Hong Kong

Well, I have had quite a busy week or so. I went to Hong Kong last weekend. Before I left I got a cold, so I was a little miserable right before the trip. It was very nice though. I made it through my cold and beat it! I flew to Hong Kong business class! That was so nice to have someone call me "Mr. Feroz." Free champagne once I boarded the plane, and such a nice meal! I couldn't believe it. Well, once we got to Hong Kong, we walked around Kowloon for a while then took the ferry to Hong Kong Island. It was very nice, there are so many tall buildings in Hong Kong! It was such a trip! The buildings were all lit up and it was such an amazing view. I was in shock. The next day we went to Macao, and I won HK$1,000. That amounts to about US$100. All in all, it was a nice winning. I won it at the biggest casino in the world, The Venetian Hong Kong. We walked around Macao for a while. It was a very beautiful city. We could see the Portuguese influence in a lot of the architecture. All the signs had Chinese and Portuguese on them. It was very neato. That night we went back to Hong Kong Island, and went to the peak and got to see an amazing view of Hong Kong at night. I mean, you are like on the very top of a cliff and you can see so much! It was tremendous! The food was really good everywhere. It was really cool eating all the Chinese food. The servers served us the entire meal, it was very nice. On Tuesday we came back to Tokyo, so it was mostly spent at the airport. Unfortunately on my trip I had a scratch on my eye and got some dust trapped there and now I have an eye infection. So I am not allowed to wear my contacts in my left eye and have to put two different drops in my eye four times a day. I also have to wear an eye patch for a week on my left eye. It is crazy with the students, they are all asking me what happened. But it is ok...it is a conversation starter. Well, I am tired and have to go to bed. Hope all is well! YAY for Obama's inauguration!

PS

Thank you mom!!! The Christmas Stolen tastes great! It is a real nice taste of home!

Happy New Year!

Well, it is 2009 now, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Sorry I have been scarce, but I have been super busy since the Winter Holiday. I took the shinkansen (aka bullet train) to Nagoya and visited Keisuke and his family for a few days. It was a lot of fun! I love riding the shinkansen, but it is so expensive. My first night there I got to eat miso-katsu. It is a dish which is a fried pork cutlet with a dark miso sauce covering it. It was sweet and delicious. The next day I went to a kimono store and got to see many kimonos in different states of being finished. Keisuke's mom and I then picked up his father at the airport. I got to eat eel while I was there and it was delicious too...or oishi! On Tuesday I went to see a castle in Okizawa...I think...and it was incredible. I love traditional Japanese architecture. That was pretty much the big thing that day. I ate at the restaurant Keisuke works at that night with his family. It was wonderful. It is an Okinawa style restaurant. The food was divine. On Wednesday Keisuke and I went to eat with his friend and then went down to Nagoya. Unfortunately that was the day I had to leave. That night I went to Hiroko's mom's apartment. We had a wonderful New Year's Eve Night. We ate a lot of food! I couldn't believe how much there was! I thought everyone was going to bed, so I went upstairs and found out the next day mama-san stayed up for a little bit. Oh well! We had breakfast on New Year's Day of fish and assorted seafoods. It was wonderful. After breakfast, mama-san bought me two new suits! They are Japanese looking suits, so I blend in better now...not that there is much difference! She spoils me so much! But in Japan on New Year's Day, there are a ton of sales...so luckily she spent only the amount of one suit. We spent a few days together and then I finally made it home! Work started right away for me...and I have been busy all week. I can't believe I am still awake right now. Yesterday I got my re-entry permit before I went to work. My friend Chihiro went with me to help. We finished very quickly. I need the permit because I am going to Hong Kong in a week and a half. I am going to go for now. I will write more soon, I promise!