My Favorite Things (December 2011): Top Ten Favorites For 2011

I figured for December instead of choosing one item, I would list the top 10 items that I have favored in 2011, from food to fashion that I didn't feature in my previous "Favorites" posts.  In no particular order here we go!

  

1. Cake Pops (Especially Ms. Audra's Red Velvet!)

2. Ulta Brand Nail Polish (This is some good quality stuff, who knew!)

3. Urban Decay's Naked Palette (Great neutral colors for everyone, kinda pricey though!)

4.  LCherise Paintings (Check my girl out here!)

5. Cucumber Gimlets (A drink for the more sophisticated woman or man!)

6. Keurig Coffee Machines (Love the Wild Blueberry flavored coffee and the Chai Latte, move over Starbuck's!) 

7. Oil of Olay Pro-X Advanced Face Brush (Clarisonic who!)

8. JCP (Clothes that fit a real woman's curves!)

9. Bonefish Grill ($5 Bang Bang Shrimp on Wednesday's Ya'll!)

10. Polka-Dot Palette (I had no idea I could paint free-hand, and you can too!  Believe me!) 

BONUS FAV!!!  Beyonce's "Party" (Love that song!)

Come Away With Me! (Charleston, SC Edition)

                                                                              

Want a vacation that appeals to all of the senses?  Charleston, SC is just the place!  I recently went on an extended weekend vacation to one of my favorite locations, and wanted to share with you the gem that is Charleston.  I have been all over the world and seen lots of places, but Charleston speaks to me.  I don't know if it's the southern charm, the rich history or the cuisine.  Whatever the allure, Charleston is almost always an annual stop for me.

These are some of my recommendations for a fabulous stay in charming Charleston:

I highly recommend Magnolia's for fabulous fine dining.  The Fried Green Tomatoes are wonderful and I don't even care for tomatoes like that!  Take the Sights and Insights Bus Tour with Mr. Al Miller who gives a most educational and animated oral history of downtown Charleston and Gullah culture.  His rendition of Gershwin's, "Summertime" is the best!  Be sure to make reservations for the tour because his tour is VERY popular and fills up fast.  The contact number for his tour is 843-552-9995.

For a slamming DJ, go to NV or the Wild Wing Cafe on Market Street to get your dance on.  I know, an unlikely site for night life, but we had a great time dancing to both old and new school jams.  For a great souvenir, purchase a handmade sweetgrass basket made by local Charlestonians at the market on Market Street.  The baskets are a little on the pricey side, but they ARE handmade, great quality and keep money in the community.

                           
For you hopeless romantics take a carriage ride through downtown Charleston and be transported back in time as you travel over cobblestone streets, lit by gas lamplights, surrounded by 18th-century Georgian architecture.  You can also take a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Charleston as you cruise the Charleston Harbor eating a multi-course meal, while enjoying the live band and fantastic views of the harbor aboard a deluxe yacht.

                                  

For my history buffs, visit Drayton Hall in South Carolina's low-country to view beautiful palladian architecture or Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island to tour one of the sites involved in the American Revolution.  A tour on Sullivan's Island would not be complete without visiting the Toni Morrison Society's "Bench by the Road" behind the Fort Moultrie Visitor's Center.  The "Bench by the Road" is a tribute to Africans who traveled the Middle Passage and arrived on the "Ellis Island" for Blacks, Sullivan's Island.  Sullivan's Island was the disembarkation port for over 40% of African slaves traded to American colonies, making it the largest slave port in North America.  Nearly half of present-day African Americans had ancestors who passed through Sullivan's Island.

There is so much to do in Charleston and what I suggest is just the tip of the iceberg of what is available in this great city.  Are you ready to taste great low-country cuisine, see historical sites, touch the texture of sweetgrass, smell the ocean breeze and hear the sound of hooves on cobblestone yet?  Visit Charleston "where history lives"!

