• Ponderings,  Travel

    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.

  • Event,  Food,  Reviews,  Travel

    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.

  • Travel

    Overrated Nikko

    Of all the places I was looking forward to visit in Japan, it was Tochigi’s Nikko. I was drawn to Nikko due to my images of nature and its many world heritage sites.

    Unfortunately, Nikko couldn’t meet my expectations (whatever they were) and left me with much bitter disappointment. A part of the negative experience could very well in part be due to my travel companion being a major pain since the morning of the trip. She was just bitchy AF and for the life of me, I could not comprehend why especially when she didn’t do any of the planning for this trip. (I kid you not unless you want to call a calendar showcasing our departure and arrival date as planning… Begin the eye rolling, folks.)

  • Ponderings,  Travel

    The Jaded Traveler

    Plane in the sky

    As of May 13, 2018, I’ve officially become jaded with traveling.

    Whatever excitement I’d feel from traveling has disappeared. It’s like I no longer have a desire to travel. When I think of traveling, I now just think “whatever”. It’s like I don’t really care anymore.

  • Nature,  Travel

    On Top of Miyajima Island

    View of Seto Inland Sea from Miyajima Observatory
    View of Seto Inland Sea from Miyajima Observatory

    Never in my life have I walked as much as I did while in Japan. Each day I was there, I walked anywhere from 20,000 – 30,000 steps and this was a good thing. A very good thing. (So good that I hope I can attempt to walk that many steps every now and then in the states.)

    One of my most intense “walks” in Japan would have to be while on top of Miyajima Island (Hiroshima, Japan). Yes, while on top of Miyajima Island.

    My travel companion and I had originally pondered the idea of hiking from the grounds of the island all the way to the top of the island. This of course didn’t happen. Due to time constraints, we decided it was best for us to take a one-way ropeway trip to the “top” of the island. I honestly was feeling a bit chicken about this since I had never been on a ropeway before but sometimes, there’s a first for things and this just happened to be one of those times.