new idea?

howdy all

i think i am deciding to change my blog content a bit. i was just looking back at my trip to japan and all the pictures i was taking. i realized that i really miss taking a bunch of pictures, especially of things that don't often get attention for cameras. i am sure there are a bunch of things around here that would be interesting to see. so, i think i might take a break from the boring "today i did this" and move towards more of a picture blog. there have already been a few things that i wish i had my camera for. for instance, i was driving to house church one morning, and i came to a stop sign. i looked to my left, and there it was... a rooster (yes, the farm animal we are all familiar with) drinking out of the gutter. although it was sad, it was art begging for its picture to be taken... unfortunately i didnt have my camera.

so, i now will be carrying my camera almost everywhere i go, and i will post the ones that are interesting on here... i guess we'll have to see if i can keep coming up with some interesting ones. feedback will be welcome. actually, i would like to know if this idea is even good... i dunno, but i am going to try it....

maybe i am just acting on my regret for not having my camera for the rooster sighting... hmmm, we'll see.

anyway, i am off... to, well, no where... but i am off.

hoo roo

glasses and clouds

howdy all
what a day it has been, filled with some wacky weather. i can't get over how fast weather changes in california. i went to the grocery store this morning [to buy ingredients for some cookies i whipped up :) ] and the sky was black... i was afraid their would be a huge downpour by the time i got back out. well, i was completely wrong. i came back out 15 minutes later [i'm a fast shopper when i need to be] and the sky was blue. the sun was shining all around and the clouds were far, far away. that's california for you. this is a pick from before the blue skies came... right above is a big black cloud.

i can see clearly now the rain is gone... well, not necessarily because the rain is gone... more because now i have reading glasses. yup yup, i now wear reading glasses for, well, reading. i also wear em while i am on the computer [i am wearing them now :) ] trying to figure out how i look with glasses on? try no more... here's a pic
pretty snazzy, eh?

although i sit at home terribly bored and without something to do tonight, i will not be doing the same tomorrow night. i am going to a concert tomorrow night in thousand oaks...i get to go see Sanctus Real. ya, it's going to be awesome... i'll make sure to take a lot of pics like i did with the Newsboys concert.

well, i better be off... like i said, i've got a busy night doing nothing

hooroo

sunsets and surprises

these are some pics from manhattan beach... i usually try to cathc the sunset when i go out there for tennis during the week... pretty :)

not much has been going on for me to post about. we're still working on our house and trying to figure out what colors are going where as far as walls and carpet go (i'm set on green carpet in my room... any suggestions for wall color?) exams went okay... i really don't know what grades i got on the exams (except for my chem exam... :/ ) but i am very pleased with my final grades in all my classes. my wisdom teeth were successfully yanked, but there's something goin on that i gotta get checked out. i got back from a trip to j-tree last night, and that pretty much sums up the past few weeks. however, today my brother aldo came home with a huge... i mean HUGE... surprise. completely out of no where, by bro came home looking like this:


aldo is the one on the left... for those of you who dont see the huge change, this is how he looked before and for the past 5 years...

g'day from down under

no, i am not in australia, but that is where my mind has been for the past week. the best tennis grand slam is here...the australian open! week one down, one to go. unfortunately roddick lost in the 4th round, so my hopes for a roddick-federer final were smashed to smithereenes. however, on the women's side, hingis is going strong, as are clijsters and davenport :)

also ahead this upcoming week are exams. tomorrow (monday) through thursday i have my exams for the first semester. and to top off the ever-so-wonderful week filled with long tests and studying, i have the delightful pleasure of having my wisdom teeth ripped out of my mouth by metal instruments that are strangely similar to those i have seen in some torture seens from a few episodes of alias... coincidence? i think not.

anyway, i shall be off to bed now... sleep is needed

hooroo

jet lag stinks like a monkey!

well, made it back to the golden state where we drive on the right side of the road and have toilets not built into the ground. after 7 hours in the airport, i was ready to get on the plane and go. the flight was short (about 9 hours) , however there was a lot of turbulence... it was the side-to-side kind, so i didn't mind it. the funny thing about turbulence though: have you ever noticed that, even with the slightest bump, everybody's head bobbles? no one fights it, they just let their head bobble... it's hilarious to look at when everybody does it at the same time and in the same way... good stuff.

