good thing cuz I felt much better today! Sore throat was almost gone and had more energy. Grateful heavenly father answers prayers! So left around 930, couldn't remember if it was shibuya or shinjuku station I was supposed to go to, so I asked two staff who told me something different so I was confused, but I finally figured out to go to shinjuku. Once I got to the station, it took me a while to figure out where to buy the ticket, then I was finally on my way. It took over an hour to get to enoshima, where I stopped first. I walked To the island via a bridge, and took a couple of escalators up to this lighthouse. On the way there were two shrines. The weather was absolutely perfect and I enjoyed the walk. The top of the 

Lighthouse was refreshing with the cool breeze and pretty view of the whole island and ocean. Then I walked back down to the street where there were shops and restaurants. I decided I had to try the island's specialty dish- sardine sashimi. It was interesting...not my favorite but I liked it. 

After lunch, I walked back to the train station to go to kamakura. Went to the Daibatsu first, which was a big Buddha. Not as big as the one in HK, but still good to see. After my short visit, I headed to the Hase shrine or temple, can't remember which. That was nice as well, although they really all started to look the same after a while. Didnt stay long there either, and by then I was getting tired. Oh and before the Daibatsu, I walked down this street full of shops and bought a bunch of treats and tried lots of samples. And heading back I walked down another bigger street but didn't stop anywhere. I took the train back to shinjuku, and there I looked for some dinner. I was wanting to eat ramen, but ended up stopping at this noodle restaurant that had noodles kinda like udon, except they were square shaped, thinner and chewier that you put in some sauce. Not my favorite....but filled me up considerably cuz the bowl of noodles was huge. Couldn't even finish. After dinner, I headed back to sleep. 

The next day Anthony and I had to check out of temple housing at 10. I wanted to do baptisms that morning, but didn't realize that they didn't start until 1 pm. How disappointing. I never got to do any baptisms at all in any of the 4 temples I visited! Sad day. But anyway, Anthony and I took a taxi to our hotel and dropped off our luggage, then went out to find something to eat. We ate at this pork katsu place that was ok. Then we split and I went and shopped. Found this mall area that actually had cheaper stuff, so I finally fought some shoes and then a $9 skirt. Headed back to the hotel to check in and get settled in the room, then headed back out for an early dinner. This time had the ramen I've been wanting. Except it was kinda salty and I've had better ramen...I never ate sushi while I was her either!! What a crime! Hopefully I will come back someday and get some real Japanese fresh sushi! 

Anyway, after eating, anthony and I split again and I headed to shibuya to the 109 building for shopping where there were 9 floors of women's clothing. The stuff was all too expensive for me, so I only quickly browsed each level and went to Zara and forever 21 instead, where I bought more stuff. And this old (like 50-60 year old) Japanese guy starts talking to me and I was like I don't speak Japanese, and he asks if I wanted to get a drink with him. What the heck. Gross! He is probably married with a bunch of kids, maybe even grand kids. How terrible. But after that disturbing encounter, I headed back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Except I was coughing so much and I wasn't tired, so I couldn't fall asleep till late :( 

This morning I woke up at 9 and was wide awake, so I laid in bed for a while checking fb etc, then finally got up and got ready. Went to a few convenience stores and bought some cakes and more treats. Man I bought I lot of stuff! I'm sure ting and un will be happy! After the stores, I went back to the hotel since Anthony was still sleeping and he had the room key. I was afraid he would go out and I wouldn't be able to get back in! I thought we might go grab some lunch, except he just laid around and went back to sleep, so I just finished packing and sat around till it was time for me to head to the airport. Luckily our hotel had an airport shuttle so I didn't have to haul all my crap somewhere else. So once I got to the airport, I went and picked up my duffel bag and the reorganized my suitcase and then checked in my bags. Waited around for 2 hours or so and now it is time to board the plane! It's a 10 hour flight, and then I have a 6 or 7 hour layover in LA, the. I will be home around 930 pm. Yay! I can't wait to go home and sleep in my own bed! Excited to see my family as well. Well, Asia has been fun! I learned a lot and experience a lot! S grateful I had the opportunity to go on this trip!! And grateful to Heavenly Father for always watching over me. It has stregthened my testimony to know that He is always there, no matter how far away from home I am, perhaps especially when we are far from home! And I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to share the gospel with a few people. I've never really done it before, and it's not as scary as I thought it'd be! Even though no e of the people I talked to were interested, I'm glad I got to bring up the church somehow and hopefully they will remember it someday! I still have a day to give away a pass along card that I brought! I brought a few but never had them with me to give away! Tsk tsk. Maybe I'll have the chance to before I get home! Well, time to board! Wish me a good flight!

Japan Japan Japan!

Wow I didn't realize that I hadn't written since I got to Japan! I'm really liking it here, better than Seoul at least. Can't pinpoint exactly why...but I just do. 

Anyway, so after a long day of traveling on Monday (2 hours to kuala lumpur, 4 hour layover in a sucky airport-what kind of airport nowadays doesn't take credit cards?! It was the biggest hassle just trying to buy a bottle of water! And 6.5 hour flight to Tokyo) I finally arrived. I was really glad I decided to just stay at the capsule hotel that night cuz it would've been a pain trying to get to another hotel and working about the subways closing down before I got there. 

The capsule hotel was an interesting experience. Glad I got to experience it at least once. It was just beds separated by walls, with this sliding blind thing for doors. The bathroom facilities were pretty nice though. They provided nice Sheseido products, even face wash, makeup remover, etc. so I had a decent night there. Got up earlyish the next morning to look for a courier service to send my duffel bag to the Narita airport and store it there until I leave on Sunday. So useful! I know I definitely would have died trying to transport everything to the temple! Seriously. It was cheap too-less than $20! 

After getting the luggage situation figured out, I took the subway and found the temple without problem. Good thing I had a map! I dropped off my stuff and headed out to see the Meiji Shrine. The shrine wasn't all that exciting, to be honest. You first walk through the Nakimise(?) street which was lined with souvenir shops and food. I bought my Japan magnet and stopped by the shrine briefly. Then headed to the Takeshita Dori street which was lined with boutiques. Nothing too exciting there. The only things I got was from the Daiso store- more stationary and treat bags....I think I have enough to last me the next 20 years. Also got some candy. Japan, or Asia in general, has the best candy! 

I kept walking after I past the street and saw a Forever 21 which I decided to stop at and bought some clothes. I think I'm done shopping for the trip! Ive spent more than I planned already. Whoops. After that I wi Dow shopped a little more and decided to head back to the temple for a little nap before meeting Anthony at 5:30. Except his flight was delayed and he didn't get there till 8! Grrr... Wasted a bunch of time doing noting....we were supposed to meet Aiko for dinner but couldn't make it since anthony still had to check in between 9- 10. So we went near by for yakitori, which was so expensive!! They made us buy drinks, whic was at least $3, and their kebabs were all SO tiny. I only got 3 and some tofu, and was still hungry afterwards. That definitely made me miss all the cheap food in Thailand! And HK! 

Anyway, the next day Anthony and I headed out later around 11 and first headed to Ginza. I actually had itineraries planned but Anthony just wanted to "chill", so we wandered aimlessly. Waste of time in my opinion. We went to the oldest mall in Japan supposedly and grabbed a quick lunch from their food....how to call it...vendors? It was just a bunch of counters with food you can buy. What I got wasn't that great unfortunately. Some kinda beef with rice. And i had the biggest trouble finding a drink to buy there. What kind of food place doesn't sell drinks!? So frustrating cuz I was dying of thirst. 

