Universal Studios Japan - A Girl's Wet Dream

There is only one dream that Japanese girls nurture will growing-up until it becomes a full-blown hysteria by her coming of age day (成人の日).  The dream of going to Universal Studios Japan.  The possibility of running around in a fairy tale were the characters are real and willing to take photos with you is too irresistible.  With that in mind, I headed to USJ with my video camera and offer you two glimpses into what little Japanese girls are dreaming.

The first video captures the Christmas parade in all its dancing Mrs. Claus glory and the second video follows two toy soldiers who walk in robot like synchronization.

Malaysia & Other Travels

            

Above are four pictures from Mabul island off the coast of Borneo Malaysia.  The diving around there is great, but the real gem is the island Sipidan, which is 30 minutes by boat and has a mass of marine biodiversity that will blow astonish you.  It is ranked as one of the top dive spots in the world and without a doubt worth a trip.  I bumped into a number of dive masters who came from Thailand just to dive here.  It is wonderful.  Below is a video by one of the local dive shops:



I have filled in a map below showing the places in the world I have been fortunate enough to visit.  I have to thank my family and my choices so far that have let me experience delectable foods, hike in the rain forest, climb ruins, and dive under the sea.  I hope to keep traveling and exploring close to home and across the seas.

I hope you too are seeing all the places you longed to see and remember you don't have to be rich to travel the world you just need the will and the desire.

Cheers! fellow travelers and explorers.

visited 17 states (7.55%)

Japanese Ginkgo Leaves (fall's last hope in the face of winter)

I wanted to make a video that said goodbye to fall and embraced the long cold winter to come. The ginkgo leaves , which held their shape and color until the beginning of the winter, were the best and last standing representative of fall I could find. 


I think the images show a little bit of fall and the soundtrack "Mir" by Doc foreshadows the winter to come. The video was filmed on a Canon T1i with a Tamron 28-75mm 2.8f lens.

Japan International Balloon Fiesta (saga) 佐賀インターナショナルバルーンフェスタ

A trip to Saga-ken, Japan for the 10th annual International Balloon Festival held in November 2010. The five-day festival received over 500,000 visitors and had contestants from Switzerland, America, Sweden, China, among other countries. On the fourth day of the festival, mother nature provided a beautiful sunset as balloons came into the landing area. Being there felt like being in some alternate reality fantasy novel where balloons were the main form of air transport and the Hindenburg had never gone up in flames. It was an amazing sight! The night fantasia at night where the balloons light up to music was wonderful too. Enjoy the pictures and video.

For more information on the festival visit the following link: http://www.sibf.jp/

1st track Sean Wright - Naked Shoulders
2nd track Adragante - Kerridwen

Japanese Corner - 速い、早い、速やか

A short discussion on the differences between the words 速い（はやい）、早い（はやい）、 速やか (すみやか) and what situations you might want to use them in. 速やか is a word that I encountered recently and thought I might share when and why you would want to use it. If you have any other examples please share them in the comments. Good Luck! studying Japanese and remember that it just takes effort and time before you reach your goal. There are no special tricks or short cuts.
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Japanese Japan learning language studying self-study words vocab vocabulary kanji meaning difference JET speaking 日本語　勉強　学習　漢字　はやい　すみやか　単語　違い　意味　自習　言語　会話 gaijinguide help hayai 早い　速い　速やか

Japanese Toilet Paper - environmentally friendly and polite

While sitting on the can the other day, I noticed two interesting phrases on a role of Japanese toilet paper.

牛乳パック再利用 and 毎度ありがとうございます.

Watch the video to find out what they mean.  If anyone is interested in more videos that deal with Japanese language, please let me know and I will make some more.

Lastly, what does the toilet paper say in your part of the world?

Beautiful Sunset + Hot Air Balloon Festival = Amazing!

A trip to Saga prefecture in Japan for the 10th annual International Balloon Festival held in November 2010. The five-day festival received over 500,000 visitors and had contestants from Switzerland, America, Sweden, and China among other countries. On the fourth day of the festival, mother nature provided a beautiful sunset as balloons came into the landing area. Pilots attempted to drop a marker onto one of two targets.  The closer the marker the higher the score.

This was my first hot air balloon festival and it felt like being in some alternate reality fantasy novel, where balloons were the main form of air transport and the Hindenburg had never gone up in flames. It was an amazing sight!

If you have the chance to go to a local festival, don't miss out.  It will surely amaze you.

For more information on the festival visit the following link: http://www.sibf.jp/

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This video is available under a Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike license

Japanese Blooming Flower Tea

I found a type of tea made from a dried flower that is wrapped in green tea leaves . Once hot water is poured over it, it blooms in the glass. I decided to make an accompanying video to show off the different stages of the steeping process. It's beautiful to watch. If you love tea, you'll love this video!

By the way, if you love tea China is a heavenly experience. I imagine India and the Middle East are a tea lover's paradise too. I will have to travel there one day to see the unique teas they have. 

Before coming to Japan for the first time, I rarely drank tea.  My first experience with bitter green tea changed all that and I have gone on a tasting journey since.  The tea culture and my travels in Asia have given me the chance to drink corn tea in Korea, Jasmine and Wolong tea in China, Macha and wheat (Mugi) tea in Japan, and many others.  I hope to continue this tasting adventure and add updates and relevant video here.

If you have any recommendations and useful info please leave it in the comments. 

Music is "If" by Peter Rudenko and used under a CC-BY 3.0 License.