Ah….26…another step towards maturity or a step towards old age and eventually the winter of your life? The glass is half empty or half full? I don’t know! They say aging is inevitable but is it really? I don’t feel 26 at all. I still fee like I’m 25 years old. But then again, how is 25 or 26 suppose to feel like? Nevertheless I have decided 25 is the perfect age to be! You’re still young enough to have stupid irresponsible fun from time to time but on the other hand, being 25 also means being treated like an adult. You are held accountable for many more things but that makes you seem more mature and sophisticated, which isn’t all that bad. You dress up not because you HAVE to but you WANT to. You start going to nice restaurants and acquire a taste for good wines and expensive champagnes. You really get the best of both worlds at 25!

26 however is a little different. Maybe I am viewing it with a glass half full but when you say 26, doesn’t it feel like it’ll be 30 REAL soon? As much as women hate becoming 30, I’m sure men feel the same. According to the rule of “Rounding Off,” 26, for the sake of ease, is just simply thought as 30. Yeah yeah, you’re going to argue with me, “well doesn’t 25 also round off to 30?” Well that is true but this is my blog so if I say 25 doesn’t round to 30 IT DOESN’T! 25 is just 25, a number smack in the center between 20 and 30. It is neither rounded to 20 or 30!!!

I’ve been thinking why every year when my birthday comes around, I tend to think a whole lot. One of my recent theories is that I see my birthday every year as a marker of some sort. Every year on June 27th, I tend to do a little self reflection, to see what I have done this year but more importantly, what I have accomplished that year. That has to be it, an accomplishment marker! I think I hate the idea of becoming older and feel like I haven’t accomplished ANYTHING! Maybe that’s why I’m not feeling so hot about being 26. I feel like I haven’t progressed somehow? I feel STAGNANT! Sure, I’ve visited more places in Japan or abroad but I don’t consider those accomplishments. Going to Sri Lanka on an anthropological dig to finish your Masters, going into your 4th year in med school and taken your second boards exam and applying to residency programs, passing the bar and becoming an attorney, upon finishing your PhD in Engineering and then decide to take the MCAT and apply to Med School…THOSE are accomplishments. People are struggling but advancing! I can’t say I’m struggling or wallowing in stress right now. In fact, I have not lived a more stress-free lifestyle in my entire life until now. No complaints about my life right now, I love it, it’s surreal! Maybe that’s what scares me. I’m so use to struggling and stressing out that I don’t know how to enjoy the good life. I constantly fear that a stress-free life is making me, the easiest way to say it, “DUMB!” And I have a bad habit of comparing my life with my peers. Is it always greener on the other side?!

Nevertheless, the celebration of my 26th was once again in Japan. I wasn’t expecting anything big but I still had two separate celebrations with the people I care most in Japan. I’m happy about that. Of course one celebration involved more alcohol than the other and I have to say I’m developing an expensive taste for Guinness (beer from Ireland). I’m not really into dark beer but Guinness is somewhat unique! I wonder if my alcohol tolerance has increased count as an accomplishment I can be proud of ?! Ex Malo Bonum! An old Latin saying, out of evil good is born! I just wanted to say that somewhere!

Another school year has begun and that means SPRING is here, or is it?! The climate in Japan is now warmer than it was before but it’s not THAT warm! In fact, it’s still colder than it was this time last year. I thought I was paranoid thinking it’s still cold but I checked with my fellow teachers and they all agreed with me. Believe it or not, I’m still wearing thermals underneath my regular clothing when I go out on certain days. I’ve started wearing them probably since November! 6 Months! Half a Year!! As stated before, I’m not a fan of the cold. Nor am I a big fan of Japan’s humid summer. I’m not too eager to get to work sweaty and getting back from work sweaty!

ANYWAY, the starting of a new school year (due to how slow I update, this is at least a month ago!) meant blooming of Sakura, cherry blossoms! The Japanese treasure these moments with the Sakura because they are very short lived, not more than 2 weeks. When the wind blows, hundreds of tiny petals of Sakura fall from the trees covering the ground below. On a sunny day with a nice breeze, petals fall and float in air like it is snowing on a bright sunny day! Unlike last year where I went on a “picnic” per se for the purpose of Sakura viewing, this year, I didn’t do any viewing at all. One, I was in Thailand when it first bloomed and two, I fell sick right when I got back from Thai and blew my chances to view them in nice parks in Tokyo. The only glimpse I got was the Sakura trees planted at schools. Believe it or not, the blooming of Sakura is pretty much down to a science. The news on TV will report at least a week in advance what day the Sakura will bloom. This is important because Japanese people will camp under the tree the night before to get the first viewing the next morning. If you think about it, it’s no different than camping out the night before to buy concert tickets or waiting to see the next Star Wars movie (Nope, never done it)! Waiting and staying warm in line also usually involves singing and alcohol like peas in a pod!