anyway, i crashed when i got home (around 11:30... we landed at 9:50). i hardly slept on the plane, and the jet-lag was kicking in. so, after sleeping a long time, it is now 10:20 and i have all the energy in the world. usually i am beat by this time, but not today. hopefully this jet lag thing won't last, cause i know i am going to feel it tomorrow during classes... and being tired during classes where it's hard enough to get through when i am fully awake is a deadly combination :)

anyway, i have a few last things that i have thought about and learned from my time in japan...some of these are just quick little interesting things i thought were interesting:

-sneezers don't get blessed in japan... if you say "bless you" when someone sneezes, they become confused... not because you said it in english though... it's just because no says anything when you sneeze there.

-while washing my hands in a bathroom, i heard a really cheesy sound effect of a toilet flushing coming from an occupied stall. then later, the actual toilet flushed and the lady left. not sure what it was, i investigated. there was a button inside the stall that you could press to make this sound. i figured that it was to cover up the sound of one going to the bathroom because it could be embarassing for some people...haha, i hate it when there is only one other person in the bathroom. later, i found out i was correct. wow, long explanation for a little thing :)

-i just couldn't get enough of the culture and lifestyle there. the respect for eachother is generally really high. i saw two people that were saying bye to eachother, and they must have each bowed about 10 times as they walked away from eachother. it was like a bowing war... they looked like they were a young couple, and i figured it was kind of like having the little "no, you hang up first" war on the phone... "no, i'll bow last...you walk away first". but seriously, i enjoyed getting to be a part of that.

-i realized that what i learned and observed was something i could only do first-hand in japan. i have been told about the japanese culture and tradition before, and i have learned the geography of the land in class. however, what i had going in my head before this trip is WAY different than what i have going in myhead now.

well, that's all! i might post a few pics i took from the plane later, but besides that, this is the end of my trip to japan :) thanks for reading my posts and for commenting!

arigato golziemas (i have no idea how to spell that, but it means "thank you" in japanese)

i lied

ok... THIS will be my last post in Japan. I am at the tokyo airport right now, and i am looking at seven hours of wandering around and eating ahead of me. my mum made it on to my flight, so i didn't fly solo. i am sitting here chowing down on a box of pocky (chocolate covered pretzel sticks) and trying to figure out what to do with all this time. i don't want to use up all the ideas i had for the long plane ride (my main ideas consist of sleeping and a good ol' fashion rubick's cube).

well, i better start wandering around...

hooroo

look out below

ok, all. this is going to be my last post in japan! i leave early tomorrow (wednesday) morning in order to catch my first flight. i will be on this flight from nagoya to tokyo alone, and i will meet up with my mum in tokyo before we take off for LAX. and there is probably going to be snow tonight... yay!

so much has been experienced here, i can't wait to share all the stories i couldn't write or show with pictures. this place has a lot to teach, and i can assure you i have learned a ton :)

i have no more time to write, so i will do some "reflections" when i get home :) i am preparing for a long day tomorrow with lots of traveling. i hope all is well with everyone! i will post soon!

look down below for LOTS of pics... lots of em :)

so long from japan! (this pic is from inside the internet place)

a few last pics

cloudy skies in tokyo
this is in the underground mall...
relaxation... cigarettes? i am guessing not.
check out that fire truck... it's probably about the size of a suburban... maybe a little smaller.
no skiing on the subway, and no waving to the train!
it's the attack of the giant crab!
look at all these people!!! crazy!(tokyo)

i hope you guys want to see pics, cause there's a lot!

oops, forgot some

this is on the platform of one of the train stations.
on the bullet train... this thing goes SO fast!

waiting for the subway to come... this isn't a typical subway though... the walls aren't usually there
in japan, you are not supposed to cut the noodles, because it would symbolize cutting your life shorter... so whatever noodle you start, you must finish :) and slurping is expected
this is the table we ate at (at the resturaunt for people over 20 only)
the chicken with raw eggs... hey, kind of ironic, eh? chicken before life, and after death.
when boredom takes over in tokyo tower...

