4 friends in town.. we became like family..

JT (that would be me) TOURS in action...

DAY 1 - sunday, april 22nd : felix arrives the night before

:: we went to eat at gonpachi in shibuya & i ran into a friend (corinna) that used to work with me.. she is having twins! ::

:: amarillo & houston friends ::

:: we met up may for about 5 minutes - just long enough to take this pic ::

DAY 2, monday, april 23rd - I took the day off to roam around town with marg & felix: lunch at din tai fung, odaiba, art exhibition - "ashes and snow," dinner @ venus fort

:: super oiishi soup dumplings ::

::

:: in front of "ashes & snow" - thanks, marg! ::

DAY 3, tuesday, april 24th - convinced felix to stay another week, hung arrives, & korean bbq @ toncha, ojiggaboogums

:: me & the soon to be "brothers" (here they haven't bonded just yet) ::

DAY 4, wednesday, april 25th - teach private lesson for 2 hours then meet up felix & hung for dinner at this 24 hour restaurant by my house - no pictures, gomen.

DAY 5, thursday, april 26th - cook green curry for friday lunch, jackie & sunny arrive, smallest hotel room ever, dinner at mo-mo paradise: all you can eat shabu-shabu & sukiyaki, drinks at tgif with dudley, taxi home

:: new friends ::

DAY 6, friday, april 27th - the national art center: ms. shiho's exhibition, cooking class with the girls in midtown, new name: JEANNAE, dinner at rainbow roll sushi in azabu juban

:: ai, ghee, jackie, & me ::

:: ms. shiho's (my school's art teacher) wood block prints ::

:: one of my favorite paintings at the exhibition ::

then i signed us up for a cooking class in midtown...

:: we learned how to make bread from scratch! ::

:: jackie & i were cooking partners ::

:: we had so much fun! we found out that our teacher went to a&m! what a small world! she told my friends how wonderful the food is in houston..it was great cuz now they know it's true and i'm not just saying that so they'll come visit me ::

:: jackie mixin it ::

:: before we put our cinnamon rolls and ham & mayo bread in the oven ::

:: felix being paparazzi from outside (the studio was for women only) ::

:: voila! ::

:: our cooking team ::

:: scrumptious! ::

after a hard evening of baking.. we went to have a fantastic dinner at rainbow sushi (one of the only sushi places that have 'american' style sushi)

:: my girls ::

:: my favorite roll of them all: spider roll! - my first time eating it in japan ::

:: sunny, jackie, me, ana - felix, hung, ghee, & ai ::

:: with our very japanesey desserts ::

that night, felix taught us that 1+1, 1-1, 1x1, and 1/1 all EQUALS 1

DAY 7, saturday, april 28th - we got in trouble for taking photos in hmv (of my super star friend's poster) and the sales lady came up to us and crossed her fingers to say "no" - that hand gesture became the "peace sign" for the boys so that's what they did throughout the whole trip

:: 'light' lunch at chamate in loft ::

:: i took them to my favorite ramen shop "jangara" - if you've ever visited me, you have been here ::

:: then RIGHT after we went to eat sushi at one of my favorite kaiten sushi places in harajuku ::

:: on the way out, sunny noticed a "WEEDING" party next door ::

:: the boys leaning on my shoulders ::

:: ready for a night at the onsen - it took a few days to pump everyone up - i was nervous myself since i had to introduce being naked in front of everyone to all the texas folks for the first time! ::

:: after a nice relaxing time in the onsen (and all the girls got a facial/massage), we met up the boys in our yukatas ::

:: on the phone with my superstar friend ::

:: sunny diggin for gold ::

:: 'no' maam ::

:: in the foot onsen together - i'm such a dork - i brought my tripod! ::

:: in the wee hours of the morning - everyone is gangsta except me ::

:: then the rest of the texas girls came out - jenn, michelle, doah, marg, & me ::

