August Announcements (Written By AmbassadorNique)

AUGUST ALREADY!

Definitely crazy to actually say that. Summer is almost over and fall is upon us. While it’s gone by fast I have been fortunate enough to have made great memories. Moving forward I have some big stuff coming up! Some parts of my life are coming to an end (working my 9 to 5) and others are just getting started! Without further or due, the updates….

We The People (UPDATE): I’M WORKING! I promise! I also understand that once graduate school starts my life will be shut down for quite some time. As I type this I am waiting for videos to sync in the background. I definitely want to plan an event where I can invite close friends and people that helped sponsor and make this all possible. This month I plan to have everything in place and by September be working on the finishing touches, transitions lighting, sound etc.

Graduate School: Wow this is approaching fast and just around the corner. I am mentally prepping by reading and finding the resources and networks that I will need in order to make it through this journey and be successful. Also I there are a few opportunities I would like to take advantage of as well.

Health: I’ve been working toward eating smarter and doing what I can to put extra steps in my day. I am very excited for my IMA membership and have started to cook more and eat out less.

Finances: I’ve been doing a very poor job of saving money and this is something I definitely want to do better at. I can however say that the money that I have been spending for the most part has been going towards things that I consider an investment to my future. Definitely need to crack open some Dave Ramsey.

Hawaii: Speaking of investments! I will go to Hawaii for 12 days on August 15th! I will visit my grandmother and Aunt on a much needed REAL vacation! I will continue to work on my film, read and EAT! Basically just scratched the last two points out. Just kidding! I will definitely work to continue to hike while I am out there and take a lot of pictures. Free housing, psh can’t past that up! J

Little Dragon: Upon my return I am excited to go see Little Dragon perform live at Showbox Sodo! I love shows and I love to travel!

Digital Story Telling: One of the things I look forward to doing is collecting the digital stories of my peers who do art around the city. I think I will use Premier and an online platform called WEVideo. I will also try to step my photography game up and look for a cool place on campus to shoot some videos.

Japanese: I hope to return to Japan next summer and therefore I am looking for a language partner.

Personal Growth: Some things I am working on personally are consistency in everything I do from everything listed above. I also would like to become better at following up on networks.

Thank you for reading.

AmbassadorNique

 

 

7 Days in 7 Minutes

My friend from Japan does an awesome 7 Days 7 Minutes every week that I will begin to start sharing. Its definitely something I would love to start doing. Check out his channel and Subscribe!

darcnoodles:

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-02-03) 7 Days 7 Minutes is back! 00:00:00 notMONDAY Akihabara 00:01:00 TUESDAY First Snow This Winter (in Tokyo) 00:02:00 WEDNESDAY “Tokyo Tech Thing” Offcuts 00:03:00 notTHURSDAY The Ginza Line 00:04:00 FRIDAY Follow Friday (ME!) 00:05:00 SATURDAY Tokyo’s Worst Snow in 15 Years 00:06:00 SUNDAY Snow Monsters

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

What’s In A Name?

First of all happy new year everyone! What a year 2013 was and here’s to making 2014 even better. After returning from my celebration I looked myself in the mirror and the first thing that came to mind was my name. As I started to think about names in general of other people and places, I pondered, what’s in a name? How much does a name say about our identity about who we are?

My name is Domonique. Commonly, the second “o” is usually spelled with an “i” or it’s spelled like Dominic(k) etc. My parents, named me after the Hall of Fame Atlanta Hawks forward Dominique Wilkins. They decided to use two o’s because I was born in Japan and Domo was short for Domo Arigato, a gesture meant for the doctors whom took great care of me in my 6 month stay. Today, my name connects me Japan and Japanese cultures which I credit with making me a global citizen. Although the jokes of domino’s pizza, the constant misspelling and mispronouncing got very old at a young age, I love my name and wouldn’t change it for the world.

AmbassadorNique, my brand, my remix, my alter ego. The AmbassadorNique Productions brand revolves around the thought that everyone is a global citizen. We cannot and will not divide ourselves based on skin color, social-economic background, location, sexual orientation, body type or ability. First we are human beings. We are global ambassador’s and sky is not the limit. We strive to provide resources and opportunities to help connect our thoughts and dreams with reality. Without the proper resources our goals become impossible obstacles. We are all Ambassador’s.

My name is Domonique Meeks and I am a global Ambassador.

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions
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www.AmbassadorNique.com

Happy Holidays – Brody Time

Happy Holidays (Yokota AFB, Tokyo, Japan 1989 / Seattle, WA, USA 2013)

DomoVlog: Road To Fuji — Ep 7

DomoVlog: Road To Fuji — Ep 7

FUJI CLIMB!!!

On this Episode of Road to Fuji I take you with me as I climb Mt. Fuji. The climb was rough, but the reward was great!

