nuriko-kun
nifty stuff for sale \(owo)
My friend Kahira recently got a magical machine that can make iPhone/iPad cases and mousepads and more. She's been making some of my art into really cool stuff! ( ˘//////˘ ) like this:
woooaaah (⊙◒⊙)✧
If you might be interested in something, please take a look at her shop here: Bloomiville on Etsy
She can do totally custom orders! So if there's a drawing of mine you'd like that isn't listed in the store, feel free to message me [which image, what product type] and I'll see if my file is hi-res enough for it (°ω°)b
I don't have a lot of recent art on dA but you can see a lot of newer HxH/Haikyuu/Magi/Kagepro fanarts on my tumblr here. Most of my pics there are doable as any product.
P.S. If you are going to Anime Expo next week, you can pick up at her booth there and save on shipping, or drop by and see live samples before placing an order.
(P.P.S. I won't be there myself ˘˘)
P.P.P.S. She's working with a few other really amazing artists and Kahira's own art is super adorable so please check those out too!! The links are at the side of her etsy shop.
nothing in particular
Replacing it with birb
Um I also got this Katsura recently :v
Also my succulent plants are shriveling up aaahhhhh I thought these things were supposed to be near immortal.
Israel trip post + pic spam
Hallooo. I just came back from a 14-day tour around to various biblical and historical sites in Israel and Jordan. Writing things down before I forget it all >< already my memory is kind of muddled.
Just a warning this is REALLY REALLY LONG and VERY IMAGE HEAVY - I am not even exaggerating. I skipped over a lot already but it's still humongous. Took me 4 days just to write it.
Anyway, in loose chronological order here goes:
Our flight was 9 hours from US to Germany, then another 4-5 hours from Germany to Israel. We went with a group of around 70, about half of which are my friends/acquaintances.
I couldn't sleep on the flight but luckily the movie selection was pretty good. I watched at least 5 movies including the Rurouni Kenshin live action, twice, and eventually a 3rd time on the flight back. Sato Takeru is a really good Kenshin =w=
As usual the cabin air is really dry and the little jar of moisturizer I tossed into my backpack as an afterthought turned out to be a lifesaver (and again in Israel, where the air anywhere on high grounds is really dry as well, and the water somehow dries out hands like magic). 9 gross hours later we land in Frankfurt. We had over 8 hours before the next flight so we took a train out to the city.
Lucky our guides were familiar with Frankfurt too cause the subway map is ridiculous.
It was Dec 22 so there was tons of Christmas decor and toy/snack shops and even a carousel *w*
Tried some apfelwein but I didn't care for it.
Even the trash cans are awesome.
But this bunny is creepy as heck.
Obligatory pork knuckle and schnitzel 8)
We made the mistake of asking for water thinking it'd be free tap water like you'd get in the States, but it was bottled water instead and $5 per bottle o__o
Unfortunately it was also a Sunday so the mall was closed, and we ended up going back to the airport to wait the rest of those looong 9 hours, finally followed by a 4.5 hour flight to Tel Aviv, then a bus ride to Jerusalem. Everything's kind of a blur at this point because we'd been up for well over 24 hours and it's past midnight and we get up around 6am every day after this.
First meal in Israel is the breakfast buffet at our Jerusalem hotel (where we stay for the next 4 days). The smoked fish is very salty but the potatoes are pretty good. The best thing by far though is the fresh bread, literally hot from the oven *0*
I picked up a bunch of napkins that a waiter dropped and laughed when he "xiexie"-ed me. Turns out every single day for the rest of the trip, people will come up to us and go "nihao!" (and also "anyonghaseyo", one something-hamnida, and a "nihonjin desu ka?"). Later this one man chased after our group yelling "ni hao xie xie!" over and over. Random people would come up and be like "China?" and then look confused when I reply with "Canada." I guess they don't see huge clusters of Asians very often :v
There are still patches of snow on the ground in Jerusalem from the freakstorm about a week earlier. It doesn't melt even though it's not super cold.
Old Jerusalem is surrounded by stone walls, like a castle in the middle of the rest of the city *w* It's so cool. There's 8 gates, one of them is the Dung Gate and the one we entered is Lion Gate.....and that's all I remember OTL
Inside is lots of arches and cool stairways and bazaar kind of areas.
This African Grey was just hanging out in front of one of the street stalls, whistling at passerbys *3*
We went by the Pool of Bethesda (which is way bigger and deeper than I thought) and walked along the Via Dolorosa (which is much longer than I thought) with lots of small stops. Pretty much every possible landmark has a church built over it.
