Day One: Wandering the Streets | Kyoto, Japan

Markus and I spent seven wonderful days in Kyoto. Those seven days were completely planned out. Almost every hour was accounted for, but I did leave us some exploring time. We spent most of our first day getting lost on the streets near our hotel. We didn't have a plan and we stopped at anywhere that interested us. Kyoto is such a beautiful city that begs to be photographed. I didn't disappoint and snapped heaps of photos. It's definitley my favorite city in Japan. It's one of those places that my heart will always long for and I can't wait for the day that we can go back and get lost on the streets again. 

Jurassic Park Car | Nashville, Tennesse

When Markus and I were in Nashville with my cousin Joy, something exciting and a bit strange happened. After we spent the day in the city, we drove back to our hotel. Along the way, I spied a Jurassic Park car at a stoplight. Since Markus is a huge dinosaur fanatic, I tried my best to get a photo from the other side of the street. Joy decided that a photo in the car wasn't enough and she decided to follow the car.  Total stalkers I know! We tailed the car all the way to a nearby shopping mall and asked the driver to pull over.

The driver was really nice and said that people follow him all the time. He actually made his car like that as a way to advertise his film project, Jurassic Park: Origins. They're basically trying to raise money for a film that will tell the back story of Jurassic Park. It's mainly focusing on the creation of the dinosaurs, scientific challenges and the moral and ethical struggles. It's a pretty cool project, so you guys should definitley check it out! I never thought we would come across something like this in Nashville. This is why road trips are the best!

Mommyo & Me

Mommyo and I quickly took these photos the last day she was in Chicago. When I came back to Tampa after two years, we really wanted to do Glamour Shots. We've done them twice and we thought it would be hilarious to do them again. Sadly, there wasn't a location in Tampa and we had to forgo that dream. At least we have these. They might not be up to the caliber of Glamour Shots, but they'll do just fine.

Near Death Experiences | Tampa to Chicago Road Trip

Driving from Tampa to Chicago in a moving truck isn't necessarily my ideal road trip. It was even worse that we had to lug a car behind the truck too. A trip that should've taken about 18 hours turned into days. It was really slow moving and the we had a close call near Atlanta.

Markus and I were driving on I-95 when a car drove up next to us honking his horn. Markus and I assumed that the alarm on the car was going off. I motioned to the man that it was fine and I knew. He kept honking and look terrified. We both rolled down our windows and he said that we had to pull over. It was in that moment I knew there was something wrong. We pulled over on the side of the highway. As soon as we both got out of the truck, we smelled burning rubber. On the tow trolley, one of the tires was falling off. Markus and I looked at each other and freaked out. If that guy hadn't pulled us over, we could've had a terrible accident. It was pretty scary, but we were so grateful for that guy. If he didn't try to warn us, who knew would've happened. Thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful and slow. I'm glad that was the only near death experience. I don't think I could've handled more than that. 

Hello giant Native American man.

Are you using the bathroom giant Native American man?

Did I miss 60B?

Visual evidence that we're close to Chicago.

One Piece at KFC | Kyoto, Japan

So, I have another confession. I'm a super otaku for One Piece, especially Tony Tony Chopper. If you aren't familiar with the term otaku, it's Japanese for someone who is obsessed with popular culture, but it's usually used for fanboys. When I was younger, I watched a lot of anime and read so many mangas. I was a huge fan of Sailor Moon. I though I was gonna grow up to be Sailor Jupiter, but instead I ended up being Sailor Mars. It's true. Think about it, I'm super fiesty and I have long black hair.

Anyway, so as I got older, I sort of grew out of that phase of my life. I was just coming out of it when Markus and I started dating. I feel bad, because I think I misled him a bit. When we first got together, we watched a lot of anime together, especially Naruto. Then all of a sudden, I just stopped and became really interested in clothes and other things. Throughout the years, Markus asked me to watch anime with him especially One Piece, but I always refused. He always seemed disappointed and sad because he would watch it alone.

Then one day, I got really sick and had to stay home from work. I didn't have anything to watch and decided to watch an episode of One Piece. I was hooked and spent the three days off from work binge watching One Piece. I was a woman possessed and couldn't stop until I watched all of them. I watched all 500+ episodes in three months. It was crazy. When we were in Japan and I had the chance to combine my love of fried chicken and One Piece, I couldn't refuse, even if it was fast food.

While in Japan, I kept seeing adverts for these lil' mini One Piece ice cream makers. I was dying to get one and one night we finally decided to give it a go. We went to the counter and asked the lady if I could get a Chopper ice cream maker, but she said she didn't know what was inside the box. They were meant to be a surprise. I was a bit iffy and really didn't want to sacrifice a good meal, if I couldn't get Chopper. I decided to give it a go anyway, because when would I have the opportunity to get a One Piece ice cream maker? The lady ended up putting three boxes on the counter and told me to pick a box. I chose the box on the far right and hoped I picked the right one. As you can tell from the photos, I did and got Chopper. It's like it was always meant to be as if it were my destiny!