Six Flags!

Surprisingly going to bed at 3AM in the morning, I was able to wake up somewhat early that morning and meet up with some friends to go to Six Flags. I told myself, "I am going all out this weekend no matter what!" [For readers that did not read my "In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of..." post: I have been quite on an adventure. I journeyed from Penn Station to SOHO; I got lost many times on the NYC subway; I went to a bachelorette party; I saw a broadway show; I had lots of yummy food; and I finished all my pre-training material except for one quiz.]
I was half an hour late, but I still made it! Yippy!
This was my first time in New Jersey and it was so much fun!
We rode almost all the roller coasters! My favorite was the Superman roller coaster! You are faced down to make you feel like you are flying in the air when the coaster takes you zooming off.
I was surprised that Six Flags opens until 10PM! Crazy! We were practically there the whole night. By 8PM my legs were killing me. I focused on the fun and not the pain at the end of the night. It felt fantastic to take a nap on the ride back to the city!

On the Green Lantern Roller Coaster

Boston Time

My brother and I

I visited Boston, MA on my way to NYC. I got to catch up with my big bro bro, and I got to visit some of my favorite spots in Boston! First stop when I arrived, my brother, Matt and I got sushi from a cute little joint, Super Fusion Sushi, in Washington Square in Brookline. The menus were laminated and you have to use an expo marker to mark the nigiri, maki and/or rolls you would like. I don't know if it was because I had been at sea for so long or if it was just a Boston thing, but I never seen that order system done before. The sushi was delicious. Yum! Yum!
The next day we wandered around Coolidge Corner. I got myself a wonderful favorite of mine, banana and nutella crepe! I love crepes! Afterwards we walked around the local shops and I saw some unique stuff. I got a wedding card for my friends' wedding coming up. Lunch came around and off to Shake Shack we went. This was a new spot for my brother, Sarah and I. I had the Shroom Burger and a Shack-made Lemonade. All surprisingly scrumptious. Afterwards, we headed to Newbury Street! I love this area!!! It's one of my favorite neighborhoods in Boston to walk around in. You can always find something cute to buy. Sometimes it can make a dent in your wallet, but I find the stores there very unique. I bought a necklace to match my dress for the wedding I will be attending in NYC. We were all quite beat from doing a lot of walking. I made the executive decision to take a rest and head out again afterwards.

Shake Shack!

We returned to Coolidge Corner and ate at Regal Beagle. I had a wonderful and tasty Mac'n Cheese, Sarah had a salad and tasty salmon tartar, and my brother had his favorite scallops. Full from the delicious meal, we headed to the local theatre near by. We saw "The Way Way Back" with Steve Carell, Anna Sophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Amanda Peet, and Toni Collette. It was an absolutely realistic and enjoyable movie. It was great to see Steve Carell in a dramatic roll. You guys should all check it out.

Picture from: http://bit.ly/14e3Gks

Sunday we started the day off in Chinatown to eat some dim sum. I must get my dim sum fix before heading back to sea. Then we took a short walk to the South End to walk around the SoWa Market. This is a great local market where you can get some groceries from the farmers' market and where you can find some unique arts and crafts goods. These goods include things from wire art or 3D print jewelry. Another great part of the SoWa Market is the Vintage Market. So much vintage packed into a grand hallway! Afterwards, I got my Mixx fix! Yummy! Then I got to check out where my brother works. That place is a shoe palace! I can't imagine how many shoes are created at Clarks and don't go out to market. It's a shoe playground at that office. On the way out I grab some coffee from the office's Starbucks machine. I love my Starbucks! Gold Member! Woot! Woot! Then I ran some errands with my brother. We ended the day with dinner at a Thai Restaurant called Rod Dee and an episode of Shark Week in the comfort of my brother's apartment.

The weekend always comes to an end. Luckily I had some work to do as my brother was at work on Monday. I had some pre-training work to do. When my brother came home from work, he, Sarah, and I headed to the North End for some Italian food. After some delicious pasta, we headed to get some dessert from Caffe Victtoria.

My time in Boston, MA had come to an end. Off to the big apple!

