Jurassic Park Car | Nashville, Tennesse

When Markus and I were in Nashville with my cousin Joy, something exciting and a bit strange happened. After we spent the day in the city, we drove back to our hotel. Along the way, I spied a Jurassic Park car at a stoplight. Since Markus is a huge dinosaur fanatic, I tried my best to get a photo from the other side of the street. Joy decided that a photo in the car wasn't enough and she decided to follow the car.  Total stalkers I know! We tailed the car all the way to a nearby shopping mall and asked the driver to pull over.

The driver was really nice and said that people follow him all the time. He actually made his car like that as a way to advertise his film project, Jurassic Park: Origins. They're basically trying to raise money for a film that will tell the back story of Jurassic Park. It's mainly focusing on the creation of the dinosaurs, scientific challenges and the moral and ethical struggles. It's a pretty cool project, so you guys should definitley check it out! I never thought we would come across something like this in Nashville. This is why road trips are the best!

Mommyo & Me

Mommyo and I quickly took these photos the last day she was in Chicago. When I came back to Tampa after two years, we really wanted to do Glamour Shots. We've done them twice and we thought it would be hilarious to do them again. Sadly, there wasn't a location in Tampa and we had to forgo that dream. At least we have these. They might not be up to the caliber of Glamour Shots, but they'll do just fine.

Near Death Experiences | Tampa to Chicago Road Trip

Driving from Tampa to Chicago in a moving truck isn't necessarily my ideal road trip. It was even worse that we had to lug a car behind the truck too. A trip that should've taken about 18 hours turned into days. It was really slow moving and the we had a close call near Atlanta.

Markus and I were driving on I-95 when a car drove up next to us honking his horn. Markus and I assumed that the alarm on the car was going off. I motioned to the man that it was fine and I knew. He kept honking and look terrified. We both rolled down our windows and he said that we had to pull over. It was in that moment I knew there was something wrong. We pulled over on the side of the highway. As soon as we both got out of the truck, we smelled burning rubber. On the tow trolley, one of the tires was falling off. Markus and I looked at each other and freaked out. If that guy hadn't pulled us over, we could've had a terrible accident. It was pretty scary, but we were so grateful for that guy. If he didn't try to warn us, who knew would've happened. Thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful and slow. I'm glad that was the only near death experience. I don't think I could've handled more than that. 

Hello giant Native American man.

Are you using the bathroom giant Native American man?

Did I miss 60B?

Visual evidence that we're close to Chicago.

One Piece at KFC | Kyoto, Japan

So, I have another confession. I'm a super otaku for One Piece, especially Tony Tony Chopper. If you aren't familiar with the term otaku, it's Japanese for someone who is obsessed with popular culture, but it's usually used for fanboys. When I was younger, I watched a lot of anime and read so many mangas. I was a huge fan of Sailor Moon. I though I was gonna grow up to be Sailor Jupiter, but instead I ended up being Sailor Mars. It's true. Think about it, I'm super fiesty and I have long black hair.

Anyway, so as I got older, I sort of grew out of that phase of my life. I was just coming out of it when Markus and I started dating. I feel bad, because I think I misled him a bit. When we first got together, we watched a lot of anime together, especially Naruto. Then all of a sudden, I just stopped and became really interested in clothes and other things. Throughout the years, Markus asked me to watch anime with him especially One Piece, but I always refused. He always seemed disappointed and sad because he would watch it alone.

Then one day, I got really sick and had to stay home from work. I didn't have anything to watch and decided to watch an episode of One Piece. I was hooked and spent the three days off from work binge watching One Piece. I was a woman possessed and couldn't stop until I watched all of them. I watched all 500+ episodes in three months. It was crazy. When we were in Japan and I had the chance to combine my love of fried chicken and One Piece, I couldn't refuse, even if it was fast food.

While in Japan, I kept seeing adverts for these lil' mini One Piece ice cream makers. I was dying to get one and one night we finally decided to give it a go. We went to the counter and asked the lady if I could get a Chopper ice cream maker, but she said she didn't know what was inside the box. They were meant to be a surprise. I was a bit iffy and really didn't want to sacrifice a good meal, if I couldn't get Chopper. I decided to give it a go anyway, because when would I have the opportunity to get a One Piece ice cream maker? The lady ended up putting three boxes on the counter and told me to pick a box. I chose the box on the far right and hoped I picked the right one. As you can tell from the photos, I did and got Chopper. It's like it was always meant to be as if it were my destiny!

Soy Milk Donuts at Nishiki Market | Kyoto, Japan

Japan had so many delicious treats and I found myself drooling every time we passed an eatery. We actually stumbled upon these tasty soy milk donuts, while we were exploring Nishiki Market. Markus is a huge fan of donuts, so we make it a personal goal to try all types and flavors. We've had them with bacon and butterscotch and even stuffed with red bean. I never heard of them made with soy milk, so it was an automatic yes, when we passed the stand.

The donuts were a steal at 250 yen (about $2.50) for six. They come three different ways either brown sugar, chocolate or caramel. I wish we had ordered all three variations, but we went with brown sugar. The donuts were so delicious. They tasted like regular donuts, but less heavy and a bit airy. The brown sugar was really subtle and didn't overpower the donuts. When Markus was eating his three, I almost stole one because they were so good. I could've chowed down on these for days. I wish that we did, but there is always next time!

