Last Week of School

I say it every year, but this year was especially terrible. I feel like it was just August and I was meeting my students for the first time, and here I am now planning last week of school activities for the little guys I have come to love so dear! Our school year here is a tad bit longer and the dates are a little skewed from the typical western school calendar, so our last day of school wasn’t until Thursday, June 30.

When I taught first grade back in Ohio I always tried to make the last day full of fun memories for the kids. I know many teachers like to multitask and put in a movie while they finish up end of the year work, or have the students help prepare the classroom for summer, but for me it’s a time to celebrate! We’ve all made it through another school year and we all need time to relax and have fun!

Enter Miss St. John’s “Minute-to-Win-it” games!

I have over the last couple of years compiled a group of fun minute-to-win-it games that require few supplies and are easy for the kids to understand, and I most certainly didn’t want to deprive my Taiwan students of the fun! If you have never heard of minute-to-win-it games before they are essentially small games that you try to complete in under 60 seconds. They are fast, fun, and easy, and always a hit with the kids!

This year, since we only have 40 minute periods, I narrowed our games down to 4 including eating a cookie placed on their forehead without using their hands, keeping 2 balloons afloat for 60 seconds, stacking 36 cups into a pyramid, and getting a tissue paper fish to cross a finish line by fanning it with a plastic folder. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I promise you…we all had fun! J

Tokyo Take 3 – Fish Market & Harajuku

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Oooh buddy! The last month of my life has been a whirlwind of emotions, travels, and turning my life upside down, but hopefully I can get everything up to date on here {fortunately for me, my adventures rarely stop…unfortunately for my blog, my adventures rarely stop!}

Day 3 in Tokyo I told myself I’d take it a little easier, I had been go, go, go for far too long and my body was finally screaming at me to take a break! After going to bed at a somewhat decent time the night before I woke up somewhat early in hopes of making it to Tokyo’s morning fish market. From what I have read this is the largest fish market in the world! The daily market begins around 4-5 am with the most popular tuna auctions, but they only let a limited amount of visitors in to see the auctions each morning and it is recommended to line up for tickets by 3am. I thought it would be cool to see, but at 3am, my pillow is also really awesome! So needless to say I didn’t see the tuna auction, but I was at the market by 9:30am and was able to stroll through the outdoor fish markets and other vendor stalls, which was really fun to see in its own respect as well!

If there was a type of fresh fish or seafood that you were craving, the Tsukiji fish market had it…guaranteed! Also if sushi at 9am is your thing…the various stands squeezed between the fish stalls had you taken care of in that regard as well! The options were terrific, the people watching was amazing, and the smells were quite questionable, but overall, I loved this unique market. As I was starting to head out my stomach took over and decided it needed food like 2 hours ago, I wasn’t so keen on fish at 10am, but wasn’t sure what else to try. I spotted a lady stirring a large pot and figured I’d try what was inside…that’s when she pointed behind me and I saw a line at least 15 people deep waiting to eat at her stand {she literally had 5 chairs at her stand and people were eating elbow to elbow!} I figured it had to be good and hoped in line, still having NO idea what she was selling. I watched what people ahead of me were buying and when it was my turn did my signature “1 please” and sure enough, I always get 1 of the “house specialties”! It was a braised pork over rice and tasted pretty close to what I’m assuming Heaven tastes like if God decided to give it a flavor!

After the market I walked in the direction of a famous park in Tokyo, but instantly decided to not pay to go inside when the rain sprinkles turned into a light drizzle, so onwards and upwards! One of the last place I really wanted to check out was in an area called Shibuya. Many of the sites that I read about Tokyo on recommend this area and I figured it was worth a visit! Getting out of the subway station there is a 5 way intersection immediately in front of you, and this intersection is unreal. I have NEVER seen such a busy intersection in my life! As soon as the cars get a red light there are people coming and going from literally every direction filling the entire area in the blink of an eye. I just stood through several red lights watching everyone around me before I actually crossed the street!

I walked around this area for a bit picking up a couple of souvenirs along the way and stopping at a local curry joint for a late lunch before running into a pair of traveling girls {one from Australia & the other Germany} who had only met the day before as well. We stopped for some desert & drinks and enjoyed each other’s company for the afternoon until we parted ways.

The last place on my personal Tokyo list, and about the last my poor body could handle!, was to check out the geek/anime culture in the Harajuku District. Holy moly, was this area weird! Lol I loved it! There were people dressed up quite eccentrically, shops selling clothing that I never knew existed, and just overall “creatures” that you might have to look long and hard to find in the mid-west of the USA! But, here they were, all together, and all for my personal people watching enjoyment!