Nevertheless, starting a new year also means a lot of little surprises in the staff rooms at the schools! Not only are the desks rearranged, the staffs are also, not rearranged, but how should I say it, alternated?! I’ve been at these schools for about a year and a half now yet at the beginning of the new school year, I still get butterflies in my stomach and the feeling of being a newcomer once again.

The Japanese school system is shall we say “different” from the United States! I don’t know the details or the exceptions but every 3 years, the school principals are re-located to a different school. Vice Principals are also re-located every 5 years and the teachers are re-located every 5 to 7 years or sometimes even at shorter durations. The changing of location is not a matter of choice but rather pre-determined by the prefectural board of education or the “Ministry of Education” as they call it. We all know that humans, no matter of what race, have a natural disposition of becoming attached to something or someone once you spend a considerable amount of time with it. However these teachers never express their feelings when they find out they will no longer be at the same school the following school year. In fact, most teachers don’t even tell their students that they are leaving or to what school they are transferred to. Students only find out that their most favorite or most disliked teachers are gone once they return to school on the first day of the new school year. According to what I’ve heard through the grapevine, moving teachers, principals and vice principals around allow these educators to have different experiences so they can improve and learn new things and become better educators. I completely agree with this logic. However, what about fellow teachers who are not only co-workers but have become good friends over the years? It’s sad to see your friends leave when you have to stay on or if not, go to a new school yourself. Nevertheless, the teachers are pretty stoic about this and it’s generally hush-hush! What if the teacher the school was at were all angels and the next school they go to are all delinquents? Wouldn’t that suck?! I guess the teachers remain so calm about it because they know there’s nothing they can do about it. The WHOLE country has the same system, not just our school district. I don’t know about private schools, I can’t speak for them! Anyway, I’m not arguing whether it is good or bad to have this system but it is always exciting to see who are the new teachers and who are the teachers that are gone. Obviously it is sad to see some teachers you’re fond of gone the next school year but what can you do right?! Sometimes, teachers are moved to different schools within the same town so that doesn’t seem like a big change for me because I visit all the schools in my towns (except high school, only 1 in my town). Since I always teach English class with a native Japanese English teacher at junior high schools, having an English teacher leave to a different town/city can be difficult. Of course the teachers you wish would leave did not and the ones you like are the ones being re-located. This also means I would have to learn to adjust to the new English’s teachers teaching styles. All and all, it’s just a strange system but interesting nonetheless. The following new school year in the first semester, they always have a ceremony where they invite all the teachers or principals/vice principals that have left to different schools to come back for a “Thank You” and “Please say a few encouraging words to us like how much you missed us and tell us to work hard and continue to do our best.” That’s always heart moving for the students and sometimes many tears are shed by both the teachers and the students! The teachers are humans after all!

Thailand. The End! That would have been a great entry wouldn’t it? I’ve been accused of overwriting in my blog and to those that read it, I’ve decided to cut it short! NOT!! This is MY BLOG and I WRITE HOWEVER LONG I WANT! Muhahahahaha(evil laughter)……

Anyway, Awwww…yes…Thailand, Spring Break 2006! By saying that doesn’t it sound like there were other great Spring Breaks in my life like “aww…yes…Cancun, Spring Break 2000” …No, it never happened. I never even set foot in Mexico before! Well, Thai will be the start of my many if not only “memorable” Spring Breaks to come. I was in Thai for a full 8 days and believe me, it was TOO short!

Before arriving in Thailand, my image of this country was quite misleading. I had pieces of images left and right from media and things I’ve experienced throughout life. Basically I imagined Thailand was a jungle full of tigers and golden alligators(Mandalay Bay). I also imagined Thailand as a fighting ground where the mortals must battle the immortal monsters to save the world (Mortal Kombat!) I imagined huge monsters breaking out of the ancient temples and lightning would strike…….ok, I’m going off on a tangent but for those of you who saw the movie, you know what I’m talking about right? Okay, maybe it’s just me hehe. And no, I did not see “The Beach” so I wouldn’t know anything about drug lords chasing after me!

We arrived in Bangkok very late but there were still plenty of people around and flights arriving. I later found out that Bangkok is a major hub for flights going to Europe from Asia so many flights take off at very late hours. China Airline, which was the airline we took, was in transit to Amesterdam! I want to go there too! I was wearing jeans (no long johns) a t-shirt and a light jacket coming out of the airport and that was already wearing too much. I was freezing earlier that day back in Tokyo. Bangkok at night was still in its 30 somewhat degrees (Celsius not Fahrenheit!), about two times warmer than Tokyo! My friends were pretty surprised when my luggage only consisted of one backpack. I was actually pretty proud and thought it was the smartest thing I did in preparation for the trip. It made traveling around Thailand easier and efficient. I urge everybody to do the same if they head to Thai but for the girls?! Good Luck! In Bangkok, every foreigner know about the infamous “Khaosan Road.” That’s pretty much where foreigners or rather backpackers on cheap budgets congregate. It’s a street full with pubs and cheap places to stay (guesthouses). It’s quite alive as the day gets darker and the street fill with those cart vendors that sell food and whatnot souvenirs and clothings. Things were quite cheap. Pad-Thai (noodles) from street vendors were about 25 cents, a bag of mango cut up for you was 50 cents (I miss mangos!) and water from 7-Eleven was also about 25 cents. I was quite afraid that I wouldn’t be able to eat in Thailand because I really can’t handle spicy food AT ALL! Luckily there were plenty of noodle dishes (did you know I’m a huge fan of noodles?) such as Pad-Thai that was not spicy at all.

