Vancouver Aquarium

"Hello, my friends."

A world class aquarium, located in a beautiful  park in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What more could you ask for?

Jelly fish, starfish, sea horses, sea urchins. They've got it all. 

We budgeted only one hour and a half for the Vancouver  Aquarium and gosh that was a mistake. 

With dolphin shows every hour, penguin and sea otter habitats, and endless tanks of fish, you want at least two hours to cover everything. 

One of the things I loved most about this aquarium was the spacious outdoor-indoor layout. Although we went on a Sunday and it was busy, I never felt overwhelmed with crowds, like I did in Osaka. The facilities were very well maintained and not all the exhibits were geared towards children. 

I wish I had taken more photographs of the building and facilities, but  I was so excited about the sea animals that I couldn't stop photographing them! 

Now, the only downside to the whole experience is that driving in and out of Stanley Park is a huge pain, but seeing as how I live only six hours away, I will definitely go again!

starfish colony

jellyfish from all over the world

this bird was super loud

Photo Diary: Best of Munich

Hawaii Instagram Diary

Photo Diary: Best of Berlin

Journey to Izumo: The Taisha

We have arrived

The journey to Japan's oldest and most famous shrine  actually began in 2009, when I was enrolled in a college course on Japanese culture. My professor was a Japanese woman with an exceedingly rare 5-syllable family name. She also grew up in Shimane prefecture, a place she described as being so rural that even some Japanese people can't find it on a map. "Eh? Shimane ken?"

I had a similar experience when I went to Ehime-ken (prefecture) on the island of Shikoku. No Japanese friend of mine could seem to say the word "Ehime" without adding a question mark to the end of it.

Anyway, back to Izumo. So, my professor described growing up in the lovely and rural Shimane prefecture which lines the northwest coast on Honshu (the main island), just opposite the more famous Hiroshima prefecture (which contains, not surprisingly, Hiroshima city). Shimane, despite being so very close to one of the most famous regions of Japan, is surprisingly lacking of tourists, both foreign and Japanese. I saw not one non-Asian person in all of my time in Shimane...which was only three days but hey.

a pond at the Taisha

So this professor of mine, wih the 5-syllable family name, apparently grew up in this little-known town called Izumo. One day in class, she casually mentioned a small detail about her home town, and this little speech marks the exact moment of the start of my journey.

Izumo city is home to the Izumo Taisha, one of the oldest shrine's in  Japan. All shinto shrines in Japan house a god. The gods all have designations, like god of war, god of the sea, god of wisdom, etc. 

The god at Izumo Taisha happens to be the god of marriage.

For this reason, many people, both single and newly married, make the pilgrimage to Izumo to wish for a partner and successful marriage. 

Hand washing before entering the shrine

The other interesting thing about Izumo Taisha is that it is the host of the annual god-conference.

That's right, a god-conference. 
That's when all the gods  in Japan leave their home shrines and take a business trip to Izumo, where they stay for a number of days and have their yearly meeting.

This time was known as Kannazuki, "the month without gods," in the ancient Japanese calendar, which falls approximately at the time of late October/early November.

Interestingly enough, in Izumo this same month is not known as Kannazuki, but Kamiarizuki, "the month when gods are present."

When I heard this story I made up my mind that I would go to Izumo during Kamiarizuki.

I wanted to make the pilgrimage to wish for love in the presence of 8 millions gods.

I wanted all the gods to hear my wish.

I wore my leather jacket for the gods that day

 

Now, I'm not a superstitious woman, but I figured that if I hedge my bets right something good is bound to happen.

Let's say the god at Izumo is too busy to deal with my wish, well, I just sent the request to 8 million of his buddies, so someone has got to come through.

people take turns making their wishes

Some interesting facts about Shinto shrines:

At most shinto shrines, it is customary for one to step up in front of the shrine, (throw in a bit of money), and clap twice to awaken the god(s).

At Izumo, a person must clap four times, instead of twice.

Two times for oneself.

Two times for one's current or future partner.

