Location-based design considerations. — I can’t drive through South Everett (about 20 miles north of Seattle) without seeing some variety of Hawaiian-influenced decals stuck to someone’s rear windshield. There are a lot of Hawai’i-friendly people living here in Everett, WA; but I know there are many other native Hawaiians living here as well. There…

Discovering what people need from my food truck. — I didn’t build a food truck to serve food; I built a food truck to serve people. As a food truck owner, I couldn’t only focus on the food. In doing so I would have neglected many other things that people need from their food vendor. So while the business…

We are back and safe in Seattle. Here are the photos from the various places we visited in Japan: http://gallery.weehoo.com/album/45 That was a great trip, and one I will not forget. I’m glad I got some of it in this blog, because I certainly couldn’t record everything. In fact I’m not even going to try to summarize it, so you’re just going to have to read the entries and one day make the trip yourself :)

Tokyo — Well this is our last night in Japan for this trip. It’s been a fun-filled trip, and we’re both quite tired. I really enjoyed being here, but I am ready to be back in the states. For dinner we had yakitori at the same place as when we first got here. It was just as yummy as I remember. Then a quick stop at McD’s for a last minute burger and fries :) Tomorrow we check out of the hotel, spend some time shopping around, and then it’s off to the good ol’ USA.

Tokyo — We are back in Tokyo staying at Hotel Niwa, the same place we stayed when we got here. This is our last stop before heading back to Seattle. We will be here for two nights. Taco Rice We made another taco rice stop for dinner tonight. Link found the restaurant online, and…

Kobe — Oji Zoo Saving the best for last, I’m going to first tell you about the Oji Zoo in Kobe. The giant panda seemed perfectly happy stuffing his belly full of bamboo leaves, then having a little nap. …

Nara — Deer Park Today we went to Nara to check out the deer park and Todaiji temple. The deer “park” is more like a deer town. There were deer everywhere. And when I thought there couldn’t be more deer, there were more deer. And more deer. And more deer. Big ones, older ones…

Osaka — Today we met up with Anton and Rie (the newlyweds) and Keith and Angela in Osaka. Anton and Rie are two of the nicest people I’ve met recently, and they are great together. I’m really glad I finally got to meet them and spend some time hanging out. I should…

Kyoto — Today is our day off. We have been doing so much exploring and sightseeing and touring that we decided to take a break and just relax. So we are up in the lounge at K’s House. I worked on my photos and blog, while Link is playing PSP :) It sure was nice to relax with the sun shining outside. For dinner, we were craving some good ol’ western food. So we hit up the McDonald’s just up the street. Bacon cheeseburger with fries and a coke for me, Crispy Chicken sandwich with fries and a coke for Link.