Day 54: Dubai, UAE

Camels! We started our day with camels. Eric was nice enough to arrange a dune-bashing morning for us. It involved many emotions: fear, exhilaration, relief, joy. Fear when your car is tipping almost 90 degrees forward or 45 degrees to the side; exhilaration when you realize it's fun and you're going to make it; relief when you actually land; and joy when you see a camel. Then, you repeat.

After our morning workout (aka, my right arm gripping the "holy hell" handle), we decided to put our feet up and relax - poolside! We read, swam, and beat the heat.

Evening activities involved drinks and dinner with our amazing hosts Eric, Laura, and Sprout (Chris even did shots!). We are currently at the airport crossing our fingers, hoping to make the flight home. Think good thoughts for us! Oh yes, and Go Hawks!

Day 53: Abu Dhabi & Dubai, UAE

Today we saw one of the most exquisite sights in all of our travels, the Shiekh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, Dubai's neighboring emirate (their version of a state).

The mosque was stunning at every angle. There are inlaid precious stones on the columns, gold on top of the spires, and the whitest marble on the floors.

On mosque grounds, men and women must be fully clothed from head to toe, and women must cover their heads. As prepared tourists, we brought the scarves we had in Europe. Those less prepared were given abaya and hijabs to properly cover.

Our wonderful tour guide, whose English name is Issac, guided us through the mosque and educated us in Islamic architecture, culture, and religion.

This masterpiece was just completed in 2005. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and one of the tenth largest in the world. It also holds both the largest carpet and the largest chandelier of its kind in the world. 41,000 people can worship there at one time.

After our tour, the rest of the day was very relaxing: poolside reading, Lebanese food for lunch, the beach, and Mexican for dinner and drinks. No doubt we will sleep well tonight!

Day 52: Dubai, UAE

2,716.5 feet (or 828 meters) is how far we traveled today. Vertically, that is!

Our first stop of the day (after freshly pressed juice and doggie kisses) was Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world. This building is just a child, as construction started in January 2004 and it opened in January 2010. The spire of the Burj can be seen from an astounding 95 kilometres away. Lisa and I took in the view of the city after the surprisingly speedy elevator ride, and we were further reminded that we truly are in the middle of a desert. After your eyes scan Dubai, there's not a whole lot to see besides sand and water.

Close by, we also saw a water show outside of the Dubai mall, along with the world record holder for the "longest single panel aquarium."

Next, we saw the "only 7-star hotel in the world," the Burj Al Arab. While only the elite can actually go into the hotel, Eric, Lisa and I very much enjoyed our view from the beach. After a relaxing two hour swim in the Arabian Gulf, we headed to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant.

The food was amazing, the sights were astounding, and we can't wait to see more tomorrow!


On an end note, here's more information on the world's tallest building:
- At the height of its construction, there were over 12,000 laborers working each day.
- All of the concrete that was used to make the building weighed as much as 100,000 elephants.
- It is home to the Armani Hotel.
- It has one of the fastest elevators, traveling 10 meters per second, along with the lengthiest single-run elevator, covering 140 floors.
- 20: The amount of times Lisa and I collectively swallowed to clear our ears during the elevator rides up and down.

Days 50 and 51: Chicago to Dubai, UAE

Hello from Dubai!

After 20.5 hours of airport/flight time (including our longest flight of 13.5 hours), we finally made it to Dubai! It was a close call, as we thought for certain that our picture of a plane would be the closest we got to one today. Luckily, that was not the case.

We are very lucky to be staying with our friend Eric, his fiancée Laura, and their affectionate doggie Brussels Sprouts.

Tonight was very relaxing, as we cooked, downed a lot of wine and beer, and just enjoyed great conversation :). Tomorrow we head to the main attractions!

Days 48 and 49: Sweet Home Chicago... or Schaumburg :)

Tomorrow, we make our way to another new country, the United Arab Emirates. These last few days at home have flown by so quickly!

Yesterday, we celebrated our amazing mom's birthday with the Chicago classic, Lou Malnatis. But not until Lisa's flight from Seattle finally landed after being diverted to Rockford, thanks to the awesome storms.

