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[mistyandmatt]

Goodbye America, Hello Japan!

Things are about to get real for me. We’re leaving the comforts and securities of the motherland to venture out to a place of complete vulnerability on our part. We don’t speak Japanese and we can’t read Japanese (despite Matt being half Japanese),so we are really starting out far behind the curve here folks. As we got on the plane in Hawaii, I loaded my newly purchased Catnapple bag with as many diet cokes as I could possibly carry on because Japan is Diet Coke free. You heard me right, it’s a real bad deal. These folks have a thing against aspartame for some reason. I mean, don’t mind the fact that it’s probably terrible for you, so they just aren’t having any of it here. Smuggling in as much as I could to get me through as much of this leg of the trip as I could is my plan. Once I run out, I’m going straight to beer, as that seems like the next safest option. Don’t be fooled, the Japanese do not judge day drinking, in fact, they seem to support it. It’s 8:20 am and we are currently boarding the bullet train to go to Kyoto for a few days and I noticed many people packing in beers for breakfast. Now that’s a new take on “eating your wheaties” if you ask me.

Quickly, it became clear that I was definitely the minority on the plane as we took our seats. My fair skin and blonde hair aren’t a discrete feature on an Asian airliner. I knew then, that everywhere in Japan was going to be just like this experience. I suppose the positive is that with my bright purple coat and my very distinguishable blonde hair, I won’t get lost in the crowds of people. Matt was right, the seats and entertainment on the plane were stellar, the service top notch, and the food, well a bit odd, but I committed to trying everything once (who knew that concept from childhood would re-emerge again) on this trip. I’ll either come out of Japan loving the food or I will have lost 10 pounds (either wouldn’t be a bad thing). We’ll see what happens. If the rest of Japan is going to be like our experience on the plane, then I’ll take it, otherwise, I’m just going to stay right here on the plane.

After just over eight hours on the flight, we arrived in the airport where Matt’s aunt and uncle picked us up. Matt’s mom and her sister immediately started talking in Japanese and it hasn’t stopped since! One 70 year old Asian lady is hard enough to wrangle, so you can only imagine two of them! I think they were super excited to see each other since it’s been around 15 years since Matt’s mom has been back to Japan. I mean, you’d think with FaceTime and Skype these ladies would “see” each other regularly, but no, the only thing Matt’s mom has learned to use the internet for is shopping on Amazon and binge watching Turkish soap operas on YouTube. While they were immediately starting to catch up, Matt secured us a pocket WiFi for the days we will be here, because I’m willing to take daily shots of my smuggled Diet Coke to make it last, I just can’t make it without the internet, it’s like the one last thing keeping me connected to the inside and outside world.

The thing I am most excited about throughout this entire journey is for Matt to be able to meet his extended family (his aunts/uncles and cousins) and to be able to see where his mom and her family grew up, as the family still owns and maintains their childhood home. About two years ago, Matt and I had discussed how we would like to get to Japan with his mom before she is unable to travel comfortably (it’s a 14 hour flight from OKC). Six months ago Matt’s mom found out that his cousin was going to be getting married in January and the entire family was coming. So, just like that, we started planning this adventure with our resident interpreter, Kinuko Jorgensen in tow.

Matt filled you in on all the fun things we have explored the last few days, which has been a unique experience to say the least. I’ll be honest, Japan is one of the cleanest, safest, most advanced places we’ve ever been (these toilets guys, I’m ordering one the minute we get home), but it’s been somewhat hard for us as Americans, as there is just not a lot of things in English anywhere and the public transportation, although abundant, is extremely confusing to navigate, even more so with such a significant language barrier between us and them. Thank goodness for the itranslate app on the IPhone, as we’ve been able to navigate our way around (if that’s what you want to call it, more like barely making it, but it’s worked) when Matt’s mom isn’t with us. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling where interpretation services will be needed. You just speak slowly into it in English and it gives both a written and spoken response translated in to whatever language you need it in. So, you can show it to someone or they can listen and usually between those two things, you can get what you want or need from the conversation.

As mentioned before, the whole reason we came to Japan now is because Matt’s cousin is getting married. We’ve been to a lot of weddings, but this was a real fancy wedding that clearly did not include a rehearsal because everyone (in the wedding party) has a personal escort who tells them what to do when, on que. This is a western style wedding (this seems to be popular here) that is held in a real elaborate hotel. What was different was that since there is not a rehearsal, the customary approach is that the bride and grooms families get together about 30 minutes before the wedding and introduce each person one by one to the other’s family. Once again, we can’t understand a thing going on, but we follow along and attempt to do what the others are doing. The wedding and reception last from 1:30 p.m. to about 8:30 p.m. and included two formal wear changes for the bride and groom, a six-course dinner (with different drinks at each course), and lots of meeting people from both sides many times throughout the night. I can now see why everyone needs a personal escort, it’s really a lot to keep straight. Not much is different in the wedding ceremony, nor all the other hub-hub that goes on with weddings, but thankfully we’ve attended a few in our time to know at least what is approximately going on since again all of this is in Japanese. So, as you will see from some of the photos, these additional people are Matt’s aunts, uncles (their spouses) and one set of his cousins. Matt’s mom is one of 6 kids. Her oldest brother is deceased, the next big brother unfortunately couldn’t make the wedding because he is in the hospital (he’s 77 and just had surgery), and then you see her next biggest brother (gray/white hair-he’s 73). I can’t pronounce or even try to type his name, but I can totally see where Matt gets his happy personality from, as this guy is a hoot! Matt’s mom is child number 4 and then her younger brother (dark hair) who she reports is very serious and her younger sister (in the kimono-her son is the one getting married) is the one that tries to keep everyone in the family in line. It’s been great getting to see all of them together. There are more family events scheduled for later in the week, but for now we’ll leave it at that. The wedding was beautiful and we all had a great time.

