argh.

trying to post a picture to my profile hence the last post of me making a funny face. that picture was taken with my new built in mac camera. god. i love this computer. i love that it smells new. i love the way the keys feel under my fingers. and as silly as it may sound, i love the way it looks. its so sleek, white and stylish. yea, i sound like an idiot. i'll stop here.

well, got a bit off topic, didn't i? i'm a little annoyed because any picture that i try to upload for my profile picture is too big for blogger. there is a way to resize pictures, but i don't know what to use for the mac. any advice is appreciated. (myspace allows bigger pictures... )

other than that annoyance, life is fine. i just finished a sudoku puzzle that took me close to 4 days to finish. sad, huh? i'm on the "Beware! Very Challenging" section of the sudoku book. and they are. i usually work on a puzzle in the morning while drinking my coffee before going to work. but this last one almost made me late every day, and resulted not in joyous - "man, am i smart" but frusteration and aggrivation. but, alas, a window opened, and i finally figured it out. so, yea - man, am i smart!

hee hee hee ;)

i've had some interesting cultural differences conversations with students recently. mostly haveing to do with the fact that i am a happy single woman of a certain age. these girls couldn't understand that i was happy and ok without a man.

i'll write more later. time for bed.

currently listening to regina spektor - am really digging her.

Oknonomiyaki!!!!

the weather is turning. right now, in fact, its thundering and lightening. a sure sign that winter is coming. yes, in kanazawa,when it thunders, you know that snow is on its way. its the strangest thing.

but what better time to eat okonomiyaki.


or how about some kimchi and beer.... oishi so, ne?


just what is okonomiyaki? well, here is a little picture tutorial.

mix it up - good - put it on the grill - make it nice and neat. if having scallops in your okonomiyaki you might want to grill them before adding them to the okonomiyaki.




crack open an egg. grill it. then place your pancake on top of it.





top with sauce, mayo, spicy sauce, nori, fish flakes and you are all set!


itadakimasu!

stitch and bitch

katya hosted a stitch and bitch. we drank red wine that emmeline brought back from her family's vineyard in france. ate some good snacky food - cheese, persimon salad, cookies, bread sticks.... and knitted.

Back again

this is tokyo's ginza district at night.
I've decided to start using this blog again. i need to ween myself off my myspace addiction.

I recently returned from Toyko. The university I work for has an apartment in Tokyo that any employee can use. This apartment is in a really nice area of Tokyo. I felt quite lucky to be able to stay in such a nice and conveneient area for free! TOkyo is a big, crowded, bright, busy city. just as you imagine. i loved it. felt really alive. kanazawa is a nice city, but being in Tokyo made me realize how small kanazawa is.
oh! and I bought a computer! woohoo! a lovely new gleaming white macbook. its so pretty and it smells new.

here are some pictures from tokyo.

this is the big shibuya crossing. i'll try to take a picture of our minature scramble in kanazawa. its quaint in comparison.

this is from in front of some kind of hostess bar or club. katya and i really got a kick out of posing in front of the Holy Bitch sign. we are still calling each other holy bitch.


this is the maman sculpture in Roppongi Hills. I really dug this sculutre.


Shinjuku crowds at twilight.

more pictures can be seen at
www.flickr.com/photos/sherylpix

tan is fading...

while my tan fades, i think i should write down some highlights of the trip while they are still fresh in my mind. so here they are in no particular order:

