Why did Alice follow the White Rabbit?
Well, definitely it was her unthinking decision to follow the White Rabbit that leads her to her adventure. But have you ever wondered why she really followed him? Because the White Rabbit was talking? Or because he was wearing clothes? Or maybe because of his fancy pocket watch? I think it’s because Alice love adventures. Curiosity might lead her to fall down the rabbit hole, but the whole adventure was worth it.
Braving the very cold -23°C, we hit the road at 5:30 am to see the hoarfrost in Sarabetsu. As the silvery frozen mists covering the trees melt as soon as the sun starts to shine, we needed to go there very early. Sarabetsu is famous for this magical view.
Seattle is already synonymous with Starbucks coffee, as this is the birthplace of Starbucks! My Japanese professor told me that Seattle’s weather is so gloomy that they invented coffee shops to brighten up the city. I am not so sure about the authenticity of that story but since I was already in Seattle, I knew I needed to visit the first Starbucks store. The Pike Place Starbucks was established in 1971 at the Pike Place Market, downtown Seattle.
One of the activities of the Tokachi International Relations Center of Obihiro City is sponsoring study tours in various factories here in Tokachi. And this time, it was a trip at Meiji Tokachi Cheese Plaza located in Memuro, a town in the Tokachi subprefecture of Hokkaido. Meiji is the 4th largest confectionary producer in the world.
I was surprised when I stumble upon a restaurant called Euglena Garden on my last day in Ishigaki Island. I was looking for a place to eat along a road near a mall called, guess what? Euglena Mall! Formerly known as Ayapani Mall until 2011, this mall is consists of two shopping arcades that run parallel to each other.
Bandai Museum is just located few blocks away from the university dormitory. From the Omochano-machi station, one can reach the Bandai Museum by 15 mins walk.
I had an 11-day trip in Okinawa (including the flights) and seriously, I had fun. It is advisable to rent a car if you want an easy way of traveling around the island. But for me, I just used the monorail, the buses and the available tours. Here is the itinerary of my Okinawan trip.
Naka Bokunen is an Okinawan artist famous for his brightly coloured Okinawan landscape painting, particularly of his birthplace Izena island in the north of Okinawa. He is an expert of woodblock printing, a form of fine art with carvings in a piece of wood.
Beside Starbucks, Seattle has been famous because of the film “Sleepless in Seattle”. The 1993 romantic comedy-drama film starred Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and was co-written and directed by the late Nora Ephron. It’s obvious that it’s a must for me to visit some of the spots that the movie was taken.
Due to the 500 years of Ryukuan history represented by the castles and monuments in Okinawa, these places have been assigned as World Heritage Sites in 2000 under the title “Gusuku sites and related properties of the Ryukyu Kingdom”
It’s again the start of a new year, a great time to plan our goals for this year and reflect on what we have achieved in the last year.
Amoj In Wanderland 