Bok Tower

It was raining when we arrived and we had to buy ponchos to walk up close enough to hear the bells but I think because of the rain the colors seemed to pop out more.

The teachers outside the gift shop.

Entrance way to the visitors center.

Splash

M&M's

Here we are after shopping at the M&M store, this giant M&M rotated if you pushed it. How cool is that.
Today we went to church at South Lake Wales church, the service was really nice and the message was really good, was it just because I could understand everything and not have to process it? Had lunch with Dr. Jim at his house and then ran off to Bok tower to listen to the Carillon, although it was raining, it was pretty nice. The students come back tonight I hope that all went well with them.

Breakfast @ Chalet Suzanne

Wonderfully delicious baked grapefruit

Scrambled eggs, bacon, Swedish pancakes, and a cinamon roll.

Out side the restaurant infront of the hotel.

New Watch

Well today was a full day of shopping, we started off at Florida Mall and the M&M store. It was really fun and I got four bags of free M&M's for all my purchases.
Here I am with my new hat hope Bernie likes it because he's getting the same one. I also got some pens and some playing cards as well as some funky underwear.

We also stopped at a Cristian bookstore but the didn't have very much so I encouraged Hitomi to wait till Anderson. After 2 hours in the mall we headed to a teachers supply store, and spent a few minutes there. Then as we were leaving we spotted a nice looking restaurant, Stonewood Grill and Tavern. It was really nice and we had a very good meal, and at $68 dollars for three it wasn't bad price wise.

Our final stop was at Premium outlet mall. I wasn't finding anything interesting untill I stumbled into the Tag Heuer store, and fell in love with a watch. It of course was more than I wanted to pay, but it is an really nice watch and was cheaper than the ones that I was looking at in Japan. I had to take the other two teachers into the store to show them, but I knew when I did that I would end up buying it. The best thing I think I am going to be very happy with it now at least I will have something of value to will someone when I die. Haha!! Here is the watch.

Lions and Tigers and Snakes oh my!

Ok there were no lions or tigers but we did have a six foot python, and alligator and Holly the parrot. She was given to Gator Land as an unmanageable pet. But she soon turned into an amazing creature that just wanted to be loved and treated nicely.

Masa was a little reluctant to hold the alligator, but willing let the parrot climb on his shoulder.

Bird Kiss!

Holly would pull on some of the girls hair especially if it had mousse in it. Well he went for my beard instead. It was like he was trying to preen us.

As Holly's trainer was leaving he told us a story about Holly's favorite drink. It seems that one day Tim the trainer, stopped with holly at a restaurant and of course having the bird he could only sit at the outdoor bar. A couple of guys came in and sat down at the bar a little ways down from them, and ordered a pitcher of beer. When the beer arrived Holly started to get agitated, and Tim wasn't quite sure why, at this point he had only had Holly for a month. Suddenly Holly jumped of Tim's shoulder, ran down the bar and dunked her head in the pitcher of beer. Tim profusely apologized and offered to buy them a beer, the guys weren't upset but insisted that Holly get a glass too and they all sat down and for about 20 minutes and drank together.

As Tim told the story we broke out laughing at which point Holly chimed in with her own laugh that sounded just like ours, just like she knew exactly what was going and was reliving the funny story. What a hoot, I want one of these.

Jet Lag

It's 3:12 in the morning and I'm awake. Oh the joys of Jet Lag! But give me one more day and I think that it shall be conquered. All the girls are well and sem to have adjusted to the time change much better than the teachers. Today we will have lunch at Bob Evans, and then it is off to Wal-Mart. The girls can barely get enough of it, the words "I want to go to Wal-Mart will be heard over and over in the next two weeks.

Florida

On the way to the cafeteria on the first day.

I'm in Florida now and this is the second day, the campus has gone through many changes over the years, this clock tower was added last year. Behind Spencer dorm they are working on two new dormitories that look like they are going to be really nice. I will be doing most of my posting on my Tamasei blog that is only open to invited readers, if anyone out there is interested let me know.

Faces

My friends in Nagihana never cease to amaze me with the things they find.

Vacation

Well summer vacation has begun, but I leave on Monday for a 2 and a half week trip with students that is work, so do I really have a vacation? I'm trying to get everything organized today so I can send my bag off to the airport tomorrow so I'll have one less thing to ponder over. The clothes are all washed and now I just need to wait for them to dry. At least today it has warmed up and the sun is actually out. We have had rather cool weather for the last 2 weeks, except for the horrible muggy afternoon last Sunday after the typhoon. I was worried if my sweatshirt and jeans would actually have time to dry.

It should be a good time back in the states even though. Hopefully I will be bloging here and on the Tamasei page also. That one is private and if anyone wants to see it let me know, I can add you as a reader and if you can sign on to view it with a google account.

Afternoon in Tokyo

After a morning tennis tournament I went into Ueno to meet Shige for what turned out to be a late lunch. Before he arrived I walked around Ameyoko cho and then I ventured into the park where they were having a flea market. this picture was taken at the pond there that is completely covered with loutus plants. It is very pretty, but there weren't so many blooms.