- Railey Beach, Krabi
- Snorkeling in and around the Phi Phi Islands.
- Getting comfortable crossing the street in Chang Mai, and Bangkok for that matter
- Enjoying Jackie's magic tricks at his outdoor converted VW bus bar in Chang Mai.
- The overnight train to Chang Mai.
- Lounging in my hammock on Pha-ngan napping, reading, and watching the waves and the pick-up volley ball game between the local Thais working at the resorts and the (mostly male) western travellers staying on the beach.
- Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin" which held my interest and attention for 4 different cities and which i was sad to finish.
- Ordering, eating and finishing spicy papaya sala and having the Thai waitress, without fail, say with eyebrows raised, "spicy?"
- Using a tuk tuk on my own and negotiating the price.
- Hoping onto (into?)a swangtaou bus/taxi with confidence.
- The Thai cooking class (i promise a thai dinner party soon, but i need a little break from thai food...).
- Seeing the stars from Ao Thong Nan Pai on Koh Pha-ngan.
- Ordering and eating then BBQ snapper on Ao Thong Nan Pai
- Rathana's Kitchen in Chang Mai (restaurant).
- Old hill-tribe villager showing us magic tricks with the full moon behind him.
- Taking the Chao Praya river water taxi and the canal water taxi in Bangkok.
- Learning what a Gecko sounds like and then being able to say - "hear that? That's a Gecko." First they make a noise that sounds like they're clearing their throats like they are about to make a speech, and then Ge - cko!.... Ge - cko! ... Ge - cko!
- drinking coffee on the lovely grounds of Edible Jazz cafe while butterflies hover by.
- Ang Thong Marine National Park -- kayacking under the rock cliffs, seeing the Emerald Pool of water completely surrounded by towering cliffs, and then hiking up to the magnificent viewpoint - worth the price of admission, but getting there was also fantastic and self- satisfying!
-The interesting, varied, inspiring people that I met: Sara and Astrid, the German girls (actually women would be more like it) who i first met on the over night train to C.M. and then again in Pai; Til, the wierd German guy studying Thai in C.M.; Dean, English guy i met on the bus to Pai (who in addition to traveling for over a year all over southeast asia, had spent about 3 weeks meditating at Doi Suthep temple and was on his way for another 10 days); Rob, another Brit who I met at Jackie's bar; Zoe & Damien, English couple who I met only briefly on the bus from Pai to CM had spent 3 months in India and were on thier way to Laos; Usha & Jeff, English couple ( Indian and Irish) who I trekked with; Amelie, like the movie, French girl traveling alone, studying English in Australia also on the trek; Goong, Anissa, and Yao in Pai who were gracious and generous and allowed me to just hang out at the cafe which is essentially their home.

- and finally...
Getting the idea, the inspiration, self-confidence, and knowledge to start planning my next trip...

angthong national marine park

so i said i wouldn-t write unless i was inspired. well hot damn, thailand has done it again. today i booked a tour of the marine park near samui (featured in the book and movie, The Beach, which i haven't read nor seen, but will now.) absolutely incredible! the boat ride took about 2 hours and then we kyacked from the big boat to shore while taking in these breathtaking rock caves and rock formations. then beach, then back to the boat for lunch. after lunch, we had our choice of kyacking, snorkeling, or hanging out on a different beach. well, on this beach there is a fantastic view point. but, to get there, you have to hike 400 meters up rock. our tour guide said it was difficult and would take a long time. these 3 german guys (one of whome had been my kyacking partner) were going up. i decided to tag along. and it was worth it! first of all, it was really a strenuous hike. there were ropes lining the pathway to help you get up. but it was almost verticle climbing. but once at the top (evenutally) you could see a breathtaking panoramic view of all the islands. green mountain islands surrounded by blue/green water. so worth it.

leaving tomorrow, back to bangkok. then back to my real life, whatever that may be.

here is some brief information about the park:
http://www.amazingsamui.com/angthong.htm

ready to go

some days ago, i must have gotten water in my ear... maybe while snorkleing on koh pha-ngan, but regardless, the water is still there. my voice sounds distant, everything sounds a bit distant and sort of foggy. i don't feel so good.

also, i am on lamai beach on koh samui. lamai beach is... la-ame. i am not really enjoying it. today i left the resort, its not raining, but it is kind of cloudy. i went to central lamai beach. its just full of bars and tourist centered restaurants, the beach is dirty, the waves are too big to swim in, and my ear is throwing me off. i love the beach, but i think a few days is all one needs. i'm done. i think traveling in a city alone is fine, but a beach alone isn't as much fun. i suppose its good that the last place i go is a place i don't like too much -- makes it easier to leave. i think the last beach i went to with the open pit bbq's, white clean beaches, really blue water, hammocks, has spoiled me. but this beach really isn't that great. i feel like i'm on the jersey shore, except substitue the jersey girls for rude isrealies, australians, brits, and germans.