After the quick lunch, we wandered around and anthony decided  to go to this store called the Loft, which had a bunch of random stuff like stationary, male up, clothes...and it was there that we lost each other. Probably actually a good thing, cuz he didn't wanna do anything I wanted to do anyway and was pretty much doing his own thing. So whatever, I left and went to the sensoji temple. That was pretty. Then went for a boat ride down the sumida river and took the train to odaiba. The train ride was so fun, cuz I sat in the very front where I got the perfect view. There weren't operators on the train so there were just big windows in the front. It was like a fun ride! 

After the short train ride, I got off and walked the two minutes to the bath house. Perfect timing too! They had a discount for after 6pm, and so I waited the ten minutes or so and got a $5 discount! The bath house was quite the interesting experience. It was actually quite enjoyable and I'm glad I got to experience more of this Japanese culture. So first you put your shoes in a locker, then they issue you a bracelet where they use it to charge everything you do there to pay at the end. Then you get a yukata that you put on in the dressing room. After changing, you got out to this public area with little shops and food. I ate a quick meal of pork katsu and then headed to the foot baths. It was outdoor with a few long shallow ponds of warm water to dip your feet in. It was a cute place. What I really wanted to try though was the fish therapy, where you put your feet in a pool of water and these fish come and eat the dead skin off your feet. Kinda scary at first and not to mention ticklish! But I got used to it after a while and it felt quite nice! Like a massage! The. These two girls came and stole all my fish away :( sad day, but it was funny watching other peoples reaction too. That was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I tried it! My feet are much softer now! I wish I could do it everyday!

After that I went to the actual bath area. That was definitely an experience, getting naked in front of everyone! They separate it into gender though, but I still felt weird about it. The baths were really nice though! There were a whole bunch of different ones to choose from, like different temps, sizes, ones where you laid down for a jacuzzi massage, steam rooms, saunas....I didn't stay too .9long cuz it got so hot, but I enjoyed it. Then there are a bunch of stations where it's like little vanities with a chair, mirror, and shower head to shower. They provide shampoo and all that too. Then you dry yourself off and put your clothes back on. And there are more vanity stations with hair dryers and all these fancy face washes, lotions, hair products, etc. quite nice. After getting all ready, you go out and pay. 

After the fun bathhouse, I headed over to the shopping area only to look at the giant gun dam statue. That was huge and it was fun to see it. And then I went to the big ferris wheel at palette town and got a ride! I really liked that- such nice view of the city and lights. The. I rushed home cuz I didn't wanna miss curfew and be homeless for the night! 

The next day i woke up sick! I already had a sore throat the day before, but I think I had a fever and I was coughing. No good, but at least I wasn't so sick I had to stay in bed. Anthony and I headed to the imperial palace garden first. He was basically ignoring me and just going off by himself, so I just left and walked by myself after a while. It was kinda a nice garden and walk. A little but hot, although I still stayed for at least an hour. Then I went to the station where this Japanese garden was supposed to be, but after I got there, it wasn't even on the map and I wasn't up for looking for it and walking around anywa cuz I was getting tired. I ended up stopping by this theater area at the subway station where there were a bunch of food stalls and got some ice cream. Then I headed to see the sky tree. When I got there, I found out I had to get a ticket where I had to wait an hour and a half to buy the real ticket to go up. I just wandered a bit, got this yummy cake filled with cream and custard, and waited till it was time. I stayed at the top for over an hour cuz I wanted to see the night view. I almost didn't want to wait so long, but glad I stayed cuz the view was beautiful. Especially the dusk view. After being satisfied with the night view of Tokyo, I headed back home early so I could get good sleep.

Japan!

I arrived in Japan safe and sound! Got here last night around 1030, and so glad I booked the capsule hotel in the airport because it would've been the biggest pain trying to get to the hotel so late at night and risking the subways closing before I get to my hotel. But the capsule hotel was quite interesting. It was just a bunch of beds separated by walls, that don't even have proper doors, just these sliding shade things. But the bathrooms were quite nice- they had all these vanities that had face wash, make up remover, q tips, hair curler and straightener....plus nice products that were all Shesheido or however you spell that! So that was an interesting experience.

I woke up early this morning and went to find the courier service to send my 50 lb duffel bag to the narita airport so I can pick it up when I leave. So convenient! It cost less han $20 too! I just pray that they are sending it to the right place and it doesn't get lost or something or I'd be very very depressed! Everything I bought on this trip is in there! It was slightly frustrating trying to communicate cuz some of the people at the airport didn't speak much english. You'd think they would hire people who were proficient! But oh well, I got by. I was able to find the temple housing without trouble too. I've been pretty lucky on this trip since I haven't really gotten lost!

After dropping my stuff off in my room (bunk beds- I'm sharing the room with another Japanese lady), I headed out to see the Meiji jingo shrine. I'm so glad I prepared itineraries for this trip! It has helped a ton. So I was albe to find my way there easily as well! The walk to the shrine was through this park area lined with tall trees, so it was quite nice. I stopped by the shrine garden on the way and that was quite a pretty and peaceful little walk as well. The weather here is soooooo much nicer compared to Bangkok! So much more enjoyable to be outside-thank goodness! The shrine wasn't all that interesting, to be honest, so I didn't stay for long.

After the shrine, I walked to Takeshita Dori street to browse the stores. First stop was Daiso, where I got more stationary and treat bags...I think I have enough to last me quite a while now...heh. Walked and shopped a bit in forever 21 and bought some clothes there, then pretty much headed back to the temple where I was supposed to meet Anthony but his flight got delayed so I'm still waiting...lame. And so hungry!! And I can't believe I already spent over $250, and it's only been a day! What the heck!! I don't even know what I spent all that money on! Hopefully I will be spending a lot less after today since I paid for my hotels already.  And I probably shouldn't buy any more crap either! I actually shopped quite a bit on this trip. Anyway, I hope anthony gets here soon. We are meeting Aiko at 8!

Hot Hot Hot!

Here we go again- off to my last stop- Japan! To be honest, I wasnt all that excited to go to Japan, but now I am eager to leave the heat, humidity, and bugs behind! I could never live somewhere with weather like this. I constantly felt so gross and sweaty! I am grateful for Utah's dry weather. 

Anyway, on to recap the past two days. Saturday was Andrea's last day with me- so sad! We booked a tour to see the floating market, river Kwai, and the tiger temple. We were picked up bright and early at 7am. Drive was so long! We drove for a total of probably at least 6 hours there and back. Our first stop was the floating market. Don't even remember what that one was called since there are a bunch of them near Bangkok. It was super touristy and crowded! Way too many boats in the river at the same time. There were shops along the sides of the river that sold basically the same things as all the other tourist areas, so I didn't buy anything. The sides of the boat were very low so we kept getting splashed with the nasty river water! Ew! We circled around to a village area and saw this HUGE reptile lizard thing climb out of the water onto the wall on the side! Creepy. It was probably at least two feet long. Actually maybe bigger. 

