Amazing race and visas....

I am a huge fan of the TV series The Amazing Race. I enjoy traveling and I like to emerge myself into the culture. However, one thing always had me thinking about the TV show. How do all of the participants apply for all of the visas they need for the TV Show? I have applied for only two visas my whole life; one for India and three times for China. Although, the visa applications are pretty straight forward, I think that they are still a hassle to apply for. For starters, you need a hotel and plane ticket booking in order to apply for the Chinese visa. Thus, how do the Amazing Race participants apply for the visa? Moreover, does the TV program require the participants to apply to vast amount of visas? Usually when they are sent to another country the participants seem shocked that they are traveling to the particular country. But, if they have the visa already stamped in their passport.... why are they shocked they had to visit China?


Just something to think about...

Visa Visa Visa

I am currently getting read to head overseas. However, like most countries I tend to visit I need to apply for visas. A couple of weeks ago I had to apply for a Indian Visa. However, it was a total pain in the @$$.

First, the website stated that I could apply at the Embassy here in Tokyo and fill out the form I printed online. However, once I go to the embassy; I was informed that I could not apply there and I had to go to a special visa centre located elsewhere in Tokyo. Considering I had to go to work later that day; I had no choice but to take a taxi. Upon arriving at the visa centre, I was greeted by the staff and I handed in the papers

However, it seems that the paper document is no longer accepted. Thus, they had me go to a internet cafe located near the station. So, I got up and started to walk to the internet cafe but my luck continued to get worse. It started to rain heavily. ... Once I arrived at the internet cafe, I was soaked.

I filled in the application and headed back to the visa centre to turn in the application. After viewing my application the lady at the counter said I had to write a US address on my application because I was a American national. So, I would have to fill in the application again from scratch....

So again in the rain I headed to the internet cafe and continued the process.

After getting back to the visa centre at at 12:45, I was able to get my visa processed. The visa centre charged me a total of 13,000 for my Indian Visa. Moreover, they said I could only pick up my visa on a weekday between 4:30-5:00 ( my working hours)....


A week later, I had a friend get my visa for me and now everything is alright...

8 years in Japan ,

This year, will mark my eighth year in Japan 

Man, these years have gone by so quick. I still remember like it was yesterday. Being the shy 17 year old boy getting off my plane at Narita and being so nervous about being so far away from home. However, after living here for a couple of months and getting accustom to the Japanese way of living, time has gone by so quick. 

Last week, I have met a previous classmate for dinner. She also attended KCP Language school with me back in the day. After a long discussion about our future plans, we talked about our old school days. 

We found it hard to believe that it has been almost 6 years since we have graduated. 

Life as an English Teacher

Hello,

Recently, I have been considering changing professions. I find English teaching Japan exciting and I really enjoy my students. However, I feel that I am at a point in my life where my daily activities are becoming too repetitive  for my liking..

Maybe it isn`t the profession itself but my current company. However, I have started to look for a new job more profusely now.


If you are interested in coming to Japan as an English teacher, I would highly recommend it.

Short video about my trip to China

Here is a small video I made showing footage from my last trip to China.

What`s for dinner? Silkworms ( カイコ）

A couple of weeks ago I met up with my Chinese friend from Dalian. After talking for a couple of hours we decided to have dinner together. Knowing that I love Chinese food, he decided to take me to his favourite Chinese restaurant in Shinookubo. I have been to this place many times before but I have only feasted the average sweet and sour pork or Chinese style skewers.

Yet, this time we decided to try something different. He told me in his hometown it is quite common to eat silkworms. The reason they are popular is because they are rich in protein and they don`t taste bad.
Knowing that I like a good food challenge we decided to try them.... and to my surprise I really enjoyed eating these little suckers.

Not only were they prepared well but they did not taste bad at all. They tasted more like Japanese Sakura Ebi than anything else. If I have the opportunity in the future I would like to eat this dish again... 

We also enjoyed some fried kidneys.

And some Northern China style Sweet and Sour pork. Unlike Japanese and American style the Chinese one is breaded with Mochi not breadcrumbs.

Long time no update (Cooking class )

Hello, everyone

I am sorry for the late update. Over the last couple of weeks I have been busy with work and other projects I have been working on. However, I have some news. Today I was invited to a cooking class my friends attends and I decided to join. This being my first time attending a cooking class, I was a little nervous. None the less, the teacher was very friendly and helpful when it came to cooking. To my knowledge our teacher is well known in Japan for his method of cooking. He is very strict about the amount of salt in his dishes. Moreover, about the size of the portions.

Today we cooked two dishes and he treated us with dessert.

We started out cooking Foie Gras over Risotto rice.













Then we cooked hamburg steak with a homemade sauce (everything was from scratch)

Lastly, we were served dessert with homemade coconut ice cream.