The streets are narrow since things were built before cars, so when a car does need to go by (like every 10 minutes), we all have to squish against the wall and the car just barely brushes by. I wonder what they do if 2 cars need to pass each other cause it doesn't appear possible.
There's stray cats everywhere :3 For strays they're quite pretty, and most are friendly.
Holy Sepulchre (cue art history flashback). Lots of super elaborate things inside but too dark to really take good pics. It's so famous anyway you may as well just look at wikipedia.
The remains of the citadel's courtyard. About 2700 years old.
The view from the top of the walls is really nice. Unfortunately I didn't figure out I could take panoramas with my ipod until later 
The gold thing is the Dome of the Rock which we visit later.
This idol figurine thing is hilarious in so many ways I can't even HAHAHA
Day 1 Lunch at an Armenian place which was so-so but teeheee Hebrew Coca-Cola 8D
Day 2 we went to possibly the only Chinese restaurant in Israel (also obligatory because our group is Chinese)
It was um.......not very good.. But the owner is a friend of our guides and one of the few people who can still read/write/speak Aramaic which was cool. He gave everyone chocolate 8)
Walked by this on the street! 8D The poor couple there sitting in the window suddenly swamped by dozens of Asians snapping photos of their feet. It was really awkward for them hahaha
Garden Tomb (possibly site of Golgotha and Christ's tomb, the other possibility being Holy Sepulchre).
The tomb itself is quite small unlike those movie depictions that skew my expectations. The guides here are volunteers from around the world. I liked his explanations lots.
The Wailing Wall + my attempt to take covert pics without bothering people around me. It's really crowded. If you're male, they provide you with one of those little hats to wear before you can approach. People write prayers and stuff them into the cracks of the walls.
Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock.
with its super intricate patterns #-#
Pater Noster Church where they have the Lord's Prayer in every language ever.
There was a really cute fish pot there :>
On the way to Mt. Olives there's a really clear view of Jerusalem. All those little blocky things are graves.
So many graves! Something like..the Jews all want to be buried near the sealed gate because that's where the dead will rise and enter into heaven (and if they're nearby they'll go first) and then the Arabs want to block their way with their corpses so their graves are between the Jewish graves and the gate LOL. I forget where the Christian graves are.
The crown of thorns was made of this plant. The thorns are really hard and several inches long ><
Church of All Nations at Gethsemane. It's really pretty *-*
And the olive trees there which are several thousand years old o-o
Horrors! Paid bathrooms!
My little friend cut her foot open on an exercise bike on Christmas morning, so we stopped by the hospital first. She almost got surgery but it turned out she didn't need it, which was great 
they just stitched it up. She got piggybacked/limped around the rest of the trip.
Went to Bethlehem and Church of the Nativity. There were young kids pickpocketing outside. They hold up a bunch of postcards with one hand and slip the other into your pocket (which I watched happen) (my pockets have nothing but tissues in them so they are welcome).
Lunch at a kebab place in Bethlehem which was really good. And I'm getting addicted to hummus.
Giant coke!!!! Nope sadly just a napkin dispenser. And meeeeeeat :L
Stars & Bucks? Don't we have something like this?
A 1:50 model of Old Jerusalem at Israel Museum. It's huge and looks really really awesome. The big rectangular area is the (destroyed) temple.
Caesarea built by Herod the Great. This is the theatre and the remains of the aquaduct.
It's right beside the Mediterranean Sea. HALLO BUTT ELI WAS HERE.
Ruins at Tel Megiddo, site of lots of battles and a city built by Solomon. There were cool military strategic decisions involved in the designs x:
It's also known as Armageddon. Armies are supposed to gather at end times in these fields *__*
Left Jerusalem and to our next hotel in Nazareth, where a specially sterilized toilet awaited me. That's right, specially sterilized just for me.
Church of Annunciation in Nazareth, where there's a depiction of Mary from every country.
Mom complained that the one from China looks more like a mooncakes box.
One of our friends bought a loaf of fresh bread from a street stall. It was really good *u*
Then we went to Nazareth Village which is basically a village built using the same materials, tools, and techniques as they would've used in Jesus' time. There's actors in costumes doing various things inside and a guide explaining as you walk along.
Mary and Joseph strolling by 8D But wait Joseph is so old! Also DONKEYYYYYY
More donkeys! So cute! I fed them some straw :>
A lady making bread in one of the houses. It was kinda sweet and pretty yummy.
Another lady making yarn and weaving. The sets look so good, like a movie *_* Blue yarn is apparently dyed using snails 8D
Had lunch at another kebab place which was pretty good also. Really addicted to hummus now.
Engrish in the bathroom heehee
Caesarea Philippi and Banias waterfall. A lot of staircases there +_+
After all the stairs we had to get a popsicle.
