Team Promo Vid

 Nope i havent been consistent inpostung lately, but this video is pretty accurate to show a little of what ive been up to these days.

Moving Too Fast

時間の流れが速過ぎる。

Whether relaxing or spending time with great people, time seems to fly by so fast doesn't it?
Before every vacation, I swear I would have time for this and that, but the reality is that so much of that extra time gets lost into sleeping in late, afternoon naps and unplanned meet ups.  

Before this vacation I read an article about how traveling by oneself teaches you so much about yourself. Gives you lessons and opportunities to work on life skills which you wouldnt get in the classroom.  Though I told myself I would definitely go somewhere, the reality is, the idea of traveling alone sucks.  Of course I would love to do it if I could meet people, but as a friend of mine once said " I would rather go to a parking garage with my friends instead of the beach by myself." 

Props to all the people I know who can travel by themselves.. Im sure there are upsides to it and yes one day I will try it again too.  For now, I guess I just love spending time with the people have around me now.


With that said, since summer vacation is coming to a close i could take a quick look back on what I experienced.  I might not have completely escaped Yokohama, but I did get to do some amazing things which may not have been as fun without the people I know.

Went on a little excursion up to Kawagoe so I could see this bell tower. Originally built in 1600 something.

Uh.. there was a Chameleon with a 5 yen coin. Never quite did find out what this place was all about.

 On cool thing about Yokohama is the amazing abundance of museums.  Everything from art museums, to open air parks to even entire ships!

"Today, I am the captain of this ship!"

Another great place i highly recommend is Sankeien.  Considered an outdoor museum, it is one of the best Japanese gardens I have ever been to.

Taco night! Every now and again, more than a few of us get the craving for some good old American style Mexican food.. 'Murica!

While I haven't found my way outside of the Kanagawa area, I have been finding little sight seeing gems here and there. Hidden in different parts of the city there is almost always a beautiful secret hidden in each ward.  This one is in Kanazawa just off the sea side line.

Aside from museums, there is also a skatepark/basketball court.  Good place to chill.

 Checking out the scenery of shonan street live. Fisheyes make things alot stranger.

I'll never forget one of the best parts of the trip. Whitewater rafting in Saitama!  Complete with a free fall and swim into the river... and a relaxing trip to the onsen after.

 Team Blue

Going through the archive of photos, you could really see everyonce face turn from mellow.. mellow ... mellow... (splash!)  .to . huge smile!

Best crew for the best raft!

Exploring water parks in the ridiculously hot summer is the way to go. Just imagine relaxing inside a floating donut. All these friends by your side.. Everyone laughing... then suddenly screaming as they splash you and tip you over and you go face first into the water... ahh. summer.

 

everyones face is weird. goes to show you how fun that trip was. :)

Oh summer, why you go by so fast!

夏休み！Summer Vacation! and its moving fast...

I'm not sure what happened. I meant to update weeks ago.. but before I knew it all that time just seemed to fly right by.

This is the hottest summer yet. 33.C and I can't leave my house without coming back with a shirt soaked from either sweat or rain water.  But im thankful, only few jobs in this country allow for almost a month off.. and mine is one of them!

What ive already experienced and look forward to seeing more of is fireworks and festivals.

 Fireworks still have a magical effect on me.

 This is my city!

 

While still in town I feel the need to explore everything I can about it!  Introducing, bicycle adventures...  Since the size of Yokohama is huge, even the subway takes almost an hour just to get out of the city... Ill be needing my own wheels to get around.

 

Just a sample of things I get to see on summer break:

 The view I wake up to at almost noon

 looking at Landmark Tower from where old historical buildings used to be.

King of the hill... any locals know where this is?

Creepy Doll Museum near Yamashita Park

Port cities have a special charm about them... 

And I can't forget all of the other activities that are usually equated with summer...

"Don't do that!"

But 80db??? how do you know??? how can you know?

 ooops

 Once a month every summer we got beach days at Tsujido.  BBQ, Beach... Surf... thats it!

 Practice for modeling photo shoots.