DAY 8, sunday, april 29th - only had 3 hours of sleep b/c of all the WILD snoring going on around us, waited at starbucks until everything opened, JT TOURS, hung as my assistant, up the landmark tower (rode on the fastest elevator in the world - and boy was it fast!), shopping in World Porters, red brick warehouse for lunch at Kua Aina (still the best burger ever), crazy jumping pics, TEXAS invades New Hope Yokohama Church - great message, everyone enjoyed it, then we parted ways with marg & crew and went to harajuku where i gave them a speedy tour, on the way home, we had awesome indian curry - jackie said she "wasn't hungry," but ended up ordering the most b/c it was 'so good!' went home, took a power nap - ended up sleeping until 1am and missed the last train out, got the worst guilt trip by superstar friend and got everyone (minus sunny) out and ready to take a taxi to the club, pickled goosebumps, cut in front of 200+ beautiful gay men, but only going real VIP for one person =/ never seen so many gorgeous men in one place in my life! home by 6:30am, zonked out.

:: texas girls - marg, michelle, jackie, doah, jenn, & me ::

:: starbucks ::

:: there was a pokemon convention going on ::

:: can you see mt. fuji? :: 

:: view from the landmark tower ::

:: all 9 of us are from texas! ::

:: hook 'em horns! ::

:: 'brotherly' love ::

:: crazy people ::

:: simply the best ::

:: tulip festival ::

:: for annie & vivi ::

:: only store in the world ::

:: soldiers! ::

DAY 9, monday, april 30th - sugoi oishii korean food (restaurant that duy, ly, & minh kept raving about), we ate, ate, and ate some more, showed them around asakusa at night, felix spent $300 in 10 minutes, jackie remembers her childhood by the original mcdonald's apple pie, felix takes a breather, the rest of the crew chill at jackie & sunny's ryokan playing cards until midnight

DAY 10 - tuesday, may 1st - felix leaves  meet hung in ginza, dinner at tompooya, uniqlo (shopping for "hours"), belgian waffles, home to wait for jackie & sunny to call, ended up not being able to meet up, sleepy time - no pics, gomen.

DAY 11, wednesday, may 2nd - jackie & sunny leave  i didn't get to say goodbye, took hung on a crazy last day tour to ikebukuro, ate yummy omurice, walked around sunshine city, ate ice cream at coldstone, then to gyoza stadium (hung thought i was taking him to a football stadium called 'gyoza' hahaha), tried 2 different types of gyoza - both yum! then to get some more dessert at this popular place they kept advertising, then off to ice cream city where we picked two of the worst flavors there were: CURRY & WASABI - b/c we are down for whateva! (oh it was nasty! but a once in a lifetime experience), then sticker pictures - originally it was supposed to be taken with all of us and ended up with just me & hung - last day together, we ate and ate lots of dessert, what more could you ask for?

:: they LOVE this ::

DAY 13, thursday, may 3rd - hung leaves  & i leave for a weekend trip to karuizawa

good bye my dear TEXAS friends.. you will be missed!!!

sunday, may 6th - off to say goodbye to jenn

:: yoji took us to this super famous tonkatsu place called "tonki" ::

:: while we were waiting for this - we made up stories about all the workers and how they came to be ::

:: then had girl (w/the exception of yoji) talk - good times! :: 

:: so he doesn't feel left out... (and yes yoji - you are an exception) ::

PS. what is the BEST online photo album? i need to find a GOOD one to put all my pictures.

pps. i got these shoes today - on a whim. they are so cute & so comfy that i just had to share.

i think im going to go buy a backup pair tomorrow & maybe a pair in gold as well. obsessed? i think not!

sometimes you just need to cut people out of your life..

                                                                                  cold turkey.