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum | Nashville, Tennessee

I feel like I have to be honest with you, dear readers. I am not a fan of country music. Any time I hear it, I immediately get an uncomfortable feeling and seek any means to stop it.  I know it's a bit harsh, but it's the truth. I don't get annoyed by much, but playing country music is a sure fire way to irritate me. So with that in mind, imagine how I felt when my lovely cousin Joy suggested we go to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Both Markus and I were uninterested, but she really wanted to go. We exhausted every possible option to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't budge. She even went as far as buying our tickets for us, so we had no choice but to go. I feel really lame telling you this story, because in the end, I actually enjoyed the museum.

Despite not liking country music, I'm a huge fan of folk music. I know, it doesn't make sense. In the museum there was a great section dedicated to old folk music. They explained the inception and evolution. It was great stuff. The rest of the museum was less about the music and more about the people that create the music. They even had some of the things that famous people owned. There were so many lovely items such as real blue suede shoes, a golden piano and a custom gun car. Anyway, I'm pretty sure there is a valuable lesson here about not judging things before actually experiencing it. Even though I enjoyed my experience, it still didn't change my mind about country music. I still don't like it. I'll stick to folk music, sorry country fans.

Japan Cheap Eats #2 | Nagasaki

This is part of a series about eating on a budget and I've titled the series, "Japan Cheap Eats". Many people think Japan is expensive, but I'm here to prove them wrong! We found many budget options and I wanted to share them with you!

Previously, I posted about eating cheap in Japan. As most people know, Japan is one of the most expensive countries in the world. Everyone always talks about how expensive it is, but Markus and I were determined to enjoy Japan despite being on a budget. One of the best ways to control your budget is eating frugally. For most of our time in Japan, we ate really cheap, but there were times that we splurged. I mean, I couldn't travel all the way to Japan and eat at 7-11 the whole time!

Another really cheap place to eat is the grocery store. Japan, like Korea, has really great supermarkets. They are filled with ready to made meals at reasonable prices. There is so much variety and it always took us a long time to decide what to eat. The food is made fresh daily and really affordable. They have everything you could want, sushi, bento boxes, salads etc. It's a really great alternative to eating fast food, which is always the last resort for us. When Markus and I got sick of going to marts, we always trekked to the nearest grocery store. 

For our second cheap eats, we decided to go a bit healthier. We didn't want to overload on ramen and fried foods. Markus and I always split everything, so that we can have a nice variety of tastes and meals. For this meal, we chose a salad, grilled eel with rice and sashimi with udon. Everything was really good. I couldn't believe that our meal was only $10. It was also nice to eat something that felt fresher and a bit healthier. If we spent all our time eating instant ramen and fried chicken, I'm sure our bodies would've hated us!

Cost Breakdown:
Salad: 105 yen
Salad Dressing: 20 yen
Grilled Eel with Rice: 498 yen
Sashimi with Udon: 398 yen
TOTAL: 1021 yen or $10.06

Koh Rong, Cambodia | 3 of 3

Nights on Koh Rong were really interesting and unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Life on the island really slows down. Everyone is very lackadaisical about everything. There is a definite hippie vibe. It took a lot of adjustment for Markus and I who like to have everything a certain way and at a certain time. There are heaps of hostels and hotels that line the beach and all of them double as restaurants. Regardless of where we were, every meal took at least one to two hours before it hit the table. We ended up spending at least 3 hours at a restaurant, which is not normal for us. After a couple days, we got the hang of things and spent the rest of our time there livin' that island life.

Gunkanjima | Hashima Island, Japan

Markus and I are a fan of films, which makes sense since Markus is an animator. When we travel, for some reason, I always tend to look for filming locations. We've been to Pemberely, Hogwarts, and 221B Baker Street. When I was planning our trip to Japan, Skyfall was just released in the theaters. When I saw the film, I remember being intrigued by the abandoned island that was featured. I've always wanted to explore a ghost town or an abandoned theme park. After a bit of research, I learned that it was in Japan. So, I made sure to include Hashima Island on the list.

Hashima Island is known by so many different names such as Gunkanjima, Battleship Island and Ghost Island. It's located off the coast of Nagasaki. The island was primarily used as a coal mining facility from 1887 to 1974. It was bought by Mitsubishi in 1880 and people lived and worked on the island. In 1974 the mine was closed and Hashima has been abandoned since then. Due to several typhoons, the buildings have taken a beating and the island was closed off to visitors. It's popularity has risen in the past few years and it was decided to open Hashima for supervised tours.

Markus and I used to watch a lot of those "ghost hunter" like shows. I'm really intrigued by places that are supposedly haunted and for some reason always end up watching shows like that on TV. I was a huge fan of Unsolved Mysteries when I was a kid, so I think this fascination stems from this. What can I say? I'm a bit of a weirdo, but at least it makes for interesting posts and travels!

I was a bit sad that we weren't allowed to freely explore the island, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. The tour took us to three different spots on the island. The tour was completely in Japanese so Markus just wandered around. It was also extremely hot that day, so by the time we reached our third stop, I was pretty over it. Despite the heat and not understanding the tour, I enjoyed being able to visit the island. It was really cool to see something so unique and unlike any other place. Maybe Markus and I will start searching for more abandoned places we could explore on our own.