We stayed near Khaosan Rd. so we decided to check it out after we got settled in our hotel. By the time we got there, it was about 3a.m. Things were pretty much closed but still some people hanging around in the streets. Many looked like girls waiting for someone to buy them for the night. Remember I said “LOOKED LIKED” girls. We don’t know for sure! Thailand if not Bangkok is infamous for what they call “Lady Boys.” It’s not that they just dress like a woman or wear makeup like a woman, some actually have some serious surgery to make them into a woman. It’s really freaky because sometimes you really can’t decipher. As we were walking down Khaosan, we had many invitations and they yelled out in Japanese because they thought we were Japanese tourist (well, one of our younger companion was Japanese). It was quite interesting and freaky at the same time. So Khaosan was not really Thailand but a great place to hang out and relax. There was the old aspect of Bangkok with the palace and old temples and there was the modern Bangkok, with the big fashionable malls with any name brand stores you can think of. That aspect was surprising to me. Bangkok, a big city in itself was also a modern city with modern people!

Bangkok is also notorious for its nightlife or rather red light district. If you say “Patpong” in Bangkok, everybody knows where it is. There were also night markets in those areas so it attracted all walks of life. If you were a man walking in that area, there’s no doubt that somebody will approach you and if not ask you if you want to see a “ping pong show!” Ok, I won’t delve into that, you can use your own imagination! Bangkok was good for nightlife but we continued on to the little islands in the south (I had no idea Thai had islands!)

The islands or rather the beach, the sand, and the water were BEAUTIFUL. Two islands we visited were Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. Phangan was nice and laid back but got some money stolen there so I didn’t really have a good impression of that island. Samui was very cool(hehe Japanese pun). I recommend Chaweng Beach if you want the nightlife and Lamai Beach if you just want to chill. I really enjoyed Lamai because it was nice and laid back and our hotel were bungalows by the beach with the pool facing the ocean…awww… The water was nice and warm and many aspects reminded me of Hawai’i! But somehow the color of the water made it “Thailand.” Maybe you’ll know what I mean when you take a look at the pics. I had an awesome time on the islands with many nice moments dining on the beach with my friends (total 8 of us!) Snorkeling, kayaking, and taking a boat ride around the little tiny islands were fun. Even though I did put on sunscreen, my shoulders and my arm was burnt bright red! It hurt like a B@#$* for 2 to 3 days. I thought being naturally dark skinned I wouldn’t burn…I proved that theory wrong! Thailand was fun, I probably spent too much money but I still want to go back! Did I also mention I went skinny dipping for the first time in the ocean?! Thailand can change a man!

Pictures
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/album?.dir=e7a5

The thing they say is, “plan early!” And I always try to but it never works out…I’m talking about all my traveling trips of course. I usually know when my breaks are so I know when I can travel but at the same time, when I have time off it is also when airfare prices are relatively high. This past winter break was a nuisance to plan out because of the concern of bird influenza in the South-Eastern Asian countries. Originally, I was planning on going to Vietnam with some of my fellow American friends here in Japan but it all started back in October when my mom brought the Bird Flu to my attention and that maybe I shouldn’t go there. Then my cousin in Taiwan brought it to my attention that the Flu might become an epidemic and blow up around the time I plan to visit. Vietnam was also the country leading in number of deaths from bird flu did not help either. Finally, in November when I finally thought that I wouldn’t enjoy Vietnam if I had all these hesitation about going and also spending as much as $800 just to get there, forget it. But I was not going to freeze my ass off in Japan so I turned to my backup place to visit, Taiwan!

Yeah yeah, I’ve been to Taiwan so many times these past two years it’s probably no longer interesting for me to mention but this time it was different. One of my friends ask me why I always go to Taiwan, I already been there don’t I want to go somewhere new? Well, I do and I don’t. Going somewhere new takes a lot more work researching, planning out where to visit, stay and all that jazz. With Taiwan, it’s truly relaxing vacation because I have no expectations to see or visit anything and also once I get to Taiwan, finances are ALL taken care of for me. That is a BIG plus! From start to end nothing is stressing me out. The only thing that stressed me out was buying the airfare to get there and since I got it so late in November, I paid around US $700 for a 3 hour plane ride when the cheapest airfare could be as cheap as $300-400.

