Category Archives: photos

back in the u.s. of a. (part 1 – birthday weekend)

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This post is waaaay overdue (and mostly my own journal entry), but better late than never. On the second of November, I headed back to the United States for a long visit. As part of my current assignment I get one home-leave trip. And as November 1st marked my halfway point in my current assignment and my friend Susan was getting married on the 3rd and my birthday was on the 4th, it just seemed like the perfect time to visit. So, I got on a plane and went back in time (well, according to clocks and dates) which was pretty awesome. I arrive in Arizona two hours before I’d left Tokyo.

And my first stop after landing in Arizona (while still at the airport)? Paradise Bakery. Mostly for a Diet Coke, but since I was already there…I got a cookie, too. The Japanese do a lot of things really well in the food department, but cookies is not one of them. It turns out that this was a very good decision as I ended up having to wait a while in the rental car line.

While I was waiting in line, and watching a number of things transpire, I came to the conclusion that Americans (I’m generalizing here) are rude, demanding, and incredibly impatient. And I was kind of embarrassed for all of us. The good news was there were no Japanese around to witness it. So, I just sat there pleasantly waiting because clearly the two women waiting for help were having very bad days. Or at least I want to assume that wasn’t their regular behavior.

When I finally got up to the counter, I was as nice as I could be, feeling extremely sorry for the agent who had just been berated. And apparently he appreciated my patience and overall pleasant demeanor (yeah, me) because I was rewarded with an awesome upgrade at no additional charge. Thank you Hertz. I was already excited to drive, but this just made it that much more enjoyable.

And then I headed to my sister’s.

One of the hard things about this trip home versus other trips when I’ve been coming from New York is that I want to see people and play, but I also have to get things done. I’m used to coming into town and just being able to have fun and play with my nieces and nephews and chill. Not the same when you are coming from the other side of the world. I wanted to see as many friends as possible. (Something about being on the other side of the world makes you feel more motivated to see people because I’m not sure when I’ll be back again.) I had my friend’s wedding to go to. I had my birthday to celebrate. And then I had a gazillion errands to run and things to get done.

Friday started with getting my hair chopped and face injected with Botox. (Yes, you read that right. And I am not ashamed to admit it. And for those of you who think I look too young for Botox…that’s the point. I’ve been doing it off and on for a while and it’s working beautifully.)

Just after the cut and injections. Happy birthday to me!

Friday night the family headed to Kona Grill for dinner and we had so much fun! Seriously, I love my family. And my dad was even there as he’d been in town for a board meeting before I got there, so he just stayed. It was great!

And then, after we got home from dinner, came the obligatory muddy buddies. My sister keeps a pantry like my mom, so there are always muddy buddy ingredii (yeah, that’s not a word, but it’s what we say) on hand. These are probably my most favorite treat ever.

Saturday morning started with my niece’s soccer game. One of my favorite things about being an aunt is when I get to be around for my nieces and nephews “stuff”, be it soccer games or choir performances. I just love getting to see them develop and grow and accomplish. And Saturday morning was no different. And my niece was so excited to have me there. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see my other niece and nephew play in their games as I had a wedding to attended.

After heading home and changing, I headed to the LDS temple in Mesa to see my darling friend marry the love of her life. I was so happy to have been able to be there for it. It was this great reminder that waiting for the right person is totally worth it. And, seeing as how I was about to turn “old” the next day and being single makes that a little more depressing every year, getting that reminder was just what I needed.

And then I rushed home for my birthday party with friends. Unfortunately, this is the only photo I got from the party. But it’s an important one. My sweet and thoughtful friend, Jenn, brought me four of my favorite cookies all the way from New York. If you’re ever in New York, you must try Levain.

So, I’m not really one to throw myself a birthday party, but it was such a great reason to get so many of my friends together from various parts of my life. Arizona has my friends from my past life there, my very best friend from my mission, and now a number of really good friends from grad school. It was so fun to see people I hadn’t seen for a while (some, not since I graduated from my MBA program almost two and half years ago).

And then Sunday, my actual birthday, was my big family party including almost everyone in my immediate family (it was a little far for my younger brother and his family to come), my aunt and a number of my cousins, and part of my sister-in-law’s family…who are basically family. It was so fun! My brother-in-law kindly spent his afternoon making my favorite wings in the smoker, my sister made my favorite cake (yellow box and chocolate Betty Crocker frosting…I know, high class) and fruit dip, and I made my famous guacamole (at least famous with my family…I rarely make it for anyone else) and we just had a great time eating and laughing and catching up. It was the best gift my sister (and dad, who funded it) could have given me!