                             goodbye, old friend.

ahhh.. didn't realize how far behind i am with my postssss.. again! just as soon as i think i catch up.. i fall behind..

wed 03.28.07

Beijing Zoo & Beijing Aquarium

:: in front of the zoo ::

:: the year of the boar ::

:: we came just to see the pandas..and disappointedly found only 2 ::

:: this one looks like he needs to be cleaned ::

:: our new Russian friend feeding the ducks ::

:: the most colorful/beautiful duck i've ever seen ::

:: haha..she's so funny - she tried giving this bird some milk tea! ::

:: taro ice cream ::

:: the Russian family & me ::

:: TEXAS style ::

:: dolphin show ::

:: chrysanthemum tea ::

:: Peking duck @ Da Dong (famous for this dish - super crispy skin, though I wouldn't say it's the best duck in town) ::

:: fried chicken strips w/strawberries ::

:: snowpea leaves ::

:: smallest fried rice ever ::

:: that night we met up Chris for dinner at some Schezuan style restuarant ::

:: then had some AWESOME mango dessert @ the bellagio cafe ::

:: then we chilled at this lounge before I got I ended my night getting a 90 min foot massage ::

4 friends in town...

MADNESS

but oh so fun!

lots of pics coming to a xanga near you!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The main reason why I needed to go to China was to climb the Great Wall. Now I can officially say I've done it (and I even have a certificate to prove it)!

1st stop -  MING TOMBS

"50 kilometers northwest from Beijing City lies the Ming Tombs - the general name given to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history, palatial and integrated architecture, the site has a high cultural and historic value. The layout and arrangement of all thirteen mausoleums are very similar but vary in size as well as in the complexity of their structures."

:: our tour guide telling us about the ming tombs ::

:: where they burned money for offering ::

:: that's money behind olly ::

:: supposedly people that enter this are coming back fom the dead ::

2nd, 3rd, & 4th stop - to different factories trying to LURE innocent tourists into buying their stuff - Minh & I told ourselves we wouldn't be that dumb.. but guess what? I gave in & bought a silk blanket for my mama. hahaha

:: jade factory ::

:: cloissonne factory ::

:: paid 3 times the normal price just so they could write my name - we didn't know we got jipped until the next day when we went to the market in town ::

:: how could I resist buying a silk blanket when I saw exactly how they made it? starting from getting the silk from the worms... ::

the GREAT WALL @ Badaling

"The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles ) from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the section of the great wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance."

:: the tour leader made me hold the "follow me" stick.. sometimes in Japan - I really feel like I need one of these ::

:: random bears at the entrance of the wall ::

:: Minh & I wanted to walk the whole way up the wall, but since we were on a tour - we had to decide as a group if we wanted to ride this rollercoaster type ride up and then walk it.. or walk it all the way.. since most of the people in our group were way older.. we lost and rode this up.. ends up we were extremely grateful because even the 'shorter' distance we climbed was dang good enough ::

:: at the beginning of our climb ::

"The site of the Badaling section of the wall has been a strategic location since the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 B.C.) when the first walls were built. Badaling is the highest section of the Jundu mountain and historically protected the Juyongguan Pass. This portion of the wall was reconstructed during Ming times and was renovated in modern times as well. It was the first section to open for tourism in 1957." taken from here.

:: while we were climbing, we stopped to take a picture  ::

:: We met this really cool Russian lady & her daughter on the tour and ended up hanging out with them again the next day! Now if we ever want to go to Moscow... ::

:: like what the wind did to my hair? ::

:: at the very top - I was so determined to get THIS....

that I ended up having to RUN down this to catch up with everyone else - I even lost Minh! ::

:: then when I hit the bottom, I saw him going down on this ::

:: then it was my turn.. weeeeeeeeeeee ::

:: don't know why, but at the bottom there was a camel waiting for us.. Minh blocked the view, but you get the idea ::

:: the Olympics will be in Beijing 2008 ::

:: and this will be the main site - still under construction ::

happy days ahead...

Minh & I in YOUR motherland..

We arrived there late on Sunday night so we just made our way out of the airport, into a cab, and to our hotel - once we got to the hotel we were a lil scared because all the lights were out..but everything ended up being ok and we actually really liked where we stayed and the convenience of it all.

DEBUT: My piggie, OLLY - my new pal that I'm going to take on all my globetrotting adventures - first stop, CHINA

Sunday, March 25th

:: this was the first place we saw that was open so we grabbed a bite to eat ::

Monday, March 26th

our day exploring Tiananmen Sqaure - it was just like the movies!

The Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, is said to be the biggest square in the world. It is 880 meters from north to south, and 500 meters from east to west, with total area of 440,000 square meters and can hold one million people. The Tiananmen Gate Tower sites at the north, the Five-Star Red Flag flies high on the square, the Monument to the People's Heroes dominates the center, the Great Hall of the People and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History to the east and west of it, as well as The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and the Qianmen gate, sit in the south of the square. Over several hundred years, in front of the Tiananmen, many democracy meetings and demonstrations are held. Tens of thousands of people visit daily. The Square is listed top among Beijing's 16 scenic spots.

:: the 2008 Olympic countdown ::

Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square.

:: water calligraphy ::

:: "Beihai Park (Winter Palace) covers an area of about 0.71 sq km (about 0.27 sq miles), more than half of which is taken up by the lake. In the middle of the lake and on the central axis of the whole park lies the Jade Flowery Islet, topped by the imposing White Dagoba which is the landmark of Beihai Park. Besides the Jade Flowery Islet, the park has four main scenic areas: the Eastern Shore Area, the Northern Shore Area, the Botanical Garden and the Circular City near the north gate. There are many famous and beautiful places you should not miss when touring Beihai Park." ::

:: a hard day at work ::

:: Wangfujing area ::

:: yikes! ::

:: i ordered STINKY tofu (that's really what it's called) and didn't know it.. well until i had one bite.. i couldn't stand it.. it smelled like poo - literally ::

:: freshened up at TCBY, baby!! ::

Five Star Red Flag-the Chinese national flag, flies high in the sky above the Square. To see the guard of honor raise the Flag is a must for the tourist visiting Beijing City. You have to get up very early and arrive at the Square before sunrise. Only by doing so can you see the ceremony clearly as there are crowds of people attending the ceremony every day.

"At sunrise and sunset the flag to the front of the square is raised or lowered by a squad of army personnel.  This in itself is an interesting thing to watch.  All the traffic on the busy Chang An Avenue is halted, around 30 soldiers march very ceremoniously across the road and  the flag is hoisted up, or down the poll.  Many people come to watch this, so get there an hour or so before if you want a good view."

we ended up waiting about 2 hours in the COLD (at sunset)! boooooo - but i guess it was worth it. =/

The granite Monument to the People's Heroes is just at the center of the Tiananmen Square. Built in 1952, it is the largest monument in China's history. '

:: then met up Chris (a friend that I went to college with) and had dinner at the famous Din Tai Fung (the place I talked about earlier that is noted as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world - I ate at the one in Singapore. Apparently there's MANY locations all over Asia (including Japan!) ::

:: my buddy from UT, Chris - super yum mango dessert!!! ::

I've been hooked on reading about the shooting at Virginia Tech for the past few days- every time I read or watch something about the victims - I cry. What is this world we're living in?

Please pray.

Saturday, April 7th

:: my roomie's buddies (lance, adam, & mike) from cali came to visit again this year (they were here around the same time last year) - it was really good seeing them even though during most of their time in tokyo - i was in china and when i came back they left kobe & kyoto.. luckily i was able to catch them to say goodbye as they were heading to the airport ::

:: i took ti & t on a one day "jeannie" tour of tokyo - first stop - kua 'aina hawaiian burger shop ::

:: 2nd stop - from shibuya to harajuku - see anything odd? (i LOVE japan!) ::

:: 3rd stop - yoyogi koen in harajuku - just as i was telling the boys how things here don't really surprise me much anymore since everything is so crazy - this dog walks by and ti says, "you mean like dogs with backpacks?"  ::

:: no comment ::

:: oh japan is so ganksta ::

:: 4th stop - took them to an awesome rotating sushi place and met this cool girl named danielle from chicago who was sitting next to us.. ended up chatting with her and even got her contact to meet up again when i visit bao & jessica in chicago ::

:: 5th & final stop - to the ONSEN! *hot bath where you get nekkid with the same sex* ti & i spent the whole day convincing t to go.. but he refused.. after calling him a few names like "sissy" and then just taking them there - he couldn't say no - guess what.. he liked it (as we knew he would) - needless to say going with two boys gave me time to relax by myself - i needed that ::

Sunday, April 8th

I met Mike 2 years ago through Patrick. He said he had a friend moving to Tokyo and asked if I could meet him up and show him around a bit. We partied in Roppongi together till the wee hours of the morn on many occasions & he became a part of our "Texas" in Japan crew (him being the only boy, isn't he lucky?) Well on Friday, the 13th - he said farewell to Tokyo and moved back to LA (even though he's originally from Texas) - even though it's sad knowing he's not here anymore, we know we'll see eachother again someday.  Until then, my friend...

