Miss M.E. in Japan

Genki JACS Karaoke

2009-10-25T15:11:00.008+09:00

On my last day of school at Genki JACS, we went to karaoke.

Take a look at my "interesting" teachers and classmates...

Rie Sensei & Me

Me, Tinks, & Natsuko Sensei

Cross play...
Omoshiroi...
Crazy people :)

Hou Nalu Hawaiian Restaurant

2009-10-22T23:15:00.019+09:00

So my friends and I went to a Hawaiian restaurant in Daimyo the other night. It was pretty good. We ate everything on the menu! &The garlic shrimp was definitely the best, I must say. Although I didn't get photos of all the food, here are some...

P.O.G. OpihiHawaiian Caesar Salad
Chef's Salmon Salad
Spam Musubi (with cheese &stuff)
Spam Musubi

Hawaiian French Toast Haupia Parfait

Okonomiyaki

2009-10-20T02:04:00.008+09:00

I've been eating A LOT of Japanese food and I decided stop being so greedy and start sharing them with you all :)

First on the list is okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese "pizza" containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like," and yaki meaning "cooked". Okonomiyaki is available throughout the Japan, but the toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

What's in it, you ask? Well I'll tell you!

Normally okonomiyaki contains flour, water, eggs, cabbage, green onion, tempura flakes, thin strips pork or beef but... You can put "whatever you like!" (I like mine with shrimp, cheese, and asparagus.)

Lastly, okonomiyaki is topped off with some ao nori (seaweed), tonkatsu sauce, and mayonaise!

Oishii yo!

Lantern Walk

2009-10-19T22:49:00.036+09:00

This weekend a bunch of students went on a lantern walk in Fukuoka. We ventured to different shrines, displaying various types of lanterns. It was really pretty. Take a look!

Kushida shrine

Huge traditonal sculpture, carried during matsuri and parades.

With very intricate, life-like designs.

Preparing the lanterns...

The view from up top...
All lanterns.

Walking to the next shrine...

A big, scary (but very cool) statue.

Another shrine

More lanterns

Genki JACS and FCC collab.

Yatai! Oishii sou...

My new ojiichan!
He made my day. Look at that smile!

Yatai ramen

&myyy dinner... SALMON :)

Sushi Party

2009-10-18T03:33:00.012+09:00

We love sushi!

On Friday, we had a party at my school and we got to make our own sushi. There were lots of different ingredients such as, nori & rice (of course), lettuce, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, beans, egg, cheese, tuna, salmon, squid, and more... It was lots of fun and oishikatta!

My first sushi!

Itadakimasu!

Joshua seems to like his sushi :)

New... New Camera

2009-10-15T21:22:00.004+09:00

hey, everyone. i haven't been updating my blog because my camera got stolen! my NEW camera got stolen at the club on my bday... FML. so i have no pics to show for my birthday until HITOMI sends some to me. but... my awesome friend helped me get a NEW new camera, sooo... i will be posting new pictures very soon. keep clickin!

p.s. thanks for all the bday wishes :)

Fukuoka Sunset

2009-10-07T18:07:00.005+09:00

As I look out from my balcony, I think...

"The sun is setting.
It's beauuutiful...
Ugh! I dont wanna go home...
All the drama, tears, pain, &fears...
The thought alone is nerve wrecking.
Well, tomorrow's my birthday...
That's good, I guess...
I dont feel older...
I definitely feel wiser after all that happened this year.
Oh snap!
A typhoon's hitting the city tomorrow.
I wonder if I'll get blown away...
No I wont...
I'm too fat.
I gained sooo much weight here..."

There's a knock at the door that disturbs my train of thought.

Japanese Charms and Straps

2009-10-04T22:51:00.011+09:00

In Japan, people like to collect these charms and straps. There are SO many different kinds of straps with different characters, from different places, doing different things... I think these charms and straps are a good way of expressing one's interests and personalities... but that's jsut me. I am really into these these and have been collecting them for a while. Here is my Fukuoka collection :)

Edamame (soybean) Mameshiba
These animated beans talk and tell you very disturbing information.

Japanese gold

A man oogling over his Hakata mentai ko (cod roe).

A drunk salary man crying with his bottle of sake :)

A drunk salary man puking into a toilet :D

Nakasu Matsuri

2009-10-04T22:02:00.024+09:00

This weekend we went to Nakasu, also known as the "red-light" district. There, there was a matsuri (festival) where the hosts and hostesses from the area have food and craft booths and march in a traditional Japanese parade. There were also performances of singing, dancing, and taiko (drumming).

