More Pictures of Sapporo

The Sapporo Factory Mall
Nayeli can't wait to get on the airplane!
Flight back home.

Day Three, Ishiya Chocolate Factory at Shiroi Koibito

Treking through the snow to go to the Chocolate Factory


Production Line



Make your own Chocolate Creation Studio
Leaving the Chocolate Factory

This place was pretty cool! It reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There were all kinds of cool chocolate snacks! The museum explained how chocolate was discovered and how it got to Japan. We also got to see how it was made and we got to see the production line. At the end of the self-guided tour, there was a restaurant. Me and Soco enjoyed a sip of hot chocolate, chocolate cake and muffins. We didn't get a chance to make our own chocolate creation because Nayeli is too young to enjoy an activity like that. It was really fun!

Link to The Ishiya Chocolate Factory

Nayeli was attacked by a Seahawk!

Wound on her hand

Last weekend, Soco took Nayeli out in town on the stroller. Somehow, a greedy seahawk (Umitaka) swooped down and fought her for her cookie! Nayeli cried and cried! Poor Nayeli :(

She is okay now.

Day Two, Snow Festival and Beer Garden in Sapporo

Sapporo's Beer Museum - How they make beer display.

Old Sapporo Beer Factory

Me and Nayeli inside an Igloo
Disney's Snow Sculpture


From what I hear, the Sapporo Snow Festival all started mid-1900s when a bunch of college students started sculpting figures in the snow. It got so popular that it became commercialized to what it is today. Now, some of the spectacular snow sculptures were funded and built by corporations such as Disney. It turns out that most of them are so big, that they double as a stage. I missed out on the Disney show because it was too darn cold and snowy.

Japan's Imperial Palace

Nayeli is having fun looking at snow sculptures

Day One, The Snow Festival in Sapporo

Nayeli has no idea that she will be riding on an airplane for the first time in her life.
Outside the JR Sapporo Station. Feb 05, 2007
That trip wore Nayeli out!
TV Tower at night
Susukino Site, the most urbanized area north of Tokyo.
We're about to enjoy some good ole' Ramen from Sapporo's Famous Ramen Alley. It was delicious!

Legend of Sapporo Ramen:
Sapporo is undergoing an age of civil strife over ramen. There are more than 1,000 ramen restaurants in the same area! Now there's two Ramen Alleys. They are just a few blocks away from each other. One in Susukino and the other one at Menkoi Street.

I can't really tell the difference between many of the ramens. The advertisements look cool though!

Ice Sculptures at Susukino

Nayeli's Ear Infection

Nayeli got her first ear infection last weekend. She was very miserable and we took her to the emergency room for her fever of 103. They gave her Tylenol and Motrin and her temperature was under control. Soon after that, she got an ear infection. We took her back to the doctor and they prescribed antibiotics. She is all better now. :)


Exion at Shizuoka near Mt. Fuji, Off Exit 7 Gotemba Rest Area


Mt. Fuji from Camp Fuji

Generation Geek

According to Popular Science, "science has conquered television" with shows such as Numb3rs, Bones, ER, Grey's Anatomy, 1 vs 100, and various other television shows. Of course, there is still plenty of junk on tv. It is the year 2007. We have WiFi, Blu-ray discs, hybrid cars, flat screen TVs, IPODs, watches with GPS, etc. The war in Iraq was the first war fought utilizing drones. Technology is always improving. Faster than ever. With population growth and the evergrowing need to save mankind, we are developing super efficient machines that run on biodiesel or hydrogen. It is amazing.

The Outlook of the Future:
I was listening to a Podcast and learned that we have a long way to go to when someone develops the "$8,000 toaster". What he is talking about is the future. In the future, everything will have an IP address. In other words, everything will be connected to the internet. Imagine being able to turn on your washing machine from your cellphone at your work place. Or being called on your cellphone whenever someone rings your doorbell. They were talking about the Global Positioning System (GPS) digital cameras so that the file names of the digital pictures you take will be labeled where you took the photo. Instead of "DSC000456.jpg" it would be named, "Soco's Residence, Yokosuka, Japan 2130 January 23, 2007.jpg." Very interesting stuff. I was wondering if anyone will ever develop an internet friendly grocery store. Where you buy everything on the net and have everything delivered to your home within an hour or two. Wouldn't that be cool? You would save a lot of money because you wouldn't buy extra crap because you saw it on the shelf. How about on-demand television? Yes, someone has already invented TiVo, but how about making it a standard? The future is very bright indeed. :)

Elizabeth and Deanna

What happened??? Everything is in Japanese!

Nayeli having fun with her friends.


Sorry, I don't have anything good to say today.

My Book 500 GB Review

I didn't know that it was possible, but you can literally put your entire life on a single hard drive! All the videos, photos, music and files that I have ever worked with in my entire life has totaled to be about 60GB(Gigabytes). With this 500GB hard drive, there is plenty of space left. The videos of Nayeli were about 15GB. It'll take a while to fill this one up. The only downside to this external hard drive is it's external power supply. You will need a power outlet to utilize it and also space to place the "chunky" thing. The My Book case is somewhat attractive with it's modern day styling. It easily sits on the bookshelf just like a book. It has vent holes on the top, so I would probably put something on top of it to protect it from dust. I think that the advertisement is misleading... because when I plug it into any computer, it tells me that it started out with 465GB instead of 500. Where did the rest of it go? Hmm....

I showed it off at work and everyone asked me where I bought it at. It was purchased from NewEgg.com. They ship to FPO, AP addresses for a good price. :)

=====================---==========================
Nayeli @ 7 1/2 Months

She is getting more mobile. Wants to be held all the time. Instead of crawling, she rolls around the floor.
Nayeli poses in front of base housing.
Nayeli is the king of her jungle!

Nayeli at Play

Nayeli is good at playing Playstation games!
Beginner Builder with Lego Blocks
She likes to taste everything!

6-7 Month Old Games she likes to play:

Legos - I build it, Nayeli destroys it. It if funny to watch Nayeli smash and kick a house into complete rubble.

Jumperoo - Jump around on the jumperoo!

Standing up with assistance

Shaking Rattle

Taste Testing - She especially loves pulling my glasses off and sticking it in her mouth.

Sightseeing

Riding in Laundry Basket