environmentalist, artist, photographer, charity organizer, cosplayer, traveler, animal lover, & shenaniganeer
I hope 2020 is better for everybody! I rang in the new year with friends at Round1 in the Chicago suburbs. We played games for a while then sang karaoke. My last song of 2019 was Truth Hurts but Lizzo, and my first song of 2020 was Baby Shark and that’s the energy I’m bringing into the new year. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
I was still feeling run down from surfing the crimson wave, so I slept in and dozed in bed until it was time to get up and head to Kyoto. Today I got to meet a longtime friend in Japan, Etsuko! I met her a couple times while I was there before, and we’ve kept in touch on Facebook. We went to Starbucks for coffee and to chat about life for a while, then went to the station up to a really delicious tempura restaurant for lunch. Then we wandered around the station to look at all the Christmas lights, the tree, and went up to the two gardens up top. It was a really nice, relaxing few hours catching up with a marvelous person.
It started to rain as we went to the trains, so instead of staying in Kyoto and walking around in the cold and wet, I decided to go back to Osaka. On my way back to the hotel I discovered a shopping district street I hadn’t explored yet, so I took a walk down the shopping street and got a strawberry and chocolate parfait. Ice cream in Japan is next level, it’s so thick and creamy here. I went back to the hotel and ate some of the fruits and snacks Etsuko gave me, took a long hot bath, and worked on photos and journal stuff for a while. Now I’m going to bed early because man I’m tired!
I woke up before sunrise to a very wet, rainy morning. The trip to the airport was uneventful, and although the flight was delayed a bit I made it to Bangkok. I had a moment of panic when the light at baggage claim flashed that all the suitcases had been unloaded, only to feel a wave of relief when I saw my suitcase was the literal last bag off. After getting my bag I took a taxi to the hotel and checked in, then changed and navigated the subway to meet my friend, Andrea. She and I met about 3 years ago at the Women’s March in Chicago and kept in touch through Facebook, but hadn’t seen each other since. We went to Charley Browns for tacos and nachos and a pitcher of margaritas, then headed to an Irish pub of sorts for more food and booze. A few of her friends joined us there, and they were all very nice and very funny people! It was a lot of fun catching up with Andrea and meeting her friends, 5 hours seemed like 30 minutes. Time really does fly when you’re having fun! Alas, it is Sunday night and they have work in the morning, so we split up just before 8pm and I made my way back to my swanky hotel with a gorgeous balcony view. Bangkok walking adventures tomorrow!