On Monday we went out and explored the Ginza area of Tokyo. This area is made up of high-end designer shops all put into these large multi-level malls. So imagine a Dillards store, but instead of different departments in one store (the different areas, men’s, women’s, etc. are all on different floors), it’s different designers in little booth spaces on each floor of the store, so more like a trade show set up if you will. We did some shopping and then headed over to the Canon store, so that Matt could get all of his camera equipment cleaned and serviced (as it is about half price to do it here then at home). Matt’s mom went along with us (you all should know she likes real fancy things-must be where Matt gets it from), as her interpretation skills were likely going to be needed at the camera store. We had a fabulous day, walked about 10 miles total, so I’m hoping that off sets all the sweet treats we keep picking up on every corner from these great little vendors.

Since we’ve been here, we’ve eaten just about every type of Japanese food. We’ve had sushi, ramen, soba, tonkatsu, yakatori, etc. We really wanted to go to one of the authentic yakiniku restaurants where you grill the beef there at your table over hot coals. About 8:00 pm we ventured out to find this place we found on the internet (mind you we can’t read any of it, but we were just taking a gamble hoping it was good), as it was about a mile walk from the house. We show up, they are very confused as to our lack of Japanese skills, but don’t fret the itranslate app came to the rescue once again! This place (which is down a dark alley with nothing else around it with nothing in English anywhere in sight, so we knew this place was going to be good) is apparently famous for feeding sumo wrestlers, so yes, we are definitely in the right place! We made it through this amazing meal with lots of patience from the owner and wait staff who were just so very accommodating to us. They sent us home with some little gifts from the restaurant and I think thoroughly enjoyed the experience with us just as much as we did. We even got them to take a picture with us! Follow up to this experience with Matt’s mom translating: we found out this place truly is one of the best places to go, so despite the little language barrier, Matt and I still were able to navigate our way to great food! Who knew?

Just a few photos for you all to enjoy from the past few days. Off to Kyoto and Nara for our next Japanese experience!

[mistyandmatt]

We left Hawaii on a new airline, Japan Airlines (JAL), and after never flying on a non-US airline we were unsure of what to expect. Japan Airlines did not disappoint. JAL operates a 777 from Honolulu to Tokyo. The plane is massive, I believe the larger “Economy Plus” seats we had were still 2 x 5 x 2 seating arrangement, meaning, the planes is 9 big seats and 2 aisles wide. The cleanliness and service on this flight is something I don’t think I can go without mentioning. The plane was extremely clean and although it looked like it was put in service somewhat recently, it was not new at all, just very well maintained. The service was also something that was very good, even for us English speaking travelers. Most of the flight attendants spoke English well enough to take care of anything you asked them for and were able to take care of us just fine. We flew into Narita Airport, one of the major airports for the Tokyo area. We managed to locate my mom (Kinuko or Kim, as we will refer to her in the rest of the posts) wandering around the baggage claim area soon after we arrived. We directed her through the baggage claim and customs process on our way to the main lobby to meet up with my aunt and uncle. They were able to spot the three of us and graciously welcomed us to Tokyo. They had transportation already arranged to get us to the center of Tokyo where they live.

The drive back from Narita to Tokyo was similar to what you’d expect coming into most large cities, lots of tolls and traffic. Most of the transportation is similar to ours in the US, but not the same, and of course, everyone drives on the wrong side of the road here. They all have vehicles where the driver sits on the right hand side as well. We’re currently staying in an extra home my aunt owns just a couple miles from the middle of Tokyo. The homes are nice, but everything is a bit miniature compared to American standards. The rooms are a bit smaller, the doors are much shorter, and just everything is about 4/5th’s the size. It all works quite well until you hit your head on a door frame. My mom decided to come back over for my cousin’s wedding, so we decided this would be a great time for us to come as well, mainly so I could meet my extended family here in Tokyo. The wedding is a few days off, so we’ve got a couple of days to be the non-Asian tourists, as the rest of the family is busy getting ready for the wedding. On Friday we we headed out with my mom (Kinuko) and her sister to the “Skytree Tower,” which is the largest tower in Tokyo, quite a bit larger than the original Tokyo Tower. Crazy thing is my aunt lives here and had never been. I guess the notion of being a tourist in your own city is a concept understood worldwide. After a trip to the top for some 360 degree breathtaking views of Tokyo, we ate lunch in one of the restaurants in the lower levels before heading over to see the Senso-ji temple. My aunt drove us to the Skytree Tower and then dropped us off in front of the temple because she needed to head back to get a few things done in preparation for the wedding. We’d need to navigate public transportation back to her home, this ought to be a fun…with Misty being a terrible navigator and, well my mom not being here in at least 15 years, we hoped this process went well. Glad I marked a pin to the place we are staying, just in case we needed to find another way back home. We had a great visit to the shrine and the shopping area directly in front of it. It’s filled with shops selling everything from incense to put at the shrine to foods and random waving cat souvenirs. The shrine itself stands at the end of the long shopping area and stands prominently over the surrounding area. People were making offerings in the form of coins thrown into this box that looked like it had an odd corrugated thing on top where the coins would fall into the collection area. Basically, you would wait in line, throw your offering into the box, say a prayer, and exit to the side so that the next person could do the same. The more formal area behind the glass (inside the actual temple) was also available and there were several people inside as well saying prayers at the shrine. We left the temple and sampled several things, such as Mochi, rice crackers, and other great Japanese treats from the vendors on our way back.

