ain't no mountain high enough

Tell me you're not singing/humming/dancing to that song after reading the title of this post. Okay maybe just me. Marvin Gaye might have been talking about the obstacles of love but I'm talking about the physical obstacles that we faced hiking the Japanese Alps.

Due to rainy weather my sister and I along with a friend were limited to only hiking 2 of the 12 peaks in Toyama, but make no mistake that we were dying by the end. The endless elevation of stairs and steep hills was only abated by the breath taking natural scenes that we were allowed.

The top of the first peak, which featured a graffiti decorated rest area, rusty abandoned play area, fields of tall grass, and a gusty wind to cool us off.

The second peak was smaller but the greater elevation that we gained provided an amazing view of the entirety of Toyama prefecture as well as the outline of the next prefecture over.

On the return hike we were hit by unexpected downpour and took brief shelter until the rain let up. Definitely one of the most memorable events from this trip and after anticipating it for so long I can say I was not disappointed at all. This hike was the beginning of my sister's vacation time and the start of my second week there. What a way to begin vacation... sore and exhausted, but in full awe of God's creation!

Next up on the recap lineup: Nara!

lots of lovee

{photo diary} Party of One

Phase two (and the bulk) of my trip to Japan took place in my sister's city, Kanazawa-shi. For the first week that I was there I was able to explore ktown freely on my own during the day while my sister was at work. Honestly I expected the capital of Ishikawa prefecture to be a little larger than it is, but I came to love how convenient the city is laid out. Sights, shopping, and eating were all within a 15-20 minute walk from my sister's apartment situated close to the awesome Omi-cho fish market and M'za shopping center.

During my partyofone days in ktown I visited the famous sights including Kanazawa's Castle and adjacent Kenroukuen Garden, which was snug in the center of town; Oyama Jinja shrine, famous for the stain glass windows atop the shrine's highest tower; and Myoruji Temple, a temple famous for it's hidden staircases and trap doors. My favorite of them all was definitely Myoruji Temple, also known as Ninja-dera(Temple), with all of it's secret passageways and perfectly translated tour, it was an excellent 45 minutes well spent.

One of the mornings my sister guided me to Higashichaya on the outskirts of town. Kanazawa is known for producing 99% of the gold to Japan, so naturally everything in that district was covered in gold, gold leafed, or had flakes of gold in it ... even the bread. It's also famous for their self produced soy sauce, and one of the things that they have incorporated it into is ice cream !! Naturally we had to have one at 10 am.

The last highlight of my partyofone adventures in Ktown was their street festival for the Obon holiday. The event included group dancing competitions, singing, fencing demonstrations, taiko music, and food vendors lining the 6 city blocks through downtown that hosted the festival. Thanks ktown for an awesome time and some killer food!

 Have a wonderful Labor day! Mine is spent relaxing, eating, family time, and more eating. CHEERS!

lots of lovee

smooth sailing

It is currently 4am in LA so I should be taking in my beauty sleep, but instead my mind is more engaged than usual because for 3 weeks it was adapted to the time in Japan where it is 8 pm. My body is now at a loss as to which time zone it should be catering to. As mentioned in an earlier post, all this new found energy at odd times of the day allow me to edit and share my time in Japan. Contrary to my trip to Thailand, this was purely vacation and a chance to catch up with my sister who is living there.

I got in to Tokyo late Monday night and a friend's family was generous and not only hosted us for the first two nights, but also took us sailing near her home in Kamakura off the coast of Zushi. The beautiful heat and humidity that accompany Japanese summers meant spring-break-like crowds on the beaches and perfect weather for taking on the open sea.

After a few hours of cruising along the coast and seeing the small islands close by we decided to call it an afternoon and have lunch. Deliciously prepared for us, it was a wonderful first meal in Japan. The entire afternoon was lovely and set the course for smooth sailing the rest of my time there.

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip! Have a marvelous weekend!

lots of lovee

p.s. apologies if you are not a fan of collages as the images are not as clear, but they have become my good friend in helping to condense days weeks worth of photos into a few blog posts.

down to Urth

The Sunday that I left on vacation to Japan some girl friends took me out to brunch at Urth Caffe before church. Since it first opened I have been curious to go could it possibly live up to all the hype but I had yet to venture out and try it because I am a poor college student. However I was delightfully impressed with their fresh menu choices and strong coffees. On their sustenance side, I recommend their heirloom breakfast potatoes, paninis, and brioche bread with jam. As for their coffee I was very pleased with their Thai Red Tea Latte and Divine Spice Chai.

After being in Japan for the past 3 weeks I am still trying to recover from jetlag, which has offered time to download all of my photos. Sadly the heat induced sleepiness laziness has taken away my energy to sort them, but with unforeseen rain and the weekend I am now ready to share my trip with you all. Anticipate!

lots of lovee

{eat with me} Northern Thailand

I like to eat. Fatkidlovescake type of deal as if you didn't know. One of the aspects of Thailand that I truly love is the food. 1. It's cheap! 30 baht = $1 USD Most meals (including a drink) were under

 40 baht! Our daily meals were bread/yogurt for breakfast, lunch at the school (pictured below), and dinner on the street at the many food stalls.

L-R: Thai tea, egg, pork & greens, green curry over rice

Mi Gao noodles & chrysanthemum tea

teacher's lunch: tom yum gun, fried chicken, greens over rice

There were occasions when the meals were more elaborate meals such as our visit to the Akha village.

breakfast

dinner

lunch clockwise: tiger's bacon, cucumbers, pineapple, ground pork, tomato chili stuffed fish, egg, broccoli, tofu soup

However, one of the most memorable meals was kindly hosted by one of our students at her house. Her family owns a farm where they raise fish, grow bamboo, harvest sticky rice, and her mom is a cook !!

Clockwise: fresh sticky rice, tom yum gun, stir fry vegetables, bamboo soup

Everything was absolutely amazing and there is so much more that I wish I could share but looking back at all of these photos I am starting to get hungry. #fatkidproblems

Have an excellent rest of the week!

lots of lovee

{photo diary} Thailand: peace

beautiful sunset outside of the main city

celebrated a team member's birthday :)

dinner at one of the student's house's

some of the classes we taught!

Last day of English Corner 

Evangelistic Goodbye "Sanook Sanook" Party !!

After I left last year my heart was full of sadness and discontent because I regretted not going after those opportunities to share God's love. Going into the second week of the mission's trip I was anxious but I was also filled with such peace. I felt God letting me know that whether these students make decisions now or not I was a part of their spiritual journey. This peace and relief truly allowed me to enjoy the last week with the students :)

I leave for Japan in 5 days so look out for some last minute food posting !

lots of lovee

{photo diary} Thailand weekender

weekend trip to an Akha village

quickly turned from sunshine to storming downpour

the whole group with some Akha girls in traditional wear

playing around after Sunday school

cute kids from the village

one of the Akha women in traditional garb

In between our two weeks of teaching at MoPoSo we were given the chance to visit a local Akha village up in the mountains. It was such a blessing to meet the people there and their hospitality and generosity was amazing despite their limited resources. We attended their church and worshipping with other believers was so refreshing in a country that is almost entirely Buddhist. A small bonus was the incredible food and hilarious children that we played with all weekend.

Still more to come...

lots of lovee

p.s. leaving for Japan in exactly one week? MADNESS.