Also, when you approach the shrine itself, don't expect to see some ornate sculpture or elaborate image of the god (-that's Taoism). At a Shinto shrine you are greeted only with the image of an opaque bamboo screen. The god is supposedly on the other side of the screen, but you can't see him. Instead, you are supposed to envision whatever you envision. It is meant to be a personal interpretation of the god. You decide what is on the other side of the screen.

Shrine attendant sneaks into a back entrance

At shrines you can also pay a small amount of money to receive an Omikuji, or fortune. If the fortune is good, you keep it and take it with you. If the fortune is bad, you tie it to a fence or tree, and leave it in the shrine.

Although I read Japanese, I had a lot of difficulty interpreting my fortune. This can mean that either the Omikuji is written in an eloquant but abstract way, or that I'm just a little dumb.

After reading it, (and thinking it was bad), I asked one of the shrine attendants  to confirm if it was bad. She said it was, so I tied it to the fence

my omikuji

one of those is mine

The final part of the process, after making your offering to the gods, and receiving your omikuji, is to make your ema, which is your wish. The ema are small wooden plaques that you buy and then promptly leave at the shrine, never to see again. This is the way the gods receive your message.

I bought the ema for good marriage, and I wrote a bilingual wish on it, in Japanese and English. Japanese because the gods are Japanese, and English because my Japanese sucks.  

After I hung up my ema some people people came to look at it and said they never saw a bilingual ema before. 

They also said they didn't think the gods spoke English. 

I told them that surely the gods know English, because you can't underestimate the gods' ability to adapt to the fast-paced changes of globalization.

Except that I don't know how to say any of that in Japanese.

So I smiled and nodded. 

the marriage ema

my bilingual wish

From a classroom in Portland to the coast of Honshu, if it was not for a certain professor and her life story, I would never have even thought to visit the Izumo Taisha. Funny how things happen like that. The circumstances made this trip so much more special than if I had just picked the destination out of a travel book.

Let's conclude with a recap from start to finish:

1. Plane ride from Portland to Tokyo: 
1. 11 hours
2. no cost (I had frequent flier miles, but otherwise about $1,000)
2. Overnight train ride from Tokyo to Izumo city: 
1. 12 hours
2. no cost (I used a JR Rail pass, but otherwise about $130)
3. Trolley from Izumo city to Izumo Taisha-mae station: 
1. 20 minutes
2. about $5
4. Walk from Izumo Taisha-mae station to Izumo Taisha: 
1. 15 minutes
2. no cost (unless you buy the sweet kinako mochi form the old couple on the street - $3) 
5. Getting to make my marriage wish in front of 8 million gods. 
1. Totally. Fucking. Worth. It. 

Thoughts on Solo Female Travel

Recently we lost one of our countrymen, and a fellow female traveler. Sarai Sierra, a New Yorker, and married mother of two, was found dead today in Istanbul. She had traveled alone to Istanbul to take photographs, and went missing the day she was expected to return home. You can read more about Sarai's case here, so I won't use this platform to do what journalists do best. 

Instead, I wanted to take this opportunity to say my condolences, and to publicly discuss the issue, or non-issue, of women traveling alone. 

This case really hits home for me. I did not know this woman personally, but as a young woman who often travels alone, I can say that this is every female traveler's worst nightmare. I would be lying if I said that the nightmare  doesn't creep into my mind down every dark alley, be it Hong Kong or Honolulu, no matter how far I travel I am never completely free from fear.  How I wish we women could wonder the world as carefree as our male counterparts. Staying at hostels, meeting strangers at bars, sleeping on the street until sunrise, train hopping in the middle of the night. Don't get me wrong; female travelers are doing these things all the time. I've done all of these things too. I haven't been foolish. I haven't been careless. But I also haven't been unlucky. 

As a fellow female traveler I feel obligated to speak out against the onslaught of speculators, who blame this woman for her death.  Such comments include, "Why would a woman travel to Turkey alone?", "How could her husband let her go there by herself?", "Its not surprising they found her dead...a lone woman traveling in a woman hostile Muslim country."

It disgusts me that women seem to take all the blame for their misfortunes. We can't forget this past election year, when politicians blamed women for being raped, blamed women for getting pregnant, blamed women for being single mothers, and now my fellow Americans are blaming women for getting murdered. 

