Who doesn’t want some paradise every once in a while?! After busy Bangkok, we decided that it was time to just relax. We found that Phuket, Thailand, was the perfect place for this.

After a beautiful plane ride, we landed in this lovely place.

For the first day, we just relaxed at the resort.

We were tired after waking up early to fly to Phuket.

After this relaxing day, we were a bit more active.  I made some beautiful arts and crafts for my Moms’ 11th wedding anniversary at the Kid’s Club.

Since it was so hot we ended up swimming in an awesome pool at another resort that you can take a shuttle bus to.

Even though the waterslide was being repaired, it was worth it.

I met yet another friend from Australia, too!

We had some fun on the beach and in the pool.

On our way to the store the next day, we met someone selling handmade brooms!

It was really cool how he arranged them in the cart with his bike.

My parents loved the Thai massage so much in Bangkok, that they decided to have another one in Phuket!

As I have been doing throughout our world trek, I continued face-timing with my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Perry, and classmates.  I love seeing my friends and classmates and I miss them very much.

Well, sorry to say, but that was the end of our first couple days in Phuket. Look for more Phun posts from Phuket from your Junior Worldtrek Reporter.

We are going on a sailing adventure that you will not want to miss!

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World!

Now we have experienced the golden Thailand!
Ploy took us to one of the most amazing places, a gianormous surprise…

The reclining Buddha!!!

The temple that has this humongous statue behind the gates is called Wat Pho, or if you want to sound really sophisticated, it is called Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan.

There were beautiful buildings everywhere.

The reclining Buddha is about as big as a whale, and is laying down saying that, “it is okay,” as he lays down in his final days.

After we tore our eyes off this wonderful statue, we walked to the other side of him, to try and see the 108 auspicious characters on the bottom of Buddha’s feet. Unfortunately, this area of Buddha’s feet was being restored so we could not see the characters, like flowers, dancers and white elephants.

There are 108 bowls representing the characters and In each of the 108 bowls you drop a coin for your good fortune. The money also helps the monks maintain the wat.

Did I mention that every day in Bangkok it was very hot – over 100 F. In fact, the day we went to the Grand Palace it was even 110 degrees!

They were constantly restoring their historical sites.

Simply amazing sites and sights.

After we finished this, my parents had an authentic Thai massage (they will tell you about it), while Ploy and I got ice cream.  A 1-hour massage costs about $14 and my Mom said the massage therapist walked on her!

Thank you, Ploy (and Pear), for the wonderful tour of Bangkok. We would have been lost without you! We look forward to seeing you both when you come to America!

Even their airports are beautiful. All around Bangkok, we saw pictures of the King and the airport was no different. They sure LOVE him!

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Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Namaste

Saw was dee, (Hello) everybody! We are still in Thailand.

Today was our second day in Bangkok and a pretty fun day too, you can be sure of that!
Ploy and her good friend, Pear picked us up from the hotel and then we took the Sky Train.

Pear was also an exchange student in the US, in Pennsylvania.  We went to two museums, which both taught about Thailand’s past.

The first one was called Suan Pakkad Palace and had artifacts like spoons, jewelry and pottery. This museum used to be the palace for Prince Chumbhot Paribatra of Nago Svarga and Princess M.R. Pantip Paribatra.

It is a very unique and extensive collection of Thai houses relocated from their original location, each with a different group of objects collected by the prince and princess.  The houses were first used as a reception hall and a place to display their collection.  They opened their home to the general public while still living there, which had never been done before in Thailand.

It was a truly exciting museum.

The second museum taught us about the history of Bangkok, Thailand, in the heart of Old Town.  It was called Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall.

It had different exhibits, each dating from a different period In Thailand.

I was fascinated by all the wonderful kings of Thailand.  The king who is rulng now is king Rama IV, and is one of the greatest Thai Kings of all!  He is still very popular.  He is on the Thai Baht – the money of Thailand.  His mother truly made me feel connected to the way Thailand is meant to be, because she taught the current king and his brother to always help people and to be kind.  She raised the kings as a single mom.

After Rattanakosin, we were getting hungry so we decided that we should go to Chinatown via a Tuk-tuk– and yes, there is a Chinatown in Thailand.

We went to get a nice dinner. Walking through China Town we saw lots of cats and dogs, and lots of seafood, too.

We ate at a delicious place that had shrimp, duck and vegetables.

We let Ploy and Pear order for us, knowing they would choose the best!

It was late now, so we retired to our hotel, after taking in the views of Bangkok at night and taking public transportation home back to our hotel.