Anyway, I flew for Taiwan on Xmas day! Present for myself I guess. I get to the airport a little early not because I want to beat the lines but for another reason you’ll probably see it as trivial anyway. Since I’ve been flying Taiwan quite often with China Airline recently, I am now a gold member with their flyer’s mileage club. That means I get to check-in in the first class line where there’s hardly any people, and my luggage get to come out with the first class passengers even though I purchased an economy seat. I also get to use the VIP lounge and that’s why I come a little early. I want to be well relaxed before I board the plane..hahaha…AND I get to board the airplane first. Does it sound like I’m talking with my nose in the air hehe? Anyway, I like to chill in the lounge because I like to sit down, grab a bite to eat and have myself a cup of beer. Then maybe 10 mins. before I board, I use one of those massage chairs. I find myself enjoying massages more and more! Anyway, I prepare to board and as I hand them my boarding pass, they give me a new one that says “Business Class.” Oh yeah, that’s the other perk, when the economy is full or people on waitlist for the economy seats, I get upgraded! Bigger seats and order from a menu for my meal, SURE I’ll take it!

This Taiwan trip was a little different because it was a two part trip. I was also going to Hong Kong from Taiwan (only an hr. and a half plane ride) with my cousins. Although short noticed, my brother from LA and my best bud the English teacher in South Korea also met up with me in Taiwan. It was my friend’s first time and I don’t think he had much expectations or didn’t know what to expect about Taiwan. He did enjoy getting me riled up saying isn’t Taiwan China? Isn’t Taiwan Communist? And if you don’t know they aren’t! Anyway, he asked what we were going to do in Taiwan and I told him not much, just eat and eat and sleep and MAYBE a little sight seeing and then eat again. He thought I was kidding, I wasn’t! God, I had so much time eating 4 to 5 time a day. I was also playing tour guide so I was like, “oh, we need to try this, oh we need to try that.” It may seem like I want to show him the best of Taiwanese cuisine, which is true, but at the same time, it was another excuse for me to eat everything. Can you say you had so much FUN eating so MUCH food?!! It’s not super cheap but it’s quite inexpensive I might say so myself! So it was an eating fiasco, and sure, we went to two memorials and watched two Chinese movies! That’s enough sightseeing. My friend said that Taiwan was better than he expected. Definitely WARMER than he expected. It was 18 deg. Celsius in Taiwan when it was 7 deg. Celsius in Japan! He also said that the variety of cars, the ads, all these American movies and English subtitles for the Chinese movies reminded him of little America. I guess I never thought it that way, maybe that’s why I’m so comfortable with Taiwan.

We then moved on to Hong Kong. We continued our eating fiasco. It was a blast I tell you! My impression of Hong Kong in 3 words. Narrow, Busy, Beautiful night scenary. Okay that was more like 5 words! The whole time I was there, I didn’t carry Hong Kong dollar with me. I was always with my cousins when we ate and shop so they held on to the money and took care of the bill every time. Hong Kong was colder but not too bad. There were more foreigners in Hong Kong than there was in Taiwan though. Food was great but it was more expensive than Taiwan. I think almost as expensive as eating in America but still cheaper than Japan. Streets were narrower and lots of traffic with buses also narrower but, taller. One thing that was familiar to me was the traffic direction was the same as it was in Japan. Steering wheel on the right side and they drive on the left side. I’m sure you all knew HK was a British colony but did you know for how many years and the year it was returned to China?? The night scenery was gorgeous because it was all lit up at night and with all the skyscrapers next to each other, HK was beautiful. If you ever go to HK, Victoria Harbor is where you want to bring your significant other to and share the view together! This could be a stereotype but I also noticed a lot of rich people in HK. Most of the cars people were driving were none other than BMW and Benz. Many people I saw on the streets had bags and bags of name-brand things. They could be HK people, they could be mainlanders, they could even be Japanese!! There were definitely many Japanese visitors; they’re everywhere, even in Taiwan!! HK was great. Even the airport was worth checking out; plenty of shop and restaurants at the airport if you want to do last minute shopping. I thought Japan was quite advance but checking in your bags at the train station before you board the train to the airport is just too cool and convenient!

Answer: HK belonged to the British for 99 years. 1997 was the year HK became China again

Taiwan
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/album?.dir=e730
Hong Kong
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/album?.dir=4148&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/my_photos

The other month (December?!) I had raw WHALE meat for the first time in Japan. The texture was a little tougher than the usual sashimi and the color of the meat was "bloody" red! Overall it didn't taste too bad. All I can say was, "Free Willy" was a BAAAAAD IDEA !!