Today, we did a few drive-by visits. First, we saw our cousin Katherine, her hubbie Dan, and the peanuts, Addyson and Maverick. Our next stop was Red Mango to load up on frozen yogurt and to catch up with our friend Katie.

Outside of repacking and falling asleep like a narcoleptic at 9:00 pm each night, I spent any spare time with my boyfriend Chris and his fat cuddly cat Camel.

Hard to believe that Lisa and I already leave for Dubai tomorrow. Flight loads willing, we will be seated next to each other for the 13.5 hour flight from Washington DC to Dubai. Cross your fingers for us!

Day 47: Lisa in Seattle, WA with Kristina (with a 'K')

Life is hard. I mean, really hard. Kristina and I spent our day dog-sitting a 4 month old lab with an 8 year old German shepherd keeshond mix. I started and finished a book, Kristina did some freelancing, and we indulged in amazing Thai food. After Thai, we fell into an immediate food coma, with warm puppies on a comfortable couch.

After our nap, while motivated-Kristina went for a run, I went boating on Lake Union with my friend Matt to watch a sailboat race. Thankfully, the weather held out, we had some great views, and I learned a lot more about sailing.

Then, in keeping with the theme of this Seattle trip, we all met up at a bar for some local beer. Somehow, I only had one beer, but my alter-ego ordered a pitcher. Thankfully, I had some hungry runners who were more than happy to share it with me.

That's it for today! I have an early start tomorrow (4:00 am) as I'm headed back home to celebrate my mom's birthday! :)

Day 46: Lisa in Seattle, WA with Kristina (with a 'K')

I woke up this morning in sunny Seattle; I repeat, Seattle was sunny! After passing out like a champ at 5pm the night before, I was able to sleep until about 8:30 am (with the exception of Chris' 3:30 alarm for her flight home).

I bid farewell to Amber and sweet Lucy and walked in the sunshine to Kristina's place. Shortly thereafter, we set out for a coffee shop where I enjoyed a hippied-out chai latte with hemp milk (delicious!). We strolled through Pike Place market, rode the ferris wheel, and took a quick detour to Pike brewery before hitting the climbing gym.

Three hours later, ego in check, arms burning, and soul happy, we made our way to 74th Street Ale House for dinner and drinks with friends. Sadly (for my pride, not my body), after a month of pilsners and limited beer in Asia, I have returned to light-weight status and simply enjoyed one IPA. Thankfully, it was delicious and the company was even better.

Day 45: Singapore to Seattle, WA

Today was our longest day. After a shaky four hours of sleep, we woke up at 3:30 am on 5/19 in Singapore, boarded a 7:00 am flight, traveled for almost 17 hours, and arrived in Seattle on 5/19 just after 9:00 am. Thank you, time change.

While we're too tired to do the math, we can say that we have been awake for more than 26 hours.

Fortunately, our waking/groggy hours in Seattle were spent in great company. We stayed with our friends Amber and Ryan and their beautiful, smart, (nearly) two year old, Lucy. Oh, and their affectionate cat Juni, of course. We caught up, had a lovely tea party hosted by Lucy, and then... Well to be honest, we're wiped, so that's about it. At some point, you have to stop nodding off and recognize a bed is where you need to be. :) So here we are, excited to let the eyelids finally close in rest.

Tomorrow morning, Chris flies back to Chicago while I remain in Seattle for a few more days. Then it's off to Dubai later this week!

Day 44: Cruise End & What We Learned in Singapore

Today, we disembarked from our home for the last seven days, the Costa Atlantica. We took a quick stroll around our familiar Chinatown before accepting farewell. First thing tomorrow (4:00 am!), we head to the airport en route to Seattle to visit friends. Cross your fingers that there are open seats on the flights there!

