Our Hokule'a Adventure

The weekend started out typically enough...running for the last train into tokyo on saturday night, met some friends at ueno station to go dancing at club ageha. tehani had never been to ageha (our favorite club in tokyo) so she HAD to go before she moves back to okayama. ageha is the biggest club in tokyo. it's like taking four different clubs and connecting them all together in one...there is also an outdoor deck with a pool and bar, a separate outdoor food area where there are picnic tables and various vendors, serving everything from korean to turkish...it's technically in chiba prefecture just two stops away from disneyland. sorry i don't have pictures of ageha, it's because camera's aren't allowed inside and there is a security check at the front including an unnecessary full body pat-down. we were at ageha until 5am, and caught the first train back to michelle's apartment.

later that day, we woke up around 1pm and didn't leave omiya until around 3. tehani's friend from home had a friend who's doing an architectural internship in tokyo. his name is luke, and he's an '01 grad from kamehameha. he's been in tokyo for 3 months but doesn't know anybody so he came along with us to ageha, and then met us again later that day. we had no set plans, but we knew that the hokule'a was docked in yokohama, so we decided to go check it out.


train to yokohama


yokohama

luke is a 6th year in UH's architecture doctoral program so he knows his stuff. we first made a stop at yokohama's international dock, where all of the boats with shipments arrive and depart. he taught us that this port is significant for it's construction because it was designed to look flowy like waves. there are supposedly no right angles, and it's hard to tell by the pictures but there are also hardly any flat decks. it just goes up and down, up and down...






the waviness is made possible by all of these boards carefully cut and shaped like this...he says that it's this kind of crap that makes construction workers hate architects. it's easy to conceptualize in your head, because you're not the one to have to put it togeether..michelle, tehani, and i were like, "so what? it's cut wood?" but he was fascinated...haha


after the port it was off to find the hokule'a! by the time we got to it, it was dark and there was nobody in sight...we were expecting a crowd because there had been festivities going on for it all week. it was just sitting there tied to the pier. there was a gate that was closed that prevented the public from being able to walk out on the pier and get near it. there was a really dark, kind of intimidating looking japanese guy standing at the gate, and we walked up to him and luke asked if we were allowed to walk out on the pier, and the guy (not even looking at us) just shook his head once and that was it. we were bummed, but it was japan. so we were about 30 feet away from it, snapping as many pictures as we could...it was dark so it was hard to get a good one.



we were standing there taking pictures, and listening to luke explain to michelle the entire history and significance of the hokule'a. we hadn't noticed that we were there for about 20 minutes...it was getting cold so we decided it was time to go. as we were walking away the same guy who wouldn't let us through the gate before stopped us and asked if we wanted to see the canoe. it was clear that he thought that we were just stupid foreigners who wanted to run out on the pier. apparently it happens a lot-naive foreigners and drunken japanese guys who try to hop on it. he let us through the gate, and the next thing we knew we were on the hokule'a.






solar panels

sleeping quarters





the man called himself "duke". he was a paddler from japan, who spent a lot of time in hawaii. the journey of the hokule'a from hawaii to japan took 6 months with one stop in-between. they left hawaii in january and arrived in june. they made 8 stops in japan, starting from okinawa and ending in yokohama. the purpose was to stop in the hometowns of the majority of japanese immigrants to hawaii. the hokule'a and it's escort, the kamahele, had a set crew for it's journey to japan, but there was no crew to take the kamahele back (the hokule'a is being shipped back). so that's how duke was recruited in japan to be part of the crew to take it back. he said it was his dream come true. he was disappointed though because once the hokule'a arrived in yokohama it was towed along to each city stop (rather than using free navigation) because each city had a big celebration and ceremony thing planned for it's arrival, it was important that the hokule'a arrive exactly on schedule at each port. duke said it made him mad at his country for being like that...we just said, "that's japan for ya!"

it was a surreal experience getting to hang out on the hokule'a. he was so nice and we were able to roam around, open all the flaps, coolers, boxes...we could touch all the paddles, hop in where they sleep...it was amazing! we asked where the rest of the crew was, and he said that they were having a potluck party in yamashita-koen just a 15 minute walk away. he told us to go check it out because there was plenty of food, but we didn't want to intrude on their party. so we went to kua'aina instead.