After that exciting ride through the market and village, we took a speed boat through the same river to some other random place where we waited for our driver. He then drove us to grab a quick lunch, and we were off to the river Kwai. I guess during the Japanese invasion during world war II, the Japanese built a bridge over the river for the trains to transport supplies and ammunition. Not really all that exciting...plus I was too hot to really even care. After the bridge, we finally got to go to the tiger temple, which is what we were looking forward to the most. They only let us stay for an hour, which was kinda lame. There were also lots of other animals there, like deer, buffalo, boar, and not sure what else we saw. There were so many bugs there! We first went to take pictures with the tigers. They had like maybe 10 of the, in this one area where everyone waited I line and the people who worked there grabbed your camera while another literally held our hand and led us around to a bunch of the tigers for pictures. It was interesting holding some Thai boy's hand. Heh. Andrea and I ended up going around twice so we could get more pictures. We mostly just got to stand near the tigers' behind, except for one where we got to touch one of their heads. A girl got to hold the tiger's head in her lap! That would've made an awesome pictures, except I was wearing white pants and didn't want to get them all dirty. Oh well. After taking pictures there,  the staff led one of the tigers out and everyone got to take turns holding the leash and walking the tiger for a quick picture. Then we got another picture with a monk bottle feeding a tiger. That was basically it for the tiger temple. A little disappointing because I thought we would get to do more with them. It also would've been fun to see the cubs. Too bad...after that it was a 3 hour drive back to Bangkok. 

That night, Andrea and I went to Khao San Road since we lived near it. It is known as the backpacker's street. We got some dinner there for super cheap! $2 each for green curry and stir fried veggies, and ONE dollar for a big plate of pad Thai!! Our whole meal cost $6 for the both of us with a ton of leftovers! Why can't America be that cheap?! Everything really is so cheap here! It's so much fun shopping. After dinner we walked down the street for a bit of shopping. I got 3 cover up/ dresses for $10!!!! We have found some super good deals here! 

As we were walking down the street, I see a guy holding a tray full of scorpions on sticks. And since Andrea said she would eat bugs, I chased after the guy so we could buy one from him so she could make good on her word (that she forgot she even said). I wasn't planning on eating no scorpion! But since Andrea finally had the courage to take a small bite, I did too (although it took us both a while). We got it all on camera too and it is hilarious! But the scorpion really didn't taste that bad. At all. In fact it was kinda tasty. Ha ha ha. Really just like the BBQ chips we ate that morning! We were gonna throw away the rest of the scorpion after our little bites, but we decided what the heck. And we each took another bite and finished it off. Afterwards we couldn't believe we actually did it! To be honest though, I really didn't think the scorpion looked as bad as the other bugs- even crickets. We saw a bunch of other nasty stuff they were selling, including giant grasshoppers and cockroaches. Now those you can't pay me a million dollars to eat. The scorpion seemed to me more like a crawfish or something, really. S if I had to eat another one, I probably would. That was quite adventurous and brave of us though, I've got to say. On our short walk back to our hostel, Andrea decided it was safer to have some sort of weapon to protect ourselves with, so she found a big rock to carry the rest of the way back to ward off any potential bad guys. It worked pretty well! 

The next morning, Andrea left bright and early at 4 am for her flight back to HK. So sad! No more Andrea to eat bugs with or to protect me with rocks :( I was quite sad when I woke up and she was gone. That morning after laying in bed longer than I had intended (I was too tired, plus didn't want to face the heat again), I finally got up and got ready to go to Ayutthaya- where there are a bunch of temple ruins. The receptionist at the hostel suggested going by bus and train, although online people said by minivan was easiest. I had a hard time deciding, but finally went with the bus and train. Big mistake! The bus ride to the train station went smoothly enough, but the train....oh that dang train! There was no a/c first of all. And at the first stop, the train broke down or something and stopped for over half an hour. I was getting so frustrated and annoyed, I finally got fed up with waiting and took a taxi to where the minivans left. Good choice! It took less than two hours total to get there. I was met by a nice tuk tuk driver lady who offered her services to me. I picked out 5 temples I wanted to visit, and we were on our way! She really was very kind. Let me borrow an umbrella as shade since it was so hot out, and even gave me a free cold water bottle. I liked her. The temples were pretty neat. I expected them to be in the middle of nowhere-like the Mayan ruins- but they were all right 

In the middle of the city. Again, it was too hot to really be able to properly enjoy the sites, so I only briefly walked around each one and snapped a few pictures. After the five sites, I took the minivan back to Bangkok and decided to go to a mall this girl in krabi recommended called terminal 21 . Walked around a bit but didn't see anything worth buying. Decided to grab some food since I didn't really eat lunch. Went up to the food court where they had so many selections for super cheap! I got this pork dish that wasn't that great though, and the another fruit smoothie. After eating I went to the bottom floor and bought some treats and headed back to the hostel to pack. 

Got up at 4 am this morning and caught a taxi to the airport, which only cost less than 200, instead of 350 like when we arrived. And it only took 20 minutes to get there rather than 45. Right now I arrived in Malaysia waiting for my connecting flight...have a four hour layover. What to do, what to do....I downloaded the second book in the seven realms series so i shall read!

Goodbye Krabi, hello Bangkok

Ughhhhhhh. I'm so frustrated and annoyed right now! We arrived in bangkok, only to find out Andreas bag never made it here and is still sitting in krabi. Andrea wants to stay here to wait for her bag to arrive, so we are stuck here until 2pm. 3 more hours. We are basically wasting the whole day! I wanted to go see the palaces but we probably won't be able to cuz we won't have enough time. Ugh. I guess things could be worse. At least we know where it's at and it gets here in a few hours. 

Anyway, I guess I'll do a recap of our last day in krabi. So yesterday we went on a tour to the Hong islands. Our first stop was Red Rock Island, where we got to do some snorkeling. Saw a couple of cool fish, but they were mostly the tiger fish like the first time we went snorkeling the day before. The next stop was Paradise island. It was a pretty little island where we just snorkeled some more and hung out on the beach. I needed to go to the bathroom, but the bathrooms there were NASTY!!! So of course I refused to use it. Don't know why I even included that piece of information...heh. Anyway, then we went to the Hong Island lagoon and circled it briefly, then went to the other beach side of the island and kayaked back to the lagoon. Kayaking was fun, I really loved the lagoon and being able to see it from the kayak. Makes the limestone look even bigger and more majestic! That was our last stop of the day before heading back to our hotel, where we washed off and changed. Then we went to get a full body Thai massage! It only cost less than $7 for a full hour!! Seriously crazy cheap. Except it hurt SO bad! The things running through my mind at the time went something like this:  

"Ow ow ow!!" 

"I think she is going to break my back!!"

"She's gonna give me bruises all ove- hahaha that tickles!"

"I don't think I can handle this for a full hour!"

Anyway, you get the picture. I don't think I'll be going back for any Thai massages anytime soon. But afterwords we got manicures and pedicures, which was fun. They were all my first time! If it was as cheap in the states as here in Thailand, I'm sure I'd go all the time. But alas...

After that, we finally got dinner. I was starving by then. We ate at this small cafe. Good, cheap food but oh so spicy. I think I might've gotten a stomachache from there too. But nothing too bad! We shopped a little bit after dinner and I bought a cute straw hat, a cover up, and take a guess at what else. Yep, more scarves. Eek, I don't even know how many I've bought already! Let's see...8 in HK, 3 sparkly elephant ones, and then 2 more shiny elephant ones from last night. That makes...13?! I want to keep them all for myself, but I will be giving some to my sisters, so that's not too bad, right?? They are just all so cheap!

Anyway, we also saw a lot of transvestites on the street yesterday dressed in skimpy outfits, hooker shoes, and faces plastered with makeup. There was one at the mani/pedi place, and we didn't even realize she/he was a transvestite till she/he spoke. Interesting stuff...I just wonder why there are so many here. Is it a cultural thing or what? 

