Travel
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Cherry Blossoms at Yoyogi Park
Having seen the cherry blossoms in Okinawa, I couldn’t understand the hype over hanami or cherry blossom viewing. I found the dark pink flowers overrated. To think that people would actually look forward to these flowers blooming annually, I couldn’t help but to find it a tad bit strange and a tad bit ridiculous. They were just flowers that were nice to look at but nothing of the extraordinary.
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Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
In Kyoto, there’s a shrine that’s super popular, open 24 hours and free. It’s popular thanks to its many tori. Chances are high you’ve come across photos of famous instagrammers in front of the famed red gates (tori) before.
Nothing wrong with that but it does make Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine rather crowded.
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Vancouver’s Waterfront Renaissance Trail
If I had to make a choice between Oregon and Washington, I’d choose to live in Washington, hands down.
I say this because Washington (Vancouver, specifically) seemed more open and friendly with people of color. Oregon (think Portland) on the other hand was not so tolerant of people of color and it was pretty obvious. (You basically could just see it in the looks that locals give you. Not cool, I tell you.)
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That country. Again?
I bought a plane ticket. Immediately after purchasing the ticket, I asked myself a bunch of questions. Questions like, “What was I thinking?” and “Was once not enough?” came pounding at me.It was almost as if I was experiencing buyer’s remorse except worse.
Worse in that this ticket will lead to a place heavy with xenophobia, racism, discrimination and a bunch of other things.
Knowing this, WHY did I buy the ticket?
Was it because I didn’t get to see all that I wanted to see the first time around?
Was it because the ticket was too good of a deal to pass up on?
I really don’t know.
What I do know is that a part of me wanted to give this country another try.
Although I intend on keeping my expectations relatively low, I do hope my experiences this time around will be a much better one.
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Portland Saturday Market
I did not plan on visiting Portland’s Saturday Market. Somehow it just happened and I’m glad I visited it.
I say this because Portland does not have good food. And it doesn’t help much either that their not so good food isn’t cheap either. Not too sure what Portlanders’ standards are when it comes to good food but it doesn’t seem all that high especially when it comes to taste and authenticity.