And my sweet aunt and cousins gave me this gift card which was just the right amount to support my DC habit while in the States.

And thus ends my birthday weekend. Up next? My whirlwind trip to Utah.

kyoto – day two (east and west)

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I don’t know if there’s anything better than the quiet of the early morning, seeing a city come to life in the glow of the sun as it starts coming over the mountains. I was so happy I headed out early on my second day in Kyoto so I could do just that.

I had a very “American” breakfast (ketchup?) at a lovely outdoor cafe where I was able to watch the city as it woke up. And the toast was delicious. I hadn’t realized how much I had been missing bread until it was put in front of me all toasty warm and covered in butter.

After breakfast, I wandered through the rest of the streets on the east side of the city–the ones I hadn’t been able to get to the night before–on my way to Kiyomizu-dera. There were also a number of other neat things I got to see along the way.

The driver thought he could make this corner. He was wrong.

Not sure what this is, but it was pretty, so I took a photo.

Also not sure what temple this is. But it was also pretty.

Singing (chanting?) monks were walking down this little street about 50 feet apart. There were about five of them. I couldn’t have planned it better.

Loved these stairs up the hill…and all the shops along the side. 
Just a little garden I popped into.

The entrance to Kiyozumi-dera.

The view from the temple.

It was a busy day here. Can’t imagine how crazy it will be in another month.

From across the valley.

I stopped to take a little break at this lovely park.

After the rest of my adventures on the east side, I headed back to the hotel to grab my bag and go to the train station to store it in a locker before heading to the west side. Very convenient, those lockers at the train stations. And, unlike airports, train stations are typically very central, so it didn’t take too much extra time.

At this point, I had spent more time wandering (and shopping) than I’d intended, so I knew I wasn’t going to get to everything I’d had planned. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to Kinkaku-ji (the Temple of the Golden Pavilion). I’d seen post card pictures of it around town and it just looked like a little much. But it is one that all the tour books and anyone I spoke to said I needed to see, so I went. Totally worth it. The post cards do not do it justice.

After that, I wandered down to the Zen temple Ryoan-ji, which is famous for its gardens. Along the way, I finally figured out what smelled so good as I had been wandering through the city: these little blossoms. There’s nothing like a happy scent to add to a perfect atmosphere.

The gardens were every bit as amazing as the books promised. Seriously stunning.

Japanese Maples are probably my most favorite tree. We had them in our backyard growing up, so they remind me of that. And they are just gorgeous. I’d never seen such big ones, though, as the ones in Kyoto.

And with that, I was out of time. Not knowing how long I’d have to wait for the bus and judging by how long it had taken to get to this part of town from the station, I decided better safe than sorry. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss my train.

There was so much I didn’t see that I still want to see. And the city just has this amazing vibe. I loved it (in case it wasn’t obvious). So, I will definitely be back. Plus, it was pretty cool to ride the bullet train down there.

kyoto – day 1 (the eastern side)

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Sometime after I got back from Okinawa, I decided I needed to go to Kyoto. And since this past weekend was our conference weekend for my church (meaning I didn’t need to lead the music), I decided it would be a perfect weekend to go. I booked a ryokan (a TripAdvisor recommendation) and bought my ticket (or what I thought was my ticket) for the Shinkansen. I decided I’d head down early-ish (not too early, though) Saturday morning and back Sunday night. It was a perfect plan. Except that I got to the train station later than I’d planned and, as it turned out, had only paid for my reserve seat, not the actual ticket. Thankfully, there are trains every 10 minutes, so I was able to get on one about an hour later (I needed a window seat, thus the wait).

And the window seat proved worth the wait…

Instagram shot of Fuji-san…I’m pretty much in love with this photo
nice camera on crappy settings…maybe if I edit it?

So,  I arrived in Kyoto and took a taxi to the very lovely Gion Maifukan to drop off my stuff before heading out to find some food and start touristing. The super nice desk staff gave me maps and directions and I was off.

I had a lovely lunch (I love udon noodles soooo much!) followed by a lovely treat and a Japanese treat shop (recommended by one of the managers I support at work and conveniently close to where I was staying) of this crazy cold noodles that you dip in this black, treacly goodness called kuzukiri. Amazing!