After eating a nice Chinese lunch, we walked through the motorcycle shop area, Shige is getting a motorcycle and wants to take a trip up north during this summer vacation. I hope I am up for it after I get back from Florida. From there we walked to Akihabara and there is a new phenomenon now these young girls mostly standing on the street singing with these little karaoke machines and groups on people, mostly "Otaku" men standing around listening, clapping, dancing, and the most disturbing taking pictures and video's. It was a little creepy. Especially when the typical "otaku" is usually very strange. People with obsessive hobbies, most commonly manga, anime or hentai. "Wikipedia" It is the anime bordering on hentai, or perverted, that is the scary part. Shige just said well they seem to have found a niche where they feel accepted and as long as they don't take it to any extremes isn't it ok. Anyway now I have a new place to take guests to see the sights of Tokyo.

Forbidden Starbucks

BEIJING (Reuters) - A controversial Starbucks coffee shop in the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace at the heart of Beijing, has closed its doors after years of opposition.

I would agree that this is not the best place for a starbucks but at the same time with the Olympics coming up you got to have something for the tourists who are probably going to be freaked out by stories like this one out of Beijing, where they were substituting cardboard box for pork in steamed dumblings. Watch below to see how they were made.



I think this will be enough to make me a few people stay away from the Olympics.

Man-Yi

Or typhoon #4 as it is called here is heading our way!

This one has caused quite a bit of damage in Okinawa and Kyushu, but I am assuming that we will just get lots and lots of rain and maybe some wind. Usually by the time these storms make it to Tokyo they have petered out and there is not that much to them. It has been raining pretty much non stop since yesterday morning and I'm sure this will last all day. Really hate going out on days like today but at the same time I don't want to be cooped up all day. Just hope I don't get to wet when I do go out.

Nathan's

Forgot to mention that last night before the musical I got my July for wish for a hot dog. I had forgoten there was a Nathan's in Shidome so I talked Rachelle in to going there instead of the upscale coffee shop that she had planned on. And the best thing everyone was pleased, and even though it was a little pricey when I thought about it, but it was well worth it and still less than we would have paid going someplace else. The fires are out of this world also.

Wicked

Last night I went to see Wicked with Rachelle and some teachers from school. This picture was taken outside the theater after the show. Itwas a really nice production, and would have been nicer had it been in English, but even so it wasn't that hard to understand. Had a little trouble with the chourus numbers but other than that I pretty much could follow the story. One of the teachers commented that she wished the translation of the songs could have been better. so maybe it wasn't the best Japanese it was easily understandable. Now I would like to here the songs in Japanese. I should probably download it on iTunes.

Danny the Dog

Or better known as "Unleashed" in the states is on tonight and I can't wait to see this movie again. Jet Li, Danny, is stolen from his mother and is raised basically as a dog, and is trained to kill when unleashed. I know it sounds awful but the key is that he runs into this blind piano tuner who through simple acts of kindness transform him into a person again. Very powerful, if you haven't seen it do. Makes me wonder how many peoples lives we can change through simple acts of kindness and compassion.

CPK

Met Alina last night for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. A nice little restaurant in the Lazona shopping center in Kawasaki. It was nice to get out Monday and Tuesday I was sort of hermit like staying at home resting up trying to get rid of this cold. I was surprised at how busy almost all of the restaurants were being it was a Wed. night. I have been to CPK on the weekend and it has never been as busy as it was last night.

On a side note, I think I need to go through my cupboards and toss old food. Just stumbled across a can of refried beans that had started to leak out of the can. They must have fermented.

Cold

Mike has caught a cold or am suffering from air conditiong syndrum or something. On the way home from church yesterday my throat started to hurt, and now today it seems to have turned into a full blown cold or something. Luckily it is a light week this week. I think I will escape from school a little early and go home and crash.

Matsumoto as Alina saw it

Ok it has been a month since we went on this trip, but here are pictures from Alina.

This is Alina eating raw horse. And before you start screaming, you have to know that she said actually it was pretty good.

The entrance to the castle grounds

Going into the Castle.

Nat'l Anthem

I have always enjoyed singing the Nat'l Anthem. I remeber singing it at football games and basketball games and inevitable someone would turn and make a comment about my voice. Makes you feel pretty cool. So for your listening enjoyment it is the Nat'l anthem as sung by Sandi Patti. She can sing this piece!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!! Here in Tokyo it is a drab rainy day, not the kind of weather I associate with either summer or this holiday. So there will be no fireworks, no barbeque, not even a hot dog. How boring is that. only thing to remind me of the day is a flag sticker from Abby. For all of you at home on this holiday hope you have a great festive day.

Bugs

As I was walking home from the station this interesting bug flew by me. You can't really tell here in this picture but it also had blue spots, I took this picture and immediately sent it to Connie for identification. What she told me didn't come up on the internet so the identification is up for grabs, maybe Kuma knows?
*Update: And the answer is ゴマダラカミキリムシ(gomadarakamikirimushi) Asian longhorned beetle.