But yeah, so that was basically our day. We got up at 6:30 and left for the airport at 7 this morning. The stupid lady at the counter who checked us in didn't put the luggage tag on Andreas bag, hence it got left there. Why can't people freakin do their jobs right?! I hope we will still be able to do something today, like see the palaces and stuff...2.5 ish more hours to go. I think I'll go read a bit. Glad I downloaded a couple books onto my iPad or I'd be so bored! 

It's now 9pm the same day, and ughhhh I already was almost done updating but stupid blogger deleted everything! Gosh. Today is not my day. I've been in such a bad mood all day long. Anyway. We survived waiting the few hours in the airport and Andrea was able to get her bag, thank goodness. We took a taxi to our hostel after waiting in a long line for one, and I was expecting the taxi driver to try to cheat me, but luckily the one we got was pretty honest and I didn't have to bite anyone's head off. 

We got to our hostel around 3pm, and dropped off our stuff. Then walked to the pier to take the boat to see the temples. Omg it is sooooo hot here! I was soaking all day long. It was nasty. I'm really not looking forward to the next 2 days....it reminds me of how hot central america was! Eek! Makes me excited to get back to Utah! 

So we took the boat to the first temple, Wat Pho. And let me just stop and say how gross and dirty the water in the river is! Or I guess Bangkok in general. Trash and bags of garbage everywhere! So gross... Definitely not liking this part of the city. But otherwise, the temple was cool. Wat Pho is where the reclining Buddha was at, and they had a lot of neat structures. Everything was so intricate. Then we took the boat across the river to Wat Aran. That one was neat too. You could climb up the stairs, which were super steep! Each step was as high as my knee so it was a bit scary climbing up and down. Reminds me of the Mayan temples just cuz the steps were so steep!so we only stayed for a bit, then went to the street they call china town. We didn't really explore it much cuz we were so hot and hungry. Just stopped somewhere for some noodle stuff and a cold fruit smoothie. Then we took a tuk tuk home. Tomorrow we are visiting a floating market, river Kwai or something, and the tiger temple. Hopefully it will be fun despite the excruciating heat! Eek.

Island Hopping

Well, today was an interesting day. As far as fun goes, it definitely wasn't as good as yesterday! But it was still good for the most part. We went island hopping to the Phi Phi islands. We left at 8:30 and took the speed boat to Bamboo Island first. We decided to sit up at the very front  of the boat without remembering it was the bumpiest part of the boat! It was definitely a wild 30 minute ride! Except our boat broke down or something in between for 15 minutes or so and the waves were kinda big, which almost made me seasick. Luckily I managed, other people including Andrea weren't so lucky. Poor things. Bamboo island was nice. We just walked around the beach a little and got a few pictures. We only stayed like 40 minutes there before heading to go snorkeling at Phi Phi Don I believe. It was pretty fun! There were WAY more fish there than in Hawaii! Like everywhere, so that was really cool. The only bad part was that my camera froze or something right after I got in the water! So I couldn't get pictures or videos there like I wanted to, but luckily we went to another spot where I was able to. After that snorkeling, we went to monkey island or something where we saw a few monkeys, and then to some lagoon which was magnificent! That was my favorite part of the tour. We just circled around it briefly but it was so pretty! Surrounded by the limestone cliffs....blue green water....really beautiful. After that, we might have gone somewhere else, but at the end we just went to Phi Phi something for lunch. Not the best food, but oh well. We walked around a little bit I the stores after we ate, and sat down at a restaurant by the beach for a drink. The ride back was a bit long but I slept through most of it so that was ok.

After getting back, we realized we lost Andreas wallet!! it was so bad....she kept all the money she exchanged in there, plus jet debit card so now she only has $200 left. It couldve been worse though. At least she didn't lose her passport and it was near the end of the trip. So we spent a few hours looking for it and trying to make phone calls to get the card cancelled. In the end we were able to reach her mom to cancel it for her. AfteR getting things figured out, we took the tuk tuk to some market which sucked. Mostly cheap clothes and stuff, so we only stayed 15 minutes before heading back to the area we were staying at. We stopped by some restaurant for dinner. It wasn't that great though. Got a garlic naan and cashew chicken. Then after dinner we just went back to our hotel cuz we were tired. Going to bed early tonight! Tomorrow is snorkeling and kayaking!

Can't Believe I'm in Thailand!!

Thailand is unbelievably awesome!!! So so so beautiful. Seriously. It really does look just like the pretty pictures you see! But starting from last night after arriving, we were picked up by our driver and taken to our hotel, which was kinda, ok pretty old and run down, but at least it was clean enough with no bugs. We got there at like 12:30am and didn't sleep till after 1, and this morning we got up at 6:40 to catch the bus to Krabi. We had to wait out I the heat while it was super humid for over an hour for the bus! But th ride was actually a lot shorter than we expected, only 3 instead of 4 hours! I was worried we wouldnt be able to find our hotel cus the driver didn't speak English and didn't know where the hotel was at, but we asked around a little and we able to take the tuk tuk to our hotel 2 minutes away from where we were dropped off. The receptionist lady was really nice and helpful, helping us book our tours and everything. We got to go on the elephant trek right after we got there pretty much. It was SO cheap!! $15 for one hour, including hotel transfer and everything! Thailand is not only beautiful, but so so so cheap!! Definitely my kind of paradise. Anyway, the elephant trek was so much fun! Our elephant had spotted ears and her name was Nara. We got to ride through the jungle for the first part, which was really awesome, I thought the ride was over after a circle in the jungle, but then we got to go into the river in a jungly area as well! THAT was awesome!! The driver or whatever got off the elephant to take pictures of us and he got some really cool shots that we were super happy about . And he also ordered the elephant to spray us with water! Three times! Haha it was kinda funny. After the fun ride, we got to feed another elephant bananas. That was fun too, although I think I was a bit scared of it, mostly cuz it's trunk was so slobbery. Haha. Oh, and Andrea found a spider on my head!! Ok, it was on my hat, but if it wasn't for the hat, it would've been on my head! I was freaking out, but she got it off for me. Whew.

After that, we were driven back to our hotel. We then got tickets for the long tail boat to Railay Beach. It was incredibly beautiful there, surrounded by limestone cliffs and green water. I want to go back every day! We stopped for a late lunch cuz we hadnt eaten much all day- so we went from eating nonstop everyday to starving ourselves! Sad! But we got some green curry and noodles which were relish. Then we walked to Pranang Cave across the peninsula. On the way were lots of monkeys!! With lots of baby ones too! Sooooo cute!!!! They were riding on their mommy's bellies and they were so little! I loved them! The caves were pretty cool too. At the end we got to another beach with another gorgeous view. Seriously stunning view. I wish I never had to leave!

But eventually it was time to catch the last boat back to Ao Nang beach, where we are staying. We live 2 minutes away from the beach! Although Ao Nang isn't as pretty as Railay, it's still a super convenient location cuz there are restaurants and shops right outside our hotel. We went out and checked out all the shops after getting back and shopped some more! I shopped a ton on this trip! I got MORE scarves for super cheap ($6). I know I already bought 8 in HK, but I couldn't resist cUz they were so pretty! But yeah, it was fun exploring surrounding areas. Shopping is especially fun hen everything is so cheap! Except I really don't have any more room in my luggage :( but I'm still gonna buy and then figure out how to carry them later. Ha ha.