Nikko Trip!

Next on our Japan trip, we traveled our way to Nikko. We took the train to Nikko Station then hopped on a bus near the Toshogu Shrine. The walk to the shrine was beautiful. There were a ton of tall trees, which made the beautiful scenery.  Some parts of the shrine were under renovation. They were renovating the gold around the shrine. The three famous decorations around this shrine are The Sleeping Cat, The Three Monkeys, and The Elephants. While taking a look around we walked all the way up to the Tokugawa Ieyasu mausoleum. Everyone has to walk around the tomb, but those with the same last name as Tokugawa can walk through the arch to the tomb.

The tickets we bought let us enter areas in the shrine where they explain a few things. I wasn’t really sure what they were saying, but I did get a gist of some things they may have explained. They were talking about the dragons on the ceiling. I think they were telling us about how they were all different. Then they were explaining about the echo in the room.

We took a rest and ate a yummy snack. I had green tea milk and cake. Yummy! Walking back to Nikko Station, we stopped at Shinkyo Bridge. It’s a beautiful red bridge with a stream of water running down from it. It’s a great view and a great picture opportunity.

After a tiring day of walking and exploring Nikko, we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back home.

Japan!!

So wonderful! Amazing! Fun! Exciting! Fulfilling! Delicious!

I started my trip in Japan by reconnected with my Canon camera my brother gave me. I’m so sorry camera that I left you on the plane. Japanese people are so nice! The United employees kept it for me in their office. Even though they had trouble understanding me, they found it for me! Thanks again!

We arrived around dinnertime and my aunt and uncle met us at my parents’ hotel. Then we went to a wonderful restaurant and ate like an eight course meal. I may not remember all the names of the dishes, but it was all absolutely scrumptious! I was so full, but it was so good!

WOW! I looked flushed. Can you tell I've been traveling?
This is in front of the restaurant.

I had to learn fast that Japanese people don’t believe in taking home unfinished food at restaurants. My uncle said, “Doggy bags are considered unclassy.” I guess I can understand that, but it makes me sad when I can’t finish all the food. Then the left overs go to waste.

I stayed with my uncle and aunt in Tsukuba. We rode the Tsukuba Express from Akihabara. It takes around 45 minutes. It wasn’t a bad ride. We had a little “entertainment” along the way. On the train, a guy sitting across from us drank a little too much. He was sleeping wobbly (that’s the best way I can describe it). If you could see this guy, you would laugh. He took out his phone and flipped it open. Wait for it. Wait for it. …Wait for it. After staring at it intently for a while, he answers it. The guy sitting next to him was trying to read. Poor guy. He didn’t even move to the seat next to him when it was available. I guess he didn’t want anyone else to have to suffer.

It was a great start on my journey around Japan!

Frog oil!

The next day my parents met us in Tsukuba. Yay they didn’t get lost! We strolled around the area by a mall. Sports Day, a national holiday in Japan, was coming up in a couple days. In honor of this day, there were a lot of venders by the mall we were walking around in. We stopped to watch this older gentleman demonstrating the power of frog oil. I didn’t understand a word he was saying; however, I didn’t need to. The samurai sword cutting paper demonstrated the sharpness of the sword. Then he took the sword and cut a volunteer’s arm and his own arm. It definitively demonstrated the power of frog oil pretty well! Oh my. I was cringing when he was cutting his arm. I was scared and he obviously wasn’t. Of course we stopped by Right On. My uncle and I both got something there. Right on! We also stopped by a glasses place. The glasses were very reasonably priced. Why are glasses so expensive in the U.S.?! We got Taiyaki for a snack! Yummy! They put a Mochi in the middle. It's so delicious!

Nice? Hahaha I wish I got it.

I got my Taiyaki!

BEAR!

 Next stop Nikko to visit the Toshogu Shrine.

Quick Update

Howdy everyone!

These past two month has been amazing! I have been doing some traveling, hanging out with fabulous people, and eating scrumptious food! My travels have taken me to Tsukuba, Japan; Rochester, NY; Boston, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, CA. I will share my adventures with you soon!
I just have to finish uploading all my pictures and add metadata to it. Almost done with that. I have been doing that in between planning and making Christmas presents! Yay!

