I got days off. My friends and my mom and myself, we went to Gunma prefecture. The place called Minakami where is about 3 hours drive from Tokyo. All the dark fresh greens in the mountains and the view of clean river and breeze.....uhhhhh.....feels so goood!!! This is the air we should breath everyday, not smoggy stuffy air in town. I heard70% of the land is mountain and uninhabitable. Japan is such a tiny country, no wonder it is so crowded and we have to live in a small cell like apartment. But the greatness of it is you can enjoy so much of greens and great nature. Especially in deep mountains, the air is so nice and cool. No humidity! That's always people talk about summer in Japan. So hot and humid. Well, not in here. :)
We did white water rafting. I have never done it before, but it was so much fun! I was worried about my mom even though she said she will try because she can't swim. However, the life jacket is so well made. It floats very well and the guide said it is constructed not to put your face in the water so you will not die. We floated in the water before we got on the boat and made sure it works well. My mom seemed nervous first but she was getting more comfortable about it. The ride was GREAT!! The river was clear and clean, so close, splashing over us, cooling down the worn out mind and body in the city. The view is only for those who goes down the river. It is definitely different than watching from riverside even it is very nice feeling too. You are in the middle of it! Our guide was a Brazilian, he spoke Japanese and English. On the half way......he found there was a wild monkey on a small bridge!!!!!!!! I was amazed he found that because the color was not standing out so much. I waved the monkey but he was just staring at us down the river. Maybe he thought "Here goes again.....silly Japanese on a boat...."!?
Next day, I went to Tanigawa mountain with my mom since the onsen (hot spring) place we were planning to go was not open yet. So we drove 10 more minutes to take a ropeway ride. The sky was so clear, we were told there are only a few days of a year that you can really have a 360 degree view of mountains. Well, that was the day! We were so lucky, the day before of rafting as well. It was the first clear blue sky almost in 30days. Tanigawa mountain is also know as a great hike course. There are so many groups of people visiting with backpacks and canes. My mom and I just realized we are the only ones wearing flip-flops. Well, we were not there for hiking.

Also, there are so many dragonflies all over. Both of us are really good at catching them, but......the dragonflies there were so quick! I used to catch a lot when I was a kid at my grandma place so I know how to catch them. My mom using another grabbing technique that my grandma told her. I only tried to grab their wings from the side when they are really resting. You can see their wings go down a little by little, once the wings are so low down they can't fly up so easily.....supposed to! I don't know why but they are so sensitive for their surroundings. They notice immediately and fly away. Both of us are so excited to win this battle with dragonfly. My mom started catching them with her quick grabbing palm. I tried but I knew I hesitate for a mili second being afraid I might crush them, so it did not work for a long time. Then we found all the ones we got are quite young ones. It is smaller and my mom mentioned the wings are softer. They have not learned how to run away I guess. Of course we don't kill them, let them free. Everybody was trying to catching them since there are so many but we saw none succeeded. My mom gave a dragonfly to a small boy and a girl let the family take a picture. His parents were so happy since they couldn't catch any. Kids were so excited to hold them in their own hands. Maybe nowadays Japanese children don't have much chance to chase and handle those live bugs in summer like we used to....

The whole trip was great. I had so much fun being in the nature. I am happy to be able to spend time with my mom, too. I would love to come back here again.

Hanabi Taikai

It's been a while since I went to a fire work festival in Japan. Hanabi = fire works. Hanabe Taikai is a fire works festival. This is a big thing in Japan. Hanabi Taikai makes our feeling somehow excited. Everybody talks about it and gets excited as the date is closer.....well, unless you have to work until late night and there is no chance to go one. With work reason, and also I was not in Japan, I have been missing those fire works festivals. I know there is a lot of fire works on July 4th in USA but those in Japan is you will see it so close. Even though it would be crazy crowded, we like to get close and watch the whole show. Girls like to wear yukata, Japanese cotton kimono, for a special date. Isn't it so fun to dress up and go out? : )

The travel date to Sapporo, Hokkaido. I was informed they have a fire festival over Toyohira river where runs right next to the hotel we stay. We were excited and hoping to have a glance of the fire works. As closer we get, we start hear a sound of fireworks from far. I cried out " I heard the sound!" and everyone quickly shut their mouth and tried to hear it. "Oh! Heard it! Cool" we start having fun just to hear the sounds. But still, we were driving in a town surrounding tall buildings. Then another girl said "Ah!! I saw it between the building!!". We started seeing them, just part of it, here and there.

We arrived the hotel, we wanted to go see it but we have to leave in 5 mins. On the floor we stayed, there was a all window end of the hallway and we could see the fire works. "Great! We can see them!!" As soon as I left my suitcase in my room, I went to the window. Other girls were thinking the same thing. We were excited. The fireworks are a little bit far but still gave us the nice summer feeling. I guess that was hotel's kind consideration, there were chairs in front of the window. Still we all stood there and watched them without a word for a few minutes.
The fact we saw just a few minutes of Hanabi Taikai made me so happy. Hanabi is something special and indispensable to Japanese culture in summer.

