My grandparents gave me the opportunity to go to Japan
with them, my two cousins, and a few others. I'm so grateful I decided to go!
Here's the first video of many of my wonderful adventures in Japan~
Hope you enjoy!
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The first day consisted of traveling, finding the hotel, and recovering from the jet lag. Then, after a good night's sleep, we jumped right into the sightseeing. Our group had set up a bus tour of Tokyo and we got to stop at many well-known places such as Meiji Shrine, the Imperial Palace, Asakusa, and Odaiba.
It was a fun experience, but I don't think bus tours or tours in general are my thing. I prefer to visit places and take everything in on my own time. But, I thought it was perfect for our first day in Japan. I had a good time and even though our time in each area was limited, we used it perfectly.
Thanks for reading!
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My first ever prom-like dance. It was definitely an experience, curling hair with friends, putting on the makeup, wearing the fancier dresses with heels, the whole shebang.
The getting ready process took a little over four hours. Demi, her friend, and I all got ready together and I was one of the first one's finished because my hair is a lot shorter than theirs and my makeup wasn't that extravagant. Hair and makeup is definitely not my kind of thing. I'm a wake up and go type of girl. Haha!
The event was held in a big ball room with dimmed colored lights. There were many tables and I immediately noticed that the cliques grabbed their own tables while there were some people that went from group to group. The DJ was a pretty nice guy, he took requests and had everyone participate in giveaway games and other fun stuff.
I spent the majority of my time on the dance floor with the others. That's when I learned that I love dancing in large crowds. We formed our own small circle amongst our group and just went with the loud pumped up music. I felt so free and flowing, moving my body to the music, eyes closed, without a care in the world. My feet were so sore by the end of the night.
One guy in particular stood out to me during the event. He would be on the dance floor, doing crazy movements, not caring what anybody thought, with this serious look on his face. I would see him travel across the dance floor, weaving in and out between people and a part of me was envious at how independent and uncaring he was. To be able to dance like no one is watching, and yet putting yourself in the center of a large dance circle, is quite profound in my opinion.
Even though I had a fun time and I really appreciate being able to go to this type of event at least once, I don't think I'd want to go to another prom-like dance. The cliques and teenage vibe wasn't that appealing to me and the whole getting-ready-together bonding wasn't as fun as some girls make it out to be. So, no one ask me out to their prom, okay? Haha! Just kidding!
Thanks for reading! And thanks to Demi's group for letting me crash their prom/gala!
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New York City, another thing I get to cross off my bucket list.
Our first sightseeing stop was Time Square and it was exactly what I was expecting, so large with all the bright advertisements surrounding the street. Even though it was pretty crowded, I really liked Times Square. It's definitely a nice place to photograph. After seeing it, I'd like to go back there for New Year's someday and see the ball drop at midnight.
New York City reminded me of Tokyo, a harsher version of Tokyo, because of how a lot of people get around by walking and there's a subway system. Since my friend and I were in a bagel loving phase, even though we just finished eating pretzels, we went to a bagel shop with all kinds of different cream cheeses and bagels. I wanted to try all of them, but I only had the stomach for the classic everything bagel with regular cream cheese. Hopefully, one day, I can go and try all the different flavors.
The view of the city from the Rockefeller Center was so wondrous and vast. We were up 70 floors high; I had my camera in hand and was snapping away at the beautiful landscape. One thing that made me chuckle was this random guy that came up to us and asked if he could take a photo with us. He probably did it as a dare, but it was still entertaining to me.
Central Park was one of my favorite parts of New York City. The change from the city clamor to the calm scenic park walks was immediate once we entered Central Park. It's an enormous park full of green and pretty fountains and long walkways through trees. We only got to spend time on one side of the park, but I loved it nonetheless. My friend and I had been playing around with the cup song for fun for a few days and decided it would be fun to perform in the outdoors. It took some courage, but we finally chose a semi-secluded spot in the park and sang our hearts out. It was a lot of fun!
By the time we got to Grand Central Station, my camera's battery had run out, which is why I have no photos to show sadly. But, it was such a grand (pun intended) station. The mural on the ceiling was lovely and watching the hustle bustle of all the people from the upper floor was interesting. It was also cool because I've seen a lot of movies and television shows that filmed scenes in the station.
There's so much I didn't get to do during my short time in NYC, but that gives me all the more reason to come back again. And I definitely will in the future!
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I'm so excited to release my first ever solo dance cover! I fell in love with Miss A's Only You and I think the dance is really fun to do. I've been wanting to film my cover of this for a while, but I kept making excuses when I was back in Hawaii. I made a deal with myself that I'd film something while I was in Maryland, and I did it!! Big thank you to Demi for helping me film this and being awesome!
Hope you guys enjoy!
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Our Nation's Capital.
Looks kind of like a post apocalyptic world, doesn't it? Well, don't be fooled by my photos. That's not what it looks like at all. Haha!
I had no idea what to expect from our trip to Washington D.C. As much I might've seen photos of the Capitol or Lincoln's Memorial or the Washington Monument, it didn't occur to me that I was going to see those things in person until I walked out of the train station. We had caught an early train from Baltimore to D.C. and we got off right in the middle of the Mall. Sadly, it was being redone so it didn't look as majestic and grand as the post cards, hence the post apocalyptic photos. Haha!
We walked along the stretch of the Mall and it was a LOT of walking. The distance between each destination was so large, we were exhausted by the time we decided to go see the museums.
The Washington Monument was massive. It didn't make my head spin when I looked up at it though. They had the flags at half staff when we went to see it because it was for Peace Officers Memorial Day. I think the monument was one of the coolest things we got to see besides the National Gallery Museum which was my ultimate favorite.
Past the Washington Monument is the World War II memorial. I didn't know about this particular memorial actually. I thought it was beautiful and there were a lot of veterans there visiting as well as tourist groups. The crowd took away from the serenity of what I feel a memorial should have, but nonetheless, it was still nice to walk around and take it all in.
After a good walk around the WW2 memorial, we continued walking down the strip towards the Lincoln Memorial. The walk was pleasant, there were baby ducks swimming in the water next to the strip and the view of the memorial was stunning. However, just when I thought the WW2 memorial was crowded, the Lincoln memorial was even more packed. There were tour groups from all over the place, Asia, Europe, school groups within the States. It was crazy. I could tell that the security guards were tense too because of the amount of people not following the quiet rule within the chambers of the memorial. Besides that, I thought it was delightful to finally see the Lincoln statue in person after all these years of seeing video footage and photos of it. Now, I have my own personal pictures of it!
The Vietnam War Memorial was our next stop. I didn't know that much about this memorial either, so it was interesting to see what it looked like. It's a long black wall with names of all the soldiers that gave their lives in the Vietnam War. This one was the most peaceful of the three memorials, even though the number of people wasn't that different. Everyone walked by the wall slowly and quietly, looking at the names of the people and seeing their own reflection shown back at them. This particular memorial was well designed in my opinion, as it had a larger impact on me.
After some much needed rest on a bench overlooking the memorials, we stood up, slapped the sleep out of our eyes, and were off to the Natural History Museum where the Hope Diamond resides. We weren't completely sure we wanted to go visit that museum at first, but in the end, I think it was worth it. There were so many exhibits in the museum. We meandered through the crystal and rock exhibit and I was so captivated by the wondrous amount of unique rock crystals. The Hope Diamond wasn't all that amazing, I wasn't too taken by it. But, that might be because I prefer the raw ores and minerals.
Finally, my favorite part of the visit, the National Gallery of Art. It holds so many beautiful pieces of artwork from artists I adore. I wish I could've spent more time exploring the entire museum and absorb all the paintings and sculptures through my eyes. While checking out the museum, we got to meet up with a couple of family friends from Hawaii. It was such a coincidence that we happened to be in Washington D.C. at the same time. We got to check out the various galleries together, but after what felt like a short time, we had to catch the train back.
Our train was scheduled to leave at a certain time so as we slowly made our way out of the museum, we realized we had to start picking up the pace. In fear that we were going to miss our train, we had to run past the Capitol (which was being redone) and towards the train station. We were so exhausted, but we managed to make it even with the hot sun bearing down on us.
Going to Washington D.C. was a very tiring but wonderful experience. I will definitely come back to visit again in the future and go back to the Natural Gallery of Art to admire everything that museum holds.
Thanks for reading!
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My time here in Maryland so far has been wonderful and inspiring. All the open green fields and farms that expand across the horizon, with the brick houses and cows sprinkled in the distance are so beautiful and new to me. Since I've been living in Hawaii for the past two and a half years, and lived in Southern California before that, I haven't been surrounded by forest greenery that much. And the last time I visited Maryland was over five years ago, so I don't remember much since I was a child then.
I've gotten to try a lot of new things as well as meet different people and experience things I wouldn't get to do back home. So far, I tried the fresh ice cream from Pregel's, visited an Amish farm, went to the Spring Homeschool Gala (I'll do a separate post on that), and explored Annapolis! All with my good friend, Demi.
Pregel's "Sweet Treats"
I thought there was a noticeable difference between Pregel's ice cream and regular store bought ice cream. I tried their strawberry ice cream and it was delicious. It was so creamy and rich, not too sweet and not too bland, and you could tell they used fresh strawberries.
On the way to...
..the Amish farm in Pennsylvania
One day, after getting our nails done for the Spring Gala, we spontaneously decided to go visit the Amish farm in Pennsylvania. I forgot how cool it was to be able to drive from state to state. The drive wasn't too long and it was worth it because we got to see baby goats (kids)! They were adorable. I even got to bottle feed one for a little bit! The farmer was really nice and he got everyone to participate in "goat kissing"! "Goat kissing" is where you put a cracker in your mouth and let the goat take it from your mouth (without touching you at all!). I was a bit nervous at first, but after I saw everyone else do it, I trusted the goat. Haha!
On Saturday, we spent the afternoon in Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. I thought the architecture in the city was cute and I noticed they use a lot of bricks for their buildings. We walked around and visited the U.S. Naval Academy. The view onto the harbor with all the sailboats was breathtaking.
Then, we went and got crab cakes for a late lunch / early dinner and, oh my goodness, it was delectable. Even though the ambiance got a little rowdy in the restaurant, because it was also a bar and the clubbing crowd came in surprisingly early, it was still enjoyable. Afterwards, we got ice cream from the place next door called Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory. I got a soft serve vanilla and chocolate cone and I loved it! It was perfect because I was craving just that a few days prior.
Now, I have one week left here in Maryland and I am determined to see and do even more things. But, I am so grateful to have been able to do all these things.
Shout out to Demi and her mother for taking my mom and I around and letting us stay with them!
Thanks for reading! <3
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