Day 12: Homeward bound.

About to leave our pretty little hotel here in Paris, the Porte Doree. Just bringing our bags down and will be hoping back on to the metro to head to Charles de Gaulle. Hopefully all will go well.

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Well, finally on my seat here on the plane. The plane was originally scheduled to depart 40 minutes ago, but there was a huge mess at checkin, and then another at the gate with all of the stand by seats, so that's not surprising in and of itself. What's worrisome is the fog outside the plan - I can see the next plane besides us, but not much else. Hopefully everything goes through ok, but should the worst occur, atleast I'd end up with an extra night in Paris - miles better than another day in Casablanca.

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Sitting on the plane - I think our meal is coming soon. It feels like we were in Paris days ago, instead of earlier today. I'm super tired, which is understandable, but am also starved which is a bit odd. The info screen says we're currently somewhere over Ireland, and its covered in snow - the only way I can tell it isn't clouds is because I can still see all the lines separating the different properties.

This morning started off pretty early - first we decided to hit the Eiffel tower, and ended up having an overpriced breakfast at a nearby cafe - though my cafe creme was fantastic, and you couldn't beat the scenery. Then, since it was still to early for shops to be open, we decided to forego visiting the galleries Lafayette since there wouldn't be enough time to shop anyways, and instead headed towards Notre Dame. It was cool - all three of us had been before, but it was dressed up for Christmas, with a giant tree out front, and then a nativity scene inside. It was fun wandering a little, since that had been our original plan for Paris had we arrived on schedule. We wandered up towards the hotel de ville, which was similarly decorated for Christmas. There was a skating rink out front, and also free carousels. We also hit up a few touristy shops, and I got a yummy crepe and hot chocolate at a haagen daaz cafe. Then it was back to the hotel, to get back to the airport.

The airport was kind of a mess, but apparently a huge improvement over the previous days. When we finally found the right desk, we ended up having to be bumped to the front of the line to avoid missing our flight. But, when we go to get our boarding passes, we end up on the standby list, which is ridiculous as we should have been confirmed all the way through, and the luggage was already set to go ahead. Anyways, after some drama we get two confirmed seats, and then I go through security on standby, along with a huge crowd of people. Ultimately, I think we all made it on to the plane though - the ongoing problems accross Europe meant that a whole bunch of people wound up missing their connections. I wasn't one of thE lucky few to get upgraded seats, but arleast I got a window. I even had time to stop by the Laduree counter before boarding, conveniently beside our gate. Passing by the shop and picking up some macarons was one of the only things on my to do list in Paris, and it was nice to be able to check it off. Only thing left undone was duty free shopping - there was no time at the gate, and apparently the on board shop stopped carrying alcohol.

Anyways, this trip, and especially these past few days has completely tired me out. I'm going to try to nap. With Christmas coming up, It might be awhile before I come back to put up a final post recapping this trip. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed following along with our Moroccan and Parisian adventure. As always, i welcome any comments you may have, and feel free to send me any questions you have about the places I visited or about travel in general.

Day 12: early morning in Paris.

Super quick post because there isn't any time to spare today. It's almost 7am now, and we have to be back to the hotel in just over three hours to make it back to CDG. We got in to our hotel in Paris last night at like 10 in the evening, had a quick dinner at McDonalds accross the street, and then decided to head out to see as much as we could before the metro closed at 1am. We made it out I see the champ Elysees which is stunning lot up for Christmas. Oddly, given all the snow based delys there's none on the ground - it started raining at some point apparently, and rained on us a little whole walking last night. Today we're heading out of our hotel before anything is open to atleast see things in the dark, aiming on ending near the galleries Lafayette when they open at 9:30. I'll recap our day, and some stuff that was missed from yesterday when were back at the airport. Here's hoping that at this time tomorrow I'm home.

Day 11: finally heading to Paris.

Update: posted from Paris! Late arrival, nighttime views of the champs Elysees, and now off to bed.


Finally sitting on an Air France plane, though unspecified errors mean we won't be taking off for about another half hour. But atleast we're now more or less assured of getting to Paris today - more than a day late, but atleast in time to hopefully enjoy our hotel, have a nice dinner, and perhaps do a bit of shopping. Though of course, if the city has really been ground to a standstill, I'll settle for a good sleep, and then getting fancy macarons from the duty free catalogue on our flight home. I'm way past ready for this trip to be over.

Today was another day full of frustration. Dealing with massive lineups, several delays, switched gates, a lack of lunch vouchers (ended up with shawarma again - eventually), and then an unannounced slighly earlier than expected boarding (it was like "where did that crowd suddenly go - there's no plane out there?". Turned out there were shuttles on the ground) wears on the nerves, but the worst part was again the complete lack if information from Air France. Again, we sit in the terminal, have our first delay announced, only to have no Air France staff to explain anything. Sitting here on the plane, it seems like the crew is pretty in the dark too - it's just a massive storm of confusion.

Anyways, hopefully I'll soon be posting this from our hotel in Paris in a few hours. If I have to spend another night in Casablanca I might lose what little mellow I've been able to regain.

Day 10: unexpected trip interruption.

Instead of writing this from our chic Parisian hotel room, I'm writing this from an anonymous little business hotel nearish to the Casablanca airport. Which I suppose is still better than being at the airport...

As some of you may know, the weather in Europe is kind of insane at the moment, with cancellations all over the place. Charles de Gaulle, where we were due to fly in early this afternoon, was apparently shut down to arrivals. Of course, we only got all of this news here at the hotel. The airport was chaos.

Its been a really long day. We left Marrakech at around 5:30 this morning, inorder to be in Casablance in time to check in for our 10:30 flight. After standing in line for awhile we notice that our flight was delayed, which happens all the time so was not really alarming. Besides, when we got to the front of the line, we got meal vouchers with our boarding passes, so all was well. So we make it past security, have a yummy shawarma lunch (I've actually been craving it for awhile, but was warned against having it by our guide - sanitation standards here are kind of lax), use up out dirhams, and also use up the credits on my Moroccan sim card. We don't notice anything is up until we realize that our flight hasn't started boarding. And then come the announcements that our flight is cancelled. As apparently was the other flight to Paris that was meant to leave before us.

What follows was a highly irritating series of events, including lots of waiting with very little information. We had to go back through immigration to reneged morocco, then turn around and go back through security to reclaim our luggage. And then go back out to wait again for information that never came, as there apparently a single Air France employee in the building. And the Air France office in downtown Casablanca, where we were apparently to reschedule our flights would be closed till Monday morning. After a lot of confused discussion with fellow stranded passengers, panicky phone calls home, and chatting with various airport employees, we ended up aiming to go to a nearby hotel and then heading back to the airport in the morning, instead of trying to navigate downtown Casablanca. Our tour company ended up really coming through for us - helped arrange a hotel way cheaper than the airport hotel, and also getting us rides here, then back to the airport in the morning. The real hero though is my dad and brother back home, who not only already managed to get us rescheduled on a flight tomorrow, which will atleast give us some time in Paris before heading home, but also to contact our hotel in Paris.

The best part of which really is that we hopefully went have to deal with too much of what's sure to be an epic drama at the Air France counter tomorrow.

Anyways, it's likely going to be another super long day tomorrow, so I'm going to head off to bed. Next time I blog, hopefully I'm enjoying yummy macarons in Paris.

Day 9: post hammam relaxation.

Hanging out in a lounge waiting for my manicure, having some nice cold water. Mom is getting her manicure now, while B is off getting a massage. Today was pretty relaxing. We spent the morning shopping for last minute souvenirs, and then finally figured out how to work the calling cards we got our first day here to call home.

We just got back from the hammam which was an excellent way to end our time here in Marrakech. It's an interesting experience - we went to a typical hammam, not a luxe spa, though we did have attendants from our riad with us. Given how covered up Moroccan ladies are when they're outside, it was surprising to see how loose they were in the hammam.

You're in a steamy room, and first you get covered in this savon noire, which smells kind of like oil, and looks a bit like mud. After getting rinsed off with buckets of hot water, you get exfoliated with a rough mitten, which honestly took off the entire top layer of my skin, after which you rinse and wash your hair. Currently I feel all soft and shiny, though immediately after I was a bit light headed from being in he steamy room for so long. I downed something like a litre of water when we got back to our riad.

Plans for the evening are to have dinner back in the riad, where we are going to learn about making tajines. We've had them so often here, that I'm honesty a bit tired of them, but I think I'll miss them when I'm gone. Though, there's some spice in them that I don't quite like - maybe too much cinnamon? Hopefully I'll figure out what it is tonight, so if I do it myself I can avoid it.

Later tonight we might head out to meet some friends for drinks at a restaurant. Shopping this morning, we happened to run in to these three Malaysian girls that we met in the desert. They sat beside us by the fire, and then were part of the same caravan back to the hotel for showers and breakfast after playing in the sand dunes over sunrise. Of all the souks in Marrakech, running into possibly the only three people in Morocco that we know is pretty incredible.

After that the only plan is to pack all our things and head to bed early, since we have a ridiculously early departure tomorrow morning to get to Casablanca and catch our flight.

Day 9: chill day in Marrakech

I'm really loving the riad we are staying here in Marrakech - Riad Zehar. The staff here is super nice. Last night, we were planning on just staying in and watching movies in our room, and they made us a
yummy salad as a light supper just because. Breakfast is again on the terrace - we've gotten super lucky with the weather on this trip.

We no longer have the place to ourselves, though with us taking up 2 out of 3 rooms, we certainly dominate the space. I think the other couple might be Canadian, given the way they speak french, but have not had the oppourtunity to meet them yet.

