Play Ball!

Words cannot express how much I love baseball in Japan!  We went to a Swallows game and it was wild!  The fun people sit in the outfield and let me tell you, it's a party!   The band sits with the crowd in the bleachers and a guy leads the crowd in individualized cheers for each player.  It's constant madness while the Swallows are up to bat and then everyone takes a break when the other team is up.  When the Swallows score a run, everyone sings a song and raises umbrellas in the air.  There is a 7th evening stretch but nope, you don't sing "Take me out to the ballgame".  Random mascots run around the field.  It's awesome!

My favorite part of the night was when the Swallows scored a run and the man sitting a couple rows in front of us turned around and handed us his extra umbrella so we could participate in the umbrella cheering.  I love how friendly and loving the Japanese are.  

Sumo: Intimidation, Salt, and Scantily clad men

I wasn't able to catch a sumo tournament last time I was in Japan so I was ecstatic when I heard it was tournament season in Tokyo!  Many thanks to Chloe for the awesome photos.  She brought her fancy camera so we could get a lot of up close and personal photos (not sure if that was a good idea).  I had no idea I would love Sumo so much.  You better believe there was a lot of cheering and screaming from me!  Thank goodness we didn't have front row seats.  Several wrestlers fell off the platform and landed on spectators.  Pretty sure that would hurt!

If you are a little rusty on your sumo rules, check out Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo

Look carefully at the photo below.  The man in front of us brought these little crocheted animals to the tournament with him.  They must be his lucky charms for gambling because he specifically set them up so they could see the tournament.  Strange, very strange.

Hakone, Japan -- Home of the black boiled egg!

I hate to admit this but our day trip to Hakone was a fail.  We got started a little too late and by the time we made it there the gondola was shutting down.  We were only able to make it to the sulfur mine.  The highlight of the trip was daring Chloe to eat a black hard boiled egg.  Too bad the joke was on me.  For some reason I thought the entire egg would be black!  Once I discovered it was just a hard boiled egg, I joined in on the eating.

(I think this is a naughty Hello Kitty!)

Obsessed with Japan

Many of you have asked me what my favorite country is and why.  Well, it's hard to narrow it down to just one country but I can definitely list my top five.....and for those of you have visited Japan, you won't be shocked to hear that Japan is one of the five.

I love Japan! In fact, I'm kind of obsessed.  Below are 10 reasons why I love Japan (especially Tokyo):

1. Honor and integrity are alive and well (maybe to a fault given the suicide rate)
2. Delicious food
3. Streets and subways are clean even though there are no public garbage cans to be found
4. Cities are quiet and peaceful despite the millions of people living there
5. Musical chimes on trains alerting you the doors will be closing
6. Luscious, green parks everywhere you look 
7. Random acts of kindness from complete strangers
8. Advertising is extremely colorful and entertaining (crocs are the universal symbol for shoes)
9. Non-stop baseball chants (personalized chants for each player)
10. You don't have to tip!

So, why was I in Japan?  My friend Chloe (from my NY days) moved to Tokyo for work and Maria (recognize her from World Tour 2010 pictures?) and I decided it was time to pay her a visit.  Chloe was the best hostess ever.  She let us stay at her AMAZING apartment (I have serious apartment envy), hooked us with the best restaurant recommendations, and spent every night entertaining us.  

The trip started off on the right foot when within six hours of landing we were participating in the great Japanese past time of KARAOKE!!  

Apparently, the Salvation Army is the best kept secret for finding amazing Japanese items.  Not only do you find amazing things to buy but they wrap up your purchases in beautiful fabric (definitely not in America anymore).  It was raining so we opted for a quick taxi ride to the store.  We had been shopping for probably 20 minutes when this little old man approached me and started waiving an umbrella at me.  I quickly remembered that he had been our taxi driver and through sign language figured out that we had left the umbrella in his car.  He had hunted us down after realizing we had left it in his car.  WHO DOES THAT? I told you that honor and integrity was alive and well!

One of my favorite sites in the city is the Meiji Shrine.  The Shrine itself is stunning but my favorite part is walking through the park.  It's so peaceful and you are really able to get your Zen on!  The rain and mist added to the whole experience.

The rain can't keep the Harajuku girls away.  I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures but let's just say they didn't disappoint.  We ended Harajuku on the right foot.....eating delicious crepes from one of the many crepe stands lining the street.  

Finally, one can't visit Tokyo without visiting Shibuya (the world's busiest intersection).  Pictures never do this intersection justice.  Oh, and don't worry....I spent the rest of the trip saying "Shi-BOO-YAH".  

By the end of Day 1 I was thoroughly and utterly exhausted.  Maria and Chloe spent the evening watching "Bandits" (inspired by singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at Karaoke the night before) and I slept!

PS - I'm regretting taking pictures with my iPhone!  Next time I'll use my real camera!

The Elusive Rhino - August 29

We only had one task on Sonia, Juancho, Tomas, and Maida’s last day in Kenya.  We HAD to spot a Rhino in the wild! We had seen 4 of the Big 5 and couldn’t leave Africa without seeing all of them.  So where did we go?  Ol Pejada – the largest black rhino sanctuary in the world!   

We loved learning about rhinos but hated hearing about the horrible poaching problem.  People, leave the rhinos alone! So, here’s a little trivia for you.....what’s the difference between a white rhino and a black rhino?  Color?  Nope, think again! It’s the shape of their mouths.  Who would have guessed.

We were a bit disappointed when our first encounter with a Rhino was a fenced in, blind, black rhino.  Don’t get me wrong, it was cool to see him up close and get to feed him but we wanted to discover the rhino by ourselves while driving around the sanctuary.  Luckily, we didn’t give up!  By the end of the day we had discovered several rhinos roaming in the wild.  We could leave Africa with our heads held high – knowing that we had seen the Big 5!!

People – Kenya is a dream!  If you have ever wanted to go on an African safari you MUST come here!  Your mind will be blown.  You will not regret it.  In fact, if you ever need a travelling partner, just let me know.  I’ll come back here in a heartbeat!