After making it back, we met up my aunt and uncle for our first trip to one of the conveyer belt sushi restaurants. Now there are many ways to get sushi here in Tokyo, but the place we had dinner was probably the most fun. I’ve gathered this is not the fanciest way to have sushi, but probably the equivalent to a casual family restaurant, maybe like a Cheddar’s sushi restaurant if that makes sense. The reason this one is the most fun, is because the chefs stand in the middle of the restaurant and put sushi on a little conveyer belt that moves around their area. As the sushi (and other goodies) come by and you see something you like, you just pull it off the conveyer belt and eat it! It might sound a bit mundane, but it’s pretty entertaining, at least for me. Ha!

The next day, my mom informed us that she had gotten pretty worn out on day one and would rather rest and help her sister with things around the house for the day. So, Misty and I headed to Shibuya on our own. We figured most of the areas had enough things in English that we would be able to get by pretty easily. This was true for the most part except for one little hiccup in the beginning where we had to transfer from the bus down to the subway station and must have been looking quite lost. A rather quirky man (carrying a mini-poodle) approached us asking us if we needed assistance and proceeded to help us understand what we were doing wrong in the best broken English he could muster. As we were following this guy around the subway station, he escorted us all the way down to the turnstile where we had to put our tickets in and made it into the fare payer only area. He gets an A for effort and an A+ for helping two wandering souls.

We made it to Shibuya without much issue after this and proceeded to explore the Shibuya Crossing, also known as the busiest intersection in the world. We had to take a moment and go up to the Starbucks that overlooks the intersection (as it gives you a birds-eye view of the crossing all happening at once. We made our way out and about through the shops and Misty just had to go check out the pachinko parlors from there. We didn’t play any pachinko, but these places make our casinos at home look pretty docile. These are some of the loudest games I’ve ever heard. You can hardly even hear each other yell in these buildings, but the nice thing is, much like our casinos at home, they always have trash cans, fresh drinks, and bathrooms. Well, the trash can thing is kind of odd, but in the 90’s or sometime around then in Tokyo there were terrorist groups blowing up trash cans, so they just removed them all. So when you have any refuse with you, you just have to carry it until you’re back in a business that has one which is pretty few and far between. We went down the to Tokyu Food Show for lunch to sample several different things and see the fancy produce areas, home to the $150.00 cantaloupe. Admittedly, it was probably the most perfect cantaloupe I’d ever seen, but it was a bit pricey, I thought. The pastries, baked goods, produce, local cuisine looked absolutely perfect, almost like art. It’s almost too pretty to eat. At this point we have had ramen, sushi, fried rice, etc. since we had been here, but we hadn’t had any yakatori yet, so Misty dug up a favorite spot by the locals, where we ate some of the best yakatori, washed down by a Sapporo of course. We managed to find our way back to my aunts house, where after just two days in the city, we ordered in yakiniku and gyoza for delivery so that we could just rest and relax before the wedding festivities the next day. Looking forward to meeting the rest of my family tomorrow.

[mistyandmatt]

Just a few clips from Colombia!!

[mistyandmatt]

Just a short video from our RTW trip!!!!

[mistyandmatt]

As we finished up the specific London activities that had to get accomplished, we started checking off more “Matt-ish” destinations, as this started with the Ace Cafe. Admittedly, the night we went here it was pretty slow, just a few motorcycles outside, but on certain evenings there was evidence that there are hundreds of motorcyclists and car enthusiasts who frequent this place. This is a long time meeting spot for motorcyclists, dating back to when there was actually a rockers vs. mod culture here. Mind you, now, and for the last many years, it’s really just been a cafe. Now, not to bore you with a ton history on the establishment, as that information is readily available anywhere on the internet, I do want to say that this place has oddly good fish and chips. In fact, I guess I haven’t been to a place in London yet that has what I’d call “bad” fish and chips. No Long John Silver’s here!

Next stop was to Harrod’s. Now we arrived a bit early at this well-known shopping destination, the crowd was gathering outside like it was some type of show or concert, not just a fancy department store. As the doors (flood gates opened), people shuffled in, us as well, and we saw what all the spectacle was about. Everything you could possibly want, albeit at inflated prices, was here. We browsed several of the floors of the store before deciding we could live without most of the things here except for maybe some coffee/tea and a small snack before heading to our next destination. Here’s where things get a bit crappy for me. I purchased a donut as I tend to, one in every destination we go to, and promptly walked literally five steps to their coffee and tea bar to order a mocha and revel in my 4 pound (about 6 US dollars) sprinkle donut. We ordered tea and coffee and waited. As our server brought my coffee to me he informed me that unfortunately the pastries sold at the counter (literally less than five steps from his bar) were not for consumption inside the store and that I could not consume them while drinking his $8.00 mocha. Get bent. I was inexplicable angry at this poor guy who, although was probably just following some bureaucratic rules made by someone in a suit who flew into their helicopter pad (yes, there is one on top of Harrod’s) from time to time made up on a whim. This was insanity. I angrily finished my coffee and we went outside (this explains the donut photo from MIsty’s last post). I finally got to eat my donut in the shadow of Harrod’s. I’d love to complain about the donut, I’d love to say it was the worst donut I’d ever purchased and that the $6.00 price tag was inflated nonsense, unfortuately, I cannot. The donut was spectacular. I think it was more akin to a Bavarian cream filled sprinkle cronut. It was awesome, but still, screw Harrod’s rules. They don’t sell cars or motorcycles, so they won’t be missing much business from me anyways, but it’s still a stupid rule.