Time is zooming by!
Nov. 16th is coming up! Many of you know what that means!!! BREAKING DAWN PART 2! Oh yeah! I may not be one of the people watching it opening night, but I will see it with the early bird special ticket price!

More stories to coming soon!

At SNA airport

Singapore Food!

Food: one of the most important things in life.

Who doesn’t enjoy food?

Singapore is filled with all sorts of food, mainly Asian cuisine. They have Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, Thai, Indian and Western food. I got a little taste of each while I was there. Many restaurants have outdoor seating as well as indoor seating, while some only have outdoor seating. It's really typical to have outdoor seating because the restaurant will be able accommodate for more customers and because it's hot and humid all year round.

Curry Times

My mom and I were feeling in the curry mood when we passed by this place. There are so many malls in Singapore. I can't remember which mall this was in. Ha-ha-ha.

Curry and free cookies when leaving

We also had a plain naan with our meal! Everything was curry-licious!

Heng Heng Curry Cafe

This place has tasty curry. I just wished the chicken didn't have bones, since the chicken was cut up weird.

Chicken Curry

Bali Thai
My parents and I got some tasty Thai food here. I loved the chili sauce! It wasn't too spicy at all. The mango sauce was okay.

Chicken wings and squid in chili sauce

Hallow vegetables in chili sauce and fish in mango sauce

Grandma's Restaurant
I won't say too much about this place. The food was good, but the service ruined our moods. This restaurant serves local food.

The Soup Spoon

I love this place! I was in the soup mood. You can have a pot pie top with your soup too!

Tokyo Chicken Stew and Thai salad

Chinatown Seafood Restaurant

I finally got to try black pepper crab! You have to try the black pepper crab or chili crab. I love me some Chinese food! Delicious!

Black pepper crab and sesame chicken

Fish and mushroom veggies

Nom nom nom!

Bibigo!

Korean food! Yummy! Although I don't think we ordered the right things. We ordered too much fried food, so we didn't have much variety.

Sweet and Spice Rice Cake and Fried Mondoo

Hot Stone Chicken

Tonkichi
Can't get enough Katsu! We grind our own sesames for the Katsu sauce. Yummy!

Sushi for appetizers and grinding sesames

Oyster and Hire Katsu

Saboten

Another Katsu place we tried out. I like this place better. I feel I can get more variety in my meal and the salad is more chilled. 

La Maison Fatien

I love French food. (I'm thinking I say "I love...food" so many times! Ha-ha-ha.) This is a great little place.

Cohana poëlé

Fondant au chocolat

Menya Musashi

I can't get enough Ramen! Singaporean Ramen is interesting. The broth is very rich, but it's good. It's just more filling than most Ramen I eat.

I went here a couple of times.

Gyoza

Red Ramen and White Ramen

Spicy                       Miso

Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert

This is fast-ish food restaurant. I say it's "fast-ish" because the food comes out pretty quick for a sit down restaurant. The food is fast and decent. 

Minced beef in bean sauce over noodles

Carrot cake and red bean soup for dessert

Ajisen Ramen

This is a chain joint because I see it in many different places beside Singapore. The Ramen was okay. It tasted more like really thin spaghetti than ramen.

Food Court Madness!

The food court has some really good food. If you just want a quick bite and/or don't want to pay a 10% service charge, the food court is for you. Yummy!

Saba Set (Korean vender)

Beef Set (Korean Vender)

Yam Rice and Lotus Pork Soup (Soup vender)

Yaki Udon with Chicken Karaage (Japanese vender)

Drinks, Snacks and Desserts

Bo lo Cha Siew Bow

       

Taiyaki and Yaki Tori 

Butterfly Donut

Toast topped with honey from Toast Box

 Milo and milk tea with tapioca (pearls)

Hojicha Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino

Milo Delight from Swensen's

Cold red bean soup with rice balls from Honeymoon Desserts

Honeydew with sago and mango ice cream & Hong Kong red bean ice with mango ice cream

Ah Chew Desserts