The sacred sprit

I was in Nagano for 2days. I had 2 hours off in the afternoon. There is a very famous temple called Zenkouji. I heard it is only about 1 mile away so I jumped on a cab and went there. I did not know anything about Zenkoji but I have heard its name. Now I know why it is so famous. Zenkoji obtains the Japan's oldest buddha statue which came from China. The major religion in Japan is Buddhism and they have so many different denominations. However, since this temple obtains the statue from very beginning of Buddhism history in Japan Zenkoji accept all Buddhism sect and many people visit to this place.

Even though, the statue is hidden and only you can see is the big hanging screen from ceiling in front of the place where the statue is stored. Still, this statue is very sacred and spiritual so people want to visit Zenkoji. The temple itself is really gorgeous and historical, there are other Buddhism statues worth to see once. As my cab driver recommended me I bought a ticket for going under the temple in pitch dark....to touch a sacred key. I had to take off my shoes and walked towards huge open tatami room, and waited for a while in line but it allowed me to see all beautiful architect feature and calming statues. There are so many people there waiting for it. I passed the hanging screen of sacred sprit. I put some incense and prayed.

The sacred key is leading to the sprit, so people who goes in the dark and find the sacred key will get great fortune. And it was....totally dark!!! Even it says "pitch dark" I thought there might be a dim light or something. But once I went down the stairs I did not see anything except a few people in front of me. It IS really a pitch dark. There is a sign saying "touch the right wall at the hip hight and walk forward". Several steps later the passage curved to right and then just black all over. I was gliding my feet, touching the wall, went too far and had to say "excuse me" several time to the person in front. It was really interesting. It does not matter if you open or close your eyes, complete dark. I tried to concentrate and feel the sprit but there was a loud family with kids scared. I was kind of annoyed but tried not to be since I should get the peaceful mind from the sacred spirit. It was slow walking with winding passage. Then I started hearing clinging sound. The key was close. A few seconds later I saw a light figure in my dark sight, on my left hand back side. It was the light like you have a vision for a while after a camera flash blinds you. It appeared all the sudden. There was nothing to blind me, just darkness. Maybe it is only in my head but I felt like something was there. Then it disappeared. I walked forward and touched the key wondering what it was, and praying peace for the world.

After that, I walked around the area. There was a merry-go-around kind of thing which was filled with thousands of holy chanting scrolls. Chinese invented this. It is believed if you rotate this thing once, it is worth to read whole chanting scrolls. The ticket I bought was good for this house too. I pushed one of the bars which is sticking out from the center and walked around. Then at the shop I bought lots of lucky charms from the temple as a gift for my family. I hope it will bring them good luck and health.


I had a little spare time so I walked back to the hotel. It took half an hour. It was interesting to see a different town. I felt blessed after visiting the holy temple. Work is hard, but I still think I am really lucky to have a chance to visit different places.

On the road again

Hello. I am in Sendai now. After the last trip, I had an one-day trip going to Niigata, having a show and came back with the last train. The bullet train arrived at Tokyo station at 23:40, there was no way for me to go home. Besides, I had to drop other people off. So I already decided not to go home. Then I felt I had so much time since I don't have to worry about the 3 hours train both ways between Tokyo and my home town. Actually one of band member and I went out for ZAAA (is that how it spelled?? I had never heard it before for last 5 years of living in LA!?) It was late late night snack, and not so good pizzas but I had so much fun talking. Then I crashed at my best friend from high school who lives in Tokyo. It has been about 8 months since the last time I saw him but I almost always see him whenever I come back to Japan....well, to be precisely, I crash at his place since my home town is toooooo far!!

Anyway, so I did not see anything about Niigata. I got some nice bottles of sake. Niigata is famouse for good rice, of course they produce good sake. I worked at my office for 3 days and now I am on the road again. This time towards Northan part of Japan. I don't have much chance to see or know the city if we just move from a hotel to a venue. I went to Morioka, where is Iwate prefecture and it was first time to visit...I saw nothing. I need to find some other time to visit. Since I stay at a hotel tonight, I have a little bit time tomorrow morning before we leave. I hope I will not be too tired and get up so I can walk around the area. I better go to bed then. Oyasumi nasai (good night)!

Back in Tokyo...

I visited Fukuoka, and Yamaguchi. The hotel in Fukuoka was really good hotel. I was on the executive floor so gym and internet was free! I paid almost $30 for 2days of internet usage in Miyazaki. It is way too expensive! Once they got the line connected, they don't have to pay any extra do they!?!? Anyway, I enjoyed swimming in the pool, and spa with nice big bath tub. I only stayed one night but I had good relaxed night. I had sore mascle all over my body from surfing, so I called the massage service. The nice hotels have a good massuse, very reliable. I fell asleep while the session because it was so good and I was so tired too. I woke up as he told me 60 mins was already over. I brushed my teeth and just passed out onto the comfy bed. Well....I think he tried too hard to loose my mascle. My shoulder hurts because of the over massage. That is what we call "momi kaeshi".