Anyways, are heading out soon to do some shopping before heading to the hammam this afternoon. And for a desperately needed manicure - Ive been wanting one the whole time we've been here since I forgot to do
my nails before leaving.

And here's a teaser picture of us on our camels in the Sahara. I'm on the middle camel, with B in front, and mom at the back. I really like this photo, but didnt realize till just now that camel eyes glow in the dark. I was prepping a whole batch of photos to load, but its taking too long, so might have to wait till we get home. Though I might post a few tonight if I'm feeling appropriately chill after our spa time. 

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Day 8: Impressions of Marrakech.

Hanging out in our riad after a day of sightseeing here in Marrakech. There was a lot of walking touring around the old medina and the new city, but as the city is relatively flat, less stairs than in Fez. We visited all the major sites, including two palaces here in the medina, the principal mosque, and the main square, none of whose names I could tell you. Ooo, though in the principal square we did get to see snake charmers - one even put a snake around my neck. When I get the chance - possibly on the plane to Paris? - maybe I'll fill in details from our itinerary. I'm kinda wiped at the moment. Having the luxury of time to just stop here, I've really been feeling my tiredness. The highlight of my time here was when we visited the Marjorelle gardens in the new city. Besides being absolutely gorgeous, the gardens were previously owned by Yves St Laurent, and we had the good fortune of being here while there was an exhibition of his clothes in the little museum, showing the influence of Morocco in his designs.

The clothes were beautiful, and he had bougainvillea embroideries in some of his designs that I particularly enjoyed, but my favorite part might have been one of the display rooms. The ceiling was dark with lights, and with mirrored walls and angled mirrors on the ceiling it looked like the whole room was filled with stars. It's kinda hard to describe the effect, and regrettably no photos were allowed. Maybe I'll figure out how to recreate the effect on a smaller scale, as my original plan of redoing my bedroom that way is probably overkill.

In terms of my general impressions of the city, Marrakech is an interesting mix of modern and cosmopolitan, while retaining a strong Moroccan flavor. Even the medina is very modern - where in the Fez medina moving things by donkey, here, most people seem to move around by motorcycle.

Anyways, I'm going to go rest up. Tomorrow is going to be pretty chill, but the next day we have a ridiculously early departure from Marrakech to catch our flight from Casablanca to Paris.

Day 7 - from Dades Gorge to Marrakech.

Actually started this post super early on day 8, from my comfy bed in our riad here in Marrakech, and then finished it on the roof top patio. Turns out if I'm not super exhausted, I can't sleep through the first call to prayer at about 5:30. In theory it should last like 10 minutes, but there are several mosques in the medina. Either they disagree about when the sun rises, or they just don't like playing all at the same time because it feels like the whole process takes closer to half an hour. And after that life in the medina starts so I can hear people moving around on the street (medina style, so really an alley) outside my window. Right now I'm mainly hearing bird chatter so it's rather pretty.

Our riad is quite a ways into the medina, which was kind of hard last night getting here, even though other people took our bags in a cart, but atleast means we don't get traffic noises all night. The tiad we're staying in is gorgeous, with an inner courtyard open to the sky, and a gorgeous rooftop terrace. We were upgraded to two separate rooms again - mom has a bedroom on the first floor, while Barbs and I are in a two bedroom suite on the second floor. And as we have re place to ourselves again, it's kind of like renting a house to ourselves. I really love the furnishings here, and wish we had room in our suitcases to bring more - the colorful textiles, and the ornate lamps are all really beautiful, and they seem to be fond of this red/orange/purple palate I really like. My bedroom opens out to both the street below and the inner courtyard, where I can see a bougainvillea in bloom, and it has this funky in room bathtub.

Anyways, to briefly recap yesterday, before I sink in to Marrakech. We were off to a late start yesterday, exacerbated by the fact that we still had to see the Dades Gorge from the day before. Being late, and the potential of having cut things from our itinerary put me in a funky mood all day. We ended up hitting all the main points on our itinerary though arrived in Marrakech last night past dark. Which all kind of feeds in to why I didn't wrote up any if this yesterday. I usually write while on the road, the suv has an iPod connection, so I was providing our music for the day.

So, we first saw Dades gorge, which is stunning - not as high as the first forge we saw, but there's a twisting turning road coming up it which photographs gorgeously. Which as some of you know is super important to me.

Getting back on our route was a bit tedious. Turns out that it was 10 days after the Muslim new year and everyone is on the streets walking to visit their families, which makes it difficult on skinny winding roads. Yesterday, we also saw a town known for it's roses, where they have a rose festival in the spring, the city of Ourzazate where a lot of movies here in Morocco get made. Ooo, and I looked up prince of Persia shooting locations and they shot both in Ourzazate, the nearby unesco world heritage site of Ait Ben haddou which we saw from a mountain top, and at the dunes of Erg Chebbi where we spent the previous night.

We spent some time going off road, both to see some kasbahs and also to cut time off of our drive to Marrakech. We drove through the high atlas mountains, which are gorgeous because they have so many different colours. Some are reddish, some yellow, green, or even purplish. We also stopped at a co-op where women from nearby villages make artisinal argan oil. I picked up a bottle to use - apparently it's the main ingredient in Moroccanoil, so it should be good for my hair.

Anyways our tour guide should be here soon so I should finish up my breakfast. Marrakech, being a big city apparently has more of a problem with pickpockets and petty crime, especially compared to the desert and mountains which are super safe, so I'll probably leave the recapping till tonight.

10 days after Muslim new year.

Day 6 - Quiet morning in Dades Valley

After our rather full morning yesterday, most of the rest of the day was spent driving with occasional panoramic stops. The higlight if which was Toudra Valley and Gorge. The valley is essentially a picturesque oasis nestled between mountains, which eventually feed in to the gorge. Its beautiful, but the roads were treacherous - sometimes barely more than a single pitted lane up and down mountains. I'm really glad that we have an expert driver and a suv. We were originally meant to visit Dades Gorge aswell, but by the time we got to the area it was already getting dark so we went straight to our hotel and will visit the gorge first thing tomorrow.
Driving to our hotel from the main road made me glad again about having an suv - we actually had to cross a rocky stream to get here, though apparently there's a long route from another direction that normal cars can take. The hotel, la perle du Dades, is a stunning property. We have it all to ourselves at the moment - sadly the gorgeous pool I mentioned earlier is not heated and its too cold here at night ti consider swimming. Theres a library though, in addition to various other acrivities including pingpong, though we mainly repacked our bags and went through our suitcases and then headed off to bed early to catch up on our sleep. With the desert camping and early wakeup it was a long day. Oh, except or using the inroom sound system. Theres an interesting selection of CDs - mom is listening to Cat Stevens.
Our room is massive with Barbara sleeping in a separate loft, and with two bathrooms. I don't know if rooms in Morocco are always this nice, or we've been upgraded because it's the off season. Anyways, we're heading to breakfast now in the hotel dinning room, which is bound to he delicious if it's anything like dinner yesterday will be fantastic. There was a yummy quiche, then veggies and steak, and then dessert was melon balls - which sound plain, but were in this yummy honey sauce, apparently scented with rose water that this region is known for. Seeing roses are one of the many stops on the itinerary today, as we wander towards Marrakech. Hopefully our hotel has wifi, as we'll be there for three nights, after which we leave Morocco for our two nights in Paris enroute to Toronto.

Day 6 - on the road to Dades Gorge, and Sahara recap.

Now that I've been sitting for awhile, I'm totally feeling the soreness from camel riding and sleeping in a ten - Its particularly noticeable when I have to climbing in and out of our suv.

The tent wasn't that bad comfort wise, but it got really nippy late at night. Sleeping, and earlier on, wandering around and sitting by the fire, I was really glad for my purple cloak. Who knew it would wind up being a practical purchase? The berber guides really liked it - apparently nomads use cloaks like mine, and I was even asked where I bought it.

I particularly liked my cloak when we were outside watching for shooting stars. The biggest one we saw was during the campfire portion of the evening, where we also tried out drumming on tam-tams.we stayed up or awhile waiting for one just as big, before giving in and going to bed. There were lots of little ones though. Given how unlikely sleep was going to be, I considered watching the Prince of Persia on my iPod touch, but decided it would ruin the mood - the desert us so dark, quiet and still at night. Besides, I should probably save it for the plane. I kinda want to find out if it was filmed in that part of the desert - the guide mentioned that most recently, the Erg Chebbi dunes were featured in the second Sex and the City movie.

There were something like 12 people in various tents around the site, all either staying in the same hotel, or as in our case going there for the first time in the morning for showers and breakfast. The Berber guides speak decent English and French in addition to Arabic and their own Berber dialect. But they speak bits and pieces of several other languages, all learned from meeting tourists. We taught some of them a little bit of Portuguese.

Anyways, as I mentioned before we left our tent while it was still dark, leaving the camp for the camel parking lot. Riding the camel was much easier this time around, helped a bit I think by the fact that as the sky lightened there was much much more to see. About partway through, we got off our camels to climb a sand dune and properly watch the sunrise over the desert. Climbing dunes is surprisingly hard. I'm glad I had the tough little camera that already survived snorkelling and falling down waterfalls, since sand got everywhere. Esoecially in my shoes - I have a little baggy of saharan sand I shook out of them that's coming home with me. The shockproffness also came in handy when I dropped the camera off the back of the camel.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the region we were in is also known for it's fossils. We stopped by a workshop yesterday - apparently the nearby mountains mark the edge of an ancient sea. I think the same mountain range as the Ziz valley we drove past yesterday. I don't know if I mentioned that yesterday - it's really beautiful. You're driving through mountains and plateaus and it looks like there's nothing but rocks. Until you step to the edge if a canyon and see a valley completely filled with palm trees.

