Sparrow Quest

Adventures in Matsue >.<

2008-05-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

So here we are in May with spring fast in bloom and we are returning to Matsue Castle and our mission is to find a Samurai house (Joy)...

So here is the temple on the water that I have never been able to visit...cause I don't know anyone with a boat :(. But at least its nice to look at it.

Julia on the bus to the Castle.

And me :D

So this is the price for the both of us and this is me paying.

These guys were sun bathing in the mote around the Castle....there are about 40 of these guys chilling.

So this is the entrance to the Castle grounds.

[click to read]

So after a lots of stairs later here we are at the Castle.

Look...LOOOOOOOK....

So these are the original Dolphin Gargoyles that were removed when the Castle was rebuilt in 1950-1955 they were so damaged they had to be replaced.

Here are some of the preserved Helms from Samurai that lived here.

And some armor with a mask....Coooool.

So this is the top of the Castle and a small view of the court yard....NIIIIICE.

Picnic time Mmmmmmmmm.

FRRREEEEEEEE LOADER [click to see]

So after the lunch we found a clue to where the Samurai Residence is located.

Back path from the Castle on our way to the Samurai Residence....and on the way there we saw.....

Cranes settling in their tree and getting ready for the baby bird season....you can see the nest to the right in the trees. [click to zoom in]

We need sewer covers like this in Canada.

We found this nice little pottery store...also NIIIIICE.

So after 2 hours of searching we arrived to the Samurai Residence "Yeahoo"

So in this room we can see that they have folding screen with a map of the Castle grounds on it.

This is some of the front yard garden SWEET!

Nice walkway.

Here in the back they have a place for prayer.

This is an over view of some of the back of the building....which is quite large.

Back doors.

Some Koi....they are bigger than my forearm.

Flower.

And to end our trip to the Castle some more flowers.

Behind the trees is a museum where we are meeting friends for a view of the sunset.

And so it begins.

I bet you they polish this art piece every day...it reflects the sun set nicely.

Now were just waiting for our friends and watching the sun set.

Beautiful.....everyone arrived in time to watch the sun go down over the lake.

Now we sit for dinner......mmmmmm build your own pasta.

Hhahahaahahah good joke.

So I'll sign off this day with my lemonade...yes that is half a lemon stuck on my glass.

Next is our trip up to the second oldest Shrine's in Japan and its located one hour bus ride away from our apartment......it so happens that its also located on the side of a mountain...Mount Disen.

Allllllll aboard for Mount Disen.

These are called Koinobori (Coy-No-Bor-ee) they are Koi shaped flags hung outside to give boys turning 15 (I think)in the family good luck....the more flags the more luck.

There is Mount Disen. Its still got some snow on it.

This is the little town that lives at the foot of the mountain and this is the road that leads to the shrine.

So to this point the road has been steep but as you can see up ahead that this has been a cake walk....as they say its all up hill from here.

So at the top of the road we come to this sign....you can read the English translation on it if you [click pic].

If you look closely I finally got my picture with Sakura (Cherry Bloosom) petles filling the air when the wind is blowing....I wish my camera was better though.

This is one of the ways up but it is the way we will come down later...

This is the way we go up....to see a smaller shrine first.

This is me content and at peace...its so beautiful here.

This is where we cleanse our selves by pouring the water on our hands with the bamboo cups.

You ring the bell twice to wake the gods.

Some Buddha's looking on.

This path connects to the other walk way at the map at the beginning and also connects to the mini shrine we just came from.

Come on lets go :D

So a little while later we came up to this gate and you can see the Sakura trees in the background.

And here we have another place to cleanse our selves.

Gate two and a little further is the famous temple.

And there it is Ohgamiyama (Oh-ga-mi-ya-ma) Shrine one of the oldest shrines in Japan.

Aaaaaaaaaa now its time for no sox :D

This is over the entrance to the shrine....Exquisite.

This is the path that is behind the shrine and it leads up to the dam...up we go ;d

These look like the wild version of the veggies Fiddle heads.

Nice hike.

Mountain wall in the distance.

Great job sweety just a little and by a little I mean 30 min more.

30 min later we arrive at the dam.

Crabby Julia.... ;d

After an apple and a funny comment from me and she is all smiles :D

That makes me happy too ;D

So we've made it back to the gate just before the shrine and this is the back.

This is the path we took up.

And here's the gate back at the beginning.

Good bye Mt.Disen until later when we climb you :D....but now we wait for the last bus to get home.

The long walk

2008-04-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

So Julia decided to enter a marathon on April 13th 2008 (which she sped walked)(5k) and big ups to her and our friends. These are a few pic's of their triumph.

(Left to Right) Jitsuko, Ian & Cody.