Our next destination was much more accommodating to my tastes, as we went to the Brooklands Museum. Brooklands in the oldest purpose-built racetrack in the world. They have many exhibits ranging from old open wheel cars to Formula 1 and an aviation section documenting the aircraft built here when the field turned to aircraft manufacturing during the war. They even have a Concorde exhibit. Next to Brooklands is Mercedes-Benz World. This place seems to be more of a branding exercise for Mercedes as they do have multiple dealerships in London, so I think it’s more about the racetrack and skid pad in front. They have several classics here including a pristine 300SL and a Grosser. The last stop this evening was Rules restaurant. I’m still not clear if it’s just a Bib Gourmand or actually has obtained a Michelin Star Rating, but I’d think between the level of service, the history, and the food, it probably deserves one if it doesn’t have one. The restaurant is the oldest in England, originally an oyster house, now serving “Authentic British Cuisine” including the venison I ordered. I must point out this was the best venison I’ve ever eaten, albeit the only venison I’ve ever eaten. If all of it tastes like this I do understand the frenzy that happens back in Oklahoma when bow season opens! Since we were in England we had to sample the sticky toffee pudding. It was also something to behold. I’m sure I’ve gained 10lbs on this trip and I’ll be back on eggs and chicken when I get back, but for the moment, I couldn’t pass up the pudding in the oldest establishment in England. It was worth it, but that’s not ice cream in the photo, it’s cream cheese. It took me a bit by surprise, but the velvety sourness of the cream cheese mellowed out the rich sweetness of the pudding quite nicely. Deliciously good, all of it, including that damn Harrod’s donut.

Our last day in London wouldn’t be in London at all, but in Castle Bromwich at the Jaguar manufacturing plant. If you happen to drive a Land Rover or Jag, chances are it was probably made in either this plant or very close by. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of this experience as they do not allow photos on the tour, but I can say it was seriously impressive. Between the amount of aluminum used in the new Jags, to the levels of lean six sigma automation in their factory, this place runs like a well-oiled machine, much like the ones they roll of their assembly lines every day. Well, with that, we’re off to Iceland, the land of fire and ice…and probably more ice…and snow… We’ll see!

[mistyandmatt]

It’s winter and it’s hot here…Dubai travels

In preparation for this ‘round the world journey, I spent a great deal of time researching and preparing for this leg of the trip. I say that because 1. I’ve never been to the Middle East and 2. There are a lot of social and religious rules that have to be followed when visiting the area. You see, being a caucasian, American woman most certainly has it’s advantages on any given day, but when traveling to a middle eastern country, the situation is just not the same. I did a lot of internet searching, watched a lot of You Tube videos on how to correctly tie a headscarf, and ensuring my clothing (which you know I had to be highly selective of on the trip due to the totally different climates we are going to) was socially and religiously appropriate. I told Matt we would just see what it was like when we got there and then I would adjust as needed.

Leaving Tokyo on one hand was a bit sad, as we were just getting to know Matt’s family and somewhat adjusting to the ways around town, but on the other hand, I was starting to get antsy and was ready to move on towards Dubai. Maybe it was the weather (it was cold, and mainly cloudy while we were there-that’s depressing for me), maybe it was all the strange food I’d been challenged to consume over the past 10 days, or maybe I was just seeking some bit of normalcy somewhere since I clearly was the outsider on this leg of the trip. Want a slice of humble pie? Go to a country like Japan with 127 million people where you are one of only a few who can’t read or speak the language. You’ll realize your place in the world real quick. I guess I don’t know why I thought I would get normalcy in Dubai, but my instincts (and research) implied Dubai was supposed to be like the “Las Vegas” of the Middle East (more on this in a bit), that seemed like something I knew and could understand.

We switched over to Emirates Airline for this trip, as I wanted to see how the service and quality were compared to other airlines we had taken. I know, I know, my instinctual quality assurance/continuous quality improvement personality is on all the time, even on vacation. The airline was nice, but Japan Airlines still seems to rank higher on my “best airline to fly.” What’s comical about that though is that when we were talking with the Emirates Flight Attendants, they report that the girls who work for JAL have a lot of “work drama between each other.” Workplace environments around the world seem to be the same everywhere, always some kind of drama going on. I was hopeful that was just an American thing, nope, totally universal. Our twelve hour flight seemed quite quick as we slept most of the time, so we were ready to go when we arrived in Dubai at 5:00 am local time.

We only planned four days in Dubai, as we had just a handful of things we wanted to see and do before moving on to our next destination. The weather was 75 degrees and sunny when we got there(hallelujah), so we were looking forward to a brief warmup before we head back into the cold again. Since we were only staying a few days, we decided to splurge a bit and stay at a fancier hotel. You all know that we never do that, in fact, it’s really against our vacation morals and values to do so, but knowingly and willingly(and maybe telling Matt I got a good deal on it), I booked us a few days at the Waldorf Astoria out on the Palm (palm tree shaped man-made island outside of Dubai proper). Between the nice hotel and the warm weather, my normalcy meter finally shot up. We then found a place for breakfast that served actual eggs and other breakfast foods, we had a another win!

Our first stop for the day was to the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding” for a tour of the remaining “old town Dubai,” and for our first visit to a real operating mosque. I loved this as our first experience here, as no question was off limits and the center prides themselves on being an open space for people to come learn and understand the culture and religion in a safe space. I got the chance to not only learn more about the Islamic religion, but also the social, family, and religious norms that go along with it. Our tour guide was fabulous and did a great job explaining everything to our eclectic group. I now understand the prayer schedule and commend all the Muslim men (and women) who are fully committed to their religion because they (the men) literally have to go into a mosque building 5 or 6 times a day to pray and be present with God. I mean, I can’t find the time to go to the bathroom that many times a day, therefore, I could never make it as a Muslim on that principle alone. I realize the societal norms here are arranged on this schedule, but that just seems extremely excessive (not to mention time consuming). I found fewer differences and more similarities in their religion and lifestyle of those practiced at home. In the end, everyone seems to be seeking the same things, its all just interpreted and practiced a bit differently. We had the chance to drink coffee (which has a process and is different than American coffee, as is the art of drinking it-anyone have a “silent server” at home?), as well as had the chance to eat dates and luqaimat(donuts), just as you would if you were a visitor in a Muslim home. So much about the home structure, the male and female role in the household, and the openness to welcome visitors was rather intriguing. We would highly recommend doing this experience if you have the chance to go to Dubai. It was a great way for us to start off our trip here.