At the moment we are heading to see some the Dades gorge, which is near where well be staying tonight, as well as some other gorge whose name I forget, also part of the same mountain range - or connected to it anyways. We stopped to visit a village inhabited by people from further south in Africa, who has originally been brought to Morocco as slaves, where we saw a performance if traditional Berber music, and also to pick up some Berber handicrafts - mainly from the Touareg people, known for wearing all blue. Among other things, I picked up a scarf dyed with natural indigo.

I think we have a late lunch coming up soon. We shop super slow (atleast mom and I do, exacerbated by the slower pace here, and the bargaining process which always involves overly sweetened tea, sometimes with fresh mint leaves), so I think we might be running late. Hopefully nothing ends up cut from our itinerary.

I really hope our hotel tonight has a spa. The soreness is really starting to settle in. No idea what I did to my arms - maybe the stiff armed jolting when the camels go up and down? Not sure if I understood the instructions there correctly, but I did well enough since I didn't fall off. Ooo, or if there's arleast a hot tub, in addition to the pool I know they have. Which better not be closed - like when I visited Vegas last year and all the pools were closed since it was 'winter' and 16 degrees outside. The car tells me that it's currently 19 right now, which is a perfectly acceptable temperature to go swimming.

Day 5-6 : Sahara!!!!!!!!

Mini post from our Berber tent in the middle of the Sahara!!! Well, probably more like on the edges of it. But I had to sit on a camel for almost 2 hours to get here. I was going to update from the camels back, but decided against it as my I'm not that steady on it, and it was kinda dark. The sunset on our trek here, and though the moon is bright, I figure falling off when I still have to ride the camel for two hours tomorrow would be a bad idea. Anyways, time for dinner. Will write more tomorrow. Early start to see sunrise over the dunes.

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At a comfy hotel at the edge of the dessert where we go to shower and have breakfast after our night in the desert.

Honestly, last night was amazing. The ride was a totally bumpy, and given thy the last time I rode an animal in a foreign country i fell off, I wast very optimistic. My camels name was Asgouin - it means "its nice" and h really was. Going down sand dunes was a bit hard, but for the most part he was nice and steady. By the time we got to camp it was dark, and it was also dark when we left the camp at 6am so I never got a clear view of the camp. There was a nice dinner in this restaurant like tent, and then live Berber music by the camp fire. But the best part was the stars. Being in the middle of nowhere I expected to have an awesome view of the sky but didn't realize there would be shooting stars. B and I stayed up a little before going to be in our tents lying outside watching for them before going to bed. The desert was surprisingly cold.

Anyway just finishing up breakfast and will post more later.

Day 5 - impressions of Fes.

Fes has been the highlight of the trip so far - largely because Fes, and especially the Medina is sort of what you have in your head when you think of Morocco. The medina is a fascinating place - from the ground, it's a twisting and turning mass of alleyways surrounded by high sand colored buildings. And stairs -lots of stairs and ramps and uneven ground that's somewhere in between. It can look run down and some walls are certainly crumbling, and the whole thing is like something out of the past.

There are no cars (none would fit) so people still use donkeys to carry loads around - people are forever calling out to get everyone to squeeze to the sides of the path so their donkey can pass. But everyonce in awhile, you make a turn and come accross a market place, or a beautiful mosque. And it's an entirely different world once you go in to a building - like our riad, most have central rooms that are something like three stories tall, which help keep buildings cool in the summer. The buildings are stunning, covered in mosaics and with carved and painted woodwork. Both our riad, and also the carpet merchant we visited have awesome rooftop views of the city, though you do have to go up and down a lot of narrow staircases. The medina isn't a very accessible place and would be problematic for someone who was claustrophobic. Fitness wise, if I made it most everyone can.

Though I do have a separate store of energy for shopping which might have helped me along. Like I think I mentioned in my second post, we spent the morning touring cultural sights and learning about life in the Medina, but the afternoon shopping. We visited a tannery, where they dye leather naturally in those natural earthenware vats - it smells like lye and possibly pidgeon poo, both of which are apparently used in the processing of leather. B got a custom leather jacket, and I got a nice bag (though it's still a little smelly so it's in the trunk) and some funky slippers.

We also passed by different stands and shops, including the one where I bought my cape,and also cool blankets made if agave silk, but my favourite might have been the carpet merchant. Besides getting us access to an awesome rooftop view, you also lounge in a cool room while shopping, drinking mint tea whole they unroll carpet after carpet for you to see. Then you yeah or neah them, and they bring more of the ones you like. A lot if them are too ornate for my tastes, though they were all stunning. I personally prefer the Berber style ones over the more traditional Fes style - the one I got is little, but has a soft purple in some of the patterning that I really liked.

Anyways, for dinner we went to the new city and had pizza. We've been enjoying the traditional food, but besides being a bit pricy (partly because it always comes in three courses - plates of appetizers, a tajine pastille or couscous, followed by fruit and pastries) it also gets a little repetitive. We also got to see some of the sites there, like the fountains on re main promenade and the kings palace, though it was admittedly dark. We also for a chance to get more cash as we were running a bit low.

Right now, were driving through the mountains. It's genuinely chilly here, partly because of the elevation, and partly because it's so early. It's about 8:30 now, but we left the riad at 7, to give use enough time to see all our sights for the day, but still make it to the sahara for sunset. We got to see sunrise from a mountain top just beyond the medina which was gorgeous. The terrain has shifted from farmland and apple trees to more rocky ground, and apparently soon well enter Berber country, and start seeing palm trees again. Oooo, and apparently a monkey forest. Right now we're in Swiss Maroc, in the city of Ifrane. There's frost on the ground here, which is kind of trippy. Also apparently skiing near by.

Day 5 - on the road to the dessert

It's incredible how much the terrain has changed since this morning. It's hard to believe that just a few hours ago, I broke out my purple cape and saw frost on the ground. We passed through the middle Atlas mountains, and have now hit the desert. We passed some rivers and a dam with some palmtrees and such nearby bit it's pretty much sand and scrub - they use adobe like construction, and are fond of highlighting the pinky colour of the buildings with sage green doors, so the effect is a little bit santa fe.

Day 4: Quickie Fes post

No down time at all today, but thought I'd write a quick update while I still have internet. I managed to put up all the posts I had prepped while internetless earlier today, but it's going to be another long stretch before I get to go online since we're spending tomorrow night in the dessert. I'm excited about the sahara and sleeping under the stars. Riding on a camel for 2 hours there, and then 2 hours back the next morning - not so much.

We spent the day wandering the Fes Medina. We were also supposed to tour the new parts of the city too, but didn't really make it there before dark - sunset is super early, since its winter, but I definetly wouldnt want to be here in the summer. The weather right now is pleasant by Canadian standards at 20 degrees today, and its nice being here in the off season. Anyways, the Medina has something like 60 km of alleys and turns all smooshed up into a valley between the surrounding mountains. We spent the morning looking at cultural sites in the Medina, including the oldest university inthe world from the 9th century, and then the afternoon shopping - both at stands, but also by visiting different manufacturers. I'm now the proud owner of a moroccan rug. Ooo, not to mention a purple cape. Not sure where I'll use it, but its kind of fabulous.

Anyways, we have a ridiculously early start tomorrow, and I really should finish getting ready.  I really am totally concerned about the camel thing tomorrow. Me and animals don't really mix.

Day 3 - night time in Fes

Hanging out in our riad - a traditional Moroccan guest house - here in Fes. It's absolutely gorgeous. I want to take home everything from the lamps to the silk bed covers and curtains, to installing a fountain like the one in the courtyard here. Hopefully they have stuff this nice when we explore the shops in the Medina tomorrow.

We're in two rooms connected by a washroom, both with their own sitting areas. In mom's room the sitting area is in a loft space. The only negative about this place is all the stairs massively high ceilings means lots of steps - and they kind feel like the steps might be higher than normal, though its possible I'm just tired. I'm just glad our bags are taken up for us. Oh, as a related thing - cars aren't allowed in the Medina, so you have to walk in to your hotel, down steps and twisting paths. Some person with a cart took our luggage for us.

We arrived here in Fes a few hours ago, after visiting Meknes and Volubilis, but it was already late - we chilled for awhile on the rooftop patio, enjoying traditional Moroccan tea, with a view of the Medina below. At one point all the mosques around started playing the final call to prayer which was kind of chaotic at it's peak - they all started at different times, and varied greatly in terms of both volume and quality of sound. Dinner was also here at the riad. Delicious, with everything super fresh.

To briefly recap the rest of the day, in Meknes we had lunch within the old city - built by Moulais Idriss I think? Anyways, he was a king obsessed with security - the city has 4 layers of walls - and also his horses. Apparently he had something like 1200 of them. Theres even this gigantic pond which was apparently originally a horse swimming pool. The ruins at Volubilis were nice - the site was decently preserved, though the infrastructure could have been improved. No map of the place, and the signage was lacking. Besides the big attention getting gates and columns, there's also some nice mosaic work scattered about.

And now I'm off to prepare for tomorrow. Between our gorgeous accommodations, and the promise if fantastic shopping in a beautiful city, I really think I'm going to like Fes.

Day 3 - breakfast in Rabat, and on the road to Meknes.

Having breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Super pretty here with an indoor courtyard and modern furniture. And finally, I can see the little stage where the live music was coming from last night. Made it hard to fall asleep, but atleast the beds were comfy. Judging from the noise, the hotel La Pietri is a happening place on Saturday night. The music sounded good.