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Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Khob khun – (that’s thank you in Thai) for reading another blog post! We left Japan and are now in Thailand! We are staying in Bangkok and our tour guide is our friend, Ploy, who was an exchange student last year back in Sacramento with our friends, the Colby family.  My Mom taught Ploy how to swim at the Natomas Racquet Club last summer. We arrived late at night and had a peaceful sleep in our Renaissance Hotel.  In the morning, we had one of our many delicious breakfasts in the concierge lounge. They had many things to choose from because so many people from different countries stay there. Then we met Ploy in the lobby and started today’s adventures. We took the Sky Train and walked for a little bit and got on a boat which took us on a tour by temples, houses on stilts, and farms.

These are the “long tail” boats. It was a great fun ride

Life along the river is very interesting.

Check out these videos:

I was amazed to see what a different lifestyle people have in Thailand. Many houses are made out of wood and metal sheets and everyone has to cook, clean, and work.

They use boats to get around.

After the boat ride, we arrived at a floating market.

It was awesome – everyone was cooking, eating, and trying to stay cool!

They prepare the meals on the boats parked along side the market

There were many shops and stands with food I didn’t really recognize, like spiky fruits called Durian. And this fruit called Rambutan or Ngor.

I loved the rambutan.

They also had an interesting way of keeping Popsicles frozen in this burning hot weather – they used a tool that they turned with ice water so each popsicle would freeze.

We enjoyed a few of these to help us cool down

After the floating market, we got on a cool motorcycle-car-thing, called a Tuk-Tuk.

They weaved in and out of the taxis and got us there in no time.

Aren’t the tuk-tuk’s fun?!

By the way, this is why we decided not to drive in Bangkok!

We took the Tuk Tuk to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is where all of Thailand’s kings and queens have lived over the centuries.   It was beautiful!  The current President has been ruling for over 60 years and I learned he is very popular.

The rooftops are pointed up high in the air and were shining with gold. Everywhere you look there is gold, green, or orange buildings and beautiful mosaics.

My Mom’s had to wear these skirts to cover their skin.

In one temple where royalty prays, there is an amazing Emerald Buddha.  Long ago, this Buddha was covered in plaster and was thought to be just like any other Buddha, until one day, a man noticed the plaster was peeling off its nose. They took off all the plaster to reveal what they thought was emerald for a long time, until it was discovered as actually being made of Jade. That’s the story of the Emerald Buddha.

We were also hot that we decided to go back to our hotel. I hope you like this post.  Hope to hear from you soon.

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Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Hello my deers!  Yes, that is how I meant to spell it!

Doe a dear, a female deer.

Now we have visited “The Land of Heavenly Deer,” or Nara., Japan. So you were wondering why this place is called the Land of Heavenly Deer?  Legend has it that a mythological god arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital.  Now, you can see tame deer roaming all around Nara. After a beautiful drive from Kobe, we reached a place where I learned how to make a traditional Japanese roof tile from a well-known artist who is very skilled at the art. Kawara tiles help protect houses from damage and they also have other meanings.  I looked on line and my design was similar to the Moon design, and it is said that it will purify and protect your home.

It was really cool when the artist spun the ball of clay into a “top,” so it would be easier to put into the mold.

The roof tiles are put on many traditional buildings, including Buddhist Temples.

Guess what I wrote on mine? Yep – Keep calm and travel around the world! This will set and be fired and be sent back to me in American – thanks Akemi!

Then we went to Mariko’s friend Akemi’s house and had a delicious lunch including two hamburger patties, soup and salad and desserts!  Her house is a traditional Japanese house.

Beautiful and Yummy!

We met wonderful people and had fun, as usual.

We enjoyed more singing, and lots of laugher, as usual.

We ate in the tea room with a beautiful alter and decorations. I met her great niece, Rinko. She was very fun to play with. Akemi got us VIP passes to the Todaiji Temple, which is the largest wooden building in the world! See that window in the second floor?

Above our heads, you can see the doors that open twice a year during celebrations

Later on, Akemi took us to a temple containing the world’s largest Buddha in the world. Imagine this. Someone my size is as big as its pinky finger! It was humungous! Two times a year, a window is opened to reveal Buddha’s head. There is a pillar that has a hole in it for an unknown reason.

There was a huge line of children waiting to crawl through the hole. I was going to skip it until a nice girl let me go in front of everyone.

It is believed that the hole is the same size as Buddha’s nostril, and if you can get all the way through it, you will be granted enlightenment in your next life.

I did it!