After Harakuju I went back to my hostel for a short nap (7pm naps are a thing…right?!) And then per the suggestion of the girls I had met earlier in the day, found an Okonomi restaurant near where I was staying. I was told it’s a traditional Japanese food and some people call it a Japanese pancake…I had nothing else, and boy was I in for a surprise! I ordered a pork Okonomi as it looked like that was a popular option and was then quickly worried when they turned a burner on on my table and presented me with a bowl of white mush, cabbage, a raw egg, and raw meat….ummm, is this my meal?! After a minute or two I caught a waitress’s eye, pointed at the slimy, raw bowl of food in front of me and shrugged my shoulders, she quickly caught on and came over to make my food for me! She mixed everything together into a questionable looking paste and tossed it on the griddle in a thick pancake like form. Later I went to check if I should flip it and another waitress quickly slapped my hand away! Haha…they have this covered now. Eventually my food was ready and as I am eating it yet another waitress comes over and takes it from it and starts covering it with a number of sauces from the table (I had been trying a new one with each bite!) and then hands me my food back. It may not have been the most flavorful food in my life, but the experience still makes me chuckle!

I went back to the red-light district for a bit to take in some more of its craziness, and then called my last night in Tokyo a wrap.

Wednesday, before flying home I packed my bags, grabbed some pork & rice for breakfast and headed back to Harakuju only to find that the shops weren’t open yet. I took that as my clue and headed to the train station, airport bound, and ready for one last week of teaching in Taiwan.

Tokyo Shrines & Day 2

Day 2 in Japan started out just a tad later than expected! Between being 1 hour ahead of Japan and having just finished touring mason around for 2 weeks I was pooped and no alarm was going to get me out of bed as early as intended! {now in my defense though I was up, dressed and grabbing breakfast by 9am!} 

I'm not sure what a typical Japanese breakfast consists of, but when I woke up Monday morning I was starving and walked in the first place that was open with a decent amount of customers inside. Now, Japan LOVES vending machines, and many of the restaurants are no different. In this one you walk in and use a small machine to select and pay for your order, afterwards you sit down and hand your receipt to a waitress who uses it to order your food from the kitchen and then bring it to you. Odd for me, but benefits for them is they don't need many staff working and the menus are in multiple languages! I decided on a fried pork loin and rice as it looked like a common dish others were eating! 

After breakfast I began walking and stumbled upon a small shrine with several torii gates leading to it. Of course I had to stop and investigate for a bit before continuing on my way! Again today I skipped the JR trains as much as possible and often found myself stepping into intriguing shops and markets along the way!

Finally I was almost to my destination when I realized that directly across the street was the famous Ameyoko shopping street. I stopped on by with no intentions of buying anything really and made it a whole 5 feet before  I stumbled upon a used kimono shop (umm hello Tracy paradise!) and couldn't possibly resist buying myself a beautiful blue & purple kimono! I excitedly took my purchase and continued on taking in the sights and sounds (and let's be honest some snacks as well) before heading back in my original direction of Ueno Park. Sadly, in my opinion, the park was nothing extraordinary, maybe if you were wanting to check out the several museums they had there it might have been more eventful, but nonetheless I took a stroll through the park, checked out a shrine and a Hiroshima Memorial before heading back out.  

My next stop, and quite a hike later!, was the Seno-ji Temple and goodness was it beautiful! The shrine itself was huge compared to the others I had seen in Tokyo and it also had a pagoda near it and an archway at the entrance with one of the biggest paper lanterns I have ever seen! Much like the shrine yesterday, you cannot enter the main portion of this temple, but rather bow & clap your hands several times before tossing several coins into a trough and sending your prayers to the gods. This area was definitely a tourist attraction as there were hundreds of people scattered about, but between the gorgeous views and prime people watching opportunities, I was as happy as could be!!

Before leaving the area, they had several stations to retrieve your fortune. You chose a metal tin (think a heavy Pringles can!) and shook it around until a small numbered stick came out the single hole in the tin. You then matched your number up with a drawer that provided your fortune. I'm supposed to lose something, be late, catch a disease and I don't know what all else! Luckily there were instructions to tie your unlucky fortunes to a pole and not take them with you...I happily obliged! 

Next on my list, and what I had been catching glimpses of all day through the trees, was the Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sly Tree is the tallest structure in Tokyo standing at 2,080 feet high and is primarily used as a broadcasting tower though there is also a restaurant and observation deck inside as well. The first observation that I stopped at is a little over halfway up the tower and includes stunning views of the city below, including a section with a glass floor allowing you to see the ground some 1,000 feet below you! Unfortunately it was just cloudy enough the day I went that I wasn't able to see Mount Fuji {motivation to visit Japan again!}

After the sky tree I stopped at CoCo CurryHouse for dinner after a recommendation from a friend before heading back to the hostel and crashing hard for a late afternoon nap!