Anyway, this was the most perfect first day in Thailand! I'm so happy to be here and so glad Andrea was able to come with me! We are having the time of our lives and are making memories we will never ever forget! Tomorrow we are going to the Phi Phi islands with 8 island tour! So excited!! Oh and not to forget the $8 Thai massage for a full hour!! Crazy cheap or what?!

Last Day in HK :(

So I'm on the plane to Thailand! I am actually quite sad that we had to leave HK already :( I will definitely miss the food, the pretty lights and skyline, all the shopping, but most of all my family. It was really nice getting to see everyone!

Anyway, trying to remember what I've done the past few days....yesterday we went to church at 11 right across the temple, then stopped by the temple for pictures afterwards. The temple president and his wife actually spoke I sacrament and afterwards we got to talk to him for a little bit. After the pictures, we went to pick up my glasses in Mong Kok, then back to Causeway Bay to Sogo to get my family gifts and for lunch. We ate so much food again there! Taiwanese beef noodles, the giant meatballs again, ice cream, octopus balls, bobs tea....I was so full that I felt sick! It's been a pattern this past week....not good because my pants are definitely tighter! But it's worth it! After a couple hours there, we headed back home for the BBQ with family. We stopped by the little boutiques in the Mei Foo subway station and I got a few cute things. At dinner, my grandparents, Evan, aunt Vivian's cousin and family came. Sooo much food! I wasn't even able to eat much cuz I was still so full from all the food we ate earlier! But uncle Stephen took Evans nice car for a test drive and took Andrea and I along. That was kinda fun. But that was pretty much the end of our night. We packed and got our things all ready to leave. 

Today we got up and Tiffany took us out to explore some more. We started out by taking the ferry across the harbor to ride the tour bus. That was a fun little ride to a part of HK I've never been to in the central area. Then we rode the trolleys (or "ding ding") to Causeway Bay again. We had lunch at a little cafe where I ate some noodles. Then we just went to a few malls and walked around that area for a little bit. Then we went back to Yuen Long for shaved ice, steamed milk, and black sesame porridge. Gonna miss the desserts there so much! We walked around some more afterwards, went into some pet stores with reptiles, and went to buy some snacks like chips and stuff at a supermarket. After that we went home and got everything ready to go and said our goodbyes  with Edna. 

Aunt Vivian came home and drove us to the airport. It was kinda crazy and stressful checking in cuz Andrea hadn't paid for her checked luggage yet so she would have to pay a lot of money to check them in. So in the end she had to leave one of her bags with my family to pick up when she comes back on Sunday and reorganize a bunch of stuff so her luggage wasn't too heavy. And then we were like running to our gate cuz we were in the wrong terminal. But we made it ok with a bit of time to spare, so that was good. 

I think we have about an hour left till we get to Thailand, and our hotel arranged a taxi to pick us up. I hope things go smoothly and we will be able to figure things out over there! I'm glad Andrea is with me and I'm not alone! Thailand should be fun though. I'm excited for the tigers and elephants and the beaches! 

Well, update again after we get there!

Foodaholics

Oh my goodness, we have been eating eating eating all day everyday! I'm sure I've gained at least 10 lbs, but it's worth it! Yesterday we started out our day by going to Shueng Shui to visit my grandpa. Two of my uncles came to eat dim sum with us as well. It was good seeing them! It was also good cuz i was able to try to Get some info on family history from my grandpa. Couldnt get much, but it was a start at least. I'm grateful to have so many of my family who made time to see me on my short visit back this time. I totally didn't expect my family to make so much time and arrange so many things to do with us, so it's been so nice to be spoiled by them. So after lunch, grandpa took us to the bank to cash the $6000 check, then went to visit grandma who was at work. After that we were on our way to meet up with my aunt and grandparents. We shopped a bit downstairs for food and got some yummy blueberry cheese and chestnut flavored ice cream, chestnut cake, giant Taiwanese meatballs and squid. Oh my! So much food! After stuffing ourselves silly, we tried going up to the peak to see the view, with no success. It was rainy and foggy so we couldn't see a thing. Andrea was able to get a bunch of souvenirs for her family though so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

We headed back down and met with uncle and Tiffany at the Elements for dinner at a Japanese place. Yum! Then we went and saw Star Trek, which I really liked. Who knew I would like star trek movies this much?


Today we started out by going to tiffanys school fair thing where she was performing the flute with her orchestra. We had fun stopping by all the little booths of the different countries. Then we headed to Chang Chou. We sampled a bunch of food there, like giant fish balls, potato chips on a stick, red bean filled pancakes, and sat down for snacks at a Thai place. We each got a whole coconut which was yum! Pomelo salad, chicken wings, kebabs, clams....came back around 6 and met up with Evan and my grandparents for dinner. It was Korean BBQ with Japanese beef. Soooooo good!! After the yummy dinner, we went up to the peak again to see the view since the weather was good this time. I think HK has one of the prettiest skylines in the world. Anyway, that was a long day!

Most Wonderful Place on Earth

HK is so great. Seriously. I love it! I wish we were here longer than a week. Despite having only lived here 3 years too many years ago, it still feels like home. It's been so nice to be spoiled by family! Especially after being alone in Korea for a week. So I am obviously enjoying my time here so far! My family has been so great and are taking such good care of us!

Yesterday we got to hang out with my cousin Gabriel for the first part of the day. He took me to get lenses for the frame for my glasses, then took us to a mall which I don't remember the name of. There are way too many malls here in hk to keep track of all of them! But we were in the mong kok area. Had lunch at the food court at the mall- peppered steak rice-INCREDIBLE! It was the favorite food last time we came back here. The food courts here are still 100x better than the any food in utah. Quite depressing, huh? But after the lunch, we ate more food and got us some dessert. Mango pancakes (like a cream filled crepe with mangos), taro creme brûlée kinda thing(SO good), and tapioca with mangos and pomelos in evaporated milk. And we let Andrea try durian for the first time. Haha! No, sorry durian fans, she didn't like it.

After lunch, Gabriel left us to let us shop around a bit. We met up with my aunt and she took us to Stanley Bay and the market there. Andrea had fun shopping for souvenirs. The view was quite nice despite it being cloudy, afterall, anywhere next to the ocean can't be too ugly. We went to the Elements Mall and net up with my uncle and cousin Tiffany for some dinner- shanghai food! I love xiao long boa (shanghai dumplings)! We had a bunch of other shanghai dim sums as well that we're so good! We headed up to ICC after dinner to look at the view from the 118th floor, but unfortunately it was raining and foggy so we couldn't see a thing. We went a back down and shopped a bit at Zara and h&m. Then went to see a movie, the Big Wedding. By the time we got home, Andrea and I were completely pooped.

Today we got up earlyish to go to the big Buddha. We took the crystal cabin cable car there, which had a clear glass bottom so you could see down while you were riding the cable car. Quite neat. The ride was fun, but after we got off, it was so hot and humid! The weatherman predicted scattered thunderstorms all day long, so we went prepared with umbrellas. However, we didn't use them for rain, but for the bright and hot sun instead! The view is so pretty from the top of the buddha. I love it there! You could see misty mountains and islands in the distance. After that, we headed back on the bus and met up with aunt Mary. She took us shopping at wholesale stores. First stop-scarves! They had hundreds of selections and Andrea and I each bought way too many. They were all like $5 each! How could we not?! Unfortunately utah doesn't have such cheap and awesome stuff. Or maybe it's fortunate or I'd be a lot more broke from going shopping all the time.

