Washington, DC - and beyond!

Location: The embassies of Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Chad, Haiti, Peru, Bahamas, Australia, Kazakhstan, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, and Japan in Washington, DC, USA

Visited: May 2012

When a friend invited me to the Around the World Embassy Tour, I knew I couldn't resist. The best one, in terms of scenery, was Indonesia, but the best in terms of free stuff was Kazakhstan. I learned a lot and had a really great time. Highly recommended, but don't expect to be able to visit every embassy in a single day - there's way too much to see. Maybe I'll check out the EU embassy tour next year.

Osaka, Japan

Location: Osaka, Japan
Visited: March 2010

We spent our one night in Osaka in a capsule hotel. It wasn't nearly as claustrophobic as I'd feared, though the fact that the bathroom (showers), lavatory (sinks), and toilets (commodes) were three separate rooms kind of confused me at first. BookOff is a chain of largish bookstores, and the white page of Japanese writing to the right of that is my fortune I got at one of the shrines. The (American) friend we were with said it was just okay, not great and not bad either - but she didn't actually translate it word for word, unfortunately. That's okay. It's still pretty.

Japanese Noms

Location: Japan
Visited: March 2010

Foods! One of the best parts of our trip to Japan was the constant availability of interesting snack foods. From amazing ramen to fresh taiyaki to bento boxes to a zillion flavors of Kit Kats, our palettes were never bored. So tasty!

Osaka, Japan

Location: Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Osaka, Japan
Visited: March 2010

This is one of several pages devoted to the aquarium in my journal. I kept nearly the entire pamphlet due to the awkwardly translated English, such as "Please enjoy playful sea otters being popular among children." Maybe it makes me a bad person to laugh, since I can speak all of about three words of Japanese, but it still entertains me.

Tokyo, Japan

Location: Sanrio Puroland, Tama City, Tokyo, Japan
Visited: March 2010

Sanrio Puroland was absolutely hilarious. I felt like I was five years old again. My husband was more than a little bit creeped out, but he enjoyed watching me have fun. As an added bonus, since it was my birth month, I got a birthday card from Hello Kitty. It folds out, and let me tell you, I am always ridiculously pleased with myself when I have a fold-out on a page.

Tokyo, Japan

Location: Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan
Visited: March 2010

I cannot say enough good things about the Ghibli Museum. You weren't allowed to take photographs inside, so these pages (and the postcards we purchased) are literally the only images I have of the place. As longtime fans of animation in general and Miyazaki in particular, my husband and I knew we absolutely could not skip this one. And it ended up being quite probably our favorite stop on the entire trip.

Tokyo, Japan

Location: Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Date: April 2010

Because he is a deeply disturbed man, my darling husband was quite interested to visit the only parasite museum in the world during our trip to Japan. He was especially keen to see the 28-foot tapeworm (the white thing with the blue background). The place turned out to be quite tiny - the interior photos shown here, including the gift shop, are all in one moderately size room - but completely unforgettable. The stamp in the upper right corner was one of many collectible stamps we came across at assorted attractions and train stations.

Osaka, Japan

Location: Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan
Visited: March 2010

Some trips will require multiple posts. When my husband and I vacationed in Japan last year, I brought a special journal just for that trip, which I started my writing in, then pasted my trip recap into, then used as a gluebook for the tons and tons of paper material we picked up. These pages are from that journal, but only from a single day of the trip: our visit to Osaka Castle. Though originally built in the 1580s, these days it is entirely a modern museum, with the exterior completely rebuilt to look like it did back in the day. Despite being what some might view as artificial, the castle is stunning and the exhibits are memorable. Too bad it was pouring rain the day we visited.