 Sunset in the land of the Rising Sun.  Pictures dont do justice.

Theres also Kamakura, beautiful historic city by the ocean. Once the capital of Japan, it still has alot of its beauty preserved.  I feel like a tourist again when I come here.

 

There are many many more good things to come once I can get over the heat and the sweat. 

 

Sound Sleep

Despite only 3 hours of sleep, I woke up with enough energy to feel the same as if I had slept 7. Every morning I try to do practical things to refresh myself. Washing my face, drinking water and thinking about things to be thankful for.  I've been able to get more energy by always making my first thoughts positive as soon as I wake.  Thanking God for all the blessings, journaling and praying properly have really helped set my overall mood for the rest of the day.  The more I try to have a healthy start to my morning, the more I realize that I actually can take better control of my day.

I used to wake up last minute and have to rush to get dressed and out the door, sometimes missing breakfast. A symptom of poor attitude and sleeping habits.  But with commitment to develop healthier routines spiritually and physically, I find that I have more energy to do things like cook myself a hot breakfast, actually read and write a good journal (as opposed to the lazy half-asleep ones I used to do on the train going to work), and take out the trash at the right time.

I noticed this morning that despite my bad sleeping habits this week, I had woken up completely fine. I was thanking God in my prayer for just granting me the energy to do what I need to each day and asking him for challenges as well as being able to hear "His voice."  As I was writing, a Japanese word came into my head out of no where.  I had never heard of it before and I'm not so great at memorizing tons of new words so I followed my urge to just look it up.

I came to find that すやすや means "sleeping soundly"
That is exactly what I was able to do just now.

Having never heard or learned this word before really wonder "how exactly can we hear the voice of God?" I know my prayers are heard... but this is definitely a first for me.

Now.. if only I could be granted the gift to read minds. ^_^

Summer is coming.

Its too hot!

 Oita friends + Yokohama friends

No place like home..

Im back in Yokohama after a very very brief trip to my home town.

In the last 2 years I have unfortunately missed some of the most important events in lives of friends and family.  I had to miss a handful of weddings. If I had been living in California at the time, I wouldn't have missed a single one(... except for 4 of my friends weddings.. 2 of them happening on the same day 2 different times.)    I guess I dodged those bullets there.  Despite those important events I felt an overpowering calling that told me to be where I am now. Im still starting to understand that..

But there was one wedding I wouldn't let my self miss. No, not this time.  As someone I have known since kindergarten and being with the same classes with all the way from Elementary to Highschool, having watched this guy grow up, ups.. downs... finally finding the one he wanted to spend his life with, I wasn't gonna miss it.

Despite the akward timing of Japan's business new years in April, I couldn't miss it for the world. Not just the wedding because its a wedding.. but it was more like a family reunion.

I never really get homesick, but I think I'm learning something from my short trip. FAMILY FIRST.  I can't fully understand it now.. but it might be time to start slowly stepping forward in some areas of my life.  Gonna pray real carefully for my vision, future career... and finding what most people long for. Oh.. I think you know what im talking about. There will be some important questions to ask myself in this next season.


 For now... pictures!

Books!?Drugs!?  What more could you want?

 

Got home to find that my home Gym was still there.

Catching up with childhood friends... 

The playground at our elementary school is much smaller than I remember.

Watching this guy tie the knot.. Priceless

There are alot of things Japan does right.. wedding receptions are not on that list.

 

Despite the ridiculous cost of a Japanese wedding, even in the "western" style weddings they are missing a huge aspect that authentic western weddings have.  Groomsmen and Bridesmaids.

There is dancing, drinking, eating and a whole lot of socializing between friends and family that i never experienced in a Japanese wedding.  If by the grace of God I do marry someone from this country I live in, I will definitely have an American style Nijikai.

It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones too.

My Dad, Sister and I.  The only missing one is my mom. She would make this picture even prettier.

Meet Runa.. my new GF.

Some old Ghetto Shop work..

My brother and his stuffed animal.

I do miss my family... Ill be back!