Sanuk Canadian

Day two arrived with cloudy and cold weather. In Bangkok, the weather report said sunny and 32 C....ah~...I shouldn't be in Japan in the winter! [>_<] But.. I found something in the newspaper the day before leaving for Tokyo: an outdoor ice skating rink smack in the center of the city! Wow!! 行きたい〜！(I want to go!!) ^_^ I took the Tokyo Metro early in the morning to Akasaka station. There, I walked to the TBS (TV station) building and found the skating rink. It was soooo huge!! My mood became very excited and happy. ^_^ View: I went over to get a ticket and ask how things worked. You need to have gloves, which of course I didn't have, so I bought some for ¥300. The entrance ticket was good for one day. Nice! Ticket and locker area: I laced up my skates, which I brought from Bangkok....^_^ ...and enjoyed skating for almost 2 hours. I took photos of the great views: View 1 (TBS building): View 2 (station exits): There was a guy practicing jumps and spins. He was pretty good.....

Korean dramas are hugely popular in Japan. Winter Sonata , a romantic drama, was the first to ignite this boom in Japan. I thought it might be fun to write my own sonata, while spending the winter in Tokyo. I'll be Bae Yong Joon, and the romance? With the city of Tokyo of course! I love it here...^_^ I have to admit I wasn't too eager to leave the 32 C weather in Bangkok for a much colder Tokyo.. My flight info.... My elephant and I enjoyed listening to Sakanaction's song: "Tokyo" while at the gate... On the plane, I observed the blue (very warm!) sky before departure... I flew ANA, which has great food, but terrible in-flight entertainment. I ended up staring out the window a lot and reading 80+ pages of Murakami. Upon arrival at the hotel, I had to change into the winter version of cutenekko. Before I moved to Thailand, I threw away all my winter clothes. So, this coat and scarf are the only winter things I have. cutenekko (as Bae Yong Joon) ^_^ As soon as I got...

The best thing about living in Thailand? Really, it's the movie theaters. They are so cheap, full of really comfortable seats, some even provide sofas! In between working I dragged along a friend to see a film with me. Here is my ticket stub. Notice the price? 160 baht (=¥400 / $4) CHEAP!!! ^o^ I can't tell you the name of the film we saw; it's too embarrassing. But I did force my friend to get a photo with one of the characters...maybe my readers can figure it out: There are many unique cinemas in Bangkok. Check out these websites to see some ultra-fancy theaters! The Shadow Screen, "Enigma" (at Siam Paragon) HERE Nokia Ultra Screen (at Siam Paragon) HERE Ticket prices usually range between 100 baht ~ 300 baht. The fancy ones can go as high as 3,000 baht for 2 people! o_O I had heard from a friend that there is one cinema in Bangkok that provides foot massages while you watch the movie. Luxury!! SF Cinema is located in Central World, 7F. BTS Chitlom or Siam. Dir...

Lately, I've become a bit of a social butterfly. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but I keep getting invited out to parties and other events. This one was for Toastmasters members who usually meet up every Friday evening. We spent time eating and drinking at a member's home. It was a "pot luck" party, so everyone had to bring some food... The table view left... ...and right. There was even a tall Christmas tree, which made me feel a little homesick... I enjoyed some red wine produced in Thailand too...yum! A woman brought an unusual snack from China. Can you guess what it is...?? (answer: ginseng!) I enjoyed lots of delicious food. Here's a view of my first plate.... ...and my second. You can see the dish I prepared for the party: apple pie! ^_^ I enjoyed chatting with my friends and listening to stories. We had a "joke telling time", and I listened to a really funny one from a Thai guy. Here it is: Man: "I got into an argument with my wife ...

So....I started studying how to play snooker. I know how to play, but I wanted to learn how to really play. A member of my Linguistics group plays on a semi-professional team and offered to teach me. The first lesson was held at Sports Academy on Sukhumvit, in Nana. Shop sign: The first lesson consisted of some basics -- how to make a good "bridge" and different bridge styles. I took two photos... Basic bridge: Loop bridge: Next, I learned to keep my body low, eyesight even with the cue, and the cue low and level while shooting. The next part of the lesson was quite intense. I learned various ways to strike the cue ball, and how to create good "leaves" (setting up the cue ball for your next shot). The techniques I learned were: English shot (making the ball spin left or right) a follow shot (making the cue ball "follow" the color ball you strike) a stop shot (the cue ball stops dead after striking a color ball) I could do the stop shot quite easily...

I attend Thai language classes twice a week. I love learning languages -- this is my fourth. ^_^ (I have studied French, German, & Japanese) One of my favorites lately is idiomatic expressions. I learned a funny one in Japanese: 結婚は人生の墓場。[ke-kon wa jin-sei no hakaba] = marriage is like a grave. I wondered: "Do people from other cultures feel the same about marriage?" So, I asked my Thai teachers. It's similar! In Thai, we say: แต่งงานเหมือนซื้อล้อตเตอรี่ [deeng naang suu lottery] = Marriage is like buying a lottery ticket (Women say) When a woman gets married, the man may be a good man or he may turn out to be bad. It's like buying a lottery ticket -- you might win or lose. (laugh) Thai men say this about marriage: แต่งงานเหมือนติดคก [deeng ngaan muan dit khuk] = Marriage is like jail. (Only men say) I can understand their sentiments... (laugh) How do I feel about marriage? Hm. It's tough to answer. I am very happy with my current life...I love to have fun ...

A friend had invited me to check out Toastmasters. The purpose of this group is to network, practice public speaking and learn leadership skills. I have another friend who is a member of this club already, and he was often raving about the members, projects and assignments, etc... I finally gave it a try. I met two friends at the station and it was quite hot that night. I always carry a small Japanese folding fan and showed my friend. She said: "Oh I have one of those too." and whipped out this huge paper fan! I took a photo... o_O Holy sheep.... The meeting was held at the Goethe Institute . I was the only one who had been to this location before, so I had to give directions. ^_^ What surprised me most? All members were Thai (we 4 were the only foreigners) and the entire 2 hour session was covered in English! I was impressed. During a break, I got to speak with the President of the club, one Distinguished Speaker and another businessman. View right: My view left: I was a lit...