After all the scarves, we went to some clothing stores and got a few things as well as a jewelry store. I seriously bought way too many things, aunt Mary was too good at shopping and picked out lots of cute things for me! Plus she kinda paid for it all, so how could I not have bought too much? Ha ha. That was super fun though. We went for dinner at a shanghai noodle place which was of course delicious, then went back up to ICC. This time the view was much better! HK really is quite a beautiful city, especially at night with all the twinkling lights of all the tall buildings and skyscrapers. After taking lots of pictures, we met up with aunt Vivian and uncle Stephen to head home. Boy, it's been a busy trip so far! I'm loving it!

Hong Kong, We Meet Again!

I am now in hk waiting to pick up Andrea! I have been too tired to write the past two nights so I have lots to catch up on!

My last day in Korea was eventful enough. Started out by being late to sacrament meeting at Kristy's ward, but that was cuz I decided to stop by at a little restaurant for breakfast. Got adukbokki ramen-so spicy! I was rushing to church all out of breath cuz I had to climb up this long Hill. After church, Kristys family were kind enough to invite me to have lunch with them and their friends. I finally got a taste of real traditional Korean food in Korea! It was this yummy chicken stew and bean paste soup with like 20 side dishes. Yum! I stuffed myself so much I didn't even eat dinner cuz I was full till then! So after lunch with kristy, I headed to the Jongmyo Shrine for this ceremony held yearly to honor deceased Joseon kings. It was pretty crowded, but I guess interesting...kinda. I didn't understand what they were saying, and they did the same thing for like 30-40 min, so I got bored and decided to go to the Seoul Tower. So I met this guy from Albania there and ended up talking to him for a while before he invited me for "coffee" with him. I got some herb tea and we sat by the glass observatory and talked some more. He got super touchy after a while...what the heck. I don't know what it is with guys. Maybe it's the Europeans who are especially touchy. But yeah, don't know why I agreed to have dinner with him as well. Then he started trying to invite me to his hotel! So I of course said no, and then used it as an opportunity to tell him about my beliefs and a little about the church. Haha. Although he wasn't too interested, but I'm glad ive been able to bring up the church to several people so far.

We ended up just getting bubble tea in Myeongdong since neither of us were hungry. Then I pretty much went home, packed, and got ready for bed. The next morning I woke up before 5am, and took the 5:30 bus to the airport. Had a 2 hour flight to Shanghai, then 2 hour layover, then 2 hour flight to HK. just gotta say how much better airlines in Asia are! I got sooo much food on each of the short flights, like full on meals, whereas American Airlines only gave us drinks for a 6 hour flight to HI! Ridic!

But yeah, Evan picked me up with his nice Mercedes! Grandma and grandpa we're waiting for me at aunt Vivian's house already so I hung out with them for a few hours til aunt and uncle got home from work. Then we all had dinner of udon noodles and Chinese BBQ pork, duck, and roasted pork. Yum! It was so nice to be with the family cuz you just feel loved cuz they take such good care of me and it's just fun being with them cuz they are always teasing each other and it's nice! I really wish family lived closer :(

Today I got up early and left with uncle when he left for work so he could show me how to get to the airport. I was like 3 hours early pretty much...then andrea finally got here and we went back to aunt's house ton drop off her stuff and then went to meet Nelson to pick up the $6000. I lost the paper for Ting's thing so I was freaking out! But luckily we were able to pick it up without the paper. Whew. But we kinda sampled some Indonesian kebabs and "little chicken eggs" , oh and Portuguese egg tarts which I have been craving since forever! Yum yum yum! We went to TST to see the giant rubber duck (random), and got dinner at cafe de coral (baked pork rice). I got full way too fast! But by then we were both pooped ao we headed back home. Not sure about plans for tomorrow...but I'm on a go shower and sleep cuz I'm so tired!

If Only I Knew Korean...

I think I'd enjoy being here a lot more if I could communicate and understand what was going on around me, but that's ok. I have actually gotten by a lot better than I thought I would. I have been able to mostly understand what people are trying to say and people have been able to get their point across well enough, so I shouldn't complain. And I haven't actually gotten lost yet at all! People have all been super nice and helpful when I've asked for directions.

Anyway, so I started out my day by going to Gwangjang Market. It was a nice little walk there. I got a blueberry cream cheese filled pastry/bread thing on the way and that was so good! I actually don't think I've eaten anything here yet that I was like...that was SO GOOD. Sad huh? Probably cuz I always got sick after eating the heavy street food stuff. Tomorrow is definitely the day where I am going to eat some real Korean food! I don't know what I've been eating the past few days cuz I really haven't eaten like the real stuff yet. I think I've mostly been just buying snacks here and there from the streets or whatever. Tomorrow I'm gonna get me some Korean stew or something...

But back to this morning...Once I got to the market, I was so excited to see all the food stalls. Until I sat down and ordered something that I don't even know what it was...I actually thought it was samgyupsal, but it definitely wasn't that. It was super chewy and I swear I chewed for like 5 minutes and still couldn't get it down. Plus it cost $7!! I thought it was gonna be like $3. Totally feel ripped off. But after that plate of whatever, I decided to get a pajeon, which I had been eyeing for like 20 min trying to decide if I should get it or not since it was fried. I finally gave in, but then definitely regretted it after only eating half. I always get sick after eating fried foods, so I don't know why I never learn my lesson! No more fried foods for real this time!! But yeah, after that, I went around the stalls and looked at all the fabric the vendors were selling. There was a huge selection, and I wanted to find something to make curtains for my room, but nothing really matched or caught my eye despite the thousands of choices I had.

After the unsuccessful trip to the market, I headed over to the Korea War Memorial museum. I liked the displays of the planes, tanks, submarines, and missles outside. Inside was kinda boring. I guess I'm not much of a museum person, plus I'm not all that interested in war history anyway, so don't know why I even went. While I was strolling along minding my own business, these white boys come up to me and ask if I speak English, then ask if I have any suggestions for things to do. I told them I was also a tourist and this one guy was so enthusiastically trying to convince me to go hang out with them for the day. There were like maybe 7 of them, all in the Marines...I was like...thanks, but...no thanks. He made me take his number so I could call him next time I was in Hawaii (where he was based). Awesome...

After that interesting encounter, I left the museum and went to the Han River where I rented a bike for an hour. It was quite a nice day for a bike ride, and it was nice riding along the river. I got a drink and yummy ice cream from 7 Eleven- oh, I guess that's where I've been getting half my meals from. Heh. But they do have some good food- like these rice sushi ball thingys...they are really good! Plus they have good ice cream. But anyway, headed over to Kristy's party after that. Talked with some missionaries and surprise! I ran into my visiting teachee, Miji and her bf at Kristy's.  Didn't even know she was going to Korea. I obviously have been a bad visiting teacher to not have known...But she is turning in her mission papers so won't even be going back to UT till she enters the MTC, so I'm glad I got to see her before she left. We also had an early bday party for Kristy, since her bday is after she enters the MTC.

But yeah, that was my day! Tomorrow is my last day in Korea. I am actually kinda happy to leave because I am sick of traveling alone and not understanding anything. It will be so nice to have Andrea! Well, time for bed. Until tomorrow!

More of Korea

So day 3 of Korea...it was alright, kinda like yesterday, really. It doesn't seem there's a whole lot of different things to do here besides shopping, eating, and visitng palaces. But first stop today was Jongmyo Shrine. It was actually kinda interesting learning about how and what they use the shrine for. Like there is a room for each deceased kings' tablet for their spirits, and twice a year they hold a ceremony to commemorate them. Lucky for me, they are having it this Sunday, so I will go to that!