Aaaaaaa LOOK IT'S THE START.

Lets go Team now that we have our numbers.

Lets stretch out those mussels...can't afford to hurt ourselves.

*crackle* Could everyone report to the starting line please. And enjoy the wonderful view of the paper mill.

So after the race you get to dig up your very own free Tulips and plant them at home....nice gift :D

Cody and his Tulips.

Julia finished in 42:31 and Jitsuko finished 42:32 awesome job girls.

If you wanted Daffodil's you had to pay but the Tulips were free for the runners ;)

Yea Gooooooooo Team...super job guys ;D

There was also FREE all you can eat Miso soup....But it had meat in it???? Miso soup isn't suppose to have meat in...so Julia was sad and hungry.

But for her plight she had good Karma and her number was drawn to win a prize....It's an Air purifier....and it works nice like.

Finally!!!!!

2008-04-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all I must say that the last few months have been busy and tiring one for the new term starting in our schools and Julia getting repeatedly beaten down but sickness from our ever cute students and there never ending colds and flu's that little ones constantly get form one & another....but that a side I also have been saving up pictures for this entry for all to peruse and make comments on....so the spring is in full bloom and that means Cherry Blossoms are out and about we also adventured to Matsue castle and the ruins of Yonago castle (the one in our town and a 3-4 min bike ride from us). No Ninja's yet :( but enjoy anyways.....

Pipes Julia shown' off her muskulls.

Mmmmmm soft willow's

This is the door to a bank here in Matsue... no one is getting in there.

Matsue castle in the distance.

The traveling few (plus me on the cam) on this rainy day to the castle in Matsue... Left-right Cody, Julia, Yumi & Martin.

Stairs up.... lots of these in Japan.... stairs I mean.

A small Temple on the grounds of the castle.

Closer look at the Temple.

One of the old protectors on the Temple.

Purifying basin before entering the Temple.

One of the paths on the grounds of Matsue castle.

More stairs down at the back of the castle....ALWAYS STAIRS.....

The castle FINALLY!!!

So next is one of the citys that we stay in a hotel for a week to teach at the schools there Tottori is the name and it is the first place that I got pic's of the Cherry Blossom's.

So these guys were wandering around handing stuff to kids...poison I guess.

Me love and Me.

The first picture I took of the beautiful trees.

Do I have to say anything?????

Closer closer.....closer...

I think this picture fits the name or thought of Japan.

This is the type of aesthetics of Japan its everywhere and makes for a more beautiful city.

Just a different view.....

Yonago our home town where we to a little ride to a recently discovered ruined castle in Yonago well new to us and discovered buy Julia on one of her bike rides.

Our bike path along a canal that leads out to the harbor to the sea.

This lady was hand feeding a swan that looked like she had hand raised the bird....but got nipped on the fingers a couple of times which did not stop her.

And then they were pink.

This is a grove of Blossom trees 5min away from us.

Hey its Me. These are the stairs up to Yonago castle in ruins.

This is a koi pond next to the stairs up.

And so we beginning our assent.

And up...

And up...

And still up...there are so many stairs.

And yet still more...

Found this guy on one of the steps up and before moving moving him to the forest floor...

I took a pic of some of the path behind while waiting....

Hello :)

This is the half way point and these stairs lead to a small grove.

J.U.L.I.A Juliaaaaaaaaa.

From here you can see the foundation of the castle on the ridge.

Whats...that up ahead.....

More stairs...

Yea....you guessed it more stairs.

Just to give you a brake from the stairs.

But not for long....

The castle foundation at last.

My god do they ever end.......

A small landing with a grove by the base of the castle.

Almost to the top.

Just around the corner....

Aaaaaaa the corner.

And that is the grove of Cherry Blossom trees below that is where we biked through to get to the stairs beginning.

We can see all of Yonago unobstructed from up here.

And the harbor to the sea.

Thats the grove we looked up to the foundation earlier.

The black building in the distance is our home :)

This is whats left of the castle...not much but this beautiful lookout.

And now we return to go down.

Hey its me again and I'm.....Bald...very bald.

*Sniffffffffff* Aaaaaaaa just lovely.

Now your turn *Sniffffffffff*.....

If you look very very closely and even zoom in you can see the tiny Green bird.

Finally after months I get to climb a tree.

And this is us after securing the camera to a tree.

Awaawwwwwwwww....

And finally on the bike ride home I almost ran over this dude but before removing him form the path to the safety of a bush.....