We then moved on to see what the Dubai Mall was all about. This place is known for all the high end shopping, vending machines that sell gold, and a place to find just about every super car you could imagine, but also includes an ice skating rink, a huge aquarium, and these choreographed fountains (similar to the Bellagio Fountains in Vegas) that put on quite the show. This was a chance for us to get in some walking after being cooped up in the plane so long. We finished the day by having dinner poolside at our hotel, where I could soon slip away for some good sleep in a super comfortable bed (remember, we’ve been sleeping on a small mattress on a tatami floor for the past 10 days, so this was going to be like sleeping on the clouds).

The next day we got up and headed to the traditional spice, textile, and gold souks to see what kind of interesting finds we could muster up. I tell Matt, just keep walking, these people will haggle you, so you just have to keep going. Why are we not even three stores in and Matt starts “making friends.” Dammit Matt. So Matt’s new friend wants me to buy gold from him and proceeds to personally escort us around the souks. That was very nice of him (he had alternate plans), but unfortunately what he didn’t realize is that he hooked up with a real nice guy an and then me, whose middle name is “likes to mosey.” Hours later we’d visited all the souks (still with this personal escort) and I spent way too much money on tea, silks, gold, and saffron (even with haggling with them) then I want to admit. It’s fine, I hope people are up for a tea party when we get home, because I have several years supply now. Needless to say, Matt (who really doesn’t even want to be at the souks) ends up back behind one of the souks (we all know you aren’t supposed to go back there-hasn’t he seen any movies at all?), as they are trying to sell him fake watches. Again, Mr. Naivety isn’t clueing into my “we have to go because we have a tour we have to get to,” and proceeds to continue talking with these guys. I laid down the law, said we were leaving and escaped yet another crazy situation Matt got us into. Thanks Matt, thanks a lot.

We really did have a tour to get to, as the most exciting part of the trip for me was just about to happen. Since we decided to come to Dubai, I wanted to ride camels in the desert. I mean, when else am I going to get to ride a massive animal through the Arabian desert? So, I booked us this camel riding tour that also included a night of activities in a Bedouin camp. These are the traditional camps that desert travelers would set up when searching for water in the desert. Our tour guide from Viator tours picked us up at our hotel and drove us an hour and half into the middle of the Arabian desert. During the ride, he gave us all the inside details about Dubai (including things they probably don’t want others to know, but oh well). Once there we got loaded up onto our camels (my camels name was Simone, and Matt’s camel’s name was Goad. He was making groaning sounds, which I later found out that meant he was grumpy. Go figure, Matt is used to me, so working with a grumpy camel-he should be a pro! Our camel guide was from Pakistan and laughed at my off the cuff, socially and politically incorrect jokes, so I think he had a good time with us. Don’t mind these pictures of us on camels, my legs looks like the size of Texas (who would have thought on an animal so large I would look so big as well) and well Matt’s shorts now have a bit of a racy look to them-looking good Matt, nice legs there. After the camel ride (which is way harder than it looks, and definitely harder than riding a horse), we arrive at our Bedouin camp to watch some falconry and settle in for an evening of traditional Arabian music and cuisine (yes, this includes eating camel, but not the one’s we rode out on and al harees, which are foods traditionally served at weddings). Matt smoked shisha and I got henna done, all while we made new friends from France and South Africa. Again, we would highly recommend this tour above all others if you want a real authentic experience in the desert. Seven hours later, we returned to the hotel totally exhausted, but had a wonderful experience.

After sleeping in a bit, we spent the next morning and early afternoon exploring Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi was about an hour and half drive from Dubai, and is one of the more conservative emirates of the UAE. We went to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (which is absolutely beautiful by the way), as well as had a chance to see the Emirates Palace Hotel (also very beautiful) and Etihad Towers. We finished the day having afternoon tea and pastries at the Desert Palms Polo Club of Dubai. I know this is a bit out of the norm for desert life, but it was recommended so we went. I’m glad we did because the pastries were phenomenal, the polo fun to watch as well.

Dubai was a great place to stop for a few days, rest a bit and see some of the massive structures, unique modern architecture and historical character this place has created. Dubai has many characteristics that resemble that of Las Vegas (big structures and buildings, fancy fountains, big, flashy everything-it’s their goal to have the biggest of everything in the world), yet there is virtually no crime, everything is automated (the police don’t even pull you over, they just ticket you from cameras everywhere), and there is minimal debauchery anywhere. I think they said that Dubai is the third safest city in the world. Who knew? And definitely not what I expected. So, imagine a very conservative Vegas, without gambling and drinking, then you have Dubai.

In many ways we came here seeking a variety of different cultural and lifestyle experiences that would push us completely out of our comfort zone and with some things it did. I mean, before I struggled to understand why women would want to wear the full abaya, but after doing it a few times during this trip, I can totally get behind wearing it with the headscarf on any given day. It’s really like a comfortable nightgown, and that headscarf did wonders to conceal my double chin-#Winning The women do it both out of respect, but also because they want to bring back tradition to their culture, similar to what women are now doing in Japan by wearing kimonos, and not just for wedding or special occasions. I mean, you never have to do your hair, figure out what you are going to wear, and you can go “full ninja” as they refer to it (full face covered except your eyes), say at the grocery store, when you don’t want to be recognized). Overall, all the people we interacted with were extremely friendly and very helpful. Although 80% of the people that live here are from other countries, we still found that we got an authentic experience none the less.

