Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tokyo

Hi everyone!

I'm (we) are finally in Japan, my sister and I arrived in Narita at 6am after what I felt was the longest flight ever!

                                      

We started this journey on July 29th at 11:30pm in Mexico city with the 1st flight from Mexico City to Tijuana, we were supposed to be there only 40 minutes and those 40 min became 2 hours, 2 hours were none of the passengers were allowed to get off the plane or even get up because they were charging combustible, after that new passengers boarded and sorprisingly the flight was almost empty, the flight attendant said there were only 80 passengers O_o, for an international flight like that I was kind of shocked, I always had the idea those kind of flights were always packed (after all, there's only 3-4 flights to Tokyo a week), around 4am (Mexico City's time), we started the 11 hour flight to Narita, those were the longest 11 hours ever, I slept, watched G.I. Joe (twice), Breakfast at Tiffany's, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, ate 3 time, slept some more, watched another movie (It felt like G.I. Joe for the 3rd time), changed seats, changed seats again, walked around, listened some music and after that, we arrived at 6am, we got off the plane and it was HOT, and when I say it was hot I mean freaking hot and humid, my hair became a mess in a minute, my face was melting and I was carring a 7Kg backpack + my handbag, when we checked-in in Mexico City, the guy told my sister and me that Japan was sort of like the U.S when it came to migration, clearly this guy has never been in Japan, they were the nicest at migration and Costumes, the guy from Costumes made me take out ALL of my clothes from my backpack (Did I mention this backpack ended up weighing 20Kg??) because he thought we were only staying for 5 days, until we told him it was 5 WEEKS and that's when he allowed me to put everything back, then it came the uncomfortable "body check", yup, like those on "Locked up abroad", if you don't know this show, go ahead and check an episode, cuz I can't even type what she did to me (lol), funny thing is, I didn't even have time to warn my sis about it haha.

We then were directed to the basement to buy the Narita Express pass and our Subway card, of course, us being so ignorant, went into the wrong Car #, wrong Seat (we didn't even know the seats were assigned already), we finally found what we thought were our seats when a man came to us and told us we were in the wrong car, us being in car #10 when our ticket "clearly" said #1 (I know it's sort of our fault for not knowing Japanese, but the lady at the ticket booth could've told us!!), anyway, this man allowed us to stay there and after much hesitation we ended up asking him if he knew our way to our Hotel, he gave us perfect directions and then came back to us with a Map he drew for us, when we finally arrived at Tokyo Station, we grabbed our 30kgs (each) of baggage and changed to the Yamanote Line all the way to Otsuka station, got off and found the openning for a 7/11, everyone who knew about this trip told me I had to go to a 7/11 in Japan, and so we went, got one of those papers with promotions and when we payed our drinks, the cashier took the paper back and gave us a pack of Chocolates for free!!! Yay!!, how can I not love Japan if people draw maps for you, they give you free chocolates, free tissues (For real!! this was outsite Otsuka station haha), we went to out Hotel (Tokyo Super Hotel) and left our baggage because check in wasn't until 3pm (bu!!), so we went back and took the subway to Shinjuku to visit Tokyo Metropolitan Government building to check out their Observatory on the 45th floor where we met the cuttest coolest grandpa volunteer!! (we also loved him) then we visited the Shinjuku Central Park and after resting for a little bit, went back to the subway and off we were to Shibuya, where we of course went to see the Hachi-ko statue (only because we cried with the movie!) and then to the famous crossing (neither me or my sis recognized it...lol), walked around for a couple of hours, got an iced coffee at BK (we didn't find a good coffee place :( and Starbucks is WAY too expensive here), chilled for a bit and went back to the subway were we got lost (yay!!), finally arrived around 3:30 at the hotel, checked in, came up, took a much needed shower and went to get some food, we got this amazingly huge bowl of Ramen for 600Y!, walked for a little bit, went to the 100Y store (Like the dollar store), then to another "gourmet market" were we got Ice cream!, back to the hotel for some coffee and then we got to choose our pillow out of 7 diferent kinds, got some free goodies (Face masks, foot relaxers, etc etc) and tthis is how I'm calling it a day, at 9pm on August 31st.... I can barely have my eyes open, I'm too tired to be true and we already have a full day planned for tomorrow.

By the way, when we finally came up to our room, I got scared becaused I plugged in my computer's cable onto the outlet but my computer wasn't charging..... until I realized I didn't plug in the cable onto the computer...DUH!!! lol (I guess I really need to sleep)

Anyway, I guess this was a good start for what will be a 5 weeks stay in Japan, wasn't it?

-Gisela V.

P.s. I'm so sorry but the pics are not in order, blogger is acting out and its not letting me edit the photos :(
P.s.2. I gave up with the pictures, so I guess I'll add them all at the end 







Thursday, July 18, 2013

On my lack of posting....

Hi everyone!
Because a random post deserved a random gif.... LOVE IT!

I know it's been over 2 weeks since my last post and I'm sorry, life hasn't been as exciting (to blog) as I would like, just a whole lot of Packing, tossing and booking for our next trip and talking about it, like I said before, My sister (Diana) and I will be working on a Traveling blog called "The World by Bites", this is still in the process of being created/completed (Thank you sis!!!~I just suck at designing things), this does not mean I won't be posting about out trip, but the other blog will be more helpful if you are traveling and are looking for some info-tips :).