Somewhere along the way, we walked by an avocado tree farm, and the guy tossed me an avocado 8) It was delicious. I've never seen one this green and yet ripe (and this funny shape).
Next we stayed at a Kibbutz by the Sea of Galilee. (Basically Kibbutz are communal settlements, some of which run for-profit things such as hotels.) The rooms weren't as modern but their food and location were the best so far. And since it's below sea level, unlike Jerusalem and Nazareth which are both high up, the air quality is much better. It's also quite a bit warmer. We went from wearing winter jackets a few days ago to t-shirts and shorts.
They have an orange juice machine! (which I jammed OTL) Also there were the most amazing cow tongues which usually make me gag but I ate like 10 of them here cause they were so good D:
They also had this thing outside which my sis and I thought was a playground since it's outdoor and I mean, look at the colors. But turns out it's gym equipment! I did a leg press by accident D8<
A chill cat that owns the pier, and while we're at it, here's more stray cats we saw since the last cat images.
The sunrise on the Sea of Galilee *__* followed by a boat ride! It was coincidentally quite windy on our ride and unfortunately our pastor/guide never learned how to calm storms :b
We tossed some bread into the sky and the seagull armies came flocking. Someone got bombed on the chest haha (no not me)
Top of Mt Arbel which has gorgeous views of the Sea of Galilee and surrounding area.
Ruins at Korazim, one of the places Jesus cursed.
The shore of Galilee from another site.
More cats, and a pair of kittens :3
Finally a stray that looks like a stray.
Fresh pomegranate juice! SO GOOD!!!!!!! And cheap, given how expensive pomegranates are in America. I had a lot *A*
Reenacting 5 bread 2 fish lunch xD cause we went to the place where Jesus fed the 5000. Wrong kind of fish and bread though. This one is called Saint Peter fish, the one that had a coin in its mouth for Peter to pay tax with. Our tour guide hid coins in some of ours haha.
Site on the Jordan River where me and several friends got baptized :>
(it was very colddddd and there were fish swimming around)
Also they have Mark 1 written in a lot of different languages there and one of them was this "Hawaii Pidgin" HAHA
Bet She'an National Park, where there is another Roman theatre and a colonnaded street
And Roman baths. Hot water runs between the pillars to heat up the floor that the pillars hold up.
Roman toilets! I leave you to read the sign ;0
On one of our random stops we met this camel named Jacky who smiles on command 8D
My sister got to ride him for free as a promo *A*
We stayed in Jericho in the fanciest hotel so far. There was a bidet in the bathroom......which I have no idea how to use and was too scared to "experiment"...
Random flock of peacocks outside one of the stops 8D I chased them around fufufu
None of them spread their tail though. boo 8(
Caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found
Pitstop at the AHAVA (dead sea stuff) factory outlet where I bought Christmas presents for my mom and sister and myself, and my wallet perished...
Then we went to the Dead Sea...!
...which is really really pretty *________*
It's not super warm, but warm enough that a lot of us went in for a swim. You're not allowed to splash cause if you get salt in people's eyes and they will not be amused.
There are barrels of Dead Sea mud to coat yourself in :b
I didn't go swim so I amused myself luring all the birds close with chunks of salt.
Even at the Dead Sea there were lots of cats.
-- cool cacti intermission --
The last one is my favorite cause it looks like pickles.
Anyway, then we went to Ein-Gedi park and there's lots of animals there too. This chubby guy is a rock hyrax.
I forgot what these are called orz
This freaking cool goat was right outside our lunch restaurant, just randomly crossing the road.
The lunch at Ein-gedi was one of the best meals of the trip. Why do they make such good cow tongues OAO
Cable car up to Masada, a fortress on a plateau, where a Roman siege eventually ended in mass suicide of the Jews hiding there.
Top of the plateau
The "Snake Path" if you want to walk rather than take the cable car (or if you miss the last car of the day which we almost did)
Meatballs. Just kidding. It's the boulders that the Romans catapulted when they attacked Masada.
Stopped the bus on the edge of the highway just after Masada because we spotted this goat standing beside a cliff like a badass.
Turns out her baby is behind the wall! My pic makes it look like the baby's coming out of her butt because I am a professional.
The life-size tabernacle replica at Timna.
The Levites inside are so.......fabulous. Look at that hair.
There's shepherds and sheep randomly on the side of the highway as we drive towards the border.
Solomon Pillars, last stop before we crossed the border into Jordan which I honestly had no idea was a country til this trip D:
Indoor smoking is a normal thing in Jordan so that was hard to get used to. You'd be in the bathroom and someone would just randomly walk in and fill the small confined space with smoke x_x
Our first hotel in Jordan was essentially a village, and each room is a little stand-alone stone house. Quite roomy too. Really really cool. We arrived there late at night though so we got lost trying to find our house and ended up in a garden where I almost stepped on a frog.