Chapter 4: Backpacking Through Osaka and Kyoto

Shaune and I packed our backpacks and some snacks and headed to the Shinkansen (bullet train) on our way to Osaka.  The train ride was about a 3 hour ride from Tokyo.  Once we arrived in Osaka we checked into our hotel that had one of the smallest double rooms I had ever seen.  I think rooms are bigger on a cruise ship!  The room consisted of two twin beds with bedspreads that felt like plastic, a TV, small stool, two pairs of slippers, two robes, and a broom.  Yes, I said a broom!  There was no closet.  The bathtub looked like a mini swimming pool because it was so deep.  I know that my knee had to touch my chest just so I could step in the tub.  There was also a heated toilet. 

After checking in, we went exploring and found what appeared to be Osaka’s version of Las Vegas.  There were Pachinko casinos everywhere.  The area almost reminded you of a China Town.  We did some sightseeing to see what Osaka had to offer and ate our favorite meal, gyudon.  Gyudon kinda reminds you of a bowl of rice with chitterlings and onions on top, uhmm tasty!  Osaka is very different from Tokyo, it almost seems country in comparison.  We also noticed that we received more stares in Osaka.  Everywhere else we have been people acted as though we didn’t exist.  We smile and people look back with stone faces. 

The style of dress is also different in Osaka.  Tokyo has more of a trendy, hip-hop style going on; Osaka has taken it back to the days of leg warmers, tapered-legged jeans and Sunday shoes.  Osaka style is very 80’s. Since I’ve been here I’ve noticed that my style has changed too, but only out of necessity.  When you backpack you can only carry but so much.  I was wearing outfits I wouldn’t dare wear inside my house, let alone out in public!  In Japan you can get away with all sort of fashion faux pauxs, but some of this stuff needs to be outlawed.  School uniforms are another story!  The girls all wear a blazer with a short Britney Spears plaid skirt and leg warmers.  A female student in America would be sent home if she came to school in skirts as short as they wear them here.  Forget about the fingertip touching the bottom of the skirt rule; they would do good if their wrists touched the bottom of their skirts.

After hours of walking and sightseeing we decided to eat dinner at an American-style restaurant called Charlie's because everything on the menu was 300 yen.  We had some kind of salmon wrap, spare ribs, spaghetti and two complimentary glasses of wine.  The food was on point!  After dinner we headed back to the area that looked like Vegas.  By this time it was about 10 or 11 o’clock and the area we had ventured through earlier in the day with its slot machines, restaurants, shops, and kiddie games had now turned into prostitute row.  We were in shock!  The signs that once advertised the casino or restaurants now had suggestive pictures of women on them.  There were 3-5 men on every corner, each dressed in a dark suit and equipped with cell phones soliciting for the women of the night.  There, the women don’t stand on corners, Japan is a little more high tech than that!

The next day we decided to go to Osaka Castle.  It was beautiful!  Typical Japanese architecture.  I took plenty of pictures.  While we were there we met two Japanese women who conversed with us in Japanese, I must say my Japanese is improving. We met several different people that day.  After visiting the castle we made our way back to the Shinkansen headed towards Kyoto.

We also stayed the night in Kyoto.  This time the hotel room was about normal size, but it still had a broom in it. Shaune and I had one of our first problems with the language barrier.  We went into a Mom and Pop type of Onomiyaki restaurant (Onomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake that can contain a variety of ingredients.  Don’t think of sweet American-style pancakes, onomiyaki is more of a savory entrée and not a sweet).  We thought we might be able to order by picture, but were sadly mistaken!  We tried to tell the old woman that we wanted a pancake with pork, but didn’t know the Japanese word for pork.  I put my hands on top of my head like pig ears and she was like “Huuhh!!!” (in her Japanese tone) and sneered up her face like a pig.  It was so cute!  She ended up giving us some free food. 

Kyoto was beautiful!  While there, we visited a temple and zen garden.  The space was so serene and surreal.  Japanese culture and architecture is really amazing.  We decided to take a ride in a rickshaw.  It was quite an experience!  Kyoto is one of the most beautiful areas I’ve seen yet. We did more shopping in Kyoto and met some girls who were visiting Japan as part of the Semester at Sea program. I am mad I didn’t know about programs like that when I was in school!  We headed back to Tokyo.