after we were done eating, we decided to just walk through yamashita-koen and see if we could just get glance at nainoa thompson and the rest of the crew. we heard the familiar sound of traditional hawaiian music, and a conch shell being blown, so we knew we were in the right place. as we were walking by the potluck we slowed down a lot and were trying to look around for any familiar faces. a lady saw his being "niele" and asked if we wanted to come and listen to the music. and we were all like, "oh no no it's ok"..and she was like, "nooo don't be shy just come listen!" so we explained to her that we were from hawaii and heard that the hokule'a gang were having a party here and was just passing through. so in typical hawaii style she offered us food and drinks. it turns out that her husband was the captain of the kamahele from hawaii to japan, so we met him too...his name was mike, a retired captain and boy was he drunk! he said we had to drinnk so we all shared a round of heinekens! we met a few other guys too, some even from the original crew! it was a lot of fun!


pa'ina


meenie greenies with the captain :)

we didn't take any pictures with the crew because they were so drunk they told us how they loved japan, but that it was hard to get around because they couldn't go anywhere without taking a thousand pictures and signing a million things, so we didn't want to ask..even though i'm sure that they wouldn't have minded for us. but oh well...

luke, michelle, and tehani had all never been to tsukiji fish market. it was on tehani's to-do list and we knew that it would have to be that next monday morning, or it would probably never happen. so the four of us decided to be CRAZY and wake up at 4am that morning and head down to see some fish! they were like, "andrea, are you sure you want to wake up that early and go AGAIN?" i was like, "are you kidding?? i LOVE that place!!" so we were off to tsukiji :)



shrimp

maguro

can u guess what this is?? at first i was like, what is beef doing in tsukiji!!??

the correct answer is: whale meat!!


SUSHI DAI-the most famous of tsukiji sushi restaurants

there is a line outside this place EVERYDAY...this is us waiting for 45 minutes to eat sushi at 7:30 on monday morning!!





the best sushi i have EVER have...and quite possibly my #1 favorite place in tokyo

after tsukiji we were zombies...we just roamed around shinjuku and shibuya half awake

another kua'aina

it was an AMAZING weekend, and that's becoming harder to say for michelle and i...we've had some pretty awesome ones...they're getting harder and harder to top! luke couldn't believe all that we had done in just 2 days...clubbing all night in tokyo's biggest dance club, yokohama port, cruising on the hokule'a, partying with the crew, then eating the best sushi in the world! we told him he didn't know what he was getting into...when us girls are together we don't mess around! :)

Taipei, Taiwan 2007

Minnasan Konnichiwa! Senshuu Taiwan ni ikimashita...Michelle-san no tomodachi wa Taipei ni Eigo no sensei desu, dakara kanojoo no apaato ni tomarremashita. Tottemo tanoshikatta!! = Hello everyone. I went to Taiwan last week. Michelle's friend is an English teacher in Taipei so we stayed in her apartment. I had a lot of fun!!

Our adventure started on Saturday night, Tehani and I sprinted for the last train again for Tokyo. We met Michelle and because our flight to Taiwan was at 6:30am, we needed to be at Haneda airport by 5:00am so we decided to not go to sleep just to be safe. Our original plan was to find an internet cafe and stay there overnight, but we decided karaoke would be more fun!! The time flew by and soon we were leaving Tehani and on the monorail for the airport :)


sunrise view from the airport monorail

our airplane from haneda to kansai

waiting to board, and still a little drunk :P

the food was really good! haha and one thing i've learned from travelling up here is that alcohol is free when flying internationally :) don't judge me, i know it was like 10 in the morning, but the japanese lady next to me had 2 beers too!

"welcome to taiwan, let's be friends!"

the moment we stepped off the airplane, we were hit with a wave of unbelievable head and humidity. it was like arriving in japan all over again last august. sugoi! i knew it would be in the high 80's, but in my head i was like, "that's normal in hawaii, i'll be fine..." not thinking that i've spent the last 7 months freezing in iwaki...

michelle's friend rachel is teaching at an international preschool in taipei. she was there to meet us at the airport, and we went straight to her apartment.


rachel's apartment

rachel's bedroom

all kinds of animal parts...they don't waste anything in taiwan!

michelle and i on the craziest bus ride EVER, i swear we were on the sidewalk half the time haha..

michelle and rachel waiting for the MRT (taipei's metro system)

MRT tokens (instead of japan's crappy paper tickets, cool huh?)

michelle being herself :)

shilin night market (the biggest night market in taipei)

fresh fruit stand

suwapping (shave ice) stand


i forgot what these are called, but we had to wait in line to get some! and soooo goood!