Winter Sucks! In Japan that is. I’ve been in a foul and stressful mood for the past two weeks and I have every right to be. Last winter it was the flu. This year so far, it has been a throat infection with antibiotics and cough medications for a week. Following right after and not wasting any time at all, aches and pains all over my body. Currently, my body is in the sh*ts! My face is also breaking out reminding me of the good old stressful college days…ahh….the great memories of midterms and finals. Speaking of pain, I have no idea why my tail bone hurts?! I just know I can’t sit on hard ground or even on the ground with a cushion for long periods of time. I can’t even sleep on my back because in the morning I get shooting pains up my back. However, the injury, if you can even call it that, at this very moment is my left knee. It’s been swollen for about two weeks now and it’s painful when I walk on it or even bend my leg for that matter. I can’t bend my leg past 90 degrees. Bending the knee already causes a great deal of tension on the knee. The only time where the knee was “deflated” for about a day was when I went to see a doctor last Saturday. He took a fat syringe with a needle longer than the length of my fingers and jabbed it into my knee and sucked out all the fluid that was causing the swelling. Although it was painful as hell, it was cool to see my yellow colored urine looking joint fluid. The doc explained to me that normal joint fluid should be clear. Yellow indicates there was inflammation somewhere. He asked me how my knee became this way and I have no clue whatsoever. One day I woke up and I had a funny feeling when I started walking and it got worse! The doc said to wait another week and if it swells again, maybe an MRI will be in order. Well, it’s the second week and it’s swelled up again. Looking forward to having a needle stuck into my knee again, woohoo! It’s not so much the walking is bothering me but also it’s affecting life. Just putting on my underwear, my pants, and my shoes takes longer than usual. I have no motivation to move around in my apt. or do any housework. I just sit on my bed and watch TV and go to sleep. Dishes are left unwashed for days and laundry is left unfolded. Papers and books are lying all over waiting to be organized and the floor needs a good vacuuming. The doctor did mention that the swelling of the knees could be due to a condition called “Gout.” I did some research online and discovered that I either have some type of Arthritis or Gout. Arthritis seems a bit far fetch because of the age issue so Gout seems to be a good candidate except I don’t match all the symptoms exactly. I read that if I do have Gout, one of the causes could be over consumption of alcohol, especially beer. Something in beer or alcohol is not being broken down in the body therefore causing a buildup of “uric acid” (something bad) causing joints to swell. Once I read that, I vowed to myself to abstain from drinking alcohol for a week. It’s a bad week to do so because my neighbor/friend just so happen has his pal from the States visiting and when we hang out and do stuff, alcohol is always involved. The mood is weird when everybody else is drinking and I’m not so I’ve been turning down invites to go have fun. I did go bowling with them (bowling ally 5 mins. from my place, remember? And yes, we drink while we bowl!) but it was a very stupid thing I did. It’s not the fact that I wasn’t drinking but I went bowling with a swelled up knee. Especially when that is the knee you put all your weight on when you release the bowling ball. If you’re a right hander, simulate a bowling movement and see where your left leg ends up. By the 5th frame, I was finishing on my right knee, see if you can do that! Anyway if my knee doesn’t get any better soon, winter vacation won’t look so happy and I can kiss my snowboarding season goodbye. Oh, and a spot on my neck is really sore too. Tilting my head to the back and to one side hurts like a bi*tch. That’s what I get for sleeping in weird positions! Ok, time to take pain killers and go to bed…..I am looking forward to a pain-free day sometime soon…

There’s nothing like reminding me of how long I’ve been in Japan then going to the same event I went to last year. Once again, I returned to the “Tokyo Motor Show 2005(clapping and cheering sound!)” Apparently, this was the 39th Motor Show and the motto for this year is “Driving Tomorrow, from Tokyo.” The funny thing was, the show wasn’t even in Tokyo but what the hell. I don’t know if you remember about my motor show experience last year but it was a little disappointing because it was a commercial vehicle show with buses, trucks and things that didn’t go really fast. THIS year however, nothing but FAST cars and beautiful women, I mean beautiful CARS…no really, beautiful CARS. It was the type of car show I was expecting. Apparently, they switch off every year between the commercial vehicles and the sporty/luxury cars. Well, there were also non sporty and luxury cars this year but I didn’t really pay much attention to them. Can you imagine me going to check out the Mazda MPV or the Chrysler Voyager and say to myself, “wow, this can sit 7 or 8 people and the safety feature for this family van is awesome!” No, I didn’t do that! Instead, I was drooling over cars like Ferrari, Porche, Lambourghini (had to look up the spelling for that one!), Ashton Martin (oh the Vanquish….more drooling), Mercedes, Lexus and the list goes on. There was this car called “Bugatti” and the horsepower on this sucker was about 1000!! The most powerful car I have at home in LA, the Infiniti G35, is at 280hp and I can barely control that! I bet it goes really fast really quick! Even the Lambourghini and Ferrari is only about 500 or so hp! Anyway, the largest crowd wasn’t around these super fast powerful car exhibits but rather at the Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and Lexus exhibits. Go figure huh?! Lexus was a big hit because not too long ago, Lexus became an official brand of car in Japan. Hopefully you all know that Lexus is Toyota, but the luxury cars of Toyota as is Infiniti to Nissan and Acura to Honda. Well, in Japan, they don’t have a separate brand name for their higher end cars. It’s always just been Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. The first time when I came to Japan, I saw what would be classified as a Lexus in America but the mark on the car was a Toyota. Now that Lexus is out in Japan, it’s pretty much the same as the Lexus in the States but the steering wheel is on the right side of the car! I think it’s smart on Toyota’s part because they can jack up the price and people will still buy it!