Anyways, last night when we arrived in Rabat, we first had lunch where we got our first taste of traditional Moroccan cuisine. Well, atleast mom did when she ordered a tajine - B and I stuck to grilled chicken. Then we visited ruins in Chellah - looked a lot like ruins in Rome, which make sense because some of the ruins date back to the same period. The guide book tells me that some if the others are from the Merinide period in the 14th period. Re walking was a bit treacherous, but mainly because we kept chasing cool action shots. Also, the whole site is on an incline, so while getting to the picturesque bits was pleasant, getting back to the car was a bit of a pain.

After that we headed on towards Hassan tower, which was built by one of the old kings, but never finished. It's in the same complex as the mausoleum of the current kings father - I think both of them were called Hassan, but might be getting them confused. The view from the complex is really nice, but mainly shows off how the whole of Morocco is under construction. The current king is apparently very progressive and has been making lots of improvements to the infrastructure of the country. Oh, the other cool bit about the complex is the fact that the horses at the gates sit on horseback. Ridiculously well-behaved horses who tolerate all sorts of tourists taking pictures.

Another royal type thing we did was visit the kings palace. It's a massive compound with nice gardens, but also houses for other ministers - it's a modern space, essentially being a house where the king sometimes lives rather than a classic palace as you'd think of them in Europe. Apparently the king has palaces all over Morocco and moves around a lot, though I suppose Rabat being the capital this was the main one.

Then we headed back to the downtown area to checkin to our hotel. Initially, we were meant to be in one room with an extra bed brought in. The room was decently sized but especially after our bags were in there wasn't space for an extra bed, so we ended up getting a second room for mom. Anyways, after settling in, we went off to find bandaids for mom. The pharmacy next door had already closed for the day, so we ended up just wandering.

We stopped for an espresso and had fun selecting some pastries to try. The coffee here is very good, but very strong. After that little break, we ended up wandering some more, ending up near the train station, which was really lively. Still no pharmacies though.

When we got back to our hotel, we initially just meant to have a quick break to check email (no wifi - just the one cable to split) before heading off to dinner. But then we turned on the tv, and Love Actually was playing. And in English! I ended up sitting through most of the movie, before leaving when there was finally a commercial. We ordered pizza from a place bear the hotel, and then I went back to the room to continue the movie while mom and B waited for it. There was a bit of a delay restarting the movie, since the tv in moms room didn't seem to have the channel - or at the very least didn't have them in the same order. Anyways, it all worked out. We had a nice night having yummy pizza (thin crust with plenty of cheese) while finishing the movie.

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Right now we're on the road to Meknes. Right now we're passing through farmland and fields, but a little while back we passed cork forest - the bark gets stripped every 6 months, so the bottoms of all the trees are bare. There are people picnicking bellow the trees, and also animals grazing. Oh, and men by the side of the road selling what are apparently giant acorns that people eat here.

This morning before leaving Rabat, we headed to the kasbah de Oudaias, the oldest part if the city. We wandered re little alleyways a bit - ended up picking up a guide, which we didn't really need, but was helpful for picture taking purposes. There's a nice view of the ocean, and of the beach on Sale, the city across the river from Rabat. The weather is cloudy today, which I don't mind as I forgot my sunglasses at home. We should be in Meknes soonish, and then I think also visit Volubilis before ending up in Fes for the night, were apparently we'll be staying in a traditional riad.

Oh, and interesting tidbit about our driver - apparently he drove the King of Sweden 2 years back when he visited Morocco.

Day 2: Casablanca, and onwards to Rabat.

Sitting in traffic at the moment. Kinda crazy even though it's Saturday - apparently most of Casablanca goes on a 6 day workweek with just Sundays off.

Anyways, just finished a morning of sightseeing here in Casablanca. Our driver met at 8am in our hotel (Villa Blanca) where we ended up having a chill breakfast in one if the hotel restaurant). Very carb heavy (I tried three different crepe like dishes) but delicious. Our driver is nice and has good English, and it's kinda nice jetting around with an expert in a new 4x4, instead of futzing around on our own.

Sightseeing wise there isn't a lot in Casablanca, as it's mainly a business centre for Morocco. We started off by visiting the Hassan II mosque, which was gorgeous and also gigantic - apparently among the biggest in the world, with the tallest minaret. We ended up hijacking a tour from a cruise ship, which was fun, though given that most of the group was elderly it was kind of slow. The building is a relatively new construction, and is a really interesting mix of traditional artwork and modern conveniences, like heated marble floors, and a retractable roof. The heated floors are particularly important - the marble floors are cold enough to walk around on barefoot - I can't imagine having to pray on them for extended periods of time.

After our leisurely tour of the mosque, we went back to La Corniche, the waterfront area where our hotel was to wander on the boardwalk for awhile, stopping at another super posh mcdonalds for some ice-cream. Honestly, It was nicer than lots of clubs I've been to. And super clean.

Then we drove around the downtown area, passing through some of the nice neighborhoods, and stopping at Mohammed V square - kinda blah. There's a fountain, and the supreme court building is gorgeous, but mainly there's lots of pidgeons.

On our way our of the city we passed by Rick's cafe, named after the movie. As we've pretty much seen all that needs to be seen in Casablanca, we are considering extending our time in Marrakesh at the recommendation of our driver , instead of getting back here a day early in advance of our flight to Paris.

Anyways, traffic has cleared up now that were on the highway - hopefully we get to Rabat soon, as I'm getting kinda hungry. We need to pick up some snacks.

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Sent from my iPod

Day 1 - Casablanca!!!

K. For some reason the wifi at our hotel works on my iPod touch but not on my laptop, so the lovely well written post I had prepared for you can't get posted. Well, in theory I could wait to post it - but I hate to wate the wifi opportunity. Though I'm also starting to get sleepy, so you're all going to get a condensed version of the days events.

- arrived here an hour late - luggage carousel not working at first so helped move luggage manually. Later had to walk around on it when the carousel suddenly started again which was kind of fun.
- driver not waiting for us when we finally got outside - some kind of scheduling snafu, with a typo on our start date on a copy of the itinerary that no one realized was there till today. We've been put up in a nice hotel here in Casablanca for the night before starting our original itinerary tomorrow. Kinda nice getting a day to chilled in fluffy robes.
- driving is crazy here. More on that likely to come throughout the trip.
- had dinner at a super fancy McDonalds on the waterfront. Huge patios, waterfront views, and some people were kind of dressed up.
- speaking French here super important. Unless you happen to speak Arabic. Some people speak English, but it's never any good.

Anyways, really starting to get tired - were coming up on something like 36 hours awake since I can't sleep on planes. Early start tomorrow, so I'll end this here. Hopefully the trend towards (atleast partially functioning) wifi in our hotels continues.

Day 1 - transition through CDG

Our flight was super delayed coming in to Paris. And because of some sort of computer glitch we all had middle seats - not fun on a seven hour flight. Things are looking up here in Paris though. My mom and sister went off to get coffee while I waited at the gate with our bags and game back with macarons for me. Yum. No free wifi here in CDG - hopefully I get a chance to post from Morocco. And interestingly, the info screens at the gate are hyper detailed. Info about our plane, our destination, the time difference.... Pretty much everything except the actual time. Which would be particularly helpful as our flight is delayed.

Day 0 - start of my Morocco adventure :)

Hey all.

It's been ages since I last posted something. Realized now that I never ended up finishing my posts from Halifax - which are unlikely to happen now that I'm on my next trip. This ones going to be big - I'll only be gone for 12 days, but our schedule is jam-packed. Not to mention the fact that I'll be travelling with my mother and sister....

At the airport now waiting to board my flight to Casablanca, with a brief stopover in Paris. Lots of little minor dramas enroute. A last minute paper to turn in, forgotten sunglasse to mourn, not to mention the fact that my mothers moisturizer set off some sort of detector so her bags had to get searched :) ou plane is running a bit late, but we should be fine for a connection so it's all good.

Anyways, I hope to blog through this trip as usual, but I'm not sure what the Internet situation will be like. Worst comes to worst, I'll keep writing them throughout and you'll get them all at once when we hit Paris on our way home.

Hope to write more soon!

Halifax Day 2: on my way to a wedding.

Running a bit late at the moment. Stayed in my hotel room all morning getting some work done. Didn't even leave for breakfast - just had the snacks I bough last night for tv watching (chips and chocolate - delicious but nutritionally lacking) paired with the in room coffee. Which actually turned out ok, but had to be taken black, as I don't trust 'whiteners'.

Anyways am now on the ferry heading to Halifax. I breezes through the Dartmouth farmers market on y way to the boat, and should have just enough time to see the Halifax farmers market (apparently the longest running farmers market in the world) before heading to Amy's wedding. Hopefully grabbing a nutritious bite to eat for lunch on my way.

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Turns out that there are two farmers markets here on the Halifax side. I went to the one on the historic site, which was once the only market. But now, there's a newly costructed market venue, which was what I was originally aiming for but never made it to. Did manage to have a yummy lunch anyways. Little bits of Korean food, Indian food and then a plum crepe.

At the end of it, wound up taking a taxi to the chapel. It was a relatively small chapel, but old and really quite beautiful. The ceremony itself was lovely, and Amy looked amazing, so tall and chic.

At the moment, Im just wandering around the city waiting for the reception. I walked down from Dalhousie with a friend towards downtown, stopping for Starbucks along the way (no mugs :( ), then split up and headed off to shop solo. Did a bit of shopping, then wandered up towards the citadel. Which I promptly left, because of all the bugs trying to land in my latte. Now I find myself back at the waterfront, where I hung out yesterday. The weather is much nicer put today, so there's lots more people wandering around. Also more musicians, which adds to the ambiance.

