"Sweets Paradise"

Friends and I

headed into Sannomiya

for a little weekend breather.

But instead of air,

we breathed sweets.

Inhaled, really.

Chika, with her plate of glory.

Kat's holy platter.

And my trophy:

a marriage of cookies and ice cream.

Lauren's adorable.

... Just like this little darling.

The pet shoppe owners let me play

with any puppy I wanted,

but this little gal snuggled up to my hand,

so I chose her.

{I wish for keeps.}

After a week of double-work overload,

it's healthy to relax with friends,

even ones whose keychains

outweigh their actual cell phones.

Love you, chicks.

"Wherever the Wind Blows... in Kobe"

"We could learn a lot from crayons:

Some are sharp, some are dull,

some are pretty, some have weird names,

but they still have to learn to live in the same box."

-Anon.

Sannomiya is a place for finding romance,

or something close to it.

And Motomachi is a place for finding your Zodiac,

Brooke being the snake,

Celestia, the ox.

Next to Harborland

is the Kobe Earthquake Memorial.

{A 20-second, 6.8-magnitude, 6,434-killing quake.}

A sober place,

as you may imagine.

Cute Brooke

in a rock.

Maybe the pirates will let me

borrow their ship

so I can sail home for the weekend

to see you all

before spring break's over.

He'll be the next Bruce Lee;

you can see it in those eyes.

Liz flew home to America,

Lisa is bussing up to Tokyo,

Leon's on his way to Germany soon,

leaving Brooke & Celestia

and me

together for a few more days.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

{Music via Paper Tongues}