After we peeled our eyes off Buddha, we went to another part of the temple which has stone sculptures of Japanese guards. You do not want to mess with these guys! Back to the deer.  We went to another area within the temple grounds to feed them. They were so tame, even though one was nibbling at my mom’s bottom (it was quite a laugh)!  We had such a fun time in Nara, but it is time to go home to Kobe now! Look for more posts from your world trek reporter! Keep calm and travel around the world! PS. Guess what we had for dinner that night? Sushi! Mariko planned our trip in such an amazing fashion! We had such a wonderful time in Japan. I can’t wait to see her next year in California! Kazu is coming too this time. We have some terrific plans for when you come to see us!

We did something totally magical and wicked in Japan. Who can guess?

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

WE WENT TO HARRY POTTER WORLD AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS , IN OSAKA, JAPAN!!!

We couldn’t wait to get there!

I love Harry Potter like crazy!

I’ve always wished to be accepted into the school! New classes find out in the summer if they are accepted for the upcoming fall semester.

I am a total Harry Potter fanatic! I read all seven books by the end of third grade and can’t wait for J.K. Rawlings to write some more!

Okay, so walking through the Forbidden Forest, I saw the Weasley’s flying car with every little detail – broken bumpers, cracked windshield and everything!

Weasley’s car was honking and lights were flashing, just like when Harry and Ron crashed.

We rounded the corner and hogsheads village met our eyes.  It was a beautiful site!

You get on Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 3/4

The rooftops sparkled with snow – not real snow of course – and each window had something very odd and wizardly, like a mandrake or Quidditch balls.

I drank some Butter Beer!

We watched a worker take out a live owl, while we were picnicking on home-made tunafish sandwiches.

Above us there were owls perched with poop stains as evidence.  I posted a real letter by owl mail to my Grandma Marcia.  She just got it!

We waited in a very, very long line in Hogwarts to go on a ride called “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,”

We went through Dumbledore’s office, and the Gryffindor common room and the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom before the ride.  In line we saw portraits talking to you and each other; as well as the sorting hat, though I just couldn’t understand all of it because it was in Japanese!  Although, I know I was chosen for Gryffindor!!!

Finally, we reached the ride. It was awesome! It used 4-K technology.   We started by exploring Dumbledore’s office, then the Gryffindor common room and the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom before we went on the ride.  I learned that they call it 4K3D, which uses state-of-the-art 4K technology and is here for the first time in the world.

First, there was a dragon chasing after you, and then it blows flames on you – or heat – and then the dementors come, and it starts getting cold and spider spray venom – water – on you! Whoa!

Then there is a game of Quidditch, and you see the golden snitch race by — I thought I could catch it!  Of course, Harry wins the game.

It was a great ride and it ended in Filches Emporium where all the gadgets that he takes from the students.

Outside we were met by a choir of Hogwarts students with their croaking frog’s.

They saying many different songs like, the Quidditch World Cup.

While we were strolling through Hogsmeade, I spotted Ollivanders.

When a group of 30 of us walked in Ollivanders Wand Shop, Mr. Ollivanders said that I was the chosen one to get a wand that day!  I was so EXCITED!!  He looked through his wands and had ME test the spells…”Wingardrium Leviosa”  and “Alohomora” until the room lit up and the wand found me!!

So many wands to choose from!

Check out this video:

How the heck is that wand floating in mid-air?

Honeydukes was where we went and bought a chocolate one for dessert.

I was very sad when it was time to leave Harry Potter World, but I knew we had to explore the rest of Universal Studios.

How do they do that?

Enjoy a more photos of what lies behind Harry Potter and the other films that are famous parts of Universal Studios:

I will remember this day with my parents and Mariko forever!

And they will, too!

If you can’t get to Harry Potter in Florida, you might as well go in Japan!

Stay tuned for more ‘magical’ posts from your Junior Worldtrek Reporter

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Hi Folks!  We are still in Kyoto!  This is our second and last day here.

Good Morning and Nameste, again!

Have I told you that the food in Japan is always amazing?!  Well, the next morning we woke up and had our tea in the tea room, and then we were treated to a typical Japanese breakfast, which we would NEVER have in America.

The meal included a whole fried and salt-encrusted fish, a cube of tofu with soy sauce, pickled cucumbers, two eggs in the shape of squares and a bowl of miso soup.

I bet none of my friends and classmates have this for breakfast!

It was very different than Cheerios, that’s for sure, though I really enjoyed it.

Kazu met us at the hotel and we were off to tour much more of Kyoto!

Traditional Attire

Beautiful Kimonos

Just like Americans, the Japanese school kids LOVE field trips!

Fushimi Inari Shrine is famous for its thousands of torii gates, which make up a large network of trails.

Torii gates are supposed to divide our world and the spirit world.