Anyways, need to start making my way towards the reception venue at pier 21. More later :)

Halifax Day 1: wifi at the harbourfront! Kind of....

There indeed is wifi at the harbourfront. Unfortunately, it doesnt extend to where I am now, so this will likely get posted from my hotel room. Maybe with pictures?

Anyways, I started trying to compose a blogpost while having a super later lunch at the harbourfront. Picked up a grilled chicken sandwich and yummy freshcut fries at a little booth by the water. But birds kept ominously approaching me, so I ate quickly and then headed to inside the visitors centre. Apparently, there's a free visitors shuttle that goes around the downtown that I'm now waiting for. It takes you past the key tourist attractions. At the moment I'm standing in front of the maritime museum. I wandered past some of their outdoor exhibits while trying to evade the birds. I think the kites (massive eagle type birds) at one of the temples in Japan that Helen and I visited have made me paranoid. Some of the seagulls do look kinda big, but there aren't massive warnings about birds diving out of the sky and taking your food. I possibly over reacted.

Anyways, checked into my hotel without a problem. I'm staying at the Halifax Harbourfront, over on the Dartmouth side, because I got a good deal off of hotwire. It's a nice property by the Mackenzie bridge, so it's convenient to both ferry and bus connections to the Halifax side of the harbour. I took the ferry over, for the tourist value, but apparently the bus is much faster, and would have the advantage of getting me right across the street from my hotel. The ferry terminal is maybe a 10 minute walk from the hotel? I might head there tomorrow morning for the farmer's market, but think I'll take the bus on any subsequent trips across the harbour. Though here on the Halifax side, the ferry does let you off right by Theodore Tugboat which was kinda cool.

Don't think I'll make it out to Peggy's Cove or Lunenberg on this trip. I was considering a daytrip for Sunday, but apparently it being Sunday there aren't many tours running. The ladies at the tour office made some nice suggestions though, so I think I have a full weekend ahead of me. Today wandering a bit downtown, tomorrow the wedding, and other bits if downtown, and then Sunday, possibly Fishermans cove.

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Clearly I missed the bus I was waiting for. Wandering back towards the wifi to post, before returning to the bus stop. Also, must remember to change the time on my watch - totally forgot that they're one hour ahead here.

Halifax Day 1: on the plane.

Not sure what happened to my original post this morning. Composing these babies from my iPod touch, and it's not in my drafts, or outbox, though it didn't seem to have made it to my blog when I checked before boarding.

Currently heading for a stopover in Ottawa, before the plane continues to my final destination in Halifax. While I'm totally used to flying, it's been ages since I've been in a plane this small - don't remember the last time I was on a plane where you could see the propellers. It's super loud, and kinda narrow - I'm really glad I went with checking my carryon. Which actually worked out fabulously, as I kinda spaces out on the entire liquids as carryon thing - it would have sucked to lose all my hair stuff.

Totally enjoying my first time flying with porter. At the moment, enjoying the complimentary meal service - cranberry muffin, and organic yogurt. The yogurt is higher fat than I'm used to, but the apple blackberry flavor is yummy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The good times started earlier though. After I made my way to union station, I caught a porter shuttle (pickup outside west doors of the Royal York), and then the porter ferry (fantastic view - pity the sun wasn't up yet. Though I did catch sunrise on the plane, over the island and the city which was spectacular) to end up at the airport. Where the fabulosity of porter continued - traveling with lounge access is always fun. I bypassed the comfy seats straight for a little table right by the espresso machine. Managed to down two lattes, cookies and orange juice before boarding my flight.

Though it's just past 8 as I'm writing this, I've been up for ages already - not quite sure what I was thinking booking such an early departure. Amy's wedding - the reason I'm traveling to Halifax for the weekend - isn't until tomorrow afternoon. Though I suppose maximizing my time in Halifax would be good? Hopefully the weather (not to mention the work I brought with me - September is always super busy) allows some time for sightseeing before I head home on Sunday. I've been to Halifax before but it's been a few years.
I missed traveling - and blogging for that matter. My hotel has complimentary wifi (main reason I chose it - to feed my own need to stay connected, but also because of all the work I have to do. So expect sporadic posts throughout the weekend.

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Just landed. Free wifi in the Halifax airport which is fab :) now onwards to find my luggage. my ebook lasted the entire flight which was fab.

Day 46 - Final flight.

Good news!That 'request' thing that the lady at the desk put through for me worked out.

I had left the gate area to walk around a bit after eating the yummy cupcake my cousin sent with me - a pain to transport as it involved a plastic container and toothpicks stabbed into the cupcake to stabilize it so as not to waste the yummy icing - but worth it. It kind of tasted like brigadeiro, one of my fave things from Brazil, and also one of my specialties to make. I also got myself a proper frappucino from Starbucks, because I was feeling a but down and needed a pick me up. Hong Kong style milk tea flavour. Yummy. Not available in skim milk (I think that fully customizable thing was mainly in Canada and the US - though partly it might just be that Asia seems to love super high fat contents in their dairy. Honestly, sometimes I forget to specify an it's honestly practically cream) but she did reduce the sugar.

So anyways, was heading back, talking to my brother on the phone (so much HK credit to use up) when I saw that there were finally staff at the gate. I went up to plead my case, and it was already done - she just printed my new boarding pass.

So now I'm sitting pretty. Yummy drink. Comfy chair. And the promise of potentially at least resting on my flight. It's going to be Friday morning for me for the next fourteen hours. We leave at almost 3am, and then land in TO at just past 5. That's a lot of movies.

This might be my last post for awhile, unless something spectacular happens on this final leg of my trip. It's been awesome blogging throughout this trip, and it is especially nice when I hear that someone is following along. It really helps avert feeling isolated while traveling alone.

I do plan on doing some posts recapping, and offering travel advice - not to mention tagging posts and correcting some of the more annoying mistakes I've made - but that might have to wait awhile. In the interim if anyone reading this is planning a trip and has questions feel free to post them, or just ask me. I'm good for general Europe and South America advice too, in addition to the places I visited on this trip. As the blog is called Joana Abroad, I'll also pop in with posts when I take other trips. I have a few in the pipelines I'm excited about. Next up will be Halifax for a wedding, unless I visit my sister in Calgary first.

With starting my PhD (the classes anyways as on papers, I started before I left for this trip), along with other obligations (like earning money. I'm kind if scared to get my next bill) it's due to be a busy fall.

Day 45 - Homeward bound - stopover in Hong Kong.

Starting this post from the plane. We're in the air now, but I managed to use up almost all my Filipino cellphone credits before taking off which was good. Madly sent of texts to everyone I knew on Manila - which isn't that many people, atleast in terms if the number of cellphone numbers I have, so I ended up sending some people multiple departure texts.

The fight is too short to watch movies, so I'm doing tv shows - all on cathays in demand system which is nice. Watching the premiere episode of Murder She Wrote, which should get me all the way to HK. Was previously watching the outside camera, which was working and available for the first time in ages. I really love it, especially during take off - at first it's kind of slow, just watching the plane taxi. But then you're in position, all lined up and the plane pauses before finally starting to speed down the runway. The underside of a plane is super shiny, so all the lights on the runway are reflected on the top of the screen (the camera is somewhere under the plane being the wheel). It wind up looking like you're zooming off into a tunnel of flashing lights, like something out of star trek. Or am I thinking star gate?

Then the plane takes off and I see he lights of Manila shunning super brightly - for awhile were close enough that you can kind of see traffic flowing about, but then it becomes a web of light. The screen gets all foggy when you finally hit the clouds, though periodically it clears up enough - it's super dark, and unfortunately the resolution isn't high enough to see stars. Though I think the planes lights are too bright to see any. Sometimes though, when we were closer to shore, you'd be able to catch flashes of city lights and what must be the roads connecting them. Nothing as bright as Manila, but still kind of fun to watch.

Only annoyance at the moment is that I'm booked on a centre seat for my Toronto flight, which will not work for me. No way am I spending 14 hours sandwiched between two people. I'm told it can be fixed at the transfer desk in HK, which better be true.

Anyways, off to watch some tv and enjoy the meal service - tuna and cheese sandwhich, which sounds weird but atleast smells delicious.

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Was all set to write about how the cloudy skies in HK look great on the camera feed, as when we fly through one the planes lights make everything glow, but am currently in a bad mood.

My flight is fully booked - while a 'request' was put in the system to get me my requested aisle seat, it's probably not going to happen. So the only way out would be to upgrade my ticket which would be pricy. May possibly try to complain some more, if only to vent, but not sure if I'm up for it. Am currently sitting by the transfer desks, which isn't as comfy as the departure lounge proper. May just hunker down somewhere comfy and rest up in anticipation of a loooong flight.

Hopefully the restaurants are still open and I can get something to drink.

Day 45 - Homeward Bound - Manila Airport.

Turns out that while the airport here in Manila doesn't have free wifi, it does have free internet stations. Which is nice - and also allowed me to get the message from Cathay that my flight will be delayed by 30 minutes. Its not a big deal, as I was due for like a 3 hour layover in HK anyways. The plane I'm going to be taking has just landed, so its not like the last delay where it ended up ballooning to three hours - though that did land me food voucher which was good.