1 more day here, then a night in bangkok and then home. i probably won't write much unless something extraordinary happens. not really expecting it. had started writing notes about palm trees waving at me over dinner, but i'm not feeling so inspired. back to the pool at the resort. at least its peaceful there.

the joys and pitfalls of eating alone

ordering an entire freshly caught white snapper and then eating the entire thing!

on the beach there is a sign - It says- BBQ! there is a grill and fire going strong. there is a large bowl type thing filled with ice and all of the choices for today. prawns, white snapper, red snapper, chicken, and baracuda! i ask the lady who is running the show, 'What's good?' She says, I like the white snapper. White snapper it is - She finds a small fish for me - have to order the whole thing - weighs it, grills it, so so good! served with a very spicy red pepper- garlic sauce. i eat the whole thing. i don't have to share a bit of it!

the waves are lapping at the shore. my feet are in the sand. the stars are so bright and so plentiful. i don't even crack my book, i just enjoy the feeling, the solitude, the self-assurance, the delicious spicy, freshness of the fish. it goes perfectly with the singha.

change of plans, sort of

before i left japan, i booked a place to stay on koh samui for my last 3 days. but meeting all different people along the trip i decided to ditch that plan and go to koh tao instead (less touristy, not as much development, etc.). but i changed my mind once again and decided to go to samui to the place that i had booked. there is only so much wandering around an unknown place with a big pack on trying to find the cheapest and nicest guest house one can take. and so, with reservation in hand, i made my way to the bay view villa resprt. fancy stuff at 900 baht a night (iäm used to 200 baht or 450 at the most!). (by the waz ß this keyboard is super strange ß the y is a z, the z is a y and all of the other function keys, such as parenthesis, dashes and such are just in the wrong places!=.

so this morning, what felt like zears ago, i left the tranquil, rustic beach and started the trek to koh samui, lamai beach to be exact. egads! the ride to the pier, on the back of a pick up truck along rutted, unpaved, extremelz bumptz roads, to the pier ß everyone trying to make a buck ß buy zour boat tickets here ! then on the boat a relaxing hour, but as i get off the boat, i realiyed i realz needed ot use the bathroom ß couldnät find one. all the taxi drivers (i cant find the quote keys) Where you go_ (thats a question mark) ß lamai beach ß 500 bath! i found a british woman also going to lamai- she says -- too expensive! i will just take a bus - i follow her. so into the swangtao we go - but only part of the way- 50 bath - then another bus - but this bus doesn-t know where mz hotel is. and i really have to use the bathroom bz this point.

i-ll describe samui for you now. built up. once paradise, now hardly any emptz space, and hammers and construction, big resort hotels, fancz package tours everzwhere. not at all like where i just came from. the british girl gets off the bus ß she suggests that i should ask at her place where mz hotel is. the bus driver gets on the phone, i talk to someone who speaks to me in thai, i speak in english. i am nearly peeing myself i have to go so bad. the driver points across the street and then leaves ß we both forget that i hadnät paid yet. i go into the place the other lady is staying (but she has checked in alreadz, i guess). i find the bathroom. i go back outside. a taxi driver asks me where i am going. again with the bartering. 200 baht. 30 i say. he laughs at me. we agree to 100. i make sure he knows where it is. it is so close i could-ve walked! i am not amused. oh did i mention its raining? (found the ? mark!) but i walk in lovely grounds, a yummy watermelon fruit drink for me, shown to mz bungalow, big clean bed, towels, complimentarz water, towels, soap, a porch with a roof that over looks two bouganvilla trees, a comforatble chair, perfect place to sit and read drink a cup of coffee and watch the rain. finally i am somewhat relaxed. there is a pool, the beach is down a small hill, and there is a comftable wooden open air restauarant. since its raining, i think i will just lay low today, finish my book (the blind assasin, margaret atwood- fantastic - i highlz recommend it), eat here i guess, go to sleep early.

let me just describe the rain for you. it starts and stops. when it starts, it empties down onto the palm trees, and other greenery and makes a slapping sound, then it slowly trickels to an almost stop, only to come down again in sheets. it smells so fresh and the air is cool, and not sticky as it has been. i must say that i am glad that the weather has waited for me to be in a nice place before it decided to rain.