Oh, Nakasu.

Taiko drumming.

Girls chanting on the female-carried float.

More girls and more marching.

All the people!

The dancers.

They were the best :)

Kids pushing a float.

Tako yaki.

Just a cat on an ice cream cart :)

The view from Nakasu.

Tenjin Central Park.

Tenjin Central Park

2009-10-04T06:49:00.003+09:00

We went to this park to relax after an eventful matsuri.

Just Another Night of Clubbin

2009-10-03T16:32:00.006+09:00

Last night was just another one of those clubbin nights. We went to Fubar, then tried to get into Infinity, but got rejected cus I was wearing slippers... or as they called them, beach sandals. I was thinking... "You'd get punched if you were in Hawaii and rejected someone for wearing slippers... That's all we wear!" Gaaah!

&Then there's the sake bomb. Sake bomb (sak'e baum) n. a drink made by pouring sake into a shot glass and dropping it into a glass of beer. Sometimes two chopsticks are placed parallel on top of the glass of beer, and the shot glass is balanced carefully between them. The drinker then slams the table with two balled fists and the sake drops into the beer. It is to be consumed immediately, and works best with warm sake. The Sake bomb is an entirely American concept and has been gaining popularity since its invention in college. - Wikipedia

Happy Birthday, Natsuko Sensei!

2009-09-30T19:32:00.015+09:00

Today was my teacher's birthday, so I bought her flowers and drew her a picture. Flowers are so cheap here! $3.00 for this bouquet...

&This is for my mama!

this week

2009-09-20T14:11:00.025+09:00

this week was a long week... did a lot of studying, a lot of eating, &a lot of clubbin! i made a new youtube account for those who want to see videos of me and my adventures in japan. my youtube name is wheremybabymamaat. :D im working on a new "project," having japanese people say, "where my baby mama at?!" it hilarious! it all started when the owner of my school's daughter was pushing a toy stroller around with 2black babies in it. hitomi and i were like, "wtf?! why does she have black babies?" then juno (the baby) gave us a stare and i was like, "look! she's walkin around like 'where my baby daddy at?" and we thought it was hilarious... so now im asking my new friends to say "where my baby mama at?!" :) well here's the pics from this weeks events...

my new spider man socks &color accents :)

my favorite restaurant in ijiiri, donburiko. i'll have my usual, oyakoudon. 105 yen sushi... can't get any better than that! my favorite sushi of all time, aburi salmon. midnight adventures, taking pics in the middle of the train tracks... getting trapped in the middle of the trin tracks :D
unexpected midnight takoyaki.

pregame food, the infamous yatai ramen.

oishikatta!

fubar!

my new friend, tinks.

anti-freeze.

club infinity.

i got my drink &my 2-step, my drink &my 2-step! good okonomiyaki, cute teachers, fun times!

okonomiyaki.

juno-chan!

"where my baby daddy at?!" :D

bye, hiroshi-san! :(

happy bday, jody &kenta!

2009-09-14T03:24:00.006+09:00

happy birthday, jody &dj!

last night we celebrated 2bdays at the infamous fubar! it was a maquerade party &we partied til 6in the mornin! what a nite... now lemme show you how we do it in japan!

hakozaki festival

2009-09-13T23:25:00.016+09:00

konnichiwa. i haven't updated in a while because my camera wasn't working properly. but i bought a new one. now i have a canon ixy that takes aweome pics. this week i went to a traditional noh play inside scoop experience, but i don't have any pics to show for it... still waiting on hitomi to send them to me! other than that, this weekend we went to a festival in hakozaki &it was honto ni omoshirokatta. there were haunted houses, tons of masks, inflatables, gold fish and turtle catching, beetles, and lots of intersting foods. take a look...

p.s. zilla &zit died... possibly due to heat exaustion :(

i'm on japanese television!