So how long do you think you would spend at a car show? I was there for about 6 hours!! 12:30 to about 6:30PM. It literally took me that long to get through most of the exhibits I wanted to see. There were also presentations, getting in lines to sit in the car, and lots of picture taking so that took awhile. Unlike last year, I was there by myself this time. I actually didn’t mind it at all because I saw everything at my own pace. Well, the only person I really wish that could be there was my bro. He’s more of a car enthusiast and can educate me more about the specs of the cars. Overall, it was GREAT. Of all the fast and beautiful cars that were there, my heart still doesn’t waver on the car I want. Take a wild guess! I asked the representative if they have it in automatic because I can’t drive stick. He said it’ll be out next month! That takes a load off my mind. Now I just have to wait for a miracle to help me buy that car!

If you're interested in cars:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/album?.dir=/f3f7

August 6th 1945, 8:15A.M., a day that forever changed Hiroshima, Japan……..As an American, if you didn’t know that day as the day the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, SHAME on YOU!! Ok, actually I didn’t know either prior to my visit to Hiroshima. If you asked me what year War World II ended, there’s a possibility I might get that wrong too! If I wanted to know about history and especially about War World II, all I have to do is ask my history major roommate from college or have him look it up! Anyway, it was rather suiting that my first visit to Hiroshima coincided with the 60th year anniversary of the bomb dropping. It would be pretty cool to tell my kids one day that I was in Hiroshima 60 years later since the incident took place… or maybe not! Anyway, after a year in Japan, my ability to recognize some Kanji (Chinese characters) has allowed me to understand that Hiroshima in Japanese means wide or large (hiro) island (shima). It’s not an island per say but a very wide and flat piece of land with many canals or rivers running through it. Being in Hiroshima was a little surreal for me because I never knew if I would make a trip out to Hiroshima. Geographically, it is quite far from Tokyo or from where I live in Saitama for that matter. So my friends and I flew there! It still took about 1.5 hrs., but compared to the Shinkasen(bullet train), which is about 3 hrs., and for about the same fare, the plane was the best choice. First thing we saw in Hiroshima was the famous “Atomic Dome.” This is the only building left in the original condition after the bombing devastated and wiped out Hiroshima city. Hiroshima today is considered a new city with relatively new buildings. The condition of the building is left there as a memorial but also to remind the world never to repeat this atrocity ever again. The building is in ruins with bricks on the ground but some metal infrastructure has been placed inside to prevent the complete crumbling of the building. I didn’t know what to feel when I first saw the dome. I was still full of excitement to be in Hiroshima and then suddenly to see something that is suppose to remind you of great sadness; it just didn’t come right away. It seems like I needed a switch to turn off happiness and a switch to turn on serious mode. Taking picture with the dome was awkward. I usually smile in my pictures but somehow smiling in front of the dome seems unrespectful. Next we visited the nearby memorial peace museum with history and artifacts found after the aftermath. Some things were pretty gruesome. There were pictures of how the city looked and how the people looked and I’m sure you can all imagine what they would look like or actually have seen some footages or images from textbooks, magazines, or documentaries. Seeing actual items found and left behind were the things that interested me the most. I tried to imagine and visualize the people that might have owned these items. Many charred school uniforms and school bags were also donated to the museum by parents who lost their child. There were also locks of hair that the parents cut off from their child after they died. One exhibit was gruesome but also amazing. It was a complete nail with skin attached to it that was easily pealed off from the child’s hand. The coolest item I saw was a watch that stopped exactly at 8:15AM. The museum did educate me more about the incident at Hiroshima and why the bomb was dropped there. At that time scientist including Albert Einstein who had helped created the bomb did not know what consequences the bomb would have on human beings and it was the first time in human history that an atomic bomb was used on humans. Did you know that?!!

The next day, we visited a nearby island called “Miyajima.” It was a nice ferry ride to the island and as we approached the island, I saw something that I always associated with Hiroshima. It was the giant red “Torii” gate in the waters. If you take a look at my pics, you’ll know what I’m talking about. This gate is actually a gate to a shrine called “Itsukushima jinja.” It is a beautiful shrine built right by the water. When it is high tide, water runs underneath the shrine. According to what I read, Miyajima is a sacred place to ancient Japanese people. Today, it’s just a tourist attraction! There are deers all over the island and you can buy deer biscuits to feed them so they’re not afraid of humans at all. We climbed the mountain at Miyajima and the view from the top was gorgeous with the help of good weather. Finally on the third and final day, we visited Hiroshima castle. The castle was cool and all but not too impressive. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve seen a castle elsewhere in Japan before and they all look the same or the fact it’s not really the “actual” castle when it was first built but just a replica because obviously, the castle was also wiped out due to the A-Bomb.

