Congratulations Mariko and Takeru!

So my friends Mariko and Takeru who were exchange students im Wisconsin two years ago are having a baby and getting married!!!!

In celebration of this, we had a UW-Madison exchange student reunion! IT was one of the best reunions ever! Yuka, Butsurin, Chikako, Takeru, Mariko, Sarah, David, Tomoko, Sarah, Landy, and myself were all in attendence. We ate at a very tasty Vietnamese restaurant. Butsurin put together a very wonderful yet sometimes embarassing slide show of photos from back in the day in Madison. :) Landy and I performed a Mini Moni dance in honor of the bride and groom to be.. even though I had no idea how the dance really went. ha ha ha Then we all sat around and tried to come up with names for their baby boy who will soon be on his way in July.

After dinner, we all went to Coldstone ice cream together. This Coldstone store is the first one in Japan and always has a wait of an hour or more. I'm not particularily fond of Coldstone, but in the effort to not be a party pooper, I made the best of the hour and a half wait and was able to hide my disappointment when the quality of the food did not own up to the quantity of the wait time in line. hahaha

Yuka is still adorable as all get out, Tomoko still crazy, blunt, and funny, David still not saying a single word, Butsurin is still Butsurin, Takeru is still Mr. Cool, Mariko is still adorable tiny.. even though she's like 7 months along, Chikako is still as sweet as ever, Sarah and I are still Sarah and I.. we can just speak Japanese better.. haha... And everyone was so happy to see that Landy still remembered her Mini Moni dance :) It was a great time seeing everyone again, hanging out, and reminiscing about the good ol' days back in Madison. It was a great time seeing everyone again, hanging out, and reminiscing about the good ol' days back in Madison.

Chiko + Landy = FUN FUN FUN!

Ok so Chiko and Landy are now BOTH here! And even though I'm sick as a frickin dog.. AGAIN... we're making the best of it and having a great time!

I'll just let the pics explain it.. we mainly all just hung out around Toks.. went to Karaoke, went clubbing, went to a Shinto shrine, went to a park, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya... everywhere! It was a blast!

Thanks guys so much for coming! :)

Josetta and Me on the Midlevel of Mount Victoria in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

I'll sum it up in six words:

Good shopping!
AMAZING FOOD!
INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!

I've never been to a foreign country in which I had no comprehension whatsoever of the language. I can see how that can be a stressful thing for travelers... but at the same time.. it's a LOT easier to tune out :) hahaha

So I'm here in Hong Kong with my friend Josette and her parents. Our first night we got to the hotel, showered after a long day of traveling.. went shopping immediately. I bought a pair of shoes.. This can only get worse... hahaha

Then we went and had dinner with Josette's grandmother and uncle.. who speak no English at all. It was an interesting dinner to say the least. We ate Mandarin food, which, although it wasn't awful or anything, BUT I think that I prefer Cantonese to Mandarin food from now on. I had some Salty Duck egg thing and some drunken chicken thing... I had a lot of different "things".. ha ha ha

The next day, Josette's mom, Josette, and I did a full day of.. well.. SHOPPING!! Hong Kong IS the shoppers paradise you know... After shopping we went to go and see the Laser light show on the Harbor where they have their Hong Kong walk of fame with different stars and panels for Hong Kong movie stars, directors, and other famous people. On the way home... it happened again... only this time.. I agreed to do it. I got schmoozed into doing one of those glamour shots things.. only because it only costed like $100... I figured.. if I really DO wanna try modeling.. I might as well get my own pics ahead of time so I don't have to worry about paying $800...

So the next day, I went for my photo shoot which ended up being an all day thing. It was interesting because Josette and her parents left to go hang out as a family unit.. and I stayed at the studio by myself. NO ONE spoke English... sure they told Josette's parents that someone could speak SOME English.. but that just meant that they could say 'hello' and 'goodbye'.. and nothing more. So that was an interesting experience. I swear, after being immersed in it for only a few hours, I could almost understand what they were all saying by the time I left. Anyway, my shoot was done, the pics were amazing. I could pick up my CD on Monday, and they would mail me the prints later. That night we went to go have a REAL home cooked Chinese dinner at Josette's grandmother's house. She lives halfway up Victoria mountain. It was a beautiful drive up the mountain. After dinner, we watched Stephen Chow's police movie.. I don't remember what it was called. All I know is that it was subtitled (Thank God) and hilarious!!! After that, we took the long drive down the mountain and went to bed.

The next day after that, Sunday, it was another shopping day with Josette and her mama. Then, that evening, Josette and I went on one of those bus tour things around the city. We went to this place called the Temple Street Market. Apparantly, it is sacreligious to sell things for personal profit around the temple during the day/time of worship. So at night, when the time of worship ends, all the peddlers come out with their fake Louis Vuitton purses, bootleg CDs and DVDS, fake DIOR sunglasses.. the works. Also, Chinese opera singers and fortune tellers come out to try to make a buck. Josette and I did some shopping in the market before boarding the bus again to go to dinner in the famous "Jumbo Floating Restaurant" in Victoria Harbor. The Queen of England came to eat here at its opening in the 70's, they even filmed movies like James Bond's "Goldfinger" and "Tomb Raider 2". We had a DELICIOUS 6 course seafood dinner which only I at my table devoured in its entirety. ha ha

The next day, we trekked out to the mountains by bus to go to see the world's largest Buddha statue. This thing was freaking huge!!!!! It was the size of like three of my Dad's houses stacked on top of each other. It was an amazing sight. The pictures really don't do it justice. After the Buddha, we went to go pick up my photo CD... and then it happened.. AGAIN!!!

According to the sales associate, the owner and head photographer of the studio saw my photos, LOVED my photos, and wanted me to take more for their promotional posters for the studio. These promotional posters would be displayed in the subway areas, malls, magazine ads, and newspapers all over Hong Kong. And I was going to be the model for them. Me... a real modeling gig! And on top of that, as payment, I got to get prints of the entire thing. So I can put those in my portfolio!!! It was so much fun! I get those prints also for free in the mail with the other ones I had already ordered.

After the swelling of my head went down.. (he he he), I went back to the hotel and Josette and I packed for our long day of travel home the next day. The next day we woke up bright and early and made our way to Hong Kong International Port of Air. Josette's flight left at 12.. but mine didn't leave until almost four.. So in order to kill time I bought the book Memoirs of a Geisha. I got SOOOOO hooked on it that I read it straight through the entire day of travel home and finished by the time I arrived in Shibuya on the bus from Narita International. It's such a good book!! I recommend it to any and everyone!

So in short.. those 6 words again:
Good shopping!
AMAZING FOOD!
INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!

I'm so glad I went. Thank you Josette and thank you Mr. and Mrs. Tin for EVERYTHING! I had an amazing time!

Nightview from Mount Victoria.. Hong Kong