On the Road To Fuji series I hope to take you with me on my journey to explore LIFE! My goals for 2013 are to stay disciplined and focused on a lifestyle that includes better health, better financial responsibility and more education. Join me as I explore my own personal identity, and let you into my world. You think you know but you have no idea. This is DomoVlog: Road To Fuji!

Domonique Meeks

AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7

www.AmbassadorNique.com

IG: AmbassadorNique

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

Road To Fuji Blog — Sayonara Nippon (Day Eleven)

We would eat breakfast, pack our bags, catch the airport shuttle and take a 8.5 hour flight back to Seattle! Sayonara Nippon, until next time! 

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 |

Road To Fuji Blog — Run This Town (Day Ten)

I woke up pretty early and forced myself to go back to sleep. I would wake up, try to organize my belongings into my bags. We would be meeting Snipes who was my fathers first friend in Japan who arrived at Yakota Air-force Base with him back in 1986. He now had a civilian job after retiring. We would get the chance to sit and have coffee with him and speak about old times, what was going on now and our plans for the futures. The last time we’d seen him was when we were living in Japan as children. Facebook is awesome!

After spending some time with him we would have to say goodbye as we were all meting with Kanako and Natsumi at 1pm.

After both arrived we would go to a toy store before eating lunch. We were able to sit for awhile and catch up and learn more about Kanako’s  new job working for the ambassador from the US.

After eating we would take the train to a traditional Buddhist temple where we would do a Japanese fortune teller. I was very nervous, Kanako, Natsumi and Rupert pulled good fortunes then crystal pulled a bad one that she tied. I would nervously pull a good one! Dez would pull a bad one right after.

We would wash our hands at a temple toss a coin in a wishing well type thing and pray.

After this we would visit the many small shops in the area and just walk.

This lead us to the train station that we Would take the Harajuku. We would visit more shops for hours.

Next we would head to an arcade place where we would take booth pictures and I would win first place in Mario cart beating Rupert kanako and Natsumi!

After we ate again at a small lounge. We talked more and shared food.

Kanako and Natsumi would walk us back to our train station and we would say our goodbyes and head on our way back to Ginza and sleep.

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 |

Road To Fuji Blog — Tokyo Turn Up 2! (Day Nine)

I SLEPT FOR 15 HOURS!

I woke up and would go down stairs to take advantage of the Onsen that was on the 5th floor of the the ryokan. I would return an hour later to get dressed repack my bag send a few sunrise pix to friends and family, checkout and take the taxi ride to the train station and head back to Tokyo.

We would arrive back in Tokyo around 1230 to check into our hotel drop off our heavy bags and head to the currency exchange for more yen! My good friends Sayo and Natsumi would meet us at the Ginza building currency exchange. They would get a chance to briefly meet Dez, Madi and Rupert before Natsumi, Sayo and I would head out for lunch.

I wanted Okonomiyaki for a few reasons. It’s very popular, I’ve been asked if I liked it now for YEARS! And a lot of people had asked me if I’d ever tried it. We would go to a spot in Ginza that specialized in okonomiyaki. It would be served with grilled ramen, miso soup, Chinese cabbage salad and rice. One thing I did not know about Okonomiyaki was that the main ingredient was Chinese cabbage. I am not a fan. I asked if they could make it without it but after the puzzled looked by the waiter I decided just to deal with it and eat it anyway. Honestly, it wasn’t bad! Without cabbage it would have been great lol!

Natsumi, Sayo and I talked about our lives, what was going on and what was coming up.Sayo’s husband Nayalan would join us later in the day along with her younger sister Tomo who came all the way from Nagano (2.5 hours via bullet train to spend time with us and see me!).

After eating we would head to Tokyo station to meet Sayo’s younger sister, her husband and my friend Yuki.

I was happy to see them all, especially to meet Sayo’s husband for the first time whom I had heard so much about. Nayalan is a pretty awesome individual. He pretty much knew Tokyo better than all of us. He would help me find souvenirs for my father, and a Japanese DVD player that I hoped would play my region coded Japanese DVDs (it did.. YES!). I was happy to have a chance to catch up with all of them. Nayalan even answered all of my random questions about his family background. He even has a tumblr and pretty awesome YouTube channel about his life in Japan! He is an artist who draws very well too! I didn’t get to ask him what brought him to Japan but i know he taught English for 5 years and ended up meeting Sayo.

After seein taffy being made and going to the domo store in tokyo station I would randomly see a Japanese guy with a Tulane University Greenwave shirt. I asked if one of my friends could ask him if he would take a picture with me. My brother graduated from undergrad at Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana, so it was very surprising to see a random person with this shirt.