Overall, we found that Dubai is in more ways than just one, a lot like Oklahoma. A country, rather than just a state, dependent on the “black gold” of the earth to fund their sheer existence. If they haven’t seen how well that’s worked out for us, they should probably check that out. The one thing I can say is they at least they continue to build their infrastructure and economy on tourism as their “Plan B” because when the well becomes dry, as it inevitably will, they might actually be able to make it as a civilized place of existence. Come see the place if you haven’t been, it’s worth three or four days as a stopover city. We don’t recommend coming in the summertime, as apparently you can fry eggs and bake cookies on the concrete, as it gets so hot (we heard close to 120 degrees during the day). It’s wintertime and we saw 75-80 degree days.

As we continue our journey west, we are excited to explore the U.K. for the next several days. I’ve finally found a destination I might actually not stick out like a sore thumb. I’m also secretly hoping for a spotting of the Royal Family, let’s hope my years of stalking them on the internet will provide me some insight on the best location to do so!

See you all in London!

[mistyandmatt]

Back in Tokyo!

We took a little break in the morning, not putting too much in the plan because we decided to take the trip to the other side of town with my mom today to meet her youngest brother and to see where she grew up. He still lives in the original home where my mom and her siblings were raised. He’s remodeled it and changed a few things around, but it is still the same basic structure in the same place as it was decades ago. Across Tokyo in a less busy area, but still not like a suburb area of town, we hopped off in Nippori and started the short walk to her childhood home. We had taken the same train and were walking the same route she took to high school and passed the school she attended as an elementary student. Education is a big deal in Japan. Most kids go to school on Saturday as well. When we arrived at the house, we were given the outside tour which was actually a bit larger structure in the past. That storefront shown in the picture had been part of the home in the past, but is now currently owned by another individual, but remains part of the structure. I’m not sure how they work out the “HOA” dues, but by the way everything looked and my little knowledge about how many of the homes in the area are split up, I’m sure it gets a bit complex.

Her brother greeted us at the door and after taking off our shoes we started the tour up the stairs to the second floor. The basic layout is still the same, but all of the finishes are modern. The kitchen is still in the same place, and although much smaller compared to what we’d be accustomed to in Oklahoma, was large by Tokyo standards. The dining area and connected living room were large enough to hold a family and one of the bedrooms, although now a room with a TV and small shrine, still had tatami floors installed. Overall, I’m sure growing up in a space this small with 5 siblings (6 in total) would have a bit of a squeeze. Most of what we would consider in traditional Western architecture, and really life in general would be considered excessive by Asian standards.

After the grand tour, my mom’s youngest brother gave us a ride to Akihabara, or better known as “Electric Town,” as I needed to pickup a memory card for the camera and this was supposedly the best place to find one. Akihabara did not disappoint, although I think this part of Tokyo is probably better known in the US for it’s anime, it also has a plethora of vendors, both large and small, selling all types of things electronic. I was able to find a memory card for about half the price I had seen at a larger vendor earlier that week. Mission accomplished.

We headed back to the train station towards Edogawa where we are staying. We needed to get ready to go to dinner at my aunts house. As I walked in the door, I could tell she went to great lengths to make us feel at home. She had ordered pizza. As large of a city as Tokyo is, I can’t recall ever seeing a pizza shop and appreciated the gesture greatly (well, Misty probably appreciated it more) as I was still enjoying all of the Japanese food I was getting the chance to sample. About halfway through dinner my cousin Mayumi joined us. I was happy we got to spend a little more time with her as we hadn’t seen much of her since the wedding and wouldn’t be seeing her again before we left. Although neither of us spoke the same language and I was a bit unsure of our translator (both my mom and the iPhone (ha!!!), we had a great time! She even managed to understand my affection for adult beverages and had gifted us a bottle of sake to sample during dinner.

Here’s where things go south, both literally and figuratively. Depending on how well you know me….. Let’s be honest, if you’ve been around me for more than 5 minutes, you probably know I seem to have an addiction to things with wheel or wings… you’d probably expect that I’d try to work some type of extracurricular activity having to do with one of these sometime in Tokyo, right. This was it…. There’s a parking area on the highway south of Tokyo that’s a pretty famous car hangout. Unfortunately, it is only accessible by car as it’s three stories up on a highway. My uncle, who is in the car business in Tokyo had spoken to several people at work and he was pretty sure that there wouldn’t be much activity at the parking area, but I was determined to at least see this place as I was sure I’d be kicking myself in the morning if I didn’t at least attempt to go there. Since I won’t take no for an answer, and just have to see for sure for myself, we headed out, yen in hand, in an attempt to hail a taxi to get us there. Without much trouble we were able to flag down a cab and get headed in the right direction. Here’s where things get expensive. The taxi ride to the parking area from where we were should have been somewhere between $35-45 US dollars, however, we managed to find a taxi driver who did not speak English very well, and he also couldn’t read the handwritten note that my uncle had made to attempt to communicate where we wanted to go. After passing the place three times, being called Gaijin (foreigner) at least twice, two conversations with a translation service the taxi company has, and $90 US dollars later, we arrived. I was a bit dejected to have spent now double what I had budgeted for this endeavor, but none the less, we had arrived.