Overall it was a fun and educational trip concerning both America and Japan. I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity to visit Hiroshima. Most of my Japanese friends from the Tokyo region have not even been to Hiroshima themselves either. Hiroshima city definitely feels very different to Tokyo. I made the analogy that Hiroshima to Tokyo is like the San Francisco to Los Angeles. Hiroshima is more relaxed and calm and it has street cars! I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to go to Hiroshima but I recommend that anybody that stops by Japan to try and visit Hiroshima if you can. Once I got back to Saitama and back to school on Monday morning, instead of asking me what I saw at Hiroshima, the Japanese teachers asked me, “What did you eat at Hiroshima?”

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NFL in Tokyo? God, I miss football! It’s been one year since I watched an NFL game. Well….that’s not true, I did download last years SuperBowl from the internet! Good old internet! I was walking in Tokyo one day, and I randomly came across a poster that advertised NFL in Tokyo called the “American Bowl.” For a moment, I was stunned because I was thinking to myself, NFL? Japan? Really?!! It was the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Atlanta Falcons. These were the two teams that were runner ups to the SuperBowl last year. I actually didn’t realize this until much later on. Anyway, the poster featured star quarterbacks Peyton Manning for the Colts and Michael Vick for the Falcons, both whom I would love to see in action. Believe it not, I have never seen a LIVE NFL game before in my life. I remember myself starting to watch NFL football as early as when I was in Junior High over ten years ago?! And with no professional team in LA now, my chances of seeing a NFL game was even lower. I was dead set on seeing this game. I thought, “NFL in Tokyo? When am I going to get another chance to watch professional American Football in Japan?(well, maybe next year if I’m still living in Japan!)” As I researched prices and availabilities for the seats in Tokyo Dome where they plan to hold the match, I began asking friends who would be interested in going with me. I knew right away my Japanese friends wouldn’t be interested but when I started asking my fellow American friends, I was surprised nobody was as enthusiastic as I was or showed interested in going. In fact at the end, I found nobody to go with and I went by MYSELF!! I really didn’t mind at all. I was just so thrilled that I was going to see a NFL game!

Prior to the game outside the Dome, representative cheerleaders from both teams were signing autographs. Unfortunately, I got there at the end of the autograph session so I didn’t have the chance to get any signatures. I did get some pictures of them but it wouldn’t it be more cool if I had picture taken with them? This is where a friend would come in handy and take a picture FOR me. I was expecting to see only guys lining up for the autographs but there were plenty of Japanese women as well. Actually, I think these women were girlfriends or wives of the Japanese men! Maybe they’re there to keep the guys from drooling too much. Among the cheerleaders, there was one Asian girl that seems to be everybody’s favorite cheerleader. I don’t know if she’s Japanese but she got a lot of attention from the attending fans. She also got a lot of coverage on the Jumbo Tron in the Dome.

I was SO excited waiting for the game to start I almost pissed my pants!! Not literally of course, haha. As I expected, it was not a sellout crowd but there were still a good amount of people that attended. I didn’t even think the Japanese would even have interest in watching football but I was wrong. And of course, there were plenty of foreigners wherever I looked. I had a good view of the whole field but I couldn’t see any players in detail. I was only able to make out the player’s jersey number if I squint hard enough. I was able to pinpoint Manning and Vick who were the only two players I wanted to watch closely. As the first kickoff began, my adrenaline was at its ultimate high, I think I was screaming like a maniac throughout the game, yelling things like, “sack him! SACK HIM!!” or “GET his ASS, GET HIM!” Fortunately the seats around me were unoccupied. Every time a great play was taking place, I would stand up and cheer but then I would look around and see myself and other foreigners be the only people standing. When a bad play or somebody gets hit hard, I would “Boo” and “Awww” but I wouldn’t hear a peep from my Japanese neighbors. Once in awhile, I would hear the Japanese couple behind me say “sugoi ne (that’s wonderful/cool isn’t it).” They must think I’m weird when I put both my arms straight up into the air every time a field goal is made! I’m sure the Japanese are equally excited as I am if they were watching a football, I mean SOCCER game. It was an awesome game overall. I wish they would play Manning, Vick and other starters longer than one quarter! The Falcons were the winner and it was a close game. The Colts lost by a touchdown and it came down to 4th and 10 as the last play. The MVP for the Falcons received a pair of katana, or Japanese sword (you know the thing that Morpheus used in the Matrix) in place of a trophy, that was interesting. I enjoyed the experience immensely especially being reacquainted again with the hard hitting sounds of football. Boy, do I miss the violence haha! The last thing I saw on the Jumbo Tron before I left Tokyo Dome was “Winng Team, Atlanta Falcons.” Oh yeah, one last thing, only girls sold beer in the dome. They wore a uniform advertising the brand of the beer and carried a keg on their back with a portable dispenser. Now THAT was cool!

