THE FUNNEST THING I'VE EVER DONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE

Seriously.


And I know fun. . .I've tried all sorts of fun things in my life. I've seen and heard incredible artists and musicians. I've been to many wonderful places. I've even filed my own taxes, but I have to say that "Shower Climbing" is by far the most fun thing I've ever done.


Seriously.


How does one climb a shower? you ask. Well, I'm so glad you did.
Shower climbing is like hiking, repelling, swimming, and river rafting all rolled into one. I went about a month ago, with my friend Lynette, and two of my Japanese teachers, Suzuki Sensei and Sakuma Sensei.


The first thing you have to do is put on two, very thick wetsuits, a pair of water shoes, an extra vest, a helmet, and a flap over your butt (that we'll get into later). This ensures that you stay warm, and that you look nice and fat. It's awesome.

You start out hiking along, and if you're me, you're wondering why you're wearing a helmet.

Meanwhile, the wonderful tourguide makes you wish you had been doing a better job studying your Japanese, so you could understand all the interesting facts he's sharing about the nature surrounding you.

For example, the fact that Japanese people think that this river looks like a mustache

And that's why this place is named "Mount Sneezy" in Japanese

The next thing you know, you're walking THROUGH the river, rather than along it. Then you're climbing up along waterfalls feeling very thankful for your helmet and non-slip shoes.

Here's Lynette passing under a waterfall. . .

There goes Suzuki Sensei. . .

I was a little less graceful than either of them. . .

my non-slip shoes slipped.



Remember the butt flaps?

Here we are getting ready to use them. . .

TO SLIDE DOWN THE RIVER!!!

Wild Rivers has nothing on Mt. Sneezy.

So much fun.

When the day was done, we were all exhausted, and all we wanted to do was get home.

We were so tired that none of us noticed as we passed our stop, and ended up having to wait for what felt like forever to get going in the right direction again.

But I'd get lost a hundred times if that's what it took to go shower climbing (I'd probably get lost a hundred times anyways). Seriously. Shower climing is the funnest thing of all time.

Tai ni ikitai!

A couple of weeks ago, I took a short trip to Thailand.


I stayed with my friend Nok, her wonderful parents and their two friendly cats.

You can't tell by looking at Nok, but her mom is an AMAZING cook!

Thailand is a wonderful place.

Everything about it feels full of life and energy.

Even the guard statues to their temples look like they're alive.

I could have sworn that these ones sing when no one is around.

Hello little friend!

Thailand makes you want to smile nonstop.

I mean, look at how they decorate their temples.

It's all so full of life, that it almost hurt my eyes to look around.

Good thing Nok and I bought some new, fancy sunglasses.

Thailand makes you feel alive

and it makes you feel GOOD about being alive.

Look at this girl. . .

It's safe to say she has a rather substantial backside, but does she look depressed about it?
Not in the slightest. In fact, I might even venture to say she's flaunting it.


Even Ronald McDonald is caught up in the energy of Thailand.

He just can't help himself.

I don't blame him.

What's NOT to love about a place that uses little magic plastic discs for train tokens

so that every time you use one, you feel like you're going for a ride at a carnival or something.

Nok and I did all sorts of fun things.

Like going to an amaaaazing market

Where you can get THE BEST THAI ICED TEA I'VE EVER HAD
in a plastic bag

and refreshing frozen fruity things on a stick

Now, THIS was a serious bookstore

and this was serious bike parking lot.

I tried all kinds of amazing foods that I'd never seen before

But, I have to admit. . . one of the most unique experiences I had was going to the movies.
It wasn't your ordinary theater, it was one the many luxury theaters they have all over Bangkok. For the meager price of about ten dollars (that's half what it costs to see a movie at any regular theater in Japan) you can be treated like royalty.
After buying my ticket, I walked down a red carpet between red velvet ropes and through a pair of glass doors with a big gold star painted on the middle of them. I entered the VIP bar/ lounge, where, had I arrived on time, I could sit in big cushion-y velvet chairs and enjoy my complimentary cocktail and snack, while browsing through magazines and putting my feet up on shiny dark wood tables.

Although I was late, I walked into the theater that had nothing in it but huge red leather recliners, each with their own wooden table, and care package. On each seat, there was a bag that contained a pillow, a soft blanket (better than the one on the plane, that's for sure), and a new pair of socks.

I figured out the remote control for the recliner, before I opened the care package and discovered the socks.

Thank you Thailand for your hospitality. I thoroughly enjoyed you. And thank you Nok for being a fantastic tour guide, you were definitely my favorite thing about Thailand (and that's saying a lot.)

Fishies

Last week I took a trip to the aquarium with my friend Sakuma. . .

The major difference between visiting an aquarium in Japan vs. the US, (aside from everyone taking pictures of all the fish with their celphones) is that you will hear people saying things like "That kind of sashimi is really good." and "We had that for dinner last night." and finally, "Oishiso!" ("Delicious!!")

Picture time!

I won't eat him. . .

Or her. . .

Or him. . .

I wanted to hug this fish really, really badly.
I loved him.

Would you like to see him up close?


Hello my friend!

Jellyfish don't have brains, but I won't eat them either.

This seahorse is a tricky one.
It wants totally wants me to eat it, so it's disguising itself as a plant.

Sorry seahorse, I refuse to eat you as well.



And I most certainly would never eat a penguin.

Because I love them

This fish, however, might have been able to eat me

THE END