We took him out on Sunday to say goodbye.. my roommate told me before about this restaurant him and the boys went to called "ALCATRAZ ER" (jail/mental hospital theme) and there was an AWESOME drink that I knew we just HAD to get for Mike...

:: the girls showed up first and when they asked who was the craziest one out of all of us.. we pointed to Branda.. she says, "It's because I'm black, isn't it?" She was handcuffed by the nurse and then given a HUGE shot ::

:: HAHAHAHA.. "the luxurious pleasure" drink.. so I ordered this without Mike knowing what it was - of course we had to give him the pleasure of mixing.. hahaha ::

:: then he wanted to eat the huge sausage - haha..ok that was really what marg ordered ::

:: then chieko ordered him a 'boob' drink.. which ended up coming in a baby bottle - we made him suck it ::

:: good ole polaroid - we surprised him with a cake! the whole restaurant joined in to do a goodbye thing for him ::

:: every hour, they turn off the lights and these crazy mental patients come running around trying to break into your jail cell.. love the scared look on chieko's face while branda's cheesin ::

:: you don't even want to know - WE don't even want to know ::

:: texas & louisiana crew ::

:: our "scared" look - texas girls ::

:: then afterwards we went to take print club pictures - we had soooo much fun ::

:: on the way out - chieko & i stopped to get a crepe - only we could hang, right monkey? ::

:: one last tokyo hug in shibuya ::

Wednesday, April 11th

:: rika & i discovered the coolest tea/dessert shop located on the 2nd floor of loft in shibuya - i had jasmine tea flavored ice cream with jasmine tea flavored syrup ::

Friday, April 13th

:: the power of advertisement - we already had our mind set that we were going to eat okonomiyaki on our friday night out.. on the way to the station i stopped by to pick up the newest copy of metropolis and read about this burger shop and right away we changed on our mind and headed there ::

:: rika & ai ready to eat their burger at FAT ROB'S in ebisu ::

:: after shopping around harajuku for a few hours, we ended up at "double tall cafe" - we sat outside, had coffee & dessert, had deep girl talk, and i taught ai the art of "people watching" - we practiced & laughed so hard at all the stuff we were making up ::

Saturday, April 14th

:: saturday night we had a sleepover at may's place. she cooked us a scrumptious dinner & even inspired me to make one of the dishes tonight for my dinner - i introduced the girls to daniel henney and we watched "seducing mr. perfect" & they stayed up all night googling him - haha.. i turned them into monsters! ::

Sunday, April 15th

:: sunday after a yummy lunch w/marg in tsukishima (monjayaki & okonomiyaki) & church.. we were set on getting our hair cut.. thanks to ana for going with us to translate and to branda for waiting so long! marg went curly while i went straight.. hopefully it'll stay once they let me wash my hair! (i've gotten my hair straightened about 4 times and it NEVER worked, the next day it's back to normal - dang my strong hair! ::

china updates coming to a xanga near you!

click here.

CHERRY BLOSSOM (SAKURA) SEASON...

my 3rd & final in japan..

:: ai came from australia for a visit ::

:: at naka-meguro ::

:: then off to kudanshita to see the most famous of them all ::

:: pauline and co. (joanna & christine) came to japan and we took them to eat at my fav. izakaya place called izakayism (snoops introduced me) ::

:: the next day i invited them all to see my friend, tanaka roma, open up for melody ::

:: then my girl q's bestfriend (Ti) came from cali to visit ::

:: and i took them to tameikesanno where i went my first year here with ai, naomi, & eliz ::