After the shrine, I walked to Gyeongbokgung, but stopped on the way for lunch at this little place for pork katsu. It was pretty busy so I figured it must be good and it was alright. I think I am done with fried foods for a while though. After lunch, I joined the English tour at Gyeongbokgung. I think that one was the least interesting out of the 3 I went to, but the palace was grand and beautiful. Once done there, I walked out to Gwanghwamun and took some pictures with the guards standing outside, took a picture of the statue on the square, tried on a king's costume for free, and went to Namdaemun. I was just so tired for some reason...Only walked around for a little bit before going to rest at a cafe with a yogurt smoothie and cake. Afterwards, I walked around some more and got a supposedly famous gogi wang mandu, which is really like a chinese meat bun, but with noodles too. And then I got a slice of pineapple and honeydew melon for dinner as well. All I was craving was fruit, probably cuz I haven't eaten hardly any this past week!

I was pretty tired after that so I headed back home. I decided to wander up to the Sungkungkwan University area before just to check it out and for a little stroll. It was actually quite nice, cuz it was lined with trees and then there were some old Korean style buildings on one side. But after getting back, I pretty much just zonked out for like 2 hours before finally getting up to shower and get ready for bed. It's almost 1am now, so better go back to sleep!

Just Keep Walking

Man, I am sure exhausted from walking all day long! I hope my feet get used to it soon. I remember all too well the super tired feet at first when we went to Hong Kong. It was so nice when my feet weren't falling off by the end of the day.

But today was a fairly good day. My first day exploring all on my own. It actually really wasn't half as bad as I thought. Traveling alone definitely has its perks, like being able to set your own schedule and do whatever you want, whenever you want. It really is kinda nice in a way. I'd still prefer traveling with someone of course, cuz traveling alone for a whole month would get super boring.

Anyway, so I went to Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung in the morning. Explored the palaces on my own until the tour for the Secret Garden started. The Secret Garden was the King's relaxation /entertaining places. It was pretty interesting learning about all the Korean history. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours, so I got a good amount of information from it. Like how there was a prince who started ruling when he was 19 and was a very influential and successful ruler, until he died 3 years later from some sort of illness, or how one of the kings had 9 lovers, how he loved the lotus flower and made one of the roofs of a building to resemble one. So yeah, lots of interesting tidbits of history.

After the palaces, I went to eat lunch and guess what I tried...! Live octopus! I will have to be honest and say that it didn't look appetizing in the least bit, with the tentacles still squirming around like worms. Eek. But it didn't taste bad. I hurried and chewed them before I could feel them squirming in my mouth, but a few times they did suck on my cheeks. Ha. Don't think I'll be ordering live octopus again anytime soon. So after lunch, I went to Insadong. I went and bought a bunch more earrings and necklaces, as well as socks as gifts. Then I went to Cheonggyechon Stream and walked along the length of it and headed to Myeongdong for more shopping. It was fun just walking around looking at everything. There were so many street food vendors lined along the streets, and I wanted to try everything, but of course I couldn't cuz first, I don't wanna gain 20 lbs, and 2nd, I didn't wanna ruin my appetite for dinner, and 3rd, I wasn't hungry anyway.

So for dinner, I went to the Lotte Department Store basement and got some Udon and then I pretty much just went home, got back by 7:15. I am so tired! Don't even wanna get up to shower or anything...but I need to cuz I am gross, plus I squirted a bunch of sugary filling onto my hair from this fried thing I got on the street. 

But yep, that was my day. Tomorrow I think I will go see the other big palace and a shrine, then go for some more shopping. Seoul really is pretty similar to Hong Kong. Mostly it's just shopping and eating. I'm so glad Andrea will be coming next week so it will be fun to show her around  HK! 

Adventures in Korea

Well, my first official day in Korea is over! I am so tired. Woke up at 5am this morning probably due to jet lag. Although actually I was still pretty tired so I could've went right back to sleep if I really wanted to.

Anyway, backtrack to yesterday. Flight was long: 11 hours and let me just say that Hawaiian Airlines isn't nearly as nice as Cathay. The seats are smaller and there's no personal TVs!! And Cathay's food is much better. I felt so gross during and after the flight cuz of all the crap I ate on the plane, and then I wasn't even hungry for dinner once I got there. Bummer. In fact, I feel like I am already fooded out. WHAT?! Yeah. It's pretty depressing because I was so excited about the food and now I am never hungry or have much of an appetite even though the food still looks so good! :(

But yeah, after getting off the plane, I got to my hostel without trouble. I arrived at the same time as this girl from Paris. She was quite an interesting character. Super into Buddhism and going to monastery retreats and stuff. She was headed to one for a week today. But she was nice and we went to get drinks at the convenient store and dinner nearby. I just pointed and ordered, it ended up being some rice ball kinda things with seaweed and some pickled/kimchee cabbage stuff. Not bad...

Today I met up with Kristy and went to the temple together. She did a session while I just wandered around for a few hours. Most of the stores were still closed until 11am though, so I really just wandered the streets.  While waiting for Kristy to finish talking to some missionaries afterwards, I got to talk to Steve Lund, or Elder Lund. Area Seventy in Utah and Nuskin Executive. He was so nice! Then Kristy and I went to Gangnam and ate some street food- my first taste! It was good, but kinda heavy and filled me up for the rest of the day. We then went to this bookstore and I bought a bunch of super cute stationary. Seriously so cute!!! I had to try hard to contain myself and not buy everything, cuz they were pretty cheap too! Like $1 for each little packet of envelopes/paper. Kristy left after that so I just walked around on my own. I went shopping down at the shops in the Gangnam subway station and got a few things there. Then I went to the Coex mall. My feet, or I guess it was just my left foot, was in such pain I couldn't shop for very long. I think I need to ice it or something actually...feels like I sprained it except I didn't...Anyway, headed home after a while and that was pretty much my day. I think I am gonna go to bed now cuz I am so tired!

Aloha Hawaii!

At the airport again waiting for my flight from Honolulu to Seoul! Hawaii is so pretty. I love the lush green mountains here. So different from the ones in Utah. I wish I took more pictures, but I was too busy admiring the views around me. Hopefully I will be back soon! It was so cool to have been able to go back to my roots to see where I was born and everything! So much fun! Cassy and her family were so nice and welcoming. It was so good to see them! Anyway, perhaps I should do a little recap of our fun adventures, huh? 

So on Friday, I arrived at 8pm after a LONG 9 hour layover in LA. Cassy took me to eat some yummy ramen close by and then went home to get settled for the night. 

On Saturday we headed out to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling after a big breakfast that Cassy and her dad prepared. So yummy! Glad I was still able to move afterwards. It was my first time ever snorkeling so it was certainly an adventure. We got to see some cool fish, although there weren't quite as many as I was expecting. But it was still a lot of fun! I got some good videos under water. After snorkeling, we laid out on the beach for a bit while watching all these interesting tourists. There were some interesting ones, that's for sure. Don't worry, I sneakily snapped pics of some middle aged asian men with their pants rolled up a little too high for everyone else's comfort. It was quite entertaining to watch though. 