stinky tofu!! ok, i can eat pretty much anything you give me, but i almost gagged trying to eat taipei's stinky tofu...it's probably one of the worst smelling edible items EVER (think of natto times 1000)

ali baba's indian wraps

more suwapping...not your ordinary shave ice

the shopping streets are endless

we brought the monsoon with us!

eggs anyone?? they sell these in every convenience store!

drinking in 7-11...when you buy beer they open it for you at the register! kampai!

brown sugar salsa club

the guy on the left is rachel's friend eric...he's from ecuador but is studying international business at columbia univ. he's in taiwan for the summer and is determined to become fluent in mandarin to get him ahead in the business world...and guess what? he's only 20 yrs old...and he can salsa! some people amaze me...

if i had three words to describe taiwan, i'd say food, humid, and MOPEDS!!! there are more mopeds than cars on the streets...EVERYONE has one.

rachel's preschool

when we stopped by the kids were having nap time so we didn't get to meet them :(

outside taipei 101


taipei 101

CHILI's!!! I haven't had real mexican food in 9 months!! I was happy, but I think Michelle was about to have a heart-attack from the excitement! :)


we ate SO much, we were there for probably over 2 hours...the staff is required to be able to speak english so we made some friends :)

after chili's it was off to danshui fishing village






ferry boat to the other side of danshui

people rent bikes and ride along the beautiful path along the water...riding a double isn't as easy as it looks haha :P


docks




dinner at ximenting (the cooler/young/hip part of taipei)

mmm passion black tea


some of the greatest times were listening to rachel trying to talk to the taxi drivers in chinese...she had to say the same thing like 4-5 times with different intonations before they could finally figure out what she was saying...this taxi driver was telling us that he loves lionel richie and was trying to sing "say you, say me..." it was hilarious!

day 3...national palace museum






famous dumpling restaurant chain...all the japanese tour groups stop here!


we had 3 orders and the waitresses thought we were done so they cleared our plates...we had already finished our dessert, but we decided that we would only be there once and ordered more...the waitress was like, "take out right?" and we were like, "ohh no, for now"...the workers were laughing at us, and they had to bring us all new settings it was too funny...

michelle thinking, "did we really just order MORE?"

dumpling maker men...my english has gone to crap

shek memorial hall




longshan temple


snake alley!

mr. snake just cruisin at the entrance of this restaurant

so crazy michelle was the first one to be like, "excuse me can i carry your snake and take a picture?..." and i was thinking, "this chick is CRAZIER than i thought!" hahahaha so we walked away to look at the other snake restaurants...but then after thinking about it, i was like, when am i ever going to be able to take a picture with a boa constrictor....so i begged and begged rachel to take one with me cause i couldn't do it by myself...it was a RUSH!!




the snake started to get "friendly" and i swear we were like face to face with it!! i freaked out and almost dropped it haha...rachel was screaming...good times!

we ran into another group of foreigners walking through snake alley that night, there weren't many people at all because it was pouring rain...these guys were in taiwan on business they represent a computer networking firm...anyway, the restaurants only kill the snakes and put on the "show" when somebody orders something...so after a lot of peer pressure we got this guy to take a shot of snake blood...it's usually mixed with alcohol, but i'm pretty sure this was straight blood.

skinning the snake

draining the blood into a shot glass (keep in mind the snake is still alive)

mmmmm yummy!!!!

this is rachel's friend jalin...she is also attending columbia univ. but is in the international social work grad program...i had no idea there was such a thing as "international social work"...cool huh? her father is a diplomat and she grew up in the middle-east and is in taiwan just for the summer...she knows people from iolani that live in new york.

hey my jamba juice and starbucks people...LOOK they use the same tables and chairs!! hahahaha...omoshiroi!

mmm nothing like some taiwan beer with your starbucks to get you going!!

wufenpu...awesome cheap shopping! we pay like triple for the same stuff in tokyo!


taipei grand hotel

our JAL plane from kansai to tokyo...cute pastel seats yah??

taiwan was amazing!! i was really happy to have met rachel she's awesome! it was like having 2 michelle's!! hehe...tomorrow begins parent observations at school (CRAP!!)...it's where the parents are in class with their child and evaluate your lesson...good times blah. :P

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!! I will call this weekend!! Love and miss everyone sooo much!!!

-andie