14 01, 2016

Omikuji: Fortune Telling at Japanese Temples & Shrines

By |January 14th, 2016|Categories: Activities, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

If you find yourself at a Japanese temple or shrine make sure to have your fortune told! Called Omikuji are essentially a sacred lot, where you randomly draw a stick that will tell you your fortune. But beware, these fortunes can foretell a bad fate! After you have paid, you will shake, spin, or rotate a container full of numbered sticks. It is important to make sure you wish for a good fortune at this point! Once you pull the stick out, find the corresponding fortune in the numbered drawers. Then return your stick. Now it is time to read your

5 09, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Omamori

By |September 5th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

In Sailor Moon, one of the main characters Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), is a Shrine Maiden, and in some of the episodes she sells amulets. I remember watching this episode when I was young and I was very excited to go to Japan and purchase one of these charms! The Hikawa Shrine in Sailor Moon Called Omamori, these talismans are sold at Shinto and Buddhist shrines and temples and provide different protection or luck. They contain a prayer written on paper or wood and are contained within a cloth bag. The shrine or temple sell these in return

4 05, 2015

Travel Missteps: Yavin 4

By |May 4th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Its not often while traveling that you can really let your Geek Self out. But at the top of Temple IV in Tikal, Guatemala I had that opportunity to Geek Out with other Star Wars fans. You see, a very short scene from the original Star Wars (A New Hope) was shot at the top of this temple in Tikal to show the Millennium Falcon landing at the rebel base on the 4th moon of Yavin. Temples I, II, and III are seen off in the distance. Yavin 4 (Tikal) in Star Wars A New Hope I had

26 03, 2015

Egypt Trip Itinerary

By |March 26th, 2015|Categories: Itinerary, Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Within the next few months I will be embarking on my dream trip of a lifetime - EGYPT! I've been wanting to do this trip forever and actually had the money saved up to go in 2011, but the revolution put a kink in my plans. I was skittish, not wanting to go during that trouble period. But I realize now, things will never be stable...at least not for another decade or so. And so I must take a leap of faith, stop waiting, and just go! So for the last few months I've been planning this trip. Below is