2009-09-03T17:08:00.000+09:00

so remember i said i was interviewed on japanese television... well heres a clip. it was hounto ni embarassing... hounto ni! gah! i looke like a fool... but my friends are in it too so that was a relief towards the end... take a look.

ohori koen

2009-09-01T21:08:00.000+09:00

today was definitely a success! high five, hitomi san! my friend hitomi and i have been planning fun activities because these past 2weeks have been pretty lame (especially now that most of our friends are gone). sooo today we planned on picnicking at a park called ohori koen. it was a huge success! fun-day number 1... see pics and video below! enjoy!

picnicking in the park...

the view from up top.

genki da yo!

lots of turtles in the lake!

swan boats! hehehe...

ready...

alex: "i want to go! it can fit 4ppl. lets go!"

hitomi: "no! no! no! get ur own boat..."

alex: "no, no. but it can fit 4ppl..."

hitomi: "no it cant, just go get ur own boat..."

alex: "yeah it can. we can all fit."

hitomi: "its only sen-yen! c'mon... u guys can split one!"

alex: "yeah, but it can can fit 4ppl. we can all fit!"

mandy: "ee, futari dake ne..."

boat-hito: "hai. 2 paaah-sen."

mandy: "hai! rules desu ne..."

hitomi: "hai! hai! hai! futari dake! thats the rule! lets go!"

YOSH!

&we drifted far, far away...

&crashed into these posts (thank god!)

&this is what it looked like by the time we got back to shore :)

enjoy our SWAN boat ride with us...

i havent really watched or listened to myself before so... pardon my ugly man-voice... i hope i dont normally sound like that :(

this whole activity was pretty ridiculous... so ridiculous that i love it!

zilla documentary

2009-08-31T20:54:00.003+09:00

here is zilla eating...

or sleeping...

in her food...

i think shes drowning...

she does this quite often...

idk why...

choto hen ne...

i`m on japanese tv!

2009-08-31T15:53:00.000+09:00

today was interesting... after school, i was interviewed by a japanese tv host for a show called mentai wide. hounto ni muzukashikute omoshirokata desu! aaah! he was asking me all these questions in japanese &i was so lost. i was like nani... what?! gah! then he asked me to open my purse to see whats inside... &the first thing he pulls out is a picture of my ex boyfriend! gah! &whats even more worse was, he asked me to send a msg out to him! i had to say i love u &stuff! gah! it was horrible! then he showed the pictures of my girls... what a relief... lei, weezy, nikki, tanya... ur on japanese television! ill try to get a copy and bring it home for all of u to see :) aaah what a day... i also made a hair appointment by phone, in japanese, all by myself! whoo! benkyoushimashita kara ne... mai nichi ganbarimasu :) so thats that. cant wait to see the tv program &share it with all of u... jaa mata ne!

cross over party

2009-08-29T23:08:00.000+09:00

tonight i went to an international event at hakata bayside place. there were lots of different food &entertainment. it was honto ni tanoshiikata desu! here are some pics.

the view from bayside place

me & my friends with the belly dancers.

the entertainment was awesome!

funny game show

2009-08-27T14:48:00.000+09:00

yoshio kojima (famous japanese comedian known for wearing just a speedo) plays a game with others... the best part is toward the end :)

kabuto-mushi hunt

2009-08-26T22:07:00.000+09:00

hello from japan! took this pic this morning. new outfit, you like? :)

anyway, today was definitely an adventure... ever since i got to japan, ive been longing for a kabuto-mushi, also known as "helmet beetle." i've been told that they live in sap trees mostly in the mountains &can only be found in the summer, after dark. i've been looking at parks &pet shops because you can find them there, too. but no luck... until today that is... i dedicated my day to finding a kabuto-mushi! i was dedicated to find one. i went to a bunch of parks &shook a bunch of trees... but i only found a really small one at a park... &thats not what i wanted. i wanted the monsterous ones &once again, i failed buuut... at the end of the day, i went to toys r' us &they had 2big boys left! the only thing was... that they were 790 yen (about $8.50) each! &like a fool, i bought one... but i really wanted one from the start, &honestly... i don't think i would've been able to catch one at a park. its way harder than i thought :( so thats the $8 beetle &the tiny one i found, too. i think i'm naming the big one zilla and the small one zit... still tryna figure out what to do with them when i leave, too...

1st blog

2009-08-26T00:03:00.000+09:00

hey all! it's mandy e... (hence the M.E.) right... yeah, so this is my first blog (obviously) &i created it because it seemed like a good idea now that im traveling, meeting new people, &trying new things. i wanted something to remember these moments by &be able to share them with my friends along the way... cut me some slack. i haven't written an actual blog before (is written the right verb to use in this sentence?) so, anyway... im currently single (long, complicated, unhappy story) &studying in fukuoka, japan... yeah... i'm here because i wasn't doing much with my life back home in hawai'i, &i must say i'm doing a bit better now. yeah, so from now on i'll be sharing with you my everyday life experiences &taking you along with me on my new life-long journey (or at least as long as i make it). so enjoy! ya'll come back now, ya hurr!

love, ME