After Cassy got sufficiently sun burnt there, we headed for some shaved ice nearby. Yum! Then we went to Lanikai Beach so Cassy could get even more sunburnt (poor thing) which was so peaceful and serene. Beautiful! The clouds set in just as we decided to leave. Perfect timing. So glad it stayed sunny for us before that! The ocean only has that pretty sparkle when the sun is out, so I'm glad I got to see it! We headed home after the beach to shower and rest up a bit. Cassy's parents were hosting a party so they cooked up a bunch of yummy food like BBQ ribs, salmon, and chow mien. 

After stuffing ourselves, we headed out to town and met up with Matt to experience the Waikiki strip. I loved the all the fire torches along it that made for a romantic atmosphere. There was this bar behind this hotel right on the beach playing jazz music that was so pretty. Now THAT was romantic. 

After the strip, Matt took us to his secret lookouts in Hawaii Kai. The first one was pretty neat- it looked out over the bay towards Diamond Head, except it was at night so we couldn't see it very well. I wish we could've gone during the day so we could actually see! But the cool part about it was that there was a bench on a tree that is right over the ocean. So neat! They were telling me this scary story called Morgan's Corner or something that creeped me out while we were there cuz it was dark. The story goes something like this:

There was this couple who were driving on their way to somewhere at night (of course) when their car broke down. So the guy gets out of the car to look for help while the girl waits. While she was waiting, she keeps hearing a strange scratching noise above her. She nervously brushes it off as the tree branches above making the noise. So she waits and waits but her bf never comes back, until she finally decides to get out and look for him. When she gets out, she sees....dun dun dun... her bf hanging dead, upside down with his arm hanging down, his fingernails scratching the top of the car.  

So yeah...that story creeped me out just a little bit. Anyway, after the first lookout, we went to the second one which was close by. We climbed down onto some a little cliff where apparently people jump off to surf. Scary! The waves were so big...don't know how people could be brave enough to do something like that. Apparently a lot of people have died there too. After the second lookout, we took Matt home. Cassy and I were both exhausted by then and happy to hit the sack. 

On Sunday, we went to sacrament at her parents' ward then headed out for our drive up the north shore. We first stopped and got an acai bowl, which was this smoothie made of acai berries, topped with granola, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, coconut and honey. Yum! Our first stop was the Dole Plantation, where we got some of their famous Dole Whip, a few pics, then we were on our way. Stopped and got a coconut to drink, and went to her uncle's beach house where we tried to look for sea turtles. I was hoping they would come to shore, but no such luck. I did catch a glimpse of a few turtles that were close to shore in the water though.  A few poked their heads out now and then, so at least I got to see them. 

So after the sea turtles, we went to the Laie temple and BYUh. Such a pretty temple! We waited for cassy's friend to be done with church duties and went to eat at the famous Ted's Bakery together. I got BBQ chicken and a slice of chocolate haupia pie. Pretty good. We were both pretty pooped out by then (actually we were tired before we even left in the morning) so we headed home. 

Now I'm on the flight to Korea. 11 hours...Cathay is such a better airline. I'm flying Hawaiian this time and they don't even have the tv in front of your seat. What am I gonna do for 8 more hours?! Eat and sleep....heh. And there is this annoying child siting right behind me. I think I should switch seats...well, it's nap time.

30 Days in Asia!

Here we go! Can't believe this day is here already. I had a count down app that started counting down 159 days ago- yes, I know...I may have been a little too excited. I don't know. Anyway, I am gonna try to blog everyday for the next 30 days so I can remember it all! Plus expect lots of instagram pics :) In fact, I almost brought my 17 inch 10 lb laptop so that I could vlog, but my mom stopped me. Apparently I am not too good at packing light- she made me take quite a few things out after reviewing everything I brought. Whoops. I guess that's what moms are for!

Anyway, it's 5 am and I have about an hour till I board the plane to LAX, and then an 8, let me repeat EIGHT, hour layover there before I fly to Honolulu. Daaaang. I have no idea what I'm gonna do for 8 hours there, especially on no sleep. I think I just need to find a corner to camp out at. I should probably take a nap, because I am not a nice (or fun) person when I don't get enough sleep, not that it matters I guess since no one is unlucky enough to have to travel with me while I'm grouchy (or being boring). Lest you don't know how much I value my sleep, you may refere to this post.

My flight is at 7am, and I had to take the shuttle to the airport at 4, which meant I had to wake up around 3. So at midnight, I finally tried to catch some Zzz's. To no avail, however. Laid in bed for an hour and a half until I was too hungry to lay there any longer. Went down to get some food and hang out with my sisters, who were of course still awake. We have sleep issues at our house. One of them was cooking up some tofu at 2 am, while the other was filming herself scrutinizing the large pimple under her chin. I think we might have more than sleep issues going on there...lol. We have lots of fun at our house though if you can't tell.

Well, I'm boring myself so I guess it means I better fine something else to entertain myself with. Until next time!

Letters for the Future

Something amusing happened a few days ago. Perhaps funny is a more accurate term, or sad, depending on my mood. But I guess I'll allow you to determine for yourself which is the better term.

So I was preparing for my Sunday School lesson the other day, and I went hunting for some lined notebook paper for an activity I was gonna do with the class. So naturally I found an unfinished notebook (who finishes using their notebooks anyway? Cuz I never do, and apparently neither does my sister), only to find my sister's old notebook from YEARS ago. As I was flipping through to tear out unused pages, I found 3 letters written in March 2008 for me, our other sister, and our mom to be read in four years. Well. Looks like the letters were hid too well cuz we didn't find them till now, but I guess it only adds to the story's humor.

Anyway, the embarrassed writer snatched the letters away before I could get a glimpse, so she could first read whether she wrote anything too embarrassing to be read. But after much chasing to steal the letters back, the victory of reading the letters was mine. And here comes the funny part: in the letters, she wrote about how she was so sad that she and I were going to be moving out in the fall, and how she will miss living together with the four of us (me, her, our sister and our mom), and how by the time we read the letters, we will probably be married and living far away from each other. Reality check: after over 5 years, absolutey nothing has changed. We are all still single and living under the same roof. HAHA.

Like I said, I'm not quite sure whether I should've laughed or cried, but after everything I've learned since the letters were written, I chose to laugh. Life has a way of making you learn hard lessons, but after you've learned them, you better apply it or you'll only have to learn those hard lessons all over again till life is sure you've REALLY got it.

So apply what I've learned I will and look at my life on the bright side. Because my life has been quite bright indeed! Although I've felt ready to move on to the next stage of my life for seemingly forever now, I'm grateful for the opportunities, people, lessons, and experiences I have now that I otherwise wouldn't have had if I were married already. So life is good! I'm happy and I know that whenever that due time comes, it will be wonderful. Until then, I'll just be living my life the best way that I know how! And life will be good.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane (Soon)

Oh boy...10 days till I leave on my big Asia trip! Don't ask if I'm ready, because I'm getting cold sweat just thinking about how soon it's coming! Eeeek....traveling alone internationally for the first time...SCARY! At least I'm traveling back to my Asian roots, so I will feel right at home (maybe).

Anyway, in 10 days, I'm off to the beautiful island of Oahu for a few days before heading to Korea. Then it's back to my beloved Hong Kong. I'm beyond excited for the food! Food food food, glorious food everywhere! Can't wait! After Hong Kong, I'm going to an island near Phuket, then to Bangkok, and lastly Tokyo. I've never been gone for more than 2 weeks on vacation, plus going alone for half of it this time...it will definitely be a new and hopefully exciting adventure! Be prepared for many pictures and stories to come!