Going up to Diamond Head

While in Hawaii this Golden Week, we did something I never did when my family lived in Hawaii: we went to the top of Diamond Head. Here I am near the start of the trail leading to the summit.

The trail starts to take you uphill, turning sharply at hairpins as you make your way up. The more altitude the trail takes, the more uneven the path becomes, so make sure you have sturdy shoes when you go. Also, be sure to take a lot of water, as you will get hot and sweaty.

Just when you think the trail's coming to an end, you lay eyes upon this beauty: a long, steep staircase. I didn't count exactly, but there must be over 100 stairs in this stretch along. After this, you go through a tunnel, up a narrow, spiral staircase, then you arrive at a park worker at a desk inside a foxhole stamping certificates. They cost $2 and say that you made the trip up to Diamond Head. Past that, you go up through a narrow opening to the top, and you are presented with this view:

Lovely, isn't it? Definitely worth the trip. It does get windy up there, though; my sister-in-law almost lost her precious brand-name hat. Be careful.

A View To Kill For

While in Waikiki at the end of April, we had dinner at a restaurant called Hanohano, located at the top of the Sheraton Waikiki. These pictures were taken from up there. The night view of Diamond Head below is amazing!!!

Do You Take...

During Golden Week my wife and I took another trip to Hawaii, this time with her sister as well as with her mother. Among the things we did was have a small wedding ceremony at a beach in Honolulu - an opportunity to take some lovely pictures. This is my wife and I with the minister during our vows (which my wife did completely in English - what a trooper!).

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

When you stay at Disney's Pop Century Resort (one of many hotels on site at Disney World), you never forget where you are, as evidenced by the imagery on the bars of soap, shampoo and signage in our room.

Seeing so many Mickey Mouse faces had me a little too excited.

If you aren't tired of seeing Mickey in your room, just look at the front of your building. There he is, making a phone call.

On The Road... How Does That Song Go?

Enjoying a car trip around the Tampa Bay area. The bottom picture shows Tropicana Field in the background.

Hot And Now

When traveling back in America, no morning is complete without a trip to the nearest Krispy Kreme. There is no doughnut like their original, "Hot and Now", just-baked glazed variety. If you ever take a trip to the U.S., do your best to go to Krispy Kreme, if there is one near your locale. This one is in Brandon, Florida, outside of Tampa.

Birds! Birds!!!

A flock of birds taking flight early in the morning behind my parents' house in Tampa Bay. Wow, I usually don't see flocks of birds (other than pigeons)... or trees... from behind my house in Osaka.

Mom-san

Here is my mother, enjoying the yukata that we brought her from Japan. She was definitely happy with that.

Stormy Times in the Sunshine State

(A view of the Tampa skyline.)

In late February/early March, I took a trip to Florida with my wife and my mother-in-law to visit my parents, who have lived in the state for about three years. Before the trip, I was worried about how things would go. I heard stories about in-laws not getting along with each other, so I was hoping things would go well in Florida. I never expected that I would have to deal with a different kind of battle.

(Me and my mother at a Tampa Bay park.)

The trip started out well.　Even though there were obvious language barriers, my parents and my wife's mother were very nice to each other. My mother-in-law really loved my parents' house in the Tampa Bay area. One thing my mother likes to do is decorate the house, and my mother-in-law was amazed by it, saying to me, "Why did you ever come to Japan?" (It seems to me that during my time here in Japan, none of the houses I've seen have been decorated - no pictures in frames on the wall, no paintings, no sculptures. etc.) My mother-in-law, my wife and I spent time in the large backyard, something that doesn't really exist in the Osaka area. We spent a lot of time in Tampa just relaxing and taking it slow, which suited my mother-in-law just fine.

(Entrance to Walt Disney World, Orlando.)

Things changed, though, once we drove up I-4 to Walt Disney World. One thing you have to know about my wife is that when we travel, she keeps busy, trying to do as much as possible in the time we have. That was the case at Walt Disney World, where she was almost running from attraction to attraction. That didn't go well with my mother-in-law, who wanted to take it slow and easy. It came to the point where we would separate for hours at a time, and it eventually came to the point where my mother-in-law decided to just stay in the hotel while my wife and I enjoyed the parks.

Tension developed between my wife and her mother, and I was caught in between, serving as a "messenger" between the two during the times they wouldn't talk to each other. It was bad.

Well... at least Pooh and I had a good time together. Still... I must say that it was good to get back to Japan and leave Orlando behind.

On The Slopes

Still proving that a black man can ski, here I am on my fourth ski trip ever, in Niigata Prefecture in December 2007. I have to admit, I'm starting to get used to this thing we call "skiing".

Letting Off Some Steam

One of the highlights of any visit to Beppu, Oita Prefecture, is a tour of the several jigoku, very hot springs with certain "themes" to them. Take this blue one in the picture above; they call it umi ("sea") jigoku.

The Japanese name for this jigoku escapes me, but it means "blood jigoku".

This one looks like concrete oozing out of the earth.

And this one is something like a clay hot spring. Definitely not for bathing, unless you want nicer skin or something.

Long Time No See... Again

Hmmm... it seems I'm never going to catch up here.

Anyway, things have been going well so far. A few weeks ago I started working a few days a week at a fine private junior high school in southern Osaka Prefecture. After four years of problematic students at public schools who do not care about school, working at this school, where students regularly go on to some of Japan's top universities, is a blessing.

