C-A-L-I Part 1

Day 1

Christmas Tree on the Beach...love California beaches.

Megs and Me, since kindergarden.

Lunch with the Cochranes.

Of course I can't go a day in LA without seeing my best girl Natalie.

Day 2

Family time with cousin Kelly.

Bradshaw 1- Kelly 0

Day 3

Shopping is tough work!

Day 4

Trip to the studios.Auntie Becky and the kids.

This one is for you Miyuki! Shelly misses you!

Day 5

Trip to the Getty Center.

No Place Like Home

After all the anticipation and longing to be back in California you would think that I would have been all packed and ready to just jump into my shuttle to the airport last Saturday Decemeber 15th. YOU WOULD THINK. After over a year and a half in Japan it would be reasonable to think that I have at least gained the ability to understand numbers and time over the phone, but apparently the moment my countdown to California turned to 1 day my mind automatically switched into English only/Japanese retarded mode. I misunderstood my shuttle pickup time to be at 11:10am when it was actually just 10:00am. So imagine my surprise when I heard my doorbell ring while I was dancing around to my music in the process of getting my hair and makeup travel ready. So much for leaving my tiny apartment in a perfectly clean state for my return. But, the important thing is that I got everything I needed packed and what is more is that I am now typing this post from the comfort of home sweet home in California.

It was such a great feeling to walk off the plane into....a crowd of Asians. (Wait! Didn't I just leave Asia?!) Apparently LAX hates common sense and organization because the Tom Bradley wing (location for all international flights) has signs in English only. That makes sense in the international wing right? I mean everyone speaks and reads English don't they?! Of course the answer is...N-O. So why would LAX expect there not to be a massive crowd of confused Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian and other (please forgive the lack of P.C.) trying to figure out what customs line they should be getting into? Needless to say after a long 10 hour, infant copious flight it was great to wait another 1 1/2 hour in a mess of disorganization. But, (deep breath) after all that it was wonderful to finally walk out into the arms of my family!

My Dad, Mom, and brother were waiting for me with a sign and bouquet of flowers (they spoil me, I know) and all ready to take me to get my first proper dinner of Mexican food! It was a great first evening because I also got to see my Auntie Pam and Uncle David!

After our fill of enchilladas, chimichangas, fajitas, and margaritas it was time to head back to the best place in the world, my room. By my room I actually mean my bed. Yes, bed, not futon. And with that all I can say is that its so great to be back home...

Welcome back to middle school days....

I recently (as in yesterday) was reunited with a TV program I use to enjoy during my middle school days...Sailor Moon. I thought that you also would like to enjoy my favorite part of each Sailor Moon episode, her transformations. (I would like to thank my friend Ted for sending this to me.) I never really made it past 1 1/2 seasons of Sailor Moon and I was shocked to find out that there is more, so much more, to this show than meets the eye. Especially a child's eye. (I will have to do further research before I disclose more of my insight into this show.) But for now enjoy the clip...

Is this week over yet?

4 more days, 4 more days!!!!! I know that my anticipation for my return visit back to California is only going to make this week go by even slower than it already is but I can't help it.
I AM SO EXCITED TO GO HOME!!!!
I can't believe its been 1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days (496 days) give or take a day or two since I have been back to that oasis of warm weather, car driving, bumper to bumper traffic, and comfort. Also known asLA (Rowland Heights to be exact)!

It is going to be so nice to be back home for the holidays. Though its only been a little over a year I feel as if I have been away for such a long time! I feel so out of touch...scary. But, I have had a few visits from some wonderful people who have helped bring a little bit of California out this way, and I greatly appreciated it! Ok, I really have to get off the computer now because this post is only making me more anxious to get on my flight home! Is it weird that I am pretty much all done packing aside from the daily necessities? To wrap things up I just have to say that I am really looking forward to spending time with my beautiful family and of course, my girls!

(They are so special...)

cha cha chaka chaka chaka chaka.....

Now, you may be curious as to what mnemonic gibberish I used to entitle this specific post. Well my friends, allow me to show you…

Assuming you played the clip (as you were suppose to…), let me enlighten you about the traditional Balinese Kecak ("KEH-chahk") dance. This specific form of dance dates all the way back to the 1930’s….uh, hmm, um wait, I am confused. How is this classified as traditional when it has not even been around a century in a civilization that dates back to 1^st century AD (wikipedia)? Oh! Silly me! The purpose of this post is not to inform you of the “traditional” Kecak dance but to tell you about the comedic value my 3 friends and I found in it during one of the best vacations of my life! Let’s start over…

Two weeks ago (I know, this post has been way overdue) my 3 friends (Maya, Lisa, and Jun) and I took a break from the chilly Japan weather and made our way over to a little island in Indonesia known as BALI.

(Over looking the cliff of the Pura Luhur Temple in Uluwatu)

(On our train ride out to Narita Airport. Jun just makes friends so easily...must be the phone connection.)

But, before we arrived on one of Indonesia’s 33 provinces we “roughed” it in the Singapore airport, also known as AMAZING-ness.　I won’t go into full details but I will say endless duty free shopping,

orchid gardens, massages chairs,

sports bars, complimentary Singaporean noodles,

ABSOLUT disco floors, free shots of mimosas, free internet, and a place where Jun can start his modeling career (that’s fun story for another time) all add up to a magical place called Singapore’s Changi Airport.

(Taking a little nap during our first lay-over in Singapore.)

After our lay-over in Singapore we finally made it to 86 degree weather paradise. From day 1 our trip was nothing short of pure fun and non-stop laughter.

Though our trip was only a total of 5 days I am happy to report that we most definitely made the most of it! Somehow in our short span of time in Kuta, Bali we managed to get maximum beach/sun time,

make friends with the 2 chillest, local guys on the island (Dickie and Agus),

watch the sunset at Dreamland (Yes my friends, Dreamland. A beautiful beach we would have never known about had we not met Dickie and Agus.),

take over the dance floors at various clubs,

visit Pura Luhur,

retrieve Lisa’s camera case from one devious, little monkey,

and see the “traditional” Kecak dance.

And might I add that the Kecak dance was the icing on the cake for me. We were all so inspired that it crossed our minds to give the folks on our return flight a treat and perform our rendition of Kecak (Jun being the lead and the 3 of us girls as back-up) but, alas, the 4 hr a night’s sleep that we had maintained during our vacation finally caught up with us and thus postponed our performance.

Once back in Japan, though seriously craving some onigiri (Japanese rice ball), it was unanimous that Bali definitely left its mark on us or maybe it was we that left our mark on Bali. Either way, it was a vacation with 3 wonderful people that I will always remember.

And to my Bali Crew: Maya, Lisa, Jun, “chakachakachakachakachaka” forever!