After this the randomness continued when we saw an electric bull outside the station. We all wondered why it was there and Nayalan showed some interest. I told him I’d pay the ¥200 it cost to ride it to video him doing it! He said he’d pay half and I could pay the other. After seeing his bravery I had to try it to! Why? Well I’m in Japan! I don’t know any of these people watching me and could care less what they think, plus who else could say they road their first electric bull in the middle of Tokyo outside in front of staring Japanese people? Nayalan would stay on for 24 seconds before getting tossed off. It really didn’t seem to be going so fast until I was the one in the helmet with one hand up. It was pretty shaky and getting clipped kind of hurt especially after being sore from Fuji! I stayed on for 27 seconds. And yes I have the video!

As the sunset we (Natsu, Sayo, Tomo, Yuki, and Nayalan) headed to Yoyogi Park which has historical relevance to being one of the first parks where bboys would practice in the 80s after wild style came out. We got off the train at Hyrajuku and walked a ways to the park and just sat and people watched and took pictures before searching for the snoop dog tribute Mural. on our way we would stumble upon a festival in the park. We drank beer, got snow cones and watched Hawaiian performers, and just enjoyed each others company for a few hours.

After this we would head to shinjiku where the hachiko dog statute and the busiest cross walk in the world is. The sidewalk wasn’t so busy to say it was Saturday night but we would walk through twice and take pictures from one of the busiest Starbucks in the world.

We would walk Yuki to her train station before going to really cool spot in the basement of some building in Tokyo. The restaurant was in the basement of a building and was almost a mini food court with about 5 restaurants. We would sit down and be given 5 menu’s from all of the restaurants and we were able to order from anywhere we wanted.

They convinced me to try raw horse meat and swore to me it was good. I watched them all prove it before I would try.

After dinner we would all head home. I had such a fun day and a great time with all of them and enjoyed their company. Sayo’s younger sister Tomo who will possibly be attending Gunma university and studying abroad at Central Washington, even baked me homemade cookies and individually wrapped them! 🙂

After making it back to my hotel I would share my day with my Brodie’s reach out to my dads old Air Force buddy about meeting in the morning shower and sleep.

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 |

Road To Fuji Blog (Day Seven)

August 1, 2013 was the day we climbed Mt. Fuji’s Yoshidaguchi trail. We woke up, got dressed and were on the bullet train by 620am. I am a bit hungry since I don’t eat instant oatmeal but I will find food. We eventually found food and ate at Mos Burger. Rupert and Madi started their climb from the Umaumagaeshi starting point which was about 2.5 hours from the 5th station where Dez and I would be starting. Dez and I left from the train station by bus at 2:50pm and took an hour bus ride to the 5th station of Mt. Fuji. We would get off the bus and I would buy my Fuji hiking stick, (everyone bought there’s at the train station, I didn’t because I thought the ones at the top would look different because the wood wasn’t the same as I remembered my fathers stick he received in ‘89. Dez and I would walk about 15 to 20 min to meet up with Rupert and Madi. Two Americans who taught English in Korea asked us if we were from Seattle because they noticed Dez’s Seahawks backpack. In order to meet up with Rupert and Madi, we would veer left on the trail while everyone else kept right. Simultaneously 3 people screamed “nooo wrong way!” But we informed them we were meeting our friends. After meeting the rest of our team at the 5th station we paid ¥200 for a stamp on our Fuji walking sticks. Our team literally walked about three minutes before we hit a hut selling sixth station stamps. Was this a joke?! Who knows… We paid anyway. The seventh station definitely wasn’t as close. Walking this trail really wasn’t that hard, dirt small rocks hills and switch backs. If this was what Fuji would be the entire time I could deal with it. Bathrooms were a suggested donation of ¥200 at the bottom of the mountain. I paid not wanting bad karma. We made it to the seventh station around 7pm at night. We would have to walk a few more minutes to our reserved napping hut that would cost us ¥5800 yen each. The hut had food, snacks and water but they definitely new the worth and demand of their product. After paying ¥500 for a soy sauce top ramen it was time to rest. We slept on mats until about 11pm when we would wake up, get our gear together and start our journey.

Before we started hiking we saw a picture of this guy… lol basically it says be on the look out for this guy!! YIKES!!

This is Dez on the trail when we first started and her Seahawks backpack!

Up the stairs we go! This is kind of how fuji started, switch backs and stairs.

Rupert

Almost to station 7…

We made it to our hut that was just a bit past station 7. 

Peace

Overpriced snacks, Supply and demand baby! 

Overall, like I said the first half of the hike wasn’t bad at all, I remember telling my brother if this was how it would be I would be okay! We would then rest from 7p to 11p before waking up and starting day eight. 

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 |

Road To Fuji Blog (Day Six)

The day before the Fuji hike we made sure our bags are packed, snacks are bought and supplies are ready. I am still nervous about the climb but am ready to complete this mission and conquer this challenge. Our hotel is inside Nagoya station so I only went out a few blocks to explore since most of tomorrow and Friday morning will be spent hiking and climbing. We went out to a small restaurant around 7, everyone ate, we returned to the hotel finished organizing bags and slept.

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions

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DomoVlog: Road To Fuji
Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 |