The end of the school year is just around the corner, which means that it’s almost time for summer vacation. This is when most people try to get away for at least a few carefree days with friends or family, and we’re no exception.

This year will be a bit different for us, however, as rising prices and the general state of the economy are putting a strain on our budget. Nevertheless, we’re determined to find some way to make a family vacation a reality this summer, so I’ve been looking at a few alternatives.

There’s no way we’ll be able to afford a vacation that requires air travel, but we could definitely rent a car. Renting a car would make sense for us for a couple of different reasons. First, our vehicle is a major gas guzzler and costs us a small fortune every time we stop to fill up. We could rent a more fuel-efficient vehicle to save money at the pump. And second, driving a rental allows us to save our own car from extra wear and tear, keeping it in pristine condition for trade-in time.

I was checking out a few different car rental companies today, and saw the best offers at Advantage Rent a Car. They have a number of convenient U.S. and international locations, and each one features a large fleet of newer vehicles to choose from. Plus, thanks to their frequent specials and discounts, car rentals begin at just $19.99 per day. Now that’s something we can afford even on our limited budget!

If you’re planning to travel without your car in the near future, check out the rentals available at the Advantage Rent a Car website. Their prices can’t be beat, so there’s no reason to have to rely on public transportation at your destination!

Ewww, I would find this totally gross even if I wasn’t a dog-lover! It’s no secret that dog meat is commonly eaten in China, but I always assumed that it was served in an inconspicuous manner — like in a stew or something.

However, this AFP photo I saw today shows just how wrong that notion is. Take a look: it’s a plate of cooked dog paws at a Chinese restaurant, and reason #92 that I’m bringing my own food if I ever travel to China.

How nasty is that???

I’ve stated on many occasions that I’m not a winter person at all. I am just so sick of these freezing temperatures and all this snow that I’m about to go out of my mind. I don’t know if I’m getting a bit of cabin fever or what, but I actually start cursing and swearing at the weather whenever I have to head outside.

At this rate, it’s hard to believe that spring will ever get here. I wish I could just go someplace warm until the thaw hits. Yes, spending a couple of weeks at a Hilton Head rental, playing golf in the sunshine every single day — that’s precisely what I need at this point!

Of course, that’s not likely to happen, so all I can do is sit here looking at beautiful pictures of warm places while I try to wait out this brutal weather.

Jerry has to use 4.5 vacation days before his work anniversary in April, otherwise he just loses them. That’s obviously not enough time to go to Europe or anything like that, but we could definitely drive somewhere nice.

One of the places we’ve discussed going to is Branson, MO. Neither of us has been there before and we’ve heard so many good things about the place that we’re definitely interested in going.

I would imagine that February and March are off-peak seasons, so we shouldn’t have problems booking rooms at the top Branson hotels or getting into the best restaurants. Golf is probably out as an activity (bummer), but we could see some shows, go shopping, and enjoy a relaxing few days away from it all.

None of our other options sound this good, so it’s very likely that we’ll end up in Branson soon!

It’s been a couple years since my family last went to Disney World, so we’re currently trying to figure out when we should go again. This next time is bound to be a lot more exciting for my son, as he will actually be tall enough to ride some of the better attractions like Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and so forth. I’m sure he’ll like those better than the Dumbo ride!

Anyway, whenever we do decide to go, I think I’m going to use Orlando.com to help plan our trip. I’ve been hearing lots of good things about the site, like how easy it is for people to find discount hotels in orlando, low rates on rental cars, and even cheap flights.

Family trips to Disney are expensive enough as it is, so I’m definitely willing to try anything that could potentially save us some money!

I was organizing one of our storage closets today when I came across a few old photo albums. One was from 10 years ago, when my husband and I took our first international vacation together. I was just 23 years old at the time, and up to that point, the farthest I’d ever traveled was from Chicago to San Francisco, so I was pretty excited about the prospect of getting out of the country. We spent a considerable amount of time selecting a destination, and ended up choosing Paris.

The first thing we had to take care of was booking a hotel. We weren’t online back then, so the only way we could find out which Paris hotels were worth staying at was by reading reviews in different guidebooks. It took forever to compare all the different reviews (especially since a large number of the books focused on Nice hotels as well), but we ended up getting an awesome deal at a four-star property, so all that extra effort did pay off.

Anyway, once we were in Paris we had an amazing time visiting some of the most famous attractions the city has to offer. We of course went to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame — all of which were breathtakingly beautiful. We also took in the Tuileries, saw Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides, and visited all the famous gravesites at Père-Lachaise.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it out to Versailles and a few other historical places, so I definitely want to go back to Paris someday. I know our next trip will be even better than the first because we already have some experience with the city. Plus,  it’s now easier than ever to find France hotels online, so we won’t have to spend hours upon hours at the bookstore checking through every travel guide on the shelves!