After my lovely power nap I decided to explore the Shinjuku area near my hostel, only to discover that the largest red light district in Tokyo was a short 10 minute walk from my hostel! {lesson learned} needless to say I was able to walk around and people watch for several hours before it was time to head in for the night in preparation for Tokyo day 3!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Taiwan Grocery Store Part 2}

Several weeks ago you may remember my food post all about the unique veggies typically found in Taiwan. Today I'm finishing that mini-series with a followup post about the fruits found here in Taiwan. Sadly I will be honest and say this post is not entirely complete as the fruits available here have varied wildly with the season, but if you look back on older posts you can read more about the persimmons, jujube and wax apples that were much more common in the late summer months.

{Lychee - This is a funky little fruit! It is the size maybe of a walnut and has a hard type exterior that you can use your nail to break and easily peel off of the flesh inside. The inside resembles in both look and texture that of a naked/skinless grape with a hard seed inside. This fruit is quite sweet and in Taiwan is called a dragon eye because once peeled it closely resembles an eye with the black seed inside!}

{Dragon Fruit - Ooh, I love this stuff! The inside is that of a soft kiwi texture and is either bright pink/red like the outside or white; both with many eatable black seeds inside. The fruit is mildly sweet without much of a distinct taste, but it's super juicy and great in the hot weather!}

{Durian - Also commonly known as the stinky fruit! Never before in my life have I seen signs saying that a specific fruit isn't allowed in certain train stations or other public establishments before I met dear durian. I have yet to actually try this fresh as I've never heard anything good out this spiky fruit, but I've had flavored treats and dried pieces of the fruit and those were enough to tell me to stay away!}

{Winter Melon – Holy moly, this has to be the mother of all fruits! These suckers are GIANT! Though I’ve also never had these raw, I don’t think they are popular to eat raw but rather to cook into soups or as side dishes to other meals. In my opinion it more closely resembles the flavor of a vegetable like cucumber or squash, but it’s not bad!}

Bonus videos! Check out these short video clips below that I took inside one of my local grocery stores. 

Tokyo Disneyland

Oh Mickey Mouse! I've been obsessed since I was a kid and just the thought of possibly seeing him in a kimono makes my inner 6 year-old self unnaturally excited. There wasn't even a question as to whether or not I was going to Tokyo Disneyland, just rather when and how!

Because I was traveling through Tokyo solo and in order to help save both precious time in Japan as well as money, I opted for a weekend Starlight pass that allowed me in the gates from 3pm until closing (7 hours should be more than enough time to get a couple Mickey pictures!) The other great thing about my starlight pass was that I was able to tour around Tokyo for a while in the morning before heading to the parks!

Getting to the parks took a little bit of time but was quite easy thanks to the lovely subway (or JR train as they call it) throughout the city. I got off at the Disney stop though and thought I would cry. It looked like it was going to start raining. {lucky for me God must be a Mickey fan as well because he quickly cleared the skies up for me!!}

It was a little daunting to walk into an unknown amusement park alone for the day not knowing where to go first, but I did what any good westerner would do and promptly began following a group of girls in kimonos haha! I quickly discovered that Japan was preparing for the holiday of Tanabata which from what I can tell is some type of holiday for lovers and sending their wishes to the gods? (I may or may not have totally butchered that so please don't take my word for it!!) {ok update...I was finally able to google this stinker! There were 2 gods in the sky separated by the milky way and they are only allowed to see each other on the 7th day of the 7th month bringing about the Tanabata Festival...there we all learned something today!}

Anyways, for me this entailed seeing tons of people of all ages dressed in their holiday kimonos while walking through the parks, as well as Disney having a large set up under the World Bazaar when you entered the parks to put your wishes on Mickey shaped papers and tie them to a tree so they could be sent to the heavens. {also this means they have a special parade with Mickey and Minnie in the traditional holiday garments that Tracy missed by 20 minutes when she got to the park....grrr is all I can say}

To commentate my time in the park I wanted to purchase something uniquely Tokyo Disney, but surprisingly their stock in nontraditional Disney items is quite limited. I settled on a small bag to use for traveling that has my dear Mickey dressed from head to toe in traditional Japanese clothing!

The layout of the park was pretty similar to Disney World in Florida with Cinderella's castle in the center and 5 different themed lands surrounding it. In acuity many of the rides were the same as well though Tokyo did get a couple that were unique to them, and of course I saw Mickey, watched the light parade at night, rode on Dumbo, the tea cups, watched the firework show and everything else that makes Disney Disney!

One of the exciting parts for me was realizing the big "thing" for Tokyo Disney. I'm Florida people love to buy and collect pins. In Japan people love to buy and collect popcorn containers and the rotating flavors of popcorn they offer. POPCORN and MICKEY MOUSE?!?! My life was pretty complete. I looked over the list of the flavors available that day and marched around the park until I found someone selling a fresh batch of Soy Sauce & Butter popcorn...to say it was unique is an understatement!! 

I was in the last wave of 2 of people to mosey out of the park around 10:45 and though beyond exhausted I was happy! Oh so happy! Thank you Tokyo for an amazing first day!