Not that there would be anywhere to spend the voucher here - the facilities in the departure lounge are seriously lacking. I'm having a 'froccino' from the coffee place, which is one of the better options available - and there looks like theres a decent bar, but not really anywhere for a proper meal. Luckily we ate before we got here (actually my only visit to Jollibees of the trip - with a side of corn muffins from kenny rogers) and I'm loaded up with food in my carryon. Which I was made to repack as it was overweight by 3kg. It wasn't a huge deal, as my checked bags were underweight. Atleast it wasn't a big deal once I managed to find the keys to my suitcase. We were about to break out the wirecutters :)

The airport here has more checkpoints than usual, and only passengers are allowed in the terminal building so I was left at the gate. Also be warned that there's an airport tax you need to pay on your way out. Right now its 750php, or 16.75 USD. I paid in US, but ended up getting change in pesos which I have to try to use up before I board my flight. The delay gives me a bit longer to shop. I'm leaning towards a keychain.

And I've been informed that there is indeed free wifi - or atleast sponsored, so hopefully its still around next time I visit here - but Ive gotten comfy at my station, and dont feel like digging through my bag for my ipod so I'll stay put.

The last day or so here in Manila was pretty good. Went out with some of my cousins for dinner last night - we went to the Ayala Tech hub, a little courtyard area with a bunch of shops and restaurants right near the house, in the same development as a whole bunch of call centers and other huge office buildings - one of my cousin apparently works at an IBM office right beside where we ate. We ate at the Crepe Breton, which was nice and chill. Good cafe au lait, and I had a super yummy crepe called the Tarzan - fried bananas and condensed milk. I barely missed the fact that there weren't any strawberry options as they weren't 'in season'. So good - I wish they had it back home, though I could do without all the tempting mango options.

Also had a spa day at the salon this morning with some of the aunts and my grandmother which was nice. Had a chill time having a mani pedi, and getting a haircut and blowout. Its so cheap here, I would do it daily, if traffic didnt make getting everywhere a huge pain. Though maybe with the home service option it would be feasible?  Spent all my other time packing which was a pain. My stuff all fit, but only because I left so much of my things from back home behind.

Anyways I think I need to head to the boarding area. Nothing has come up about my flight officially, so Im a wee bit concerned. Nobody has paged me which is presumably a good sign?

Will post again from HKIA.

Day 44 - Breakfast news.

Just finished having breakfast. Will be heading out soonish I think, but thought I'd write a little bit - don't think Ill luck out into encountering wifi today like yesterday. Apparently some of the malls Ive been in have had wifi, but Ive been having issues connecting, and also rarely stay still enough to take advantage.

I think I mentioned before how I like it here in Manila, because everything seems so familiar. This is in part because they keep everything. I talk about my trip here when I was in Grade 6, but really, the first time I came to the Philippines was when I was something like 6 months old. Apparently, there's a baby blanket my mom embroidered that's still kicking around here, along with a little dress. They've since been used by my younger female cousins, which I think is kind of cool. Though I totally want it back. Maybe to have framed?

And there's even older stuff. They gave me a towel in my room that was apparently last used by my father when he was last here. Which would have been before I was born when he married my mom. It boggles the mind. There's also a little souvenir that he gave my mom before they were married, and I've heard rumours that there are old love letters between my parents around somewhere.

On an unrelated front, to those of you who I've complained to about this, it turns out that my ankles indeed weren't always that fat. I mentioned it to my grandmother, who gave me a cream for swelling which worked like a charm - the reigning theory was that it might have been a combination of causes, like all the plane travel, and the heat, and the walking, not to mention the falling down. One of the ankles has since swollen up a little, so I think I might have sprained it a little when I fell a few days ago - not enough to really notice, but with all the walking I think it might not be healing completely. I think it's getting better now though.

Plans for the day are shopping. And eating. Maybe some sightseeing thrown in there, time permitting.

Not to mention packing. I had bought a bigger suitcase a few days ago, but I'm thinking it might not be enough. Things are cheap here, so I've been going all out. Yesterday one of the stops we made at the mall of Asia was this store called Kultura - all Filipino souvenirs. It's where I bought my brother's barong tagalog among other things (jewelry, snacks, house stuff.... and this was me being restrained). They kinda encapsulate Filipino culture, like those places I went to in Beijing - partway through shopping there, the employees broke out into this synchronised dance. The issue is that some of the things I've been buying are overly bulky - I really hope everything fits.

Worst comes to worst though, I leave some of my things behind. I know they'll be here when I get back :)

Day 43 - Dinner at the Mall of Asia

Having dinner at a Thai restaurant at the mall of Asia - one of the massive shopping malls here in Manila. Apparently the land I'm standing on was part of Manila Bay when I visited here when I was a child. It's since been reclaimed and developed which is kind of cool. We wandered down the new shore front for awhile before heading into the mall.

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Rushing this while I still have wifi. Leaving the mall - we parked by the bayside and it livens at at night with variou places having live music. Very cool.

Spent age buying a barong Tagalog - traditional Filipino shirt - for my brother. I can't tell them apart, but apparently its a nice one? Hope he wears it.

Day 43 - Post from Ayala Museum Cafe

Currently chilling at the Ayala Museum Cafe, waiting to get picked up by one of my aunts. With two of my other aunts at the moment. We were initially meant to all go together to the museum but traffic was crap so three of us were dripped off to go by train. The MRT was super cramped - like eat I'm told about Tokyo at rush hour but never quite experienced, due in part I'm sure to helens planning. Also, weird rule where I couldn't take pictures.

Same rule at the museum - even in the lobby which was weird. A guard made me delete a pick of the museum sign. Which particularly sucks as the gift shop was blah. Bought one mug my aunt said my mom would like, and was tempted by a shawl made of pina cloth that the aunts said Id be able to buy cheaper elaewhere. There was a really cool exhibit of boats that was completely unrepresented. Not even a postcard - I managed to sneak a quick pic of it from my purse that I hope turned out.

The museum itself was ok. Standouts were an exhibit of Filipino gold, from pre Spanish colonial times, a section where the history of he museum was displayed via dioramas, and then this really cool art display by victoria d'aboville. It was all sea creatures, polyps and jellyfish and such, made of materials like plastic cups and fishing nets, all lit with black light.

Plans for the rest of the day are shopping, though with views of Manila Bay which should be nice.

Day 42 - Chill day in Manila.

It doesn't really feel as though enough happened today to warrant a blog post, but at this point its really just a reflex to start one when I have access to the internet and some time to spare.

Back at the house after a day out. Dropped off one of the cousins at the university (and had some snacks - avocado shakes and carioca aka. rice balls on sticks). Then went to the mall with my aunts and another cousin (and had more snacks. cake was involved. notably bought a bigger suitcase to fit all of my things more comfortably. things seemed to have expanded since landing here, never mind the shopping I done. On the way home, we stopped by an orchid exhibit at a nearby garden centre (beautiful flowers - no food available). Finally arrived at the house. Where we had a snack, followed by dinner. As the snack was a buco tart, maybe that just counts as having dessert first? And last night, after my last post, we also went to a mall, where I had dinner with cousins I had stayed with in Singapore on my last trip to Asia.

It feels like I'm spending most of my time sitting, eating and shopping. Which normally, count among my favourite ways to spend my time - but are making me feel kind of lazy at the moment. I'm enjoying the slower pace, but it kinda feels like I'm undoing all the fitness benefits of having been so active for the past month and a half. I can almost feel myself losing the little tone I've gained as I sit here. I'll possibly do some crunches before bed.

Though the weird feeling I have is possibly just muscle soreness more closely related to the fact that I fell twice yesterday. Both times in my room here. The first time I blaimed not wearing slippers like Im supposed to in the house. And then the second time I blaimed the slippers I was wearing. Plan at the moment is just to walk super slow, holding on to the walls, just like my grandmother :)

Day 41 - lunch with the family.

Taking a quick break during a family lunch to update. Hanging out with a large group of my extended family is fun, with all the aunts, uncles and cousins I don't usually get to see, but it also takes awhile to get used to. Especially with all the tagalog being used.

Currently eating one of the buco (young coconut) tarts we bought yesterday in Tagaytay. Besides eating lunch with a view of the Taal volcano, we also visited the farm of my cousin's boyfriend's family (papaya. mango. pineapple and god knows how many other tropical fruits. farming in the tropics is so much more delicious sounding than back home), and the pink sisters convent. Where the nuns habits are pink, which is kind of fun.

Though the story of the day was really the horrendous traffic. We hit it getting to dinner at another of my aunt's places, and then again getting home, so we had a really late night.

Today so far, just church (followed by snacks and a spot of shopping - the church is on the campus of the University my mom went to, so I picked up some stuff from the gift shop) and then back here for lunch with the fam. I think there are dinner plans in the work, but we'll see. I still havent unpacked, but at this point it feels like there isnt much of a point...

Day 40 - Morning in Manila.

It seems Im always starting these posts in Manila as I'm about to rush off somewhere. Just had a yummy breakfast of fried bananas, pandesal, and what I think was fried spam. It was definetly some sort of canned meat. Surprisingly delicious. We're heading out soon to visit some family on our way to a day trip to Tagaytay, a city nearish to Manila best known for its volcano. Or atleast that's why I know it...

Anyways, have been having a great time in Manila. I find myself not taking nearly as many pictures as I normally do - I think it's because it's so familiar it feels kind of home like. I was here for 2 months when I was in Grade 6, and was last here 2 years ago. The biggest difference Ive noted so far was at the airport - I think it's been redone since I was last here. Though atleast getting picked up went really smoothly this time around - I think we were the only flight coming in, so it wasn't crowded like last time.

Another perk of arriving so late (I think it was past 1am when we finally left the airport) was no traffic. Which is ridiculously brutal here in Manila. You see three cars where there are two lanes, cars cutting accross lanes at an angle - going to the mall yesterday involved no only cutting accross a sidewalk, but also briefly going the wrong way in traffic. It's a good thing the family here uses a driver who's a pro at navigating the roads.