As a farewell to Asia, here are our Singapore take-aways:

- Disney needs to give more credit where credit is due. Mulan is based off of a true story.
- The crime rate is nearly nonexistent - for humans, that is. Monkeys, on the other hand, are the country's biggest criminals.
- Lamburginis are in abundance. So, if you'd like to see some really nice cars, just drive around one of the city carparks.
- Vocabulary lesson: Boot = trunk; carpark = garage; alight = exit; way out = exit; give way = yield.
- Heavy fines are the punishment for littering. This country's cleanliness is off the charts.
- It is illegal to sell gum, but you can chew it. You will be fined if you drop it on the ground, however.
- Bar none, friendliest country we have been to on this trip. Strangers will help without even being prompted, and local hosts will do everything they can to ensure you have a good time.
- Breakfast involves dinner food (fried rice, chicken, and beef stew).
- You don't tip here, not in cabs and not in restaurants.
- Lightning rods are placed on every house, as lightning is so frequent. Even the famous merlion now has its own rod, as it was struck by lightning two years ago.
- All buildings are made with cement because of the former UK rule.
- They drive on the left side of the road (which never failed to freak us out).
- When parking cars, everybody backs into the spots. No one pulls in.
- The two casinos in Singapore brought in more revenue than all of Las Vegas's casinos combined last year.
- The Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel) changed directions for feung shui purposes. After the change, its business improved.
- We can't get enough of orchids.
- Escalators follow the 'stand left, walk right' rule.
- Residents avoid the sun, as darker skin is associated with lower-level workers. Lighter skin shows a higher status in society.
- We don't understand why, but apparently some women stand on... and squat over... the toilet seats. Signs in the bathrooms discourage women from doing so.
- Only in Asia would you see advertisements for, "Is math TOO easy for your child? We'll challenge them here!"

Days 42 and 43: Penang, Malaysia

After a relaxing day on ship yesterday (massages included), our port stop today was Penang, a Malaysian island in the shape of a turtle.

Our brief tour of the island started at the Penang Botanical Gardens (we can't see enough!), where we saw beautiful trees, flowers, and monkeys who had raided the local ice cream cart.

The next stop was to dye for. Not really :). It was a fabric factory where we got to see locals dying and hand-painting multiple fabrics with hot wax. Lisa was chosen as the lucky one to model how the versatile fabric can be worn.

We then toured a Chinese mansion, which was built in 1850 in accordance with feung shui. Next, we saw how the former tax-evaders lived, as they built their houses on stilts over the sea to avoid paying the land tax.

Throw in a couple of Chinese temples and more poolside reading and you have our day in a nutshell!

On a completely unrelated note, our twin-ness must be shining through today, as we have received more comments and questions than usual.

Day 41: Singapore

We gladly returned to our familiar stomping grounds today - Singapore! We docked in the afternoon after enjoying a restful morning onboard.

After a little shopping in Chinatown, we met up with our friend Matt from Chicago. How lucky we are to be across the world at the same time as both our friends, Brad and Matt! It has brought a welcome feeling of home to our trip.

With Matt, we had drinks and dinner in Clarke Quay. I tried a sampler of locally brewed IPAs from Riverside Point Brewery. For dinner, Chris and I enjoyed watching Matt dive into his chili crab, the renowned specialty (apparently it was quite delicious). I dedicated myself to a chopsticks-only dinner, no matter how many failed asparagus slipped through my grasp, quite literally.

It was down to the wire for our return to the cruise ship. Singapore has two cruise centers, and we first arrived at the wrong one. After a quick Chinese fire drill into a new cab, we headed to the correct cruise center as Matt headed to the airport. At the ship, we were greeted by cruise personnel who rushed us onboard. We were hauling buns as we were literally the last two people to board. We blame this on very poor communication.

Nonetheless, here we are. Now that our blood pressure has returned to normal, we can say that today was truly a great day.

Day 40: Langkawi, Malaysia

Today we visited the lovely island of Langkawi, Southeast Asia's oldest island. Home to 236 species of birds, 47 species of snakes, and 18 different mango trees, this lush island was a beautiful sight. It's no surprise that it is so lush, as Langkawi no longer cuts trees but preserves them. Malaysia consists of 99 islands during high tide and 104 islands during low tide. The population is 100,000 despite being the same size as Singapore, whose population is five million.

Now that you know the history, onto our day.

We toured the island by river boat with Ayu, our enthusiastic tour guide who also happens to be an animal trainer/snake charmer.

Our first stop was to see the white bellied and brown eagles. Chicken guts were thrown into the water so we could observe them dive for food. After the eagles, we sat where the river joins the sea, marking the beginning of the national park. Then, we visited a fish farm where I gladly stuck my hand into a stingray's mouth (half the species in Malaysia are venomous; this one fell into the "playful" category). Chris obviously kept her distance.