In addition to that top school, I also work at a small private senior high school in the city two days a week. So far, so good. Life seems to be on cruise control right now.

Beach View

A shot of the small beach next to our hotel in Beppu, Oita, November 2007.

How to Pray at a Shrine (Express Version)

This is a shot of the shopping arcade leading up to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, Fukuoka, taken in November 2007. At shrines like this one and Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, there are always a bunch of shops on the road leading up to the shrine. You can buy all kinds of omiyage (souvenirs): snacks, dolls, food, T-shirts, key chains, crafts, ice cream, and so on.

While each shrine in Japan is different, the setup is basically the same. Usually there is a grand gate like this one. Enjoy the architecture, the greenery, the stone gardens, and enter the premises.

Of course, before you go in, be sure to stop by the water well and purify yourself. Rinse your hands using one of the many ladles provided.

After purification, walk over to the actual shrine. You will see some kind of box where you throw in an offering. Five or ten yen will do. After that, if there is a rope hanging nearby with a bell at the top, shake it and ring the bell a couple of times. Put your hands together, silently pray, bow, and you're done.

Gettin' Stress Off My Chest

This past academic year (April of last year to now) has been stressful for me for some reason, more so than usual. Little things that I used to be able to brush off have recently started to really make me irritated. The high school that I work at has always had its fair share of bad kids, but while the crap they always pull (calling me names, throwing things in class, etc.)was easy to combat in the past, this year it has irritated me to the point where just looking at them makes me angry. I come home at night, trying to relax after dinner, and I'm still thinking about crap the students did at eight in the morning that day. I'm sure they weren't thinking about me, but I was thinking about them.

Not only that, but I also had to deal with crap at the company office as well. Again, I brought that stuff home with me, letting it stew in my mind and giving me stress. This has gone on all year, and recently it started to affect my marriage. Last night I had a senseless argument with my wife, taking out my frustrations on her. She still hasn't forgiven me, and rightfully so. It took that for me to realize that I need to seriously find a way to get rid of my stress.

This morning, I thought back to college, when some roommates of mine had an idea for getting rid of stress. They had various problems, so they decided to take an aluminum baseball bat and take turns whacking a telephone pole outside. They hit the thing so hard that the end piece on the bat flew off in rage. They laughed and named the bat "Liberty Bat". They were free from their stress.

With that in mind, this morning I took a few pillows from the bedroom, grabbed a stick, and started hitting the pillows as hard as I could. I visualized the faces of all the people, students, and idiots that did me wrong over the past year, and hit the crap out of them as hard as I could. Man, what a feeling! I felt much better after that.

My advice to you if you have stress: hit something. Don't hit somebody; that would give you more stress. But hit something.

The Road to Dazaifu

This is a picture of the arcade leading up to Dazaifu Temple, during our trip to Fukuoka last November. Notice the many torii along the way. Beautiful stuff.

Japan's lovin' it

Today I was driving around with my wife, and we passed by a McDonald's. The drive-thru line was terribly long, with a line of cars stretching out onto the main street and taking up one of the two lanes. That was very funny to me.

One thing foreigners in Japan - especially Americans - hear about is how we eat so much fast food. Once at the high school I teach at, I started a class by asking the students, "Tell me, what American food do you know of?" The first three responses were Big Mac, french fries, and hamburgers.

It is ingrained in many Japanese brains that foreigners love to eat fast food. And they are not wrong; too many Americans ruin their health by eating fast food too much. But some people say it as if Americans are the only ones doing it. As I saw today, Japanese people love their fast food as much as Americans do.

Welcome to 2008!

I want to take time out to wish everyone who reads my blog a Happy New Year. Enjoy 2008! I will.

Our Honeymoon Trip Pt. 3

A massage table in Vilu Reef. We made our way over to the spa and massage building on the other side of the island four times to enjoy various oil massages. That was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip.

While at Vilu Reef we ate three buffet meals a day at the island restaurant. We didn't eat any Maldivian food; rather, it was European and Japanese style food, perhaps to cater to the Europeans and Japanese tourists that regularly frequent Vilu Reef.

I believe I was the only American on Vilu Reef during our stay. Americans usually do not go to the Maldives, probably because it's too far away, and there are closer options like the Caribbean and Hawaii. Of course, I don't think there are any island resorts like Vilu Reef in those places.

Now, Vilu Reef seems to be quite remote. A few hundred people on an island not even one kilometer in length, far from any decently populated area (not counting the island of about 800 villagers close to Vilu Reef - more on that later). But if that is just too much for you, Vilu Reef has an option - a trip to another, more remote island that can accommdate only four couples! This is a picture of Fandhoo. For no extra charge, we were invited to stay here instead of the "crowded" Vilu Reef. We did some swimming and snorkeling, but other than that, we just enjoyed the scenery. There wasn't much else to do.

A picture of the cottage we stayed at on Fandhoo.

Our Honeymoon Trip Pt. 2

This is me standing in the middle of Vilu Reef. Unlike the first day, the rain was starting to clear out by the second day.

A view from the deck outside of our suite. Notice the view in the background - nothing but sea. By the way, if you were wondering, this trip did set us back a little. We won't be enjoying any more lavish trips for a while.

Here I am, standing outside of our cottage.

Several overwater cottages, neatly arranged. This picture was taken from the front door of our cottage. As you can see, there was a nice lagoon in the middle. We actually swam there a few times, doing some snorkeling and looking at the fish.