I flew back from Yamaguchi today. As soon as I stepped out of the plane, what I saw was gray thick smog. I could not see any view, every building and scene was smoggy. Oh no...I can't believe people has to live in this city. I can't wait to leave for country side again. :(

First time SURFING!

I am in Miyazaki where is in Kyushu area, still Southern Japan. I went to surfing for the first time yesterday after arrival. A good friend of mine was a great teacher. I learned the basic movement to dodge waves, puddle, and balance. The water felt really cold when it touched my feet....and my stomach! PHeEEEWWWUuuu!! I cried out but was having fun at the same time. I can't remember the last time I went to the beach feeling ocean with my whole body. Once you got in completely it was not cold anymore. I just enjoy being in the ocean and feeling the energy making waves from far far away. I enjoyed diving into the water to dodge the waves. Believe me, I am not a super swimmer. I am more like "Well, I can swim but I don't like swimming in the ocean." Usually as soon as I can't feel the bottom I start feeling anxious. But the surfboard is floating, holding my whole body, swinging between the waves. What a nice feeling. I was not scared at all. Yesterday I spent all two hours to get used to the waves and the board. After having an advise from my teacher picking up a good wave to ride, its timing, and paddling like a crazy woman I caught A wave!!!!! I can't discribe it. It just took off, carried me all the way like flying! I already enjoyed riding a few seconds everytime wave hit me, but it was totally different. I knew I could not ride like a sufer on the TV or on the picture on a magazine so I did not expect anything or did not understand what really "ride a wave" means. Of couse I was not be able to stand up, I was just holding onto my long board shouting "Yeeeeeeeeepeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Today was off. So I went again with more people.There were three more people today who had not done surfing. They tried and loved it! Thanks to the teacher, everyone got a few rides and felt the great flying sensetion! I was so happy to share the feeling that I felt yesterday with everybody. We did not have enough boards for everybody but we took turns and had so much fun. I got swirled and the wave took me several time to under the water world. Surprisingly, I am still not scared of ocean. The surfboard is so reliable somehow. I have a leash on my right ankle. I dive to dodge if it is too late to get ready for a ride and the board will be taken a little so my ankle being pulled. I got out from the water as soon as I hear the sound of wave is gone and pull the leash. Today, there was a time I had to repeat this so many times because a set of waves kept coming and I did not have any time to turn around, get on the board, paddle! It made me really tired. But still, I wanted to catch a wave. I got a long nice ride since another wave catching up carring me further, well I felt that way. It was GREAT! With more explaination from my friend and more carefull observation of the ocean, it started to make more sense for each movement. I start feeling comfortable on the board when I am riding. So I started tring to stand up. I kind of kneeled on the board for a few moments which felt fine (and exciting!) before I made up my mind to actually stand up......I stood up and immediately lost balance and fell into the ocean. My body was not with the board, the board was going forward so quick but my body was not. So it makes sense why I fell. My back hurts because of that, but I learned I guess. I tried a little bit later, same thing happen. I need more practice to actually stand up and surf. This is really hard excercise so it is good for me. I needed to build more muscle on my upper back, according to my chiropractor. Paddling is great excercise. I am sure I will have sore muscle tomorrow though. Anyway, I had so much fun playing with ocean, laughing, shouting "Yeeeeeeeeepeeeeeeeeee!!!" all the time. I think I was the loudest and the most enjoyed person on the beach.

Last resort!?

Hokkaido is a Northern island of Japan, and now I am in a Southern island of Japan, Amami Oshima. People might think of Okinawa island for a Sounthern island but this Amami island is bigger than Okinawa as its size. It is just less crowded and developed. We arrived yesterday. As soon as I stepped out from the airplain, I felt its tropical climet. Humidity, shinning sun light burning your skin...everything seems so vivid. We went to directly to a restaurant where we can eat great "chicken rice". We were imaginning some kind of chicken dish over the rice but it was rice and chicken soup. You put several toppings on your served rice and pour the great golden clear chicken soup. It had really deep flavor but not thick or heavy at all. The chicken there was so fresh. We had chicken sashimi (well, I know some of you would not believe eating it raw but we do. It gotta be really fresh and done by skilled chef). We even had sashimi of a liver, heart, and.....CoCksCoMB!!!!! It was tiny and did not taste much, I think it is just for the texture. The chicken there was so fresh, so it was good dinner.



This morning, I went to a beach. The water was so nice and clean. The color of the ocean was beautiful. Okinawa is beautiful but it is getting more for tourism and everything is expensive. This place still keep lots of real nature. You can enjoy fruits picked up locally, Shochu (especially famous for shochu from sugar cane), and people's kindness, I wish I could stay here for vacation!