First, I will tread on this topic lightly. The tragedy that befell this women is not to be exploited on this blog or elsewhere. Also, the circumstances of her death are presently unclear, with the murderer and motive still a mystery. 

My message is a message for those of us who are still living, who are still traveling, and who plan to continue living and traveling safely as long as we possibly can. 

Our ancestors worked hard to make this world a safer and freer place for women, and their sacrifices should not be forgotten.  We live in an age in which women enjoy unprecedented freedom. But freedom comes at a price. Many women suffered before laws were enacted that could have protected them. 

Now is not the time to be afraid, now is the time to be thankful.

To my fellow women I say, don't give up. Don't stay inside your homes, afraid of the world that lies beyond your street corner, and on the other side of the earth. Don't blame Turkey, don't blame Muslims, don't blame the "others" for all the misfortune in the world. But most of all, don't blame our brave sister Sarai. 

To my fellow women I say, keep traveling, keep taking risks, keep surprising the people around you with boldness and brilliance. The world will be a safer place for our daughters as long as you do so. And above all be thankful. Be thankful everyday.

Caribou Coffee: The airports of the Midwest

Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

Here I have been back from the Midwest for months now, and  I forgot to write about Caribou! 

About 2 years ago I was sent to Minneapolis on a business trip. That whole week ranks as one of the worst in my entire life. Everything about that trip was eerily off base. At every restaurant my order came out wrong. I was mistaken for someone else at least once a day. I kept confusing the dates, times, and locations of meetings. Anyways, everything sucked about that trip but one thing: Caribou Coffee. 

Living on the west coast, I had never heard of this small Midwestern coffee chain until coming to Minneapolis 2 years ago. After trying the Vanilla White Chocolate Mocha I had to sneak out between meetings twice a day to get more Caribou!

I was so happy when I had a layover in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and I got to have Caribou once more! 

Let me tell you, this Mocha was so good that my food blogger friend even blogged about it.

Vanilla White Chocolate Mocha

I also got to visit Caribou in Chicago O'Hare!

The seasonal Pumpkin Spice mocha

Getting used to winter

Coat: Zara

Skirt: Vintage

Bag: Vintage

Booties: Target

Applying for my first Tourist Visa

Recently I have discovered something more stressful than buying international plane tickets, more stressful than packing for a three-week trip, more stressful than reserving hotel rooms and squeezing a three-week itinerary into three days….

Applying for a tourist visa.

As a U.S. citizen I now fully realize how lucky I am to be able to visit dozens of countries without applying for a tourist visa in advance,  because the visa application process sucks. 

Now I know how much work my friends from China and India have to deal with all the time. Being at the mercy of a foreign embassy is an anxiety-inducing waiting game.

It is also surprising to me that I have traveled my whole life without ever having to apply for a tourist visa until now. It’s true, I have been able to just show up at every country I have visited. Although I did have two scares: once when I passed through London Heathrow on my way to Prague, a British Airways employee looked at my ticket and said, “Don’t you need a visa to go to the Czech Republic?” And after I just about fainted, he said, “Oh wait, never mind.”

Another time I was talking with an airport employee in Tokyo Narita, who was certain I needed a visa to go to Taiwan. Apparently this was true at one point, but more recently U.S. citizens can travel to Taiwan for 30 days without a visa, so I made it there after all.

No way around it this time. I’ve got to apply for a tourist visa.

And where am I going?

Pakistan.

Why? Well, I’ll get into that another time, but I will be attending the wedding of two good friends. God willing.

So what’s the problem? Why am I stressing out over this? Well, besides this being the first time in my life that I’ve had to apply for a visa, this application process is just slightly less rigorous than applying to grad school.

I submitted no fewer than the following items to the Consulate General of Pakistan:

1. Complete visa application plus one copy
2. Four photographs
3. My original passport
4. A check for $120
5. A copy of my driver’s license
6. An invitation letter from my friend’s father
7. A copy of the wedding invitation
8. A copy of my friend’s father’s Pakistani ID and passport
9. Employment verification letter
10. A letter from my supervisor stating that I have been approved for leave
11. A copy of my resume
12. A recent bank statement

Whew! Glad to be done with that. 

Wish me luck!