6 months off

It's in the triple digits here in Portland. A little strange for this area. So far it's been mostly Simpsons-clouds and blue skies, but I guess occasionally (everyone here attributes it to global warming) it gets pretty hot. With no a/c in the house, I'm glad to be sitting in class! Although, it definitely could be worse. Like Texas heat. Currently, July 18th, it is nice and no more than 85 degrees so far this week. Just about perfect! So this will be my last entry for the meantime as I guess I'll be here for some time (and no, Mr. C- even though I don't know what I'm looking for I may have found it here, so the traveling and rambling will come to an end. but no worries, i have plans for more to ... read more

After packing and unpacking and packing some more, I have finally started my short time off to get to Portland. Ideally it would have been great to take my time across the Southwestern portion of these United States, but I stopped all of 6 hours or so the entire time through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Mostly only because I had to find toilet facilities. I can't decide if it was because I was determined not to get dehydrated along the way or if it's signs of getting older. Sigh. It was definitely strange to have to stop at a gas station more often for myself than my car.... So there are a couple of pictures from along the way. I decided to go the US 40 route, the old Route 66, rather than the US ... read more

of Canada is, as promised, beautiful. In many places, words do no justice. It rivals with places elsewhere, say, New Zealand, its commonwealth buddy. And in many cases, I was feeling a bit annoyed as it was so alike to New Zealand and the mountains so enormous and great like Nepal. Why did I lug kilos around on my back around these countries, when I could have simply hopped over the northwestern border and toured around in a comfy car in an eighth of the time!?!?! Fortunately though, not the same experience and definitely not the same people. Actually, very few people were meandering around western Canada as it is still not the great summer season. Anyhow, I hope the pictures do some justice. Well for every where I suppose. Now, I'm back in sunny L.A. ... read more

Wow...what can I say? The cherry blossoms are really spectacular! No matter how many temples, parks, shrines, castles, and gardens I go to, the cherry blossoms never cease to amaze me. I took tons and tons of pictures, so I hope you enjoy them. As for the rest of Japan, most of the time I'm lost and confused. Thankfully there are tons of maps and brochures available. Sometimes that seems to only add to the disorientation, but in any case, I guess it's no more difficult than any other place. There is however, a huge amount of sensory overload...the neon lights, the constant noises, the smells, the crowds.... which I think is throwing me off more than anything else. The one thing that is not new is the Japanese tour bus. These buses are everywhere, here ... read more

sorry to be so brief on this, but these are some pictures from fiji. it was really great there...but i did get back to the states with some strange things i picked up along the way on the islands. needless to say, i may not go back because of those little buggers, but for the most part, i had an amazing time there! i spent about 5 days on a pearl farm hanging out with nusqe, the manager and lamanie and grommet the two pit bulls. hope you enjoy the pics :)... read more