Like I said, there's not much to say, I just spend 2 whole days sleeping at home thanks to a Throat infection, actually it was the worst ever and left me with little to no voice for almost 3 days, so, I guess I kinda needed that time off.

Only 10 days until we leave to Japan, this has been like a roallercoster to me, at times I would feel overly excited and then affraid for not knowing exactly what will happen, I still can't believe it, last week I met a friend and he asked me if Korea was always the place I wanted to visit the most, the truth is No, ever since I was little, when someone asked me "Where would you like to travel" I would say TOKYO, I thought it was a very cool/crazy/different country (I still do) and Tokyo was always my answer, although, to be honest I never thought I would get to do it, despite traveling to Korea twice and being so "close" to Japan, I never thought I would get to do it. Funny how this same friend told me something another friend of my sister's  had told me a few years ago, they both told me my origins were from Asia, and I don't mean my great-great-great-great-grandfather was Asian, I mean, in my previous life, they say that's why I feel so comfortable with it and this will help this Journey to be a success (I sure hope so!!).

I know this post is RANDOM, and I guess I won't be blogging much for the next 2 weeks or so, but hopefully I'll have great things to blog about once we get to the other side of the world... And I do hope so, because for the 2 weeks of the Volunteer work I don't think we'll have internet access in such a small town, plus we'll be busy volunteering.... talking about it...I got a pair of CROCS :( lol, but they were necesary!! They asked for them sort of in order to go to the river in Fukushima! lol, I'm not proud of it, but I just needed to get that out of my chest haha, oh yea, and we finally got a date aka tickets to Korea!, we will be flying from Narita to Incheon on September 4th, just in time for Jo-Anna's wedding (I even got a dress and all haha).

I guess I'll be seeing you soon...

I'll try to stop posting such random messages, I don't even think I covered all I wanted in here.

-Gisela V.

P.S. I'm SOOOOOOOO ready to eat a LOT of sushi <3 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Korean Ginseng ~ KoreaTaste Gift

Hi everyone!,

As some of you already know, I'm a huge fan of Korean Food, I love eating it and cooking it, and KoreaTaste started their blogging contest on february, which was entered by default since I was already a member of the site, this only encourage me to blog more about food!

Last month the winners were announced and I got 3rd place (YAY!), and also got selected as a winner for being a "new" member, 2 weeks ago I received an email regarding my gift being sent and this Thursday I got a huge package on the mail!


The package had a Thank you letter from KoreaTaste, a Box of Seaweed (5 packages), 1 Box of Korean Red Ginseng Tea (it contains like 100 teabags) and a bottle of Korean Red Ginseng extract, of course I didn't know how to use this, so I asked some friends and checked some videos online to know more about it.



First, the Teabags, the ginseng comes in some sort of powder, there's no need of a Teabag or a Tea-spoon (is that how it's called? lol), you just pour it in warm water and that's it, I thought it was going to taste bad (I read about the bad taste somewhere), but no, the taste is a little bit sweet and it's very refreshing, anyway, I found out that Korean Ginseng is good to lower high blood pressure, helps Boost the immune system, helps treat Diabetes Mellitus and helps developing Brain efficency and also it has some effect on the eyes... I read you have to take about 600ml a day (2-3 cups) and after 2 weeks you have to take another week off of the tea, it's not recommended to drink it at night because it can cause insomnia, and I already have enough insomnia to add this to it :P. I just started taking it this weekend, so, let's see how it helps in the next couple of weeks!

The Korean Red Ginseng Extract helps:

 Relieve stress and fatigue since Ginseng works as a natural adaptogen in the body that allows the body to accommodate to stress in a natural manner (it is also said to work with the nervous system as a natural tranquilizer)

Boost mental efficency since it containg many gensenosides that are able to boost efficency in the brain and reduce mental fatigue.

Boost libido, this is one of the most widely-known bennefits of Red Ginseng ~Something I don't think I'll get to test~ lol

Boost immune system because of Ginseng's high amount of Vitamins and Minerals, it is believed to strength the body's immunity and it can also wok as a natural detoxifier.

Lower blood pressure. It is benneficial to those who suffer hypertension (Like me!)

Control blood sugar. Red Ginseng reduced cortisol levels in the bloodstream and helps promote insulin production. Helps manage or preven Diabetes.

Treat Arthritis, because of its anti-inflammatory properties is a great natural alternative to reducing the severity of rheumatoig arthritis.

Promote Bodily balance, all ginseng varieties are classified as adaptogens aka herbs that work addressing any imbalances you have in your body (includes infections, insomnia, stress, digestive issues, etc.

And I don't think I have to tell you what the Seaweed is used for, right? :)

There you have it, I guess I'll be posting more about this since I just started taking the Ginseng Tea and this week I'll try the Red Ginseng!

감사합니다!
I would like to thank KoreaTaste for the opportunity to blog for them and for the Healthy presents I got! 


-Gisela V.

**Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/benefits-korean-red-ginseng-10509853.html