The shrine is also known for the fox that guard at the shrine.

They are present all over.

Kakigōri (かき氷?) is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk. As you can see from this photo, I loved it and it was very refreshing on a hot day!

What a fantastic time we had with her touring one of the world’s most famous shrine and temple cities.

After another day of great sight-seeing and of course some refreshments, we went to the train station to head back to Kobe and say goodbye (and thank you, again!) to Kazu.

The next day in Kobe we went shopping at a huge Japanese mall – which was perfect timing because it was raining.  That night we went to a delicious Teppanyaki steak restaurant, where our food was cooked right before our eyes on a iron grill – sort of like Benihana’s.

Our chef really made our experience better — he put on a food preparation show for each course, and most of all,  he is a huge Harry Potter fan!

He was so jealous when he learned that we were going to Universal Studios’ Harry Potter tomorrow!  I think he was trying to put a spell on my dessert!

Well that’s the end (ha ha) of this post.  Next up, something magical!

Look for more Yukata from your Worldtrek Reporter

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Arigato (thank you in Japanese) for looking at my blog again!  After our Mother’s Day breakfast we headed on a bus, then a train to Kyoto, Japan.  One of Mariko’s friends from high school, Kazu, who lives in Kyoto, met us there.  Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan…do you know what the capital is now?  Kyoto also used to be the most populated city,  but now it is ranked number 7 behind Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo and Kobe.  Kyoto is located in a valley and is part of the Yamashiro Basin.  It has a humid subtropical climate, which means the summers are hot and humid and winters are relatively cold. We planned our trip to Kyoto at the right time, because the rainy season is June and July!

Now I will tell you about the 2 days that we stayed in Kyoto.  Kazu had planned a very special lunch – once again, traditional Japanese.

We had a delicious lunch in a quiet restaurant, where you don’t order your meals.  They serve your courses of different food, a lot of which includes tofu.  We had soup, noodles, a variety of pickled veggies, seaweed, tempura, and dessert.

After lunch Kazu took us to some famous shrines and temples.

This is where you toss your coins in to make an offering to Buddha.

Kazu took us to Kinkaku-ji Temple.  The temple was so beautiful.

To enter a shrine/temple, you must purify your hands and face in the correct order.

First, you scoop up water up and wash your left hand.  Next your wash your right hand.  Then you cup your left hand and pour water into it to rinse your mouth, but you spit the water out.

Another thing you do is light a stick in a flame and drop it into the ash, breathing in the smoke and putting it on different parts of your body to improve that part.  For example, if you swish the smoke onto your head it will make you more clever.

You can also ring bells and drop money in boxes to make an offering to Buddha and/or gods.

When you pull on this rope the bell rings, which will wake-up the Gods.

This a traditional Japanese cafe.

On our way to dinner, we walked through an area that looked like Diagon Alley.  If you read the Harry Potter books you will know what I mean.   These areas were teaming with people.

I had two plates of delicious steak (not sushi this time).  Yum!

After dinner, we returned to our hotel.  I learned how traditional the hotel was.  Almost 100% of the time when you enter a home or hotel in Japan, you take your own shoes off and put their house slippers on.  It was no different at our hotel.

There was a warm bath and Japanese shower, which we all enjoyed.

This is the courtyard outside of our room.

Rice paper doors add to the Japanese feel, don’t you think?

And we slept on the traditional futon bed roll-out mattress (we did in our home-stay in Kobe, too)

Here I am reading books on the I-pad that we download from the Sacramento public library. This makes me very happy, because you know how much I LOVE to read. In fact, I have already read nine books on this trip!

Well, I am getting sleepy — next post is about the next day in Kyoto.

A Traditional Yukata

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Keep Calm and Travel Around the World

Nameste!

Kon-i-chi-wa! Hello, in Japanese. Sadly, we have left Australia, but moved on to another great country, Japan!  Here is happy arrival in Japan after a day-long flight from Australia through Kuala Lumpur and an overnight flight to Osaka, Japan.

M & M = Mariko and Makenna upon arrival at Osaka International Airport

We are staying in a traditional Japanese home. Arigato to Mariko’s friends, Mr. & Mrs. Kabashima for a fantastic home-away-from-home, not too far from Mariko’s hi-rise condo, in Kobe.  Mariko Ohnaka is my kindergarten and first grade teacher (and Japanese teacher’s) mother-in-law, and has become a dear friend of ours.

The first of many, many sushi meals — one of my favorite foods in the world!