Yesterday was spent taking a nice shower using the yummy beauty products they had ready for me - honestly, showering before breakfast makes me hungry. Then a mani/pedi, with a fullon footspa which was fantastic. The lady who does it comes to the house, and in total it winds up costing like $5? If I had the time, I would do them every day. Hopefully I get the chance to do it again before I leave.

And then the rest of the day was filled with shopping at Greenhills. Which I think might be a series of attached shopping centres? Part of it is an asian style bazaar with lots of stalls, and some parts are a more traditional shopping mall. Mainly bought jewelry - the pearl products they have available here are fabulous. And such a bargain. We were there for hours, though it wasn't all because of shopping. Because of the wicked traffic here, cars with certain licence plates can't be on the road on certain days at certain times. The van we were usig had to be off the road yesterday from 3-7, so we kind of stalled a little.

Ended up heading home after stopping for dinner at Max's chicken place. Got in at a reasonable hour, so initially intended on unpacking properly. Which didn't really happen, but atleast I have a vague idea now of where my things are. Mainly spent the evening hanging out with my grandmother, which was nice as that's one of the main reasons I come to Manila.

Anyways, I think everyone is almost ready to go, so Ill end this now. Better than having them wait on me as I madly type a few more words.

Day 39 - shopping break at Starbucks.

Just a quickie post so everyone knows I arrived safely in Manila. Sitting at a starbucks after a day of shopping. Only other activity of the day was a mani/pedi. My family knows me so well. Also picked up a sim card to use while here, though they're huge fans of texting, which I'm laughably slow at without a qwerty keyboard.

Also enjoying the little basket of beauty products they had for me - all organic and fruit based. Particularly helpful as I left some of my toiletries in Japan.

Some of them make me kind of hungry. And the mango ones that I can't use are soooo tempting.

Anyways, heading off to dinner. More proper recap yet to come.

Day 38 - picture post from HKIA

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Edit:  I had written proper descriptions for these pictures, but apparently they didnt post. addingthese now from manila. This is Helen pondering the tokyo train system - and this crazy twisted map doesnt even include the subway lines.

Helen and I with the bronze buddha at Kamakura. who was a name, but i forget it. According to Helen like most relics, this supposedly washed ashore and ws found by fishermen. Also on display are his giant sandals.

Helen and I at Hakone Temple. or is it a shrine? Anyways, this is where she got married!!! So pretty up there, even with all the rain. And this is one of the many places in Japan where I bought temple charms I cant understand.

Continuing on with the post camping pics, this is an illicit picture of the onsen at the Prince Hotel in Hakone. Helen and I were the only ones there on our way out, so I snuck best into the baths to take a quick picture. Not a very good one unfortunately, as I was kind of nervous that a Japanese person would pop in and be angry. So many rules at onsens - but so worth it.

FInally, this is the three of us at the kaitenzushi place after camping. delicious, but definetly ate way too much. Though this pic is from before we really started eating - you can tell because there isnt a gigantic stack of plates in front of us. The sushi was fab, and surpringingly they also had a decent cheese cake for dessert.

Day 38 - to the skies for Manila.

On the plane heading to HK. We're leaving the gate on time, which is a nice change of pace. In my usual seat -33G. Aisle near the front of the plane. I know I requested aisle when I booked my ticket way back when, but the front of the plane thing is a pleasant surprise - walking through the plane is a pain. It's also nice knowing all my seats are reserved. Also lucked out into having an empty seat beside me which is nice and let's me spread out. And possibly take my carrion down to put under the seat beside me.

Anyways prepping for takeoff. More soon.

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In the air. In the middle of my first movie of the trip. Video on demand is wonderful. I should be able to fit in two movies and a tv show before landing In HK. Will have to grab a salad or something after landing - meal service just ended, and while decent it was seriously lacking in veggies.

Currently watching My Darling is a Foreigner, a Japanese movie Helen told me about. There was a little shorts of an animated version on the plane, and apparently it's also a manga. Very cute so far. Centres on the relationship between a Japanese woman and an American man in Japan, and the ensuing culture clash.

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I've gotten to be such a pro at the HK airport. Got to the departure area way faster than anyone else because I knew exactly where to go when the signs go weird. It's hard to think that I've been here 5 times already.

Having a quick snack then off to rest near my date. Successfully got something with veggies - though I'm not really sure its what I ordered - and a red bean drink. Cafe de Coral is my fave place to eat here.

It's been a long day and it's not over yet. Excited to see the family though - and this will be a comparatively smooth arrival, as I'm only dealing with a 1 hour time difference from Tokyo, as opposed to 12 hours from Toronto.

Day 37-38 - Narita Airport - recap of Harajuku and Tokyo Tower

Currently sitting on the Narita Express, heading to the airport to catch my flight to HK enroute to Manila. It's a nice train, though Helen, who dropped me off at Shinjuku after picnicking on the platform with me, tells me it's one if the older ones. Still though - comfy seats with electrical outlets and tables, ac, luggage space. What more could a girl want? And we watched them clean the train as we snacked. Apparently all the seats spin - they switched them all to face forward, and you can spin them back yourself, so if you were in a group of 4 you could just sit as a group facing each other.

All of today will be spent in transit. So tonnes of time to compose lengthy blog posts :) Trains now, and then planes and airports the rest of the day, arriving in Manila just before midnight. Assuming everything goes to plan - my flights were still on time when we checked this morning, which hopefully means that the typhoon which missed Tokyo isn't in the way of my flight path. And I don't have to deal with Beijing air traffic control :)

The train has just started moving super slow - apparently due to high winds. Maybe related to the typhoon? The weather looks all grey, but there isn't supposed to be rain till later in the afternoon. Hopefully everything holds - luckily, I'm due to arrive to the airport with time to spare, so a slowdown here won't mess things up too much.

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Recapping from the Narita airport starbucks. Bought myself the requisite mug. And one for Barbs as well - the Tokyo one they have here is kind of ugly, so I bought myself the Starbucks Japan airport special edition, and Barbs the Osaka mug. I really hope that it's Osaka she went to last time she was in Japan, and not Kyoto - both seemed vaguely familiar. But I remember that she had been thinking of a sidetrip to Kobe, and apparently Osaka is closer? The bonus of getting two mugs is two free drink vouchers - its like half the cost of the mug. They have to be enjoyed in Japan, which means today in the airport, but it's all good. I have awhile before it's time to go to the gate and I might aswell spend it here at Starbucks. They went all out with the mugs - barbs is nicely wrapped, and there's even a holder in the gift bag for me to put my mug in. Drinking a latte with honey orange sprinkles at the moment. Yum. Though I did forget to request skim milk again. I also got a matcha azuki dacquoise - pretty much a green tea cake with redbean in the centre. They should definitely have these back home.

And I just managed to delete the parts of the post I drafted before. Joy. This one might be shorter than expected.

So anyways, yesterday was a pretty good last day in Japan. After a week of being expertly guided by Helen, I was worried about returning to solo travel, but everything went fine. After having handled Beijing solo, I should have known better than to be overly concerned about Tokyo. The transit system is much more complex, but also more orderly. Between the handwritten instructions Helen had prepared for me, and the decent signage at the stations, I didn't get lost once and was only a little late to meet Helen at the end of the day at Kichijoji.

So back to the beginning. Helen and I split up at Yoyogi, the station near where she does karate. My first stop of the day was actually to be Harajuku, one station past, but as I would be hubbing through Yoyogi throughout the day it was best to get an intro to the station with Helen.

Once I did get to Harajuku, my first stop was Meiji Temple. It's one of the most important Shinto temples, and is the resting place of the souls - but not the bodies, which are in Kyoto - of emperor Meiji and his wife. It's a beautiful place, and the parkland actually abuts Harajuku station so it's really easy to get to.

Wandering the grounds towards the main temple on a wide gravel avenue, you pass what is apparently the largest Tori gate in the world, as well as the empresses garden, which I explored later in the day. The garden is beautiful, though best known for it's irises, which were unfortunately out of season. There was also what I'm guessing is a famous well, judging by the huge line of Japanese people waiting to get to it. I waited in line for a bit, but then left. No point waiting an hour in the heat for a well you'd never heard of.

I was lucky enough to arrive at the main temple while something was going on. What, I have no idea. It involved who I think was a Shinto priest, a lot of bowing and clapping, and some super loud drumming. I lingered for a bit, and then headed back down the gravel path through the park to Ometasando, apparently Tokyo's answer to the champs d'elysse.

Apparently further down the street, there would have been flagship stores for all the major designers, but the part I saw mainly had American chain stores. I had lunch at Lotteria, a Japanese burger chain (though I somehow managed to order something that wasn't a burger) before heading down towards Takeshita dori, which is what most people think of when they hear Harajuku.

It's a part of Tokyo I saw last time I was in Japan, but I'm glad I got the chance to see it again. It's ground zero for Japanese street fashion, though on a weekday afternoon, while the merchandise in the stores was certainly funky, the streets were mainly filled with tourists. It's sort if unabashedly materialistic, and is one of my favorite parts of the city. I stopped by for an ice-cream crepe, and them picked up a few things in Daiso, this massive 4 story 100yen store that sells pretty much everything.

On an aside, just started my second Starbucks drink. Their special summer frappucino flavor unfortunately involves mango, so instead in full on japan mode I got a matcha frappucino. Way better than the green tea frapps you can get back home, and this time I remembered to customize it properly. So delicious.