Have any of you ever been on a cruise? My husband and I have been talking about going on one sometime, but we don’t know anything about them. Are they worth the money? Do you get seasick? Would you recommend going on a relaxing cruise to the Bahamas or the Caribbean, or do you think it would be better to go on a sightseeing cruise to, say, Alaska or someplace like that?

Only a couple of our friends have been on cruises before, and we’ve gotten some mixed reactions from them. They both used the same cruise line, but one said she’d never go again, while the other is getting ready to book his next vacation on the high seas, so I have no idea what to believe.

If you have any tips or recommendations, please let me know!

Back when I was in college, I used to eat a lot of instant ramen. It was cheap, easy to make, and actually pretty tasty. But now that I know what “real” ramen tastes like, I don’t think I could ever go back to the instant stuff again. Take a look at what I had for lunch a little while ago. You probably can’t tell in the picture, but the soup is very thick, so this was a lot more filling than anything I could have gotten from an instant packet. Yummy!

(Click for larger)

It’s been a long time since I posted a picture of an “Engrish” shirt, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been seeing them around! Here’s one that I noticed at an event I attended a couple days ago. This guy was sitting right in front of me, so I had to stare at this incomprehensible slogan for two hours. Here’s what it says:

“Drain carefully what is important to improve.”

Yeah, I have no idea what it means, but I guess that’s the whole point…..!

I’m going to go see Spider-Man 3 with my husband today, so I thought I’d post a little something about Japanese movie theaters. Unlike in the United States, moviegoers in Japan are allowed to bring in outside food and drinks — even though the theater has its own concession stand! So it’s not uncommon to see people eating full meals right there in the theater. I mean, I’m talking about trays of sushi and stuff like that!

So what do I bring in? Usually I just go with a bag of chips and a Coke, but I sometimes like to bring McDonald’s food as well. There’s a McDonald’s right outside the theater I go to, so it’s easy to grab some McNuggets and fries before seeing the show. Cool, huh?!

I was at the grocery store today and saw what appeared to be onion rings sitting out on one of the display tables. I got excited because it’s very hard to come by onion rings over here, and I just love them! Alas, they weren’t onion rings after all. Care to guess what this stuff actually is? Ika rings — aka squid rings!!! Um, no thanks….

I was at a sporting goods store the other day and I came across a rack full of motivational socks. I’d never seen anything like these before, but thought they were pretty cool, so I bought a couple pairs. The black ones say “cho genki”, which means “super genki” (super energetic and bubbly). I’m totally not a cho genki kind of person, so I bought them for the irony, obviously. The white ones say “shin wa chikara nari”, which loosely translates to “trust is power” (like knowledge is power, I guess).

There were a bunch of other ones too, but they were mostly sports-related. I couldn’t translate all of them on my own, so I’ll have to go back with my husband one of these days to see if there are any other good ones available.

I’m heading to Kyoto on Saturday to spend the day sightseeing with my family. I’ve been to that city 4 times already and I absolutely love it. It’s definitely one of my favorite places in Japan and is the only place I recommend to all first-time visitors.

We don’t have any solid plans for the day. We’re just going to drive around and see if anything catches our fancy. We can’t do too much though: my husband sprained his ankle at work and is experiencing extremely limited mobility right now. Bad timing… :(.

I found another new (well, new to me) Kit-Kat flavor at the store yesterday. It’s called Brandy & Orange, and actually contains alcohol!! (You can see the disclaimer at the lower left corner of the package.) I’ve never seen this flavor before, so it could be one of those special limited editions that often come out in Japan. At any rate, it’s very different from the usual Kit-Kat varieties — but in a good way. Who knew you could get a buzz from Kit-Kat ;).

I’ve been talking about getting a new cell phone forever and I’m happy to report that I finally did so. (Well, in Japan anyway. I still have an old phone for the U.S.) I was debating about whether or not I should get an all-in-one smartphone, but in the end I decided to go the opposite way and chose something small. It’s a Samsung 709SC made for Softbank. I love the color (I have this red one pictured here) and love how slim it is. I think it’s a great phone so far!

I’m having just two problems with it in the early going here. For one thing, the digital camera is only 2.0 megapixels, which doesn’t make for very crisp photos. But obviously, I knew that would be an issue before I bought the phone. I could have gone for a model with a nicer camera, but I have a regular digicam, so what’s the point.

The second problem is that the battery gets overheated after talking for just a few minutes. Seriously, after a three-minute call, the back of the phone feels like it’s burning up. It’s a bit scary, but I haven’t read about any recalls or defective batteries or anything like that. Let’s hope it doesn’t spontaneously combust in my hands here

Overall, I’m happy to FINALLY have a new phone!