“Oh my god I can’t believe, I’ve never been this far away from home!” This line is repeating over and over in my head and I can’t seem to get it out! This past weekend, I spent 3 days with some of my ALT friends at a music/rock and roll festival in Nigata Prefecture (2-3 hr. north of where I live). The festival is known as “FujiRock” or as you would say it in Japanese, “FujiRocku!” Supposedly, this is the largest music festival in Japan held once a year. The festival started on Friday and lasted until Sunday but we actually made our way there Thursday afternoon and got back Monday afternoon so it turned out to be almost a 5 day ordeal. Of course I had to take Friday and Monday off from work but was it worth it? HELL YEAH!! I don’t know and listen much to Rock and Roll music (or as I like to call it “Angry Music!”) I wasn’t planning on attending this event at all. Given the fact that the 3 day festival pass cost the same amount as one month’s rent, it did not appeal to me at all. However, my neighbor, fellow ALT friend and a HUGE music feign was all too thrilled for this upcoming festival. I think he started talking about it back in April! When we approached July and the semester finished for summer vacation, he was literally bouncing off the wall waiting for FujiRock to come. The last couple of months, we’ve been hanging out more and more, just chilling, having some beer while listening to tunes. Most of the tunes he played I really didn’t know at all but at some point, some songs started to grow on me. After nights of drinking, listening to music and convincing me to go, I finally decided to do it. The decision came down not because how much I love the music or the artist/band that was going to be there but the experience of going to a 3 day rock n roll festival with my English speaking friends in Japan. In addition, it was 3 days of music and staying in a tent we bring ourselves!

So what made this festival so special for foreigners like myself and others in Japan was that the bands that came were mainly bands from the States and the UK and these bands were top named bands that has already made it big! I’m about to tell you who they are and I still can’t believe I saw them! I wasn’t all that thrilled at first when I saw who was coming considering I don’t listen to their music much or only know a few of their songs but here are some of the big bands LIVE!! I saw COLDPLAY, FOO FIGHTERS, CAKE, BECK, FATBOY SLIM, THE BEACH BOYS(yup, still alive and touring! Kokomo rocked!!), MOBY, and NEW ORDER! Other bands I never heard of at all such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Bravery, The Futureheads, The Go Team, and DJs like Vitalic and Mylo were awesome. They had great shows and great tunes. Thanks to my neighbor who constantly played their songs for me prior to FujiRock, I was able to enjoy them more. Coldplay and Foo Fighter were one of my favorite bands to see live since I was standing relatively close to the front. Coldplay was just beautiful! Chris Martin, the lead singer, was amazing. I knew all of the music they played so I enjoyed that the most. Foo Fighter I only recognized a few songs but the energy of that performance was OFF the HOOK!! There was just so much ENERGY and Dave Grohl was insanely awesome in a rock n roll way. His rock n roll head bobbing and his scream reminded me of Steve Tyler from Aerosmith which was crazy cool. Of course Coldplay and Foo Fighter played at the largest stage with an audience capacity of up to 30,000 people. Did I mention FujiRock was held at a ski resort with 6 stages? While they played on stage, from time to time, I would awe myself by looking back at how many people there were watching, jumping, screaming, and dancing like I was. It’s an amazing feeling that I would have to say you must experience for yourself to understand it. I was definitely on a natural high! According to my friends who have seen Foo Fighter live before, that was one of their best performances he has ever seen from them. I think that was my ultimate rock n roll concert experience for FujiRock! Overall I think I saw about 20 bands or artist over the 3 days period. Each day, there were at least 50 shows going on, can you imagine how big this festival is?!

Even though FujiRock sounded it went so well, which it did overall, nature wasn’t too kind to us. It rained and it rained a lot! Saturday was the worst when it rained ALL day long. Most of us did not bring our rain gear and my windbreaker, although a little waterproof was not much help at all. Surprisingly the rain didn’t scatter the crowd and they continued to stand out in the pouring rain dancing and screaming. Kudos to the Japanese audience! I wasn’t too thrilled with the rain because it made the grounds very very muddy and when you have couple of thousands people trotting in it, it gets REALLY ugly and messy. I was wearing strapped on sandals so my feet were pretty much taking a mud bath. I don’t know if it would be worse wearing shoes and socks because the socks eventually get soggy and the inside of the shoes are completely wet. I hate that feeling! At least my sandals dried up the next day with mud crust but I bet my friends who wore shoes still had wet shoes and socks the next day. Let see, what else? Oh yeah, having just the tent is not enough. It would have been nice if there was a little padding to sleep on and a thin blanket to cover myself. I had to use a shirt to cover my cold feet and used my windbreaker in place of a blanket. I should have brought a towel too, either to wipe off the sweat or the cold rain. It was also a pain in the ass to wait in long lines in the morning to use the porta-potty and the porta-sink to wash my face and brush my teeth. I had many incidents where I just used a bush to do my waste disposal business. 3 days of not showering didn’t bother me that much since I had deodorant but not washing my hair was getting to me when it started to itch on the 3rd day. Well, that’s about it that I have to complain about but other than the, FujiRock Festival 2005 was awesome, probably something that will be unforgettable! FujiRock Festival 2006? We’ll see! I still think it’s “Angry Music!” but I like it now! Hehe..

I wish I could show you pictures but its all on a disposable camera!