Now, when we asked if our taxi driver could pick us back up in awhile, we were informed that he would be unable as they would not dispatch a taxi to the parking area. Great, now what… We got out of the cab, that is what. I was pleasantly surprised and not so worried about how we would be getting out of this area, as we had been passed by at least two super cars as we were (mis)communicating with the taxi driver. Although I wouldn’t call it busy, there was plenty to see and observe at this parking lot, several super cars, at least a few different styles of modified cars from local manufacturers, and even some vintage fare. By the time we decided to leave I had seen at least one “exit” sign that seemed to have a pedestrian running on it. This would be our way back out to the surface streets to find a cab. This “exit” turned out to be more of an “escape” route. There were several one way locked doors on this path and stairs that more closely resembled a fire escape going between the lanes of the highway. The route then dropped you into a fenced off area that looked like somewhere they would store construction equipment, but luckily this barbed wire fenced in area also had a one way door and we were dumped back on the surface on the far side of Tokyo. We walked about one half mile (mind you, it’s 1:00 am and below freezing outside)from here and luckily picked up another cab back to the place we were staying, $30 this time. We ended the evening a bit disgruntled that we ended up spending so much because of the first taxi driver, but I was happy we took the opportunity to see the famous Tatsumi Parking Area No. 1.

Our last day in Tokyo we made our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market for what Misty didn’t quite understand, would be a culinary challenge for her. Two trains later we popped out on the far side of Ginza and walked the rest of the way to arrive at Tsukiji Fish Market. This market is actually just like many farmers markets, in that they have more than just produce. This market is primarily the working port wholesaler for fish and has the six figure tuna that everyone hears about, but it also has many vendors selling produce, ready to eat foods, knives, and trinkets as well. Our plan was to start around the perimeter and work our way into the market. The main area of the market doesn’t actually open to the public until 10AM because the wholesalers are getting ready and selling to commercial buyers early in the morning, so we would walk around more of the retail area and hopefully get into the interior right around 10AM to see what the wholesalers were doing. We sampled something we’re still not sure what the name of that dish was, but it consisted of a bed of rice with a stewed thinly sliced beef and oinion mixture on top that was very tasty as we walked around the outside. We also saw many of the more retail oriented shops selling fresh seafood, beef, and lots of knife stores. As we arrived at the interior of the market we walked into what looked like a large open sided warehouse with shipping docks running down one side and vendors on the other. We were able to see lots of seafood including the large tuna being butchered, octopus that had been arranged like blossoming flowers, and many fish I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before but would most likely eat. Ha!

Many of the vendors start closing up shop (around 11 AM), so we made our way to one of the several famous sushi vendors near the market, Dai Wa Sushi. There were several lines of people waiting to be seated, now us included, so after waiting at least least an hour to get in, we were ducking under the entrance making our way to our seat at the sushi bar, which incidentally, is the only place you can sit in this “quaint” (read: extremely tiny) establishment serving up some of the freshest sushi in the world. As we sat down, ordered what Misty would like to consider a “brunch Sapporo,” we were informed that they were serving a set menu. Misty’s life started to flash before her eyes and I settled in for the best sushi I’ve ever had the opportunity to eat. About this time, I’m thinking Misty is getting terribly worried, she’s about to have 10 pieces or so of sushi set in front of her at a rather rapid fire pace and will be expected to eat them as they are prepared. I’m starting to to get “the look.” As we start in she makes it through the best piece of tuna I’ve ever eaten and she starts to chew slower and slower getting a more and more worried look on her face. As the sea urchin roll is served, the nausea sets in and she proceeds to inform the chef and myself that she is “getting full.” As the egg sushi is set down in front of her she takes a bite and gives me a, “I should get credit for this” look to which I inform her, she will not, as it’s not even fish or raw for that matter. At this point she starts to unload sushi onto my little wooden serving platform as I’m now finishing my last piece. I make an attempt to help her eat at least a few of the more exotic pieces she’s been served only to leave the squid and a few pieces of the salmon roll on her plate. We tab out, thank the chef and make our way out the door. Heavy breathing from Misty ensues and we find a Coke Zero quickly. Misty managed to make it through the endeavor without any food going the wrong way (barely, I know) and I’ve now had the chance to experience the best sushi I’ve ever had, even if I had to manage to eat a few pieces past my, “I’m full” point. I think this was a great way to end our Japan tour. We head back towards the house to pack up, as we headed towards the airport to leave for our next destination this evening. After a quick sendoff and goodbye from my mom and my newly known extended family, we board the Emirates plane headed for Dubai. After several days of going non-stop, we promptly doze off and awake several hours later, just a few longitudinal lines further west!

[mistyandmatt]

