Talk About Huge

One of the most thrilling things I did in Thailand was ride an elephant.
For those of you who disagree with this practice, sorry. I had a blast and I will never forget it for as long as I live. I smiled non-stop the whole time. When in Phuket, you can take the road to Kata and you will see a small sign leading you to a small elephant riding camp. Tour guides will try to send you on a 45 minute journey by bus out of town, but ask a Tuk Tuk to hook you up with this local adventure.

Thai Sunset in Patong

My last night in Thailand, I witnessed the most stunning sunset.
It made me wonder If it gets any better!
I felt a sense of completion and peace knowing that I would share this sunset with my friends and family even tho they weren't there to share it in the moment.
All ways ask your self: "Where is the sun setting and seek it out, it is always worth the effort."

Pink Airplane Lands In Tokyo Boutique

This store in the Harijuku District was about as pink as you can imagine and had an airplane lodged right in the middle of the store. This not your average Barbie Airplane.
Check it out....

The Art of The Internet Cafe

In Tokyo the internet cafe serves many purposes. Many people who live far outside the city prefer to "visit" an internet cafe than go home. In this case, visit means....sleep, eat, shower, read comic books and basically lounge all for less than the price of a hotel room.
The cafes offer free beverages, soft ice cream, food and showers for those who choose to stay all night. One of the newest additions to the internet scene is Manboo.
Check it out..

The most pretty food I've ever seen

I found this at Tokyo Station. Can you imagine finding such pretty food in a train station?

Tasteful Tinkling In Tokyo

Toto toilets found everywhere in Japan have a sound effect that allows you to mask the sound of your pee with the sound of a flushing toilet.
Some come complete with infant holders.
So clever!
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Looking for a Harijuku Girl

Gwen Stefani sings about the women in the Tokyo Harijuku District. I love the song, so I put on my headphones and hit the pavement in search of the Harijuku District to find out what all the hype was about. What I found were specialty accessory shops filled with the latest Tokyo street fashions. There were whole stores dedicated to sox, hats, and faux jewels.

Here are just a few of the images from my pilgrimage to the Harijuku District.
Funny enough the most striking Harijuku girls were camera shy? I wondered why anyone who would go to such great lenghts to be so original wouldn't want share their fashion brilliance with the world....?

Wedding Photography at The Ritz Carlton

One of the most exciting things I did in Tokyo was to learn about Japanese Wedding Photography from one of the most powerful and influential people in the industry. I visited a studio that has been in the business for over 100 years. This family owned business has procured the contract rights to all the weddings that are photographed at the Ritz Carlton, Tokyo.
Here are a couple of photos from my visit to the Ritz.

Good Morning Tokyo

If you have ever spent any time in Tokyo, you can relate to the fact that each area has a distinctly different vibe and energy. My last night in Tokyo was spent in the Roppongi Area.
The tradition is to stay out all night there and wait for the trains to start running at 5 am.
After hanging out in internet cafes and with friends I looked up and sawa Tokyo crow and thought: " Oh my goodness, it is daylight!"

The Best Thing About This Trip Was The Freinds I Made

I am so grateful to have met some of the most wonderful people on my trip to Asia.
In Cambodia, Sokemerah had a going away party for me and 25 people attended.


In Tokyo, Yummi whom I met in Cambodia traveled 2 hours by train to see me off to America.

YounYee drove Chanda around on his motorbike over rough terrain to visit orphanages to play with the children and make donations.

Makoto San in Tokyo took time from his busy schedule to teach me about Japanese Wedding photography at the Ritz Carlton and his other venue.

People were just amazingly kind and took such great care to become realiable and fun companions. Some, will surely become lifelong freinds!

The Trip

I left Portland on June 11 and set out for Thailand.
My starting point was Phuket. There was a T-shirt in a window that said: " Good men go to heaven, Bad men go to Patong. I will tell you more about that later.

I visited Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Tokyo.