And back to my recap. Takeshita dori actually let's out right at Harajuku station (which is also where Ometasando starts, though at another station entrance, so I essentially just made a big loop) so I was back on the train to my next stop of the day.

I transferred at Yoyogi from the train to the subway (after walking down a series of ridiculously long staircase) and was off to Akabanebashi to see Tokyo tower. It's a bit of a walk, but since there are signs everywhere and you can see the tower once you leave the station, it's pretty simple.

Maybe it's the red and white colour, but I don't quite see the Eiffel tower. At the base of the tower is this massive building, that houses among other things a shopping complex, an aquarium and a wax museum. So the site is essentially a big entertainment complex.

The weather wasn't good enough to have much of a view, so I didn't go up the tower. I wandered the shops a bit, picking up a bottle of water shaped like the tower, and then headed back to the station to transit onwards to Kichijoji to meet Helen.

I find Helen right away outside the starbucks we arranged to meet at, and we headed off to have dinner (subway, which is way different in Japan - my sandwich had shrimp and avocado, and there were also yummy cheese fries) before going on to karaoke.

I think I'm going to miss karaoke. It's really fun just going in with friends and belting out some songs. My karaoke taste is a bit different from the music I enjoy listening to. Rihanna and Taylor Swift, which I do have on my iPod, but also Celine Dion and the Spice Girls, which I definitely don't.

Anyways, after that stopped off for a coffee, and then headed home to pack. Which was a massive undertaking, filling most of Helen's living space, that involved leaving behind a pile of my toiletries with Helen (apparently selection is crap in Japan - and neither their toothpaste nor their water have fluoride, which explain the bad feet lots of people seem to have) and using my new luggage straps to make sure my suitcase would stay closed.

And I need to get on finishing my drinks so I can clear the security checkpoint. Will post this from HK - no free wifi in Narita.

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And I was wrong! There is in fact a free wifi in Narita at the NTT broadband cafe. Also computer stations available. Excellent. Will post this now, and then load some things to do on the plane. Have to be speedy though - almost time to board.

Day 37 - Japan picture post!

I was considering leaving this until Hong Kong - assuming that all my flights are on time this time around, i should have a few hours to kill in the airport. But I find myself with a bit of time to spare now, so I figure Ill atleast get started with the posting. Just a small selection this time around - roughly displayed in chronological order, but with gaps in between. We ll see what I'm in the mood for posting next time around.

Helly and I at one of the temples in Kamakura - observe the beautiful sunny weather. It was meant to be that way for the entire trip. No rain storms, and at the moment were monitoring the path of a typhoon - which will almost certainly miss Tokyo, and hopefully wont affect my flights out of here tomorrow. Also observe Helens peace sign. You can tell that shes truly embraced the japanese way of life because she does that in almost all her pictures.

 Stopping for a snack in Asakusa. Honestly one of my favourite bits of Tokyo - Sensoji temple with an avenue of shops lining the way. And my visit yesterday to the Edo museum tells me that the shops have been there for ages and arent just a recent touristy commercialization of the temple. This was where I picked up my yukata, as its one of the best places to get them to fit western heights. I also love the little side streets with shopping, where I bought my vintage kimonos.

Not the most flattering picture of me in my yukata, but it is one of the only shots of my bow. Which I tied all by myself, with the help of a little booklet the ladies at the shop where I bought the obi gave me. I did a pretty good job, and am thoroughly impressed with myself.

Our cute camp site before the rain.

And then after - underneath the kitchen shelter. Helen and Hisashi quite impressively moved it assembled (though emptied out). We successfully stayed dry the rest of the night, though we did have to deal with those lights being on. And then those sirens in the early morning. Not the most relaxing camping trip, but it was definitely an experience.

Day 36 - Chill day in Tokyo.

Very relaxing day. Spent most of it at the Edo Tokyo  museum, right by Ryogoku station. Apparently the area also has a sumo stadium nearby so a lot of the souvenir shops are geared towards sumo paraphanelia, and the food shops have sumo noodles, meant to bulk you up. We ended up eating at this little rice bowl place, one amongst a row of places underneath the train tracks.

The museum was really good - takes you through the history of Edo, from its roots in ancient Japan to modern day, and in doing so provides a really good overview of Japanese culture. There were some interactive exhibits which were fun to do, but my favourite part were the super intricate dioramas. One of them had something like 1500 little people in it. They provided binoculars so you could get a really close look, and it was honestly amazing. Another notable was the really good gift shop.


After that we headed in to Kichijoji for me to pick up some things I needed - mainly luggage straps, as I'm concerned about jamming my suitcase to capacity - the hard sides are good for safety, but don't really have any give. Then dinner at Coco curry house here in Hishagi Koganei, where I had some sort of Japanese style curry (not spicy, and definitely not an indian curry)/dori (apparently an italian preparation really big in japan - essentially covered in a cheesy cream sauce and baked) hybrid. Yummy. And now were back at Helen's early. Or at least it feels super early because I'm not totally exhausted. Doing a load of laundry at the moment, then possibly sorting some pictures before bed. if all goes to plan Ill have a picture post ready for the morning.

Day 34 - 35 - Hakone Adventure.

 Got back from our trip to Hakone. Had a great time, but am absolutely exhausted, so a full recap (possibly through pictures?) will have to wait. In the past two days we visited multiple historical sites, went out on lake Ashi on a row boat, went to to different onsens, and camped. Where we were rained on. And then to cap it all off, we ate at this kaiten sushi place, where any special orders you make are sent to you by a little shinkansen (mini highspeed train). Very fun.

Will add more detail in the am.

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Having a yummy breakfast at Helen's place, and thought Id take the chance to recap the last two days before something else exciting happens.

So, after our early start two days ago, we drove past that Kamakura,  where Helen and I saw temples a few days ago, and drove along the ocean a bit which was nice - come japanese surfers commute by bicycle which is fun to watch. We then stopped at a highway stop which was notable for being so high tech. The fanciest washrooms ever - so many options attached to your toilet seat. Speakers to play flushing noises, heating, various sprays. They really go all out. And then I bought iced coffee out of a machine which was fancy because there's a video where you can watch what they're doing to your drink - grinding beans, brewing etc.

Our next (really, our first proper stop) was at Odowara jo, this reconstructed Japanese castle. Apparently really popular as a flower viewing area. We had just missed hydrangeas, which are apparently really popular here, but it was prime lotus blossom season. So after stopping for some pictures, we go onwards to Hakone. Helen and I go off on various trains and cable cars up the mountain, while Hisashi goes off by car to run some errands then meet us at at the end. The cable cars were cool, and we got luckily enough to have a break in the cloud cover and get a nice view of mount fuji out of one of them. Anyways, the main point of the cable cars and such are toget you to Owakudani, this portion of the mountain where its all dead earth and smoking pits - bits of the volcano underneath peaking out. Anyways, we trek up this little path (many steps. but atleast realtively even?) to get to this booth where we enjoy the specialty of the region - eggs boiled in the natural springs. The springs turn the eggshells black which is kind of cool, though the eggs taste pretty normal. Apparently it promotes long life which is interesting. Another interesting photo op is taking pictures with a hello kitty statue where shes dressed as a black egg, and another one where shes all done up in the traditional parquet like wood work the area is known for. She really has been everywhere.

We then headed back down the mountain, where we met Hisashi and headed off to our camp site. Apparently, you cant drive up to it, so we parked and then loaded our stuff (read - like most camping things, Hisashi and Helen did the heavy lifting while I supervised) into this cart and took it down a path to our site. The sites in Japan are smaller than back home, but it wasn't really busy, so it was ok. So we set up camp, had some bento boxes that Hisashi picked up for us, and then Helen and I went for a walk to the nearest little town, while Hisashi went to fish. Helen and I went out on to lake Ashi which was nice. Good views of this ferry boat shaped like a Japanese pirate ship. Why there would be a pirate ship on a lake, I have no idea. When we got back it was time for dinner, which was korean barbecue. A lot of korean barbecue. We started up the fire on the grill, and just kept adding in more meat and vegetables. pork, beef, scallops, chicken. Really went all out by my standards, though apparently it was low key by japanese standards. Some of the neighboring campers would book a second site just to set up a full on kitchen area.

After that, relaxed by the fire for a bit, before heading out to the little onsen at the campsite. Its mainly a way to get clean, with bathing really well preceding sitting in whats pretty much a tub of hot water. It was meant to be an introduction to the rules of using an onsen, of which there are many, but I really enjoyed it partly because of the presence of western showers. Japanese style, like at Helen's place, you sit on a little stool, and then use this water jet thing to clean yourself - it doesn't quite reach standing height. standing properly while having water overhead was a nice change of pace. Got back to the site all nice and clean and started getting ready for bed - it was still relatively early, but already dark so there wasn't much else to do after sitting by the fire some more.

And this is actually where the excitement begins. We get into the tents, start falling asleep, only to be woken up by really loud singing. A group of what we think were boy scouts having a bonfire. We sit there waiting for the magical 10pm lights out time before we complain about the noise, only to have it start raining. Which was fine, except that after a little while we hear thunder, and the rain picks up a bit. Still all good, so when it quiets down, we go to bed again.

Only to be woken up part way through the night (still raining) to discover that water is getting in the tent. So we decided to move it in the middle of the night (still assembled, so it was rather an impressive operation) to this nearby cooking area where there's a shelter. Again, all good for awhile, and while we have the lights of the cooking shelter to deal with, atleast we have the promise of staying relatively dry.

But then we are woken up again at like 5am by announcements coming from loud speakers - which no one can understand because they're a bit too far away, and there was too much fuzziness. And then there was what