Kauai Arrival to the not so big island of Kauai!!!! What this island lacks in size, it definitely makes up in character! We arrived to gusty winds and cloudy skies. I say this as to preface the next thing that’s coming. Unfortunately, although our big jet from the Big Island made it in fine, it was decided that our little plane tour/lesson was probably best left for another day lest we get bounced around and stare into the clouds for two hours. We rescheduled for two days later which turned out to be a much better idea, so we then had two days to explore the island before our sightseeing adventure from the sky. We promptly picked up our little convertible from Enterprise and then went back to the airport to retrieve our bags (in reverse order you see, due to the quick switch over to our next flight, our bags ended up on the next flight over. Since we knew we may be touring the west side of the island with friends in the coming days, we decided to knock out the north/northeast side of the island from Lihue until the road ends at the Na Pali coast. In case this is your first introduction to the Na Pali coast, this is an area that does not have passable roads through it, much like the Darien Gap in Columbia. It is possible to cross on foot, but not by car, the terrain has provided a formidable opponent to the earthmover. We ventured to the last beach at the end of the road (see attached photos) and got a couple of great shots of this amazing topography. As we made our way back towards Lihue, we stopped at a couple of dry caves along the way. We ventured in for a few photos and continued on to Hanalei Bay. We walked out on the lone fishing pier and saw several people learning to surf on the smaller waves that had been subdued by the shelter from the open ocean. Our next stop was the Kilauea lighthouse where the price of admission was covered by our national park pass. It would have been worth double just to see the waves break on the large pockets they had scooped out of the cliff sides over the previous millennia. This is a great point to bird watch and whale watch. We saw several species of birds there which seemed quite different from anything I’ve seen in Oklahoma. Although I must admit I’m not much of an aviary connoisseur, this was pretty impressive. We also saw whales playing a ways off shore, but no breaches this time. As we continued around the island, we passed many awesome beaches and resorts including Princeville, which we understand is the more “uppity” part of the island (read: golf courses & private runways, which is a bit odd since I don’t know of anything that will land on that small of a runway that will make the pacific crossing, but who knows??). As we rounded the east side we stopped by our hotel, dropped off our bags and made our way to the Gaylord Plantation to take part in the ultimate Hawaiian touristy party, the luau. We attended the Luau Kalamaku, which we were told is the best luau on the island to go to. The luau takes place in a large open tent like structure and given the rainy weather, it kept everyone dry. I was pretty impressed with the whole show as it seemed as though everyone was genuinely having a good time, including the performers. I always hate going to events where I feel like it’s a bit of a sideshow/exploitation of cultures, but this seemed more like a big party that was enjoyed by all. I can’t say I learned a ton about Hawaiian culture there, but in hindsight, I don’t think this was the point. The luau is really just a big dinner party with a cultural show that contains a bit of Hawaiian history and context. Misty even got up on stage and tried to learn how to do a hula dance of some sort. Saturday started with our rescheduled plane ride around the island, as we arrived at the airport, we met our pilot, Doug McDuff. Low and behold, Doug was a 1970 graduate of Putnam City High School and entertained us with stories of his football glory days. Real nice guy, good tour guide as well. The skies were still a bit cloudy, but looked reasonable on the northeast side of the island (around the Na Pali coast) where our goal was to be able to see the shoreline of the impassable parts of the island by air. After going through the clouds on the southwest coast of Kauai, we made our way slightly into the Waimea Canyon. We weren’t able to fly too close to the waterfall that is known for it’s appearance in the movie, Jurassic Park, solely because the clouds kept us as bay. Around the west side of the island we passed the Kauai Coffee Plantation (FYI-this plantation grows almost 60% of all coffee sold in the US, who knew?) and continued up the west coast until the Na Pali coast was visible. This was the view we were waiting for and it did not disappoint. Seeing the serrated mountains from the top of the island through the clouds and all the way into the ocean, all untouched by most of civilization was pretty breathtaking. Our journey in the small plane ended as we rounded the last point and made our landing around 2 p.m. local time. We highly recommend anyone who visits Kauai to take a plane ride (not a helicopter tour) to see the entire island. We used Wings over Kauai (I had researched these folks for months before we decided to go with them) and the experience was top notch. Bruce, one of the flight instructors at the school isn’t a big fan of Facebook (self disclosed), so he likely won’t see this, but we wanted others to know the experience was excellent, definitely 5 stars! Around the south end of the island we decided to make a stop at a couple places to sample the local cuisine for lunch before we went to a few landmarks on that side of the island. We stopped at the Koloa Fish Market for the Hawaii staple, Poke. Let me tell you....this stuff is awesome. It’s basically a sashimi salad. I tried two different varieties, a spicy Poke and a Korean style Poke. The spicy definitely won that battle, but both were amazing. I only wish it were available back at home. Misty wanted to go and try Puka Dog, a strange hot dog place she had scoped out on Facebook. It’s basically a hot dog sized pig in a blanket with special local sweet and savory mustards and sauces. It’s definitely worth the stop as it’s another must eat, but it’s not quite to the level as “I NEED THIS AT HOME” as the Poke is. We forged ahead to Poipu and Shipwreck beaches where there were some spectacular views, partnered with sea turtles and monk seals. The local wildlife conservation groups stand guard for the napping seals on the beach and tether off small sleeping areas so gawkers don’t get too close and bother them. Unbeknownst to me, the specific seals on the Hawaiian islands are a species specific to the island and are endangered. After the wildlife viewing and a bit of hiking to get to the great views, we ventured up to Spouting Horn, and areas where the waves have carved out a small cave with a hole in the top. When the waves crash into the shoreline this unique formation creates what looks like a geyser coming out of the rock. It’s a pretty neat thing to see, I’ll add a few photos here so you can see it as well. As Misty has noted, she’s been in recovery mode of this crazy sickness she had for several weeks now. Unfortunately, when we visited Mauna Kea on the Big Island, she started to have some sharp back pain (like you get with pneumonia) when we went to higher elevations, likely culprit, pleurisy. So for four days she pushed through the pain and carried on, but no trip would be complete with one last trip to the urgent care to make sure all was well (and to verify I didn’t need to quickly trade her in for a different model to make the rest of this international trip with). She survived, no trade in needed. While she was in the urgent care, I made a short run around town to find a Hawaiian shirt, I noticed that the little convertible we were in may also be in need to some “urgent care” as it was starting to smell a bit like syrup, and I didn’t have any pancakes on hand at the time. I proceeded back to the Enterprise by the airport, also not far away at this point, and dropped the car back off for repairs. Seemed as though a water pump seal had seen better days, but not to worry, they had a little Jeep to give us in exchange. on us so that we could continue our journey the next day. As the evening set in, we had the chance to meet up with a previous co-worker of MIsty’s at a restaurant in town. Huge shout out to The Oasis on the Beach restaurant, let me tell you, this place has ridiculously tasty food and drinks. First we sampled their house made Mai Tai, which was the best we’ve had yet! We then moved on to a main course of local, freshly caught fish and island-raised steak, both were just amazing. Between the Poke at the fish market and the fish and steak at this upscale eatery, we have definitely been culinarily spoiled by the island of Kauai!!!! We will be coming back to this island, guaranteed! As we settled in for the night, Misty’s friend offered to give us a personal tour (by car) around the west side of the island the next day, taking us to all the greatest spots only known by locals. On that note, off to bed in preparation for another day filled with new sights to see and great experiences to be had!