view from the middle of tokyo tower... now thats a city... puts new york to shame

a day in the ever so crowded tokyo

you might need to click the pic to enlarge it, nut you will see that there are a TON of people... no me gusta
i dont know what this says, but i thought it looked really cool.

i saw the sign

this sign basically says (over and over) that if you are under 20 years of age, you may NOT even come into this resturaunt... we read this sign (in tokyo) on our way out after dinner...



this sign is telling you to watch out for perverts... see the shadow behind the girl?
for some reason, it just doesn't sound right...
don't put cat tails in subway doors!
make sure to fish for hats when you are with a conductor...
better move your cars, it's streetsweeping day... in the mall?

pictures galore!

ok, these pics are in reverse chronilogical order... but, enjoy!

this is the shrine we went to... what you do is walk up to that box, toss in a 5 yen coin, clap twice, and make a wish.
that's me, sleeping before midnight...dont worry, i woke up 5 minutes before midnight :)
here is tomoko's (my bro's girlfriend) family
the raw octopus and tuna that i ate some of... yum
new years eve dinner.... towards the end
mt. fiji from the bullet train
this is while waiting for the bullet train to tokyo... see the police?
having fun with the camera :)
as the sun goes down...
VW in japan!!!

food food food

ok... now, when experiencing the japanese culture, youve got to eat (sorry, this keyboard doesnt have apostrophees). anyway, eating is probably the thing we have done most. before i came to japan, i was trying to figure out how far i would go with trying new foods. it started with only eating things i could pronounce... i would go hungry if i stuck with that guideline... i threw that idea away as soon as i got on the plane :) so, i had to figure something else out.

at dinner the first night, we went out to a resturaunt, and as soon as we were seated, little appetizers or starters were given to each of us... and there sat in front of me octopus tentacles. at that moment, i had a new guideline in place... go big or go home... and going home would be a little hard to do at the moment. right then, a whole new world of food was ready to be experienced.

since that night of cooked octopus tentacles, i have eaten a lot of dishes that i would never ever think i would eat...here are some of the things i have tried:

cooked octopus, raw octopus (suckers and all, twice), raw tuna, raw salmon, bamboo, a tiny fish (the whole thing, eyes and all), campachee (raw fish with cream cheese), and fish eggs. i have also had fish cake, egg cake, and chicken covered in raw eggs.

now, i did eat each of these things, and some of them multiple times, but that doesnt mean i liked all of them. i ate octopus three times, but i hardly enjoyed it. the third time, it was actually decent tasting. i really liked the bamboo and the campachee. the chicken with raw egg was really good.

so i have esperienced some interesting foods. of course there are the noodles and chicken, but i have had that stuff before.

well, i am still trying to figure out how to get my pics up from a different computer, so i will try to do that soon.

hooroo :)

from tokyo...

hello all!

im in tokyo right now, and i have been for the past few days. we came here on new years eve to have a traditional japanese new years eve and new years celebration. i have　a ton of pictures to put up, but not enough time right now. we are at tomokos (my bros girlfriend) house right now, and i cant upload my pics to her computer.

it is raining here in tokyo right now, which means it is亜　ぽprobably snowing in nagoya(back at stevens house. i keep on hitting random japanese chaあracters on the keyboard... i dontknow how to get rid of them,,, so bare with me.

i have some really good pics toput up... i will be doing thatlater today when i get back to nagoya.

well, i just posted a lot of pics and some reflections... make sure to check em all out if you haven't seen any yet... there are quite a few :) enjoy them!

we will be going to tokyo tomorrow for new years celebrations. we're going to be taking the bullet train... it should be pretty awesome :)

all is going well
i dont know if i'll be able to update in tokyo, but i will if i can.

i hope all is going fine and dandy back home... enjoy your new years celebration, whether it be sleeping before midnight or staying up and watching the countdown. it's kind of weird to think that i am going to be entering the new year 17 hours before you...haha, i still cant get over this whole time difference :)

hooroo

24 is HUGE in japan... they have every single season and every episode... 24 takes up a whole aisle at the video store. they must have been stoke this past week because 24 was being filmed in tokyo over christmas. anyway, here are some more pics!

mas fotos