Ok thats it for this entry and hope you enjoyed the picture of stairs....of all the cool sights of Japan in this entry. So until next time which I hope is sooner rather than later I'll endevour to be diligent with my entry's :)

TOKYO!!!! (Dec 28th-Jan 2nd)

2008-01-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

So I'm a little late on posting this but I got very sick the morning after we arrived home....all party and no proper sleep make Bill a sick boy is the term...any who TOKYO rocked in any case lots to see and do and plenty of parting to be done Ummmmm where to start, We had to wake up at 3:30am to catch our train at 5:00am and our total time for travel to Tokyo was 5.5hrs *yawn* and then we had to find our way to our hostel which was at a station called Akebonobashi well it was 2min from the station...not in the station :D. So I could rattle on for hours of the places I've been to and things I have seen....but I don't have the time for that and people might stop reading for fear of not getting any pic's to look at....But I'll list the big well known places for you all...First it was Shinagawa (this is the only train station that I'm fuzzy on), Shinjuku, Akihabara, Shibuya, Asakusa, Harajuku you can check these places out online or ask Julia and or I what makes them special through e-mail, it would just take to long on this blog....maby you will get the idea through the pic's :P ENJOY!!!

5:00am waiting for our first train to take us to Okyama.

5:00am waiting for our first train to take us to Okyama. (is there an echo in here???)

So this is still the same day. Were now in Tokyo..fishing being a huge pastime/hobby in Japan..this is how the business men get there fish on in the big city.

Left to Right...Julia *gush*, Nate (Ausinator) and Mr.(Brian) Yan..this is the crew until the addition of Brett on the 30th.

The entrance to a temple on our way to TOKYO TOWER!!!

This is the temple and to its right is TOKYO TOWER. Their setting up for New Years in here.

TOKYO TOWER (333m)!!!! Its taller than the Eiffel tower (324m)

"Nate look look its the Tower finally the Tower..*sob*" "I know mate we've been walk'en for 3 days you would think it would be easier to find it being so tall and stuff...maybe they have water and foooood".

The view :D a little smoggy though.

"I claim this tower for 2007...in the name" "of"...."of"....."DAMN IT!!!"..."whats the name again"...*whisper whisper*..."my name?!?!"......"Never mind I've lost the magic."

Paper flowers that were made for the celebration.

This is still the same day and we are now in Harajuku which is the fashion district of Tokyo. (Nate waiting for the light)

"Ho no I'm getting a massive flux in the space time continuum"..this is our walk to Shibuya.

This is the edge of Shibuya which is home to the most photographed intersection of the world..and party central for all non-foreigners...foreigners go to Roppongi (don't go there).

Almost there....

Tower Records all you music cat's....its BIG...and TALL and its all music.

My camera is very still it's the people moving...this is us walking through that intersection I was talking about earlier (so many people and yet sooo quiet).

And this is it from the outside of the crowd and its like this ALL THE TIME.

Nate, Brian & Naoko at an Izakaya for food and drinks before we head out some more.

And we were there too.

We met up all of these chaps and ladies in a bar we hit after....by this time Julia and I have been up for 20hrs...

Naoko & Julia PEACE.

So by the time that we leave the booming club downstairs from this bar that you see us in we have been up for 26hrs...a little tired but a great first day in Tokyo ;D I mean we did not even spend our first night in our hostel our bags got to sleep there and not us ;P
Next day starts at 11:00am for me and 2:00pm for Julia...

This is my enclosed capsule bed Mmmmm confining.

And this is Julia in her's ;P Yes she is sleeping like this.

This is a building in Akihabara which is the Tec. area of Tokyo or better known as Electric town.

This is what is called a Maid cafe where in this one the girls are dressed in little kimono's and call you master and serve you and play games with you...its kinda weird....and there is a western one (French Maids). Sorry no cameras aloud.

This is a regular electronics chain store kinda like best buy on crack and its 10 or more floors of electronics madness.....MADNESS I say..... and the surface area of the store is humongous..sorry..RIDICULOUS.

Eats at an Italian (Japalian) restaurant Mmmmm they make a great seafood pasta....and this is before drinks and then hitting WOMB for the first time.

Sorry that it is hard to see anything but the camera has a hard time in low light so you can hear the music (D'n'B-drum & Bass) but cannot see that much..

Short picture day and I would have gotten more pic's and movies of the club but I put it in a locker after a while to keep it safe from my insane dancing...we also went home at 5:30-6:00am another late night but we got up to wander around at 1:00pm or so to begin the day anew.

The first picture of the day waiting for a train to Harajuku (fashion district) which we walked through every store this time and not only down the street.

This is unfortunately the only store I could get a picture of because there are so many NO PICTURE sign's around. But people ware these costumes like regular clothing....YES THEY DO.

We met up with Brian later with his crazy Japanese friends for Karaoke and endless drinks...for 2 hours.

