Tuesday, February 14, 2012

HONDURAS

originally our itinerary said we would visit cube, because of safety issues they then told us we would be visiting the island of Honduras called Roatan. We only had two days to explore so i tried to make the most of it. my friends Dianna, Causey (michael), Valleria, Gina and i booked a dolphin encounter with Anthony's Key resort. So, we took a taxi to the resort, paid then ventured down the beach because we had some time to burn.

we found a porch style restaurant that opened just for us. the owner came over and introduced himself and told us how he made a new life for himself after being successful and unhappy in the U.S.. We bought sweet potato fries and went out on the beach to, layer on the dock and enjoyed our drinks.

It was soon time to return to Anthony's. We took a small boat to the dolphin area where we got our gear and entered the water. we got to pet the dolphins, and watch their behaviors like jumps speed and showing off. At the end of that we took pictures with the dolphins, holding them and getting kisses. For the second half hour we put on our snorkel and flippers and joined the dolphins in their recess time. COOLEST EXPERIENCE!




After our dolphin encounter we went to the house that us and 20 of our friends rented out for the night. Once we got there we realized we had missed dinner so we decided to walk the shoreline into the town for dinner. long story short- the tide was too high and the rocks to slippery, so we headed inland.  We found another tourist, got ourselves a cab and him take us to his favorite restaurant. It was delicious and our ride was lots of fun (we listened to "mrs williams" a bunch of times). He picked us up when we finished dinner, took us back to the house and became our personal driver.

At the house i spent my night in the infinity pool on the deck overlooking the ocean. we all just hung out, reminisced enjoyed our last night in a port together. it was very bittersweet.







The next day was rainy and gross, so i spent the morning at the house, then our cab took us to a shopping area but nothing was open, so we were stranded for a bit. Finally we got a cab driver and he took us to the port where we spent some time doing last minute shopping.

COSTA RICA

My friends and I decided we wanted to go zip lining. so my friend michael causey went online and set up a day for a big group of us to go sip lining and horseback riding. We went to Adventure Park Hotel Vista Golfo and the day included;
  • Horse Back ride
  • 25 zip-line cables over 11 water falls – one of the longest zip-line and canopy tours
  • 1 suspension bridge
  • 2 rappellings
  • Bathing and photography opportunities at the biggest water falls
  • Mountain waterfall pool
  • Complimentary lunch
  • State-of-the-art fail-safe equipment that is fully certified
  • Fully trained, experienced and bilingual guides

That night my friends Audrey, Will, Ryan, Jessica and Beijuie rented a room at a hostel right by the beach. so we went out dancing at a salsa club and the next day went to a bakery for breakfast then walked down the board walk and looked at all the souvenirs.


















Friday, February 10, 2012

HAWAII/ Thanksgiving

The day before thanksgiving, the ships crew gave us a thanksgiving dinner. my group of friends and i got dressed up and went. it was really nice but nothing like being home with the family.

We docked in hawaii that night but we weren't allowed off the ship for customs reasons. it was a teases, but the next morning we were allowed off early. My friends Audrey, Jess, Beijuie, Emily v., and i started our day by walking to a local farmers market. we each bought a fresh fruit, like bananas pineapples and mangos.

Our next stop was mcdonalds... but the purpose was wifi connection to the world (and one friend had to register for class).

Finally we made our way to a black sand beach. the black sand is crushed up lava rocks from the nearby volcanoes. it was beautiful.

Even though the day was slightly overcast, we ate our "friendship fruit salad", climbed on the rocks, played in the water and even swam with giant sea turtles.

there were 5 sea turtles relaxing among the rocks in pools of water. it was a very cool experience to swim in the same water as them. By far a thanksgiving to remember!!!










Japan- Yokohama

on my fourth day in japan i went on the SAS city orientation of Yokohama.

On my last day i finally got my sake :) just as delicious as i hoped! i drank my OJ sake with my pastries for breakfast.






















then jess and i went to the broadcast library where we watched a bunch of japanese commercials. it was interesting to see how their advertising compares and differs from ours.









for lunch/dinner we went to a hard rock cafe and enjoyed a comforting american style meal.















we then met up with some friend and went to Cosmo Land. a very sketchy theme park. we were the ONLY people there other than like 3 workers. I'm assuming it just wasn't the right season....






Japan- Tokyo

on the night of day 2 in Japan my friends Leanna Kim and i took an overnight train to tokyo. we met up with a local woman who was hosting us in her house. Kim knew her through the elementary teacher of the class she was keeping in touch with. She was very welcoming and met us at the bus stop in the morning. brought us back to her place made us a feast for breakfast and then started our adventure around the city. we stayed with our host for day 2 and 3, she took photos for us all day so i will give you a photo tour rather than a written one.




Figuring out the Subway system

Lunch... we randomly ran into our friend tyler :)

Tyler stuck with us...






Performance Monkey






SUSHI!!!!






The most they would let us do for them was treat them to ice cream.