We saw naughty monkeys, swooping eagles, and archer fish who can spit with precision. And that was just the first half of the day!

The second half included eating lunch while watching Lagkawi fade into the distance, poolside reading, getting facials, and losing track of time reading our books.

Tomorrow, we are excited to return to Singapore for a quick day trip in familiar territory!

Days 38 and 39: At Sea and then Phuket, Thailand

Our day at sea was undoubtedly our slowest day in weeks. We worked out, we swam, we each started and finished a book, we played chess, we walked around the boat who knows how many times, and we STILL had hours to spare.

Fortunately, Phuket in Thailand brought us back to our go-go-go speed, literally. Today, we traveled a few hours by speedboat and experienced the beach from none other than the James Bond film, "The Man with the Golden Gun" (and yes, we hummed the theme song).

We also visited a 150 year old fishing village before dining on Rang Yai Island. After lunch, we plunged into the crystal clear water. Soft sand, just-cool-enough water, and hills as the backdrop. Lisa and I also had the beach to ourselves, essentially. Being on a cruise with lots of Asians and senior citizens has its advantages. About 90 percent stray from the sun and water. At one point, there were maybe 14 of us in the water... the rest of the 150 were hiding in the shade. From the boat rides to the islands, it was truly a stunning experience.

End note: In case you are unaware, you do not pronounce Phuket in a phonetic fashion. That won't make you any friends. It's pronounced poo-ket. If you've been reading it wrong, tsk tsk.

Day 37: Singapore

Today we woke up and went to work for the first time in several weeks. No, not our work (don't be silly), but Brad's :). Brad and his counterpart Matthew gave us a tour of the factory where their product is made.

It was a brief working day for us, and we bid them farewell and headed to Chinatown for a little shopping. We are thrilled to report that we can actually find clothes here that match our height!

Next, we boarded the cruise ship Costa Atlantica, our home for the next seven days. I repeat, we'll be staying in the same room for a full week! This hasn't happened since late March. We were so happy, the first thing we did was unpack and organize.

Of course, we had the obligatory safety drill where we rocked the orange life vests. We also felt incredibly average - not too short, not too tall.

So here we are, looking out on Singapore's skyline, waiting to push off. Tomorrow we will have our first day of relaxation as we are out on the open sea. To be frank, due to the fast pace of our trip thus far, we fear we'll get a bit stir crazy, but we have chess, books, and a gym to keep us busy.

Bon voyage!

Day 36: Singapore

In Singapore, we have constantly seen signs declaring, "No Durians Allowed." A durian is a fruit, otherwise known as the stink fruit. That's what we tried at the end of our day. But let's not skip past the rest of what we saw today, because it was amazing :).

We started by touring the Chinese and Japanese gardens. The Chinese gardens were stunning from every aspect. From statues to bonsai trees to the turtle and tortoise museum, it was a feast for the eyes. The Japanese garden, on the other hand, was a feast for someone who's already eaten.

We toured Chinatown for a while then continued to be hosted by Brad's work associate and his friends/contacts. We enjoyed drinks at an architect's "transit lounge" - a house just intended for social events, then headed off to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Nine business men, one wife, and two girls from Illinois.

Then the night kicked into gear. We went to Fullerton to see the famous merlion, and fate brought us in time to see the Marina Sands laser show across the water. Then, we drove outside of the main drag to a shop on a corner filled with durians.

First, they just smell like a melon that's maybe a few days too ripe. Brad tried it first like a champ with just a little wincing. Then I tried it... It almost matched my first sushi experience where I threw up in my mouth. Thankfully, I just almost threw up in my mouth this time. Lisa fared slightly better than I did, and then neither of us ate anymore. BUT we tried it, so go us :). Then, as our guide Peter drove us to our hotel, he put the durian leftovers in the backseat with Lisa and me.

MY WORD. The stink fruit showed its true colors in that car. Red lights were cursed as no fresh air could come into the windows and clean out the stench. As we drove through the red light district, throwing it out the window seemed like a good idea. But then we'd be breaking the "no littering" law, and our wonderful tour guide Peter would have nothing to bring his mother-in-law.

Lots of pictures to share for another exquisite day!