Udon served cold with dipping sauce and amazing tempura

kuzukiri

After eating, I hopped on the bus up to the Silver Temple: Ginkaku-ji. It’s in the northwest corner of the city and there’s a path you can follow that leads back to where I was staying with several templs along the way, so I decided to start there. But, before I got to the temple, I had to snap a shot of these pedi-cabs powered by humans running while wearing ninja shoes. Kind of awesome. Talk about a great way to keep in shape!

Well, the Ginkaku-ji (or Temple of the Silver Pavilion as it’s called in English) was incredible. I knew at once that I had made the right choice by coming to Kyoto and doing it before things got too crowded. The fall (which happens mid-November) is amazing and it draws huge crowds. So, while I would love to see Kyoto in its full autumn splendor, I was happy to not be contending with crowds any bigger than what was there last weekend.

Proof of the craziness that Japanese women inflict upon themselves
The street that leads up to the temple…can you imagine what it would be like more crowded than this?

I then started walking down the Philosopher’s Walk, but found myself quickly at another temple, Honen-in. This one much smaller, but beautiful in a very quiet way.

And then it was back down the path. I understand why philosophers would have walked along this particular way. It’s so quiet and peaceful and the perfect combination of water, trees, views, and light. I could have walked along the path all day and then some.

This moth/bee thing was crazy, so of course I needed a photo.

Just a fish swimming upstream…

My last temple stop of the day was Eikan-do.

And with this, the temples began to shut their gates.

So, still being quite a trek from my little Japanese inn, I found the bus and rode it back to my part of town. At this point, my room was ready and I took a much needed break on my very comfortable futon.

And then I headed out to find dinner, but first I had to capture proof that I can be a cute tourist.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any shots of my lovely dinner. I found this great little teppanyaki place (Japanese style, not American) and had a lovely noodle dishes and a very dry ginger ale. A perfect end to a close to pretty amazing day. Up next…day two!

gyeongbokgung palace

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First of all, I finished the book I started reading about North Korea, The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag. So good. So interesting. And thanks everyone for your other recommendations. I’m going to start watching some documentaries…but I had to get caught up on Grey’s Anatomy and Revenge. (Yes, a sad commentary on my priorities…)

So, my last two days in Korea involved visiting a palace, a museum, a shrine, some qt with a childhood friend, and lots of rain.

To being with, the palace. It was amazing. Especially the grounds. The only one I made it to was Gyeongbokgung, but it was awesome. I wandered around outside at first. There is so much around it including the National Folk Museum of Korea, which I absolutely loved, and a recreation of Korean villages in days gone by. I could have spent hours there if I’d had them. And it was free. Crazy, right?

It’s funny. I don’t really enjoy reading about history (unless it’s in historical fiction or memoir form…and there’s some drama involved), but seeing it? That’s a different story. Especially when it’s a history so different from my own.

And now, the photo tour with a few captions to go along.

Just cool looking.
These are statures of scholars and military officers, usually erected in from of the tombs of  important figures in order to spiritually guard them.

A rotary grinding mill which was used to thrash and mill grain and soften woven straw.

A cool waterwheel, but I love the mountain in the background, too.
A replica of a town at various points in modern history (20s-70s or so).

This was an entire sculpture garden with all of the signs of the Chinese Zodiac. The Dragon reminded me of an awesome Chinese New Year party my roommates and I threw back in college.

This video showed photos comparing past times and today. It was awesome.

The palace gardens. I could have stayed here forever. So beautiful.

The actual palace.
Palace guards. Loved their uniforms.
A sculpture guarding the palace. Dragon? Dog? Falkor?

girlfriends

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I have been so very blessed in my life to have AMAZING girlfriends. I think if I am ever a mother of a girl that’s one of the things I would pray for her to have…amazing girlfriends. I can only imagine that my mother has had her hand in facilitating some of these friendships. From my college roommates, to my mission companions, to my Arizona girlfriends, to my “return to Utah” girlfriends, and now, my New York girlfriends, I just can’t imaging that my mother isn’t looking down on me and thinking how glad she is that I have been so very blessed.

As I’ve thought about how much I’m going to miss these girls when I move away, I have also begun to think about the possible friendships that await me on the other side of the world and I am excited. Just as I can’t imagine my life without any of the relationships I’ve had, I’m sure there are relationships I will have about which I will eventually think the same thing. 
And with that, a few pictures (because I’ve got some fun ones) of these women I love so much!