February 2011

February was another month of fun! 

This is just another day at the dolphin park. 

Tim ran his 2nd marathon- The Okinawa Marathon

Time: 3h58m

Woohoo!!!

 (I know the resolution is bad, but you don't get the full effect without a finish line shot!)

Tim taught the kids how to ride their bikes without training wheels!! 

Elijah's still a little nervous to do it (even though he can!) so he prefers his scooter.

Tim and I went to a Ryukyan Kings basketball game. It was SOOO much fun. The crowd was going crazy!

Tim's 34th b-day. After Tim got dressed, Noah ran into his room and came out with the same exact outfit on...too cute!!

Amber's Trip to Hong Kong

My friend, Khaki Plott and I went on a girls trip weekend to Hong Kong. It was a great experience and she was an awesome travel partner!

One of our first stops was a dim sum restaurant called, Din Tai Fung. I wasn't ecstatic about it, but I mean, who goes to Hong Kong and doesn't try dim sum?!? It is reportedly one of the top restaurants in the world to go to according The New York Times. 

I thought it was pretty cool that you could see the "cooks" making the dim sum. It was like a factory line. One person pulls the dough or dim sum wrapper apart, one person cuts it into pieces, one person flattens into perfect size, one person adds filling, one person folds up wrapper, one person adds the dumpling to the bamboo steamer...I might have forgot a step or two, but you get the idea. They were super quick and it was fun to watch. 

Prada baby! 

Of course Khaki would find a karaoke box bar!

On the subway! 

In line to take a sky cab ride to see the Big Buddha.

This was the bottom of the sky cab.

I found this funny: fat chips...so true!! 

We went to see the Tian Tan Buddha, aka The Big Buddha. It sits 34 meters high (112 feet) and weighs 250 tons!

The bronze statue symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people, and religion. 

The right hand is raised to give a blessing to the Chinese people and to remove affliction.

There are 268 steps to get to the top.

The Buddha is surrounded by 6 smaller bronze statues known as "The Offering of the Six Devas". They are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These offerings symbolize charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom-all of which are necessary to enter into nirvana. 

Chinese fortune teller-eerily on point!!

At the ladies market?? There was tons of stuff to buy and haggle. I got a knock off Burberry purse for like 10 bucks! The Stanley Market was great too! 

We went to one of the famous temples. I've forgotten the name now! 

At the Stanley market:-)

Harbor View at night. The light show was amazing! This pic I took with my "Kristy" cut out. She wanted to go so bad but couldn't. I told her I'd take her along anyway! LOL!

According to Chinese Zodiak, I am born in the year of the dog. Only touristy thing to do is pose by the dog statue, but only his face looks like a dog...

Po Lin Monastery

Victoria's Peak

A "sporkife"...spoon, fork and knife all in one. Hmph!

This was a great trip. It was culturally and esthetically pleasing. But it was crazy too! Khaki got offered to buy some hash, we saw a cab driver jump out of his cab and go crazy on another cab driver, way too many people pick their nose on the subway, our smoke alarm went off in our hotel room, a monk asked for money in exchange for a bracelet and was so offended by Khaki's dollar offering he grabbed the bracelet and kept the dollar! Such good memories...lol!

Amber's Bday Trip to Tokyo

For my birthday this year, Tim surprised me with a trip to Tokyo to see Taylor Swift!!! I went with one of his Japanese interns, Kana Nosshi. She was a blast and so was this trip!!

My ticket to the concert:-)

Silhouette pic!

Outside of the Budokan Concert Arena

#1 T-Swizzle fan??

"Dear John"

She came through the crowd to a second stage and played more songs there.

She played a total of "13" songs.

Taylor Swift and her band...lol!!

Oldest bar in Tokyo-built in 1880, it survived WWII.

Eating lunch with Kana's family. Her grandma gave me the best cookies!! Supposedly they are so famous in Tokyo, you have to stand in a LONG line to get them:-)

One afternoon Kana took me to a place where she used to hang out after school. It was a neat, small amusement park/shopping/eating district. We ate at Bubba Gump:-)

Taking a pic at a random intersection. Reminded me of NYC. 

We went to the City Hall, where the 45th floor is dedicated to viewing Tokyo from above.

We got there at the perfect time. Enough time to see the city in the light, and then with a beautiful sunset. You can see Mt. Fuji to the left of the sun. 

The city at night...full of neon lights!!

Kana, her sister, and her niece:-)

Hahaha-posing with some high schoolers!

Typical touristy stuff:-)

What else would I do with it but flush it? Well after traveling Asia I discovered in many places people dispose of the toilet paper in the trash vs flushing it...ewwww!

Kana and I in front of Senso-ji...it is one of the oldest temples in Tokyo, and one of the most significant.

One of the best ways to travel through Tokyo: by rickshaw!! The other 2: by train and bicycle!!

A quick stop on our rickshaw ride for a picture. In the background is the Sky tree on the left. It was still under construction and due to open that spring. When completed, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be the tallest tower in the world beating Canton Tower (600m/1969ft). It's full height will be 634 meters (2080feet). On the right side is the Asahi Beer Hall. It is supposed to resemble a mug of beer-foam on top. Then the Asahi flame is next to that, representing both the burning heart of the Ashahi beer and a frothy head. 

Us and our Rickshaw driver (runner). I'm not sure why our arms are like this. I did it because she did. She did it because he did. We're not sure why he did it! 

Besides seeing Taylor Swift, this was one of the best experiences I've ever had. To spend the weekend with a native Japanese family and completely immerse myself in their culture was unbelievable. Kana's family was amazingly gracious and welcoming. I learned so much and had the most amazing time I'll never forget...from watching Japanese TV while eating dinner with her family to bicycling through one of the busiest cities in the world to learning how to take a proper bath...lol!!