Two years ago we visited Mariko in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan.  And many of you know her, too, because last year she came to visit us in the U.S. for a few weeks and we toured her around Northern California. Okay, let us talk about what we did with Mariko, after she picked us up from the Osaka Airport. Once we drove from Osaka to Kobe, in the morning, we went to a sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt, so sushi can ride right to your table and you can pick out exactly which pieces you would like to eat. It was so cool! Check out this video:

Advice from Makenna:  Keep eating sushi!

After sushi, Mariko’s friend, Yumi Yamada, who is a licensed “Traditional Tea Ceremony” teacher (for over 40 years!), invited us to learn about the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Her Tea Ceremony Assistant was Toshiko Izutzu.  We gladly accepted!

We learned how to wash our hands correctly before the ceremony and how to enter the tea room.

Left hand first, right hand second and your mouth is rinsed last

We learned how to make the green tea, how to present it to guests, and also, how to drink it.

I had fun mixing the tea to bring it to a nice froth. My teacher was impressed. 🙂

You can see the traditional tea ceremony equipment and the tami mats which cover the floor.

During a Japanese tea ceremony it is ok to slurp your tea.

Thank you so much to Yumi and Toshiko for the amazing traditional tea ceremony experience!

The next day, Mariko threw us a Welcome Party, with a surprise early birthday cake for me!

Japanese hospitality and friendship – and YES, of course, MORE SUSHI!

All her Japanese friends were so kind and generous.

I I I enjoyed learning more Origami.

Origami Samurai Hat and presents from my new friend. Thank you!

The food and birthday cake were wonderful and so were the presents!

Our new friends are so kind and loving.

We all ended up singing Japanese and American songs together.

After the party we went to one of the world famous, Japanese Onsen’s in Kobe. This is a public bath (divided into girls and boys) with all kinds of hot tubs, that are different temperatures. The onsen has a sauna, steam room, and an ice dip pool, too. Then Mariko had made some home-made beef stew for dinner at her house……we went to bed very full from the party, very relaxed from the Onsen, and still very sleepy from our overnight trip.  What a great day! The next day we got to celebrate Mother’s Day. I love my Mom’s! And Mariko! We made a special Mother’s Day breakfast before heading on the train to Kyoto.

M, M, and M = Mama, Makenna, and Mommy, on Mother’s Day, in Japan.

I bought my Mom’s some surprise gifts while I was in Australia! Thanks Rochelle for your help with shopping.

M & M & M on M Day. I love you! Love, M

We are very lucky, and as Mariko says, “Life is wonderful!” So far, Japan has been awesome! And much more to come!

Look for more sushi, I mean more posts, from your Junior Worldtrek Reporter!

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World!

Who goes to Sydney, Australia, and doesn’t go to the Sydney Opera House?

I was amazed by all the detail they put into building it, how big all the theaters are and all the architects’ incredible ideas.

The view from inside the opera house outside of the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

1,056,006 tiles were used to make the shell-shaped grooves. It took 14 years to complete

The concrete tiles were manufactured in Sweden. You might think that the opera house is one color, but actually, they used two colors, glossy white and matte cream, so it wasn’t too bright to look at in the sunshine.

There was a design competition, where 233 architects from 32 countries submitted ideas for the new opera house.  Legend has it that the chosen design was rescued from a pile of 30 rejects.  It was submitted by Mr. Jorn Utzon, from Denmark.

Utzon had no idea that the Sydney Opera House would become one of the worlds’ most famous buildings.

The opera house at sunset was amazing!

The theatres are all so beautiful.

I really enjoyed the tour with the guide, too.

I had a lot of questions, like “do they have kids’ programs here?”

Later in the day, we climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge!  Daniel Radcliffe, one of my favorite actors; and, the entire cast from Modern Family has also climbed.

It was a really fun adventure!

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was meant to last about 40 years, but now has survived twice as much time!

You start by hooking-in your safety harness to a cable which runs all along the climb for safety.  We walked along the steel girders, under the road (from left to right), up to the steel arches, and  then, up the arch!  It is super high and super fun!

The views are amazing!  And it is super high and super cool!

The flags of Australia and the state of New South Wales are flying on top.  There are six states in Australia and they each have their own flag.  If you want to learn more about the states and flags you can check out this website.  http://www.flagsaustralia.com.au/StateFlags.html

What a great way to wrap up Sydney!  We had tons of fun sightseeing!

It’s getting exciting — Walking up to the bridge to get ready for the climb

Of course, we really enjoyed more time with the Fletchers!  Thanks so much to Hannah and the Fletcher family for hosting us in your home. It was way better than the hotel would have been!

Rochelle, Hannah and Rys

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Keep Calm and Travel Around the World