Brian and I are getting our Righteous Brothers on..."You Lost That Loven' Feeling"

Mmmmmm more drinks....these girls just kept ordering more and more drinks and more drinks....because its all you can gets in yea for 2 *hick* hrs.

Rock on you mothers!!!!!! Look out the pinstripe has come off.

And then Julia stepped up and embarrassed us all except for Brian he's pretty good for a boy.

Brian with his Yakuza face and me with my Gansta' face....WATCH OUT YOU ALL.

This is my Ode to Blobinfruz (I got sentimental for Bobby and pulled a bob camera face)

I think I'm the only one content in this picture.

That ends another night in Tokyo I'm sorry I was not so picture happy in Harajuku but I was to busy lookn' around and the same with the electronic town that is something to see. But our next day begins with me leaving Julia at the Hostel and going out with the boys because she wants to rest up for the new years partying in the evening...10:30am....

All hale the arrival of Brett who has arrived in time to enjoy some of Tokyo before the New Years Festivas.

Haha I got pictures of you both while you were trying to take pictures of each other....slow pokes...

Arrrgggggg I got my self tooooooooo.

Cameron (AkA Cam) one of our other Peppy Teachers that we met the other night at the club.

Derek who is a friend of Cam's. They both came to Japan together and both work for Peppy Kids...Kool kats these two.

We met up with Nate at Asakusa which has a famous temple to where big New Years festivities happen. (front view of the walk to the temple).

(Rear view AkA Behind me)

Entrance to the Temple grounds.

Couple of the buildings on the Temple grounds.

here is the temple itself....

This is where everyone was purifying themselves before entering the temple. They were also doing the same with incense burners but there were to many people to get a pic of that.

this is a painting above the purifying fountain that I almost missed because its 30 ft up.

Brian and I getting our whole fish on a stick on. (they don't even clean the fish out its killed and stuck on a stick and cooked over hot coals).

Deciding what to do next.....I think its time to go and get Julia :D

This is the Audi Building... what a beautiful piece of architecture.

Back to Harajuku to meet up with lovely Julia.

Smallest salad ever!!!(no this is not my monkey hand otherwise it would still be a big salad).

I'm in a fully encased in a Pod!!!!This is friken SWEEEEET!!

After the eating and video gaming we hit the Lawson's kombini for cheep but tasty alcohol...Before WOMB!!

This is a picture from WOMB at the second level down to the first level...

Bad boys of WOMB.

Its a little shaky and dark but click and you can see the logo....they had an amazing light show at the club.

Nine and a half Minutes and counting....

The countdown.... well the countdown from one and the Romantic KISS (Perfect).

The day after tomorrow....

Ughhhhhhh....7:00am...need bed need to eat....need to need.....

Mt.Fugi on the train back to Yonago just on the outside of Tokyo.

It Snowed while we were away in Tokyo.

I really like this exposure on our camera....

Yea winter in Japan is pretty....

The land scape is so so so Awesome.

Well this is me signing off the TOKYO trip.

Well I hope you all had fun looken' at all the cool stuff in this edition of the Quest but I don't think I'll be doing a super entry like this again it takes way to long to sift through all those pictures because I took like 310 pictures on this little excursion....again look out for future entries on the Sparrow Quest and I hope to see you all in the future this is me signing off now ;D

Before the big plunge into NEW YARS..Yar!!

2007-12-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

So here we are at the end on 2007 and were in Japan and lovin' the time we have here so far....anyways to all a Happy New Years and all that stuff. Here is the rest of us and things before 2008.

Mothra please come back Mothra!!!

Hey hey this is some of our colleagues in Okayama which is where our head office is and is 2 hrs away from us.

So many deep conversations come out when sweet sweet drunk talk is happening.

Best pumpkin pie ever!!!!EVER!!!!

So the company changed names....which means the previous toothpick is invalid...had to make a new one with iTTTi Japan on it :D

So this is another temple in Yonago that we found biking around.

And we actually walked up to this one this time.

This is where (I assume) they get water for blessings...or something like that....

Closer picture of the fountain head.

And this is where it all happens....I did not feel comfortable going any further.

Picture from the back to the front of the temple.

Julia on her Bike.....Yeaaaaaay!!!

Me on my Bike.............!

I'm liken these sun through the cloud pick's

A little field we stumbled across on our walk.

"After they're departure from there bikes Julia began to feel like someone was following them."

Nothing can beat Duckies :D

Except me in a Temple Garden!!!!

On a train and on our way to Matsue to meet up with one of our fellow teachers (Martin) to eat dinner and party it up. By the way thankx Don & Joyce for the awesome hat for my B-day.

And Julia across from me :P *Sweet Pea*

After Dinner for a drinkie poo!!!

This is a bar as well as being a clothing store...anything goes in Japan :)

Drunk Lovers.........

Martin is a Physics graduate and I'm a Graduate of goofy talk.....So our conversations were on par with each other ;)

Aaaaaa Martin you crazy Icelander.

Julia and some of the crazy bar flies.

This is Seiji and me he owns his own bar but is friends with the owner of this bar too....he is also spinning at this bar on New Years.

Seiji and the gang.

This young man found out that I was putting these on my blog and said he wished he was dressed better....so I lent him my coat.

So that was a great night out and I'll leave this entry by showing a great dinner that was the last photos that we took before the New Years trip enjoy because we did MMMMMmmmmm.

Julia and here big bottle of beer...BIG BOTTLE of BEER.

And this is what I'm drinking...MMMmmmm 15% Green Apple Alcohol.

And this is the dinner that went with those drinks...Spinach Linguine, Kissed with pesto, Asparagus, Pan seared Leeks & toasted pine nuts.

Next Stop NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WoW so many months have passed!!!!!!

2007-12-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

So it's been a long time since my last post sorry all but adjusting to a new job and culture has had our heads spinning around for a while now...well we are doin' great now that our job is getting a lot easier and were starting to get out with some peeps from work and meeting lot of locals and making some new friends. This has to be some of craziest stuff we have done yet coming to Japan but it has been a dream for a long time now and its starting to become everything that we want it to be....next on the list is New Years in Tokyo from the 28th-the 2nd of January JOY and were going to be starting some Japanese lessons soon so we can better communicate and make some more friends in our area. So enjoy these pic's Julia and I took theres not that many but because of us now coming out of our shells of comfort and seeing everything more now....pictures should be flying out of this blog to hit you in the face in the new year...on a side note there is a video of us doing a tour of our apartment on the the net and if you want to see it you can e-mail me or Julia to get the link....ENJOY :D

So you know how Japan is famous for Godzilla...well
I met Mantra on my first day in Yonago.

Shrine'a'rific ya'll! This is a shrine in our town of Yonago.

This is a pond in front of the shrine....MMmmmmm PEACEFUL....

Lilly Lishous pond!

So this is a bike path by the Sea 2min from where our apartment is.

MMmmmm Bamboo everywhere....EVERYWHERE!!!!

I..i..I'm not sure???? it was very skidish even though it is like 3 inches long!!!!

More path!!!!

Pretty flower I wish I could identify you :)

Uber Granny bikes we bought to get our selves around the home town YES complete with stylish and particle baskets.

First day at the beach in our homer town...I miss the ocean (The Sea here in Japan) having been inland for the last 6 years....and the water is soooooo bloody warm here.

Sparrow Mmmm.Mmmm lunch'a'rific lunch!!!! and beach lounging.

Julia's action sequence.....AND ACTION!!!! Ok she's just frolicking ;)

Bill looks over the Horizon and sees....a lot of water!

I picked up a lot of shells that day...here are some of them.

"Haha...hey guy we're partying! Where are you?" "haha Chirp yea later"

Sue me I like to harass bugs....

A wave attacked Julia while she was playing in the water...it just came from outta no where...."bastard wave" *grumble*

Julia observing the next town in the distance.

This is a shrine we located on one of our random trek's

So I'll end this post with the carving of a dragon over the entrance to the shrine :)

So I hope you all enjoy this post and there is one more but I have to take Julia on a bike and coffee brake so I'll finish it later and be back before you even know I was gone....love to all and have a good one YA.

Some intresting stuff.....!?!?!?

2007-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

So these are some of the things I actually thought "hey look at that I need a picture of that"! So here they are some are funny some are just interesting....but don't worry I'll try to post WEIRD stuff monthly :) ENJOY

Mmmmmmm Chocolates :P

Restaurant candies!

This is like milk and orange juice together (interesting)!?!?!

Can't go wrong with chocolate covered almonds :)

This sounds like a threat.....*I'm scared*(Click to laugh)

Mmmmmmmm I keep four O saki's by my computer....they go down smoothly :)

This is a Red Bean cookie kinda weird and kinda tasty :P

And this is the inside :)

The "Miracle of Grapefruit" Drink MMmmmm yummy.

The "Sweet Lemon" also good :)

And last but not least some of the yummy food we had on our last day of training dinner.

So I hope you had a laugh and liked some of what you have seen here to day and I WILL have more for you all enjoy and have a good time where ever you are :P

So its been an intresting 2 weeks here in Japan with adventure and SCHOOL???

2007-09-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

So first off I have loved my experience so far....it was a little stressful the first week because of our training and all but once we both got into it everything started seeming more right :D I have to say that the change from big city to rural area is quite shocking not that the density of the buildings changes that much but more of the old looking Japan seems to jump right out at you. There have been so many beautiful sights and I'm afraid that I have been lacking in the camera department for the last two weeks because of the training and all. But none the less I have picks for all to view and the second we get into our permanent housing (which is in a day :P) I will be back on the I love lamp.....I mean I love camera binge again.

So this is the name of the company that we work for I took the time to write it out on this toothpick (click to view) eat your heart out rice guy who writes names on rice :P

So this is our first training session in a classroom Marsha and Julia are taking the picks but this is all of us in the Osaka crew Yo...and our trainer the mighty Glenn.

This is a little seat that one of the JT's (Japanese Teacher) has for her self in the classroom....and yes I want one....and yes it might be pink too XD

Julia's mock class with some very bad boys (left to right: Nathan (Crazy Ausie), Brian, Brett & in the background Roger (AKA the boys from BC)

Lara (Larr-Ra)(Finlandish), Brett & Crazy Nate waitn' for our a drinkie poo's after class Mmmmmm booze.

Mmmmmmm Temple lishous (this was behind my first class room building where I taught my first class by myself)

So many statues in rural areas. This was beside the building where my first class was.

This Buddha's palm was so inviting to sit upon....but I did not because I also thought he might pinch my bum!?!? (it was larger than a sidewalk bench)

Oooop another temple they are so beautiful and simple.

Up the stairs of destiny to our class with Glenn.

For all you electro geeks like me this is where you want to go in Osaka right by Umeda station floor after floor of games, Tv's, cameras.....*Drool**Bizarchhhh* Oops...hey I can't afford that!!!!

This is the door to one of the classes that I taught in and unfortunately I cannot show you the inside (company policy people) :D

Here we are gambling for kids play blocks during a brake from class :) (the house always wins)

On the way to my last teaching class I saw this building in the distance if you click on the pick you can kinda see that it looks hand sculpted.....very neat...I would have gone closer but class can't wait.

Test day and last day of training.....First Girls Club Marsha (London England), Lara & Julia.

Boys Club....Left to right: Brett, Roger, Brian, Nate & Me Bill in the back ;D

And last but not least Group photo....So Glenn is on the left side with me and the Japanese girl with Nathan....I apologize to her but we met briefly and I cannot remember her name.

Dinner with the lad's and lady's for our last night all together except for Lara who had to catch a train for her placement.....and crap Roger why did you have to go to the bathroom dammit!!!!!

So thats all I have for the training portion of our trip like I said I was very busy and kept forgetting to take pictures when I actuality had the time too....So next is some of the weird labels and kool drinks section so go to it y'all.
anyways

Still in Vancouver :P

2007-09-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

(This was at Aug 29-Sept 3rd) So this is our trip to a park in Vancouver......which rocked. I cannot begin to say how much I enjoyed my self here so sit back and enjoy....because I did XD

This is a picture from a cable bridge entering the park.

This is a water fall that you will later see me on....your not suppose to climb out to it but I cannot resist doing stuff like that. But for my disobedience I lose my green button up shirt to the rapids...it fell out of my pack in my jumping and leaping :P"""

Julia traversing the water way.

Chris and I taking pictures of each other taking pictures of each other....yea thats sounds right.

This is one of the may paths we took to adventure the wilderness before returning to the rapids to go to the falls.

Julia & Chris's buddy Chris going out to watch some kids jump off cliffs into this....(go down on pick)

Yes it is deep here but we did not bring bathing suites to go swimming though :(

Again I cannot tell you how much I Lovvvvveeee trees.

Back to the rapids....well this part of them is more like slowpids. But so much fun to jump rocks people.

I found this Rose floating down the stream while I was rock jumping.

This is one of the many area's we went jumping.

Chris having a smoke brake and Julia is walking through the water.....its cold as heck in the water by the way.

This is the entrance to the falls I climbed ahead and took this one while holding the camera almost on the surface of the water.

Chris standing mightily on the top of a high rock near the entrance to the falls.

Aaaaaaa the mouth of the falls....it was really pretty up here and the people walking the cable bridge above me were pointing at me.....probably calling me stupid (hahaha) they just wished they could do it too :D

So I had to climb back from where I'm sitting here and give the camera to Chris and then climb to this spot again...Chris P. wanted to be in a photo too but he fell in the water soon after this was taken lucky not far enough out for the current to sweep him over the edge (sigh) so I opted to show him the way back and continue on back to the way home :P

More beauty I saw on the way back :)

Looks like the mouth of a Hippo :D

To end off our adventures in Vancouver a couple more picks...Julia & some sunflowers.

SUNFLOWER!!!!!!

Chris & I went for a ride downtown him skating and me biking on this kick ass BMX yea!!!! (and yes that is a pink shirt)

This is a beach in the city that people come and build these....and there are soooooo many.

I found these cards laying on the stone beach and thought they were cool so now you can see them too (they were arranged like this on the ground I did not touch them at all)

These are some of Chris's friends we met while in Vancouver as well. Left to Right Val, Chris, Me & Angelica.

So thats it for Vancouver its sad I did not get to put all or at least more picks up for all to look at....but if anyone wants picks I can send them to them....by the way you can click pictures to look at them more closely....so the next picks will be in J-pan everyone Love you all and enjoy.

Well were getting closer ;D

2007-09-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well Vancouver was a blast and relaxing before we leave Canada (the date for this entry is Aug 28th I could not enter it before we left for Japan) but here is Vancouver and the friends we hung with and the things we had seen.....p.s. no I did not climb trees here for fear of crack pipes and needles (*shiver*) but their is a lot of beauty in Vancouver too so don't discourage your self from going there just realize they need to clean up a little in some areas :P"""""

So first things first we left Victoria on a boat..and this is the side of it :)

This is one of the many islands we past on our way....

Julia is having fun here with her hood slapping her in the face because of the strong sea winds.

So this is suppose to be the sister ship to us...but I think its a duo reality ship and were on the other ship too and maybe Julia is taking pictures in staid of me and and..

This is my brother from another mother Chris (AKA:Beardo hard to explain the nickname to all) and he is making dinner for our first night in Victoria.

Beth & Julia...Beth laughing and Julia maken a Julia face. We were eating at a place called Havana on Commercial.st

Chris & me....me looking uncomfortable because Chris looks like a crack head lookin' to get his snack on.

And for all of you all who have never seen one before...this is a pot plant...we met a guy that had this in his window....Aaaaaa BC you let people get away with anything :P

This is what Chris calls a Monkie tree...no I did not climb it...look at the trunk people!!! (click to enlarge)

I met this guy on the way to Trout lake.

This is a lagoon at Trout lake where we chilled in a dock and checked out the duckies and funny enough...

(click to see)...Rats....this little guy was so cute running back and forth from the bush to the food we were tossing him...or her....dammit its a rat I cannot tell from here.

Trout lake everyone. Ooooooo aaaaaaa eeeeeee.

This a very pink house we saw while walking back from the lake....nice yard dood.

This pretty guy was wrapping it self around this tree.

Chris & I checking out his Coy pond in his front yard...NICE!!!

Chris has that look in his eye again.....

Ho ok thats all here I am getting uncomfortable with that look but low and behold its just his Zombie urges...Benny I need you bud we have some cleaning up to do ( I got away unscathed).

Aaaaaaa soothing and attractive and look at the pond too. This lovely Coy pond is in Chris's awesome front yard.

The Coy and Gold fish numbered 14 when we arrived at Chris's but buy the time we left they dwindled down to 4 and they were all the Gold fish left because their is a strike for the garbage pick-up and that attracts crows and raccoons (pesky guys) the Coy come to the top of the water because they see a shadow and think its feeding time but get eaten instaid and all that is left are the skidish Goldies :P"""

A little more of BC (lots o Rock's and Green) YES!!!

2007-08-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

So because I wanted to get all of the family in the previous log....this one is for all the beautiful wilderness at large....its going to be hard to leave but were going over seas soon so I can let it go for now :P

So most of the yards in BC are very well taken care of its really nice to see that.

This is Market Square its a cute little spot in Victoria and right behind Julia but you cannot see it is a great vegan restaurant (Green Cuisine) YUM

This is the gate to little china town in Victoria...it's so pretty here *gush*

This busker is awesome he was playing some wicked beats on his drum's and playing his Digery Do.....NICE...I wanted to put wheels on him and drag him around with us :D

This is self explanatory of where we went next.

I love getting close as I can to things and taking pictures....their so neat.

This is one of the ways to enter Becon Hill Park

Just awesome!!!

This guy was just chilln' not one foot away eating what ever......I want to pet him sooooooo bad XD

Redwood Trees.....yes the kind that takes 4-5 people to hug them!!

I am so happy this picture turned out because I took it without looking and only took one...these lily pads are beautiful.

Trees YEA!!!

They had a really large rose garden.

I found this guy under my collier when I was waiting for Julia...it was not an easy shot *sinker*.

Did I forget the Ocean????.....

Ho Ocean I missed you soooooo much!!!

Found this guy when I was jumping rocks.

Mmmmmmm CRAB....the gulls here are freaking huge!!!

Hall of beauty when I went for a walk through the woods by my self.

More woods :)

So much Green :D

So impressed was I by the yards here....and its like this everywhere.

So I wish I could stick all the pictures I took on here but I don't have enough time or room but you get the idea.....its so nice here. Anyways back to the wild and I'll post more soon kids :)

BeeSeeeee (BC)

2007-08-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

So were in BC and so much fun and things to do :P we stayed at Julia's brothers place so thats Aaron (the older brother), Angela(Sister in law), Russel (Middle brother), and Miranda (older niece), Abigale (younger niece) and last but not least Drake and Honey the doggies....oh yea and Mittens the kitty. Lots of west coast water, trees and green it's like they live with the wild here in staid of mowing it down "JOY".

Knitting ninnies (Miranda & Julia)

Julia + fresh fudge = Happy :D

Can yea see me?????

This should have been first because it was after we landed...but I'm lazy XP

Left to Right-Aaron, Russell & Me on Carin Park which is a big pile of rocks you can climb and see all of Victoria on.

From left to Right-Aaron, Russell & Julia the Clark kids :)

Abigale in front, Miranda next, Julia & me on a fallen tree over a stream.

Abby being a camera ham :D

What can I say....I love being in trees.

Angela havin' a beer :) Mmmmmmm beeer

And no vacation to BC is complete without Darth Vader playing the violin on the corner (it was super hot that day)

And finally I guess this is the way it is in BC :P""""

Fun at home with the Family Sparrow

2007-08-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is a little view of the family Sparrow in Winnipeg.....Winnipeg not so interesting but I love my family it was a blast.

(From left to right) My Grandma, Rob(moms husband), ME, Granddad and my Mom enjoying some dinner at the grandparents.

Mom and Grandma Hamming it up :D

My niece Lilly hanging with a plush train conductor
at a place called The Forks in Winnipeg.

This was taken at the FolkoRama (Brasil Pavilion)
of the awesome craziness that is Brasil. These girls
know how to shake a tail feather :D

(Left to Right) Princess, Nickie and Kaylee my mom and grandparents dogs. My pup past on before I could see her for the last time I'll miss you Jessica ;.( but these guys rock :D

Julia & Lilly chasing the Geese off the road so they
don't get squished...there are millions of these guys
in Winnipeg and they walk everywhere.

Dun dun duuuuuuu....that one in the center is
giving me the evil eye >:)

My Grandparents and me on the first day in Winnipeg.

Julia and I shocked at the next pic :)

Aawwwwwwwww XD

More Grandpapy and Mamy :)

Julia & Lilly with beautiful Henna art from the India pavilion.

Aaaaaaa Camping :D Sept 19th - 22nd

2007-07-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

This has to be my favorite thing to do....shared a lot of good times during these 4 days and look forward to more in the future......ho yea Dam those raccoons are pesky!!!

From left to right Julie, Manny & Ali
sleepy heads.

Important lesson everyone watch out
for Bears they can sneak up on you at random.

And we know how old men like to play
with dogs...look at the action pact Tico.

I love trees....you have no idea!

The first smile I saw when I woke up.

Aaaaaaaaaa help the bear....

Our home away from home AKA
home...

More picturs of people we love :D

2007-07-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm still getting use to this blog thing and am not sure how many pictures I can put up per entry so this a extension to all of those I could not fit on the first page but are still very important to us....we love and will miss our time apart from you all and this is not good bye but we will see you later :)

Dave (bear man)AKA.P-cakes (I hate cameras)

Bob & Katelyn (perfect couple) contemplating the finner things in life.

Julia & Diana getting their smiles on at Diana's B-Day.

Katt & Pi......you still have my Starship Troopers book.....dammmmmmm youuuuu!!!!!

The Carmellos Kitchen Crew (Left to Right): Bobby, Steve McGoey, Ryan Mahoney, Dave (back right), Pi & Me. =D

Muir Tones (AKA.Benny) I don't think this guy doesn't smile.

"O" Steve 'E' Boy =D Look'en a little tired but happy.

Bea & Ian (cuties =D)

Derek......Man its taken long for this beer to come...

Getting ready to leave ottawa ;.(

2007-07-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

So this is my first entry and I thought I would catalog our exit from Canada. To begin all the people that I will miss and love (guys and girls) it won't be forever and I expect to see you all again when we come back to Canada or where ever you are at the time. I hope to take as many pictures as I can and post a lot.....so even if you don't want to read my inane ramblings there will be pictures (Yay) and beautiful colors and blinking lights.....(coff coff) anyways sit back and scroll down enjoy the memories and try to imagine more to come.

Julia & Allie Hamming it up :)

Julie & Ticco: Miss.Smiles & Mr.Licks ;)

Patented Manny moves...GIVE IT UP >:)

Karen your a very special lady and we both love and miss you :)

It's always nice to see a smile on Luc's face (Ggrrrrrr I'm going to eat your camera) :P

Hey Miriam bright and smiley ;)