June 12

We started off the day today with a traditional Japanese breakfast consisting of fish, a Japanese omelette, pickles, yogurt, miso soup, vegetables and more. 

From there, we headed to Kinkaku-ji (a Buddhist temple) which is the more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion. We ran into some Japanese school children who were practicing their English with us, which was cute. They all had little booklets and they each asked us a question like "how long are you in Kyoto?" and "how many temples have you been to?" They then proceeded to take a picture with us to prove to their teacher that they did their assignment and didn't just make it up. 

Below is the Golden Pavilion, perfectly reflecting into the pond below. 

Here's a picture of us... 

Our next stop was Tofuku-ji, a great Zen temple. This temple was not crowded at all, which was very nice. It's so hot and humid here, so when you have to walk through big crowds it's even worse. I really liked the architecture on the structure below. 

We also went to Sanjusangendo, my mom's favorite place in Kyoto. There were some really unique orange buildings which I loved. I've never seen anything quite like it! 

Inside the wooden temple at Sanjusangendo, there were 1,001 bronze statues of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, which unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of. 

Later in the afternoon, my mom and I went shopping on Teramachi, a never-ending arcade. We bought some sushi-themed rice crackers and candy, and since we're in Japan of course I had to stop for some boba. I've never seen caramel milk tea boba in the States before, which is too bad because it was one of the best bobas I've ever had. While we were walking through the arcade I came across a ton of laterns that were just so typical Japanese that I had to take a picture. When I think of Japan, these kinds of laterns are one of the first images that pops into my head. 

When we got back to the hotel, we were so tired from our sightseeing and shopping that we decided to order room service. I've been craving udon, and after eating this udon I will never classify United States' udon as being good... This udon was the best I've ever had, with the freshest noodles and best broth. 

Tomorrow will be a long day so it's off to bed... At 8pm!! 

June 10/11

Today we left Seattle to fly to our first destination : Japan. As we are a big group, we fill up an entire plane. 

Pretty soon, we were off the ground, enjoying our company. 

We had to stop to refuel in Anchorage, and I wish we had been there longer. It's been a long time since I have been there and after a short stop there, I want to go back again. I took this picture from the plane when we landed. 

After only 3 hours on the plane, I made some pilot friends and got to hang out in the cockpit too! 

After what felt like ages, we landed in Osaka, Japan. From there, we had an hour and a half bus ride to Kyoto, where we are staying. Since there's no airport here, Osaka is the closest city with an airport. 

Even though we are so exhausted and jet lagged, we made reservations for a tempura bar in our hotel and after eating there I'll never eat tempura in LA again. 

Here are just a few pictures from our meal... 

Below is the setting-up stage of the tempura making. 

This was a scallop and assorted fish appetizer. 

Here's another picture of the food before it was fried in tempura batter but here you can see the different salts that are paired with each food (we also had tempura dipping sauce and lemon juice). 

This was a sashimi appetizer. 

And I even ate shrimp heads (shocker).

That's not even half the food, and it was all so pretty to take pictures of, but I won't spam this with food pictures! We have a big day of sightseeing and shopping tomorrow so it's time to get some zzz's! 

June 9

After months of preparing, we are finally leaving today! All our bags are packed, and we are getting ready to leave for the airport. Our dogs are freaked out, which calls for extra cuddles...

Today we will fly to Seattle, where we will meet up with the rest of the group and have a welcome dinner party. Then tomorrow, it's off to Japan!

One More Day!

Well, it's down to the nitty gritty here. As we rush to finish packing for our upcoming trip, I'm beginning to think about how amazing this experience will be. My mom and I love traveling because of the experiences we have immersing ourselves in the culture. We love meeting locals, visiting schools, going to local markets, and of course eating traditional food. We've been known to go to more "off the wall" places, so to speak and when we tell people about this trip, we're often asked why we would want to go to some of these places. 

In my eyes, going to some beach resort (while nice) does not necessarily enable you to become involved with other cultures. Sure if you go to Mexico you may meet locals. But these "off the wall" places give you an entirely different experience. You see real people, facing real life challenges. In a lot of the places we go to, we come across extreme poverty, lack of sanitation, poor living standards, but among everything, you see the beauty of the country: the people who, even with everything they have to deal with on a daily basis, are always so kind to foreigners and so proud of the country they live in. It's a completely different world, one which many people who don't travel won't even think about. We often take things for granted here and complain about the simplest things. But when you travel to these places, you get a better idea of this huge world we live in and you see firsthand just how different these places are. All are so unique, so special, and the memories you make there stay with you for a lifetime. 

That all being said, we'll be going to a mix of these "off the wall" places but also destinations that are popular with people who maybe don't want to go to go off the grid. This trip will take us to:

1. Kyoto, Japan...where we will shop, visit temples in Nara, go to Arashiyama and of course eat a lot of good Japanese food (one stop will be a tempura bar.. Mmm!)

2. Ulan Bator, Mongolia and the Gobi Desert... where we will visit the National History Museum to see dinosaur skeletons and relics from Mongolia's earliest civilizations. We will also go to the Gobi Desert, where we will stay in a traditional ger, see a Naadam Festival demonstration, and horseback ride. 

3. Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia... Where we will go on a historic tour seeing sights such as the Znamenskaya Cathedral which houses the graves of the Decembrist revolutionaries who launched the 1825 uprising against Tsar Nicholas I and sought refuge in this Siberian city. 

4. Moscow, Russia... Where we will visit the Red Square, take a riverboat cruise down the Moskva River and attend a performance of La Sylphide at the Bolshoi Ballet. 

5. Svalbard Islands, Norway... Where we will embark on a four-day cruise of the Arctic searching for polar bears, walruses, and hopefully narwhals! 

6. Reykjavik, Iceland... Where we will visit geysers and waterfalls, go to the Blue Lagoon hot springs (a long time bucket list destination of mine) and go on a helicopter geothermal tour to see mountain ranges, geothermal hot springs, lava fields, and sweeping craters. 

7. Kangerlussuaq, Greenland... Where we will board a four wheel drive glacial expedition vehicles to explore Russell Glacier, looking for musk ox and reindeer. We'll stop at at the ice cap's edge where there's an ice wall 200 feet high! 

Those are just some of the highlights... We will be really busy! I won't alway have internet on the trip, but when I do I'll be posting to this website. We hope you read this blog, like the pictures, and feel like you're right there with us! In the meantime... Back to packing!!!