Food was not so great though....the fish had the weirdest flavor ever....like a mixture of fennel and candy and miracle whip. Ended up eating cucumbers and croutons for dinner cause those 2 were good.
The famous Arabian sunset. It really is nice *-*
We went to Petra, Jordan.
The entrance fee includes a short horse ride from the gate to the entrance of the rock wall thingies, you just have to tip the horse handler (around $3-5, and they'll ask for more no matter how much you give them).
My horse *-*
My horse's butt *-*
The ride is pretty bumpy especially if your horse starts trotting (most of them do because the handler wants to go quicker so he can take another person and get more money). I wanted my horse to trot but it seems I got the only lazy horse and horse handler there and we had a really boring slow walk the whole way to the entrance OTL Meanwhile all the parents got fast bumpy rides which shattered their old bones to pieces.
There's also the option of a chariot ride which are significantly more expensive.
After the ride, it's a walk through a narrow passage with high rock walls on both sides. The walls have really pretty patterns. Just gotta watch out for horse poop on the ground. There's a lot of Bedouin kids running around offering to sell you postcards and other things for a dollar. They can be really persistent and some of them make puppy eyes at you. One of my friends offered potato chips to the kids and eventually on of the kids snatched the whole bag and ran off xD
After maybe 15-20 minutes of walking you see this crack of light and then you arrive at the Treasury:
There's a lot of camels here and they are soooo cute *w* Those faces!!!! Aaaahhhhhh!
You can pay to ride them to/from the next stop or just in a short circle.
My favorite photo of one of the camels scratching his chin on another camel.
Their butts look so weird from behind.
There's also lots of donkeys which are cheaper to ride than camels.
Baby donkey!!
Funny donkey licking a rock d:
I rode a camel because that's pretty much what I most wanted to do this whole trip >W< After the first ride I paid to do again. The guy leading the camel wasn't watching where he was going so my camel almost ran over a bunch of people xD Camel riding is anywhere from $5-20 depending on the length of the ride and how well you haggle.
Me on the camel *-* and dad who joined me out of curiosity and pretty much freaked out the whole ride (they kinda lurch forward and backward). It's ok though cause I got a priceless photo of him with a face of horror.
A little beyond the Treasury there is a theatre from 1st century AD. Somewhere beyond that is a monastery but we didn't go that far. All along the way there are tombs and niches and also shops run by Bedouins.
I rode another horse back to the entrance but once again I managed to get one that plodded along slowly the whole way =n=
We also go to the Citadel at Amman (the capital city of Jordan) which has a nice view of downtown. There happened to be a cat there looking mighty epic.
Hadrian's triumphal arch is here. If I retained any of my art history 101 curriculum I could tell you more about it but I do not, so IT'S BIG AND REAL COOL.
There is also a temple of Hercules (what's left of it)
Lots of big columns, some of which are thicker than I am tall.
I am neither Samson nor Hercules apparently.
This is Hercules' fingers :0 (and his elbow is in the back but you can't see it here). The original statue must have been huge.
There is also a very very nice, very long colonnade, and another theater.
There's these round indents around the bottom of the theater where if you speak into them right, you can hear it from all the way on the other end.. but we must not have done it right cause it didn't work .__.
We found a not-so-hidden stairway into the ruins +o+
Climbed too high and got stuck....
A ridiculously cute ball-shaped kitty near the exit.
Fresh bread being made outside the restaurant where we had lunch :> nom nom
Wandered up to the roof of the restaurant after eating and found.....a duck!!!!!! It was meant to be *-*
Pretty sky from top of Mt Nebo (where Moses looked at promised land?)
On our very last night of the trip we went to this very fancy, very strange place for dinner. Almost everyone there were smoking hookahs at their tables. (sadly no pictures, couldn't take that without weirding anyone out)
The food was really good though. This bread is full of hot air 8D
The waiter cut our orange into this octopus thingy 8D
My friend impressed them back by cutting his apple into a swan.
Meanwhile I made this monstrosity.
After dinner (and the whole day of touring) we went straight to the airport for a few hours of waiting, followed by a 5 hour flight to Germany again, 5 more hours of waiting, then 9 hours back to Seattle. All week I've been sleeping right after dinner and getting up at 6am (which is actually awesome!)
I leave you with this picture of a creepy statue we saw in a museum.
Thanks and random pics
Oh and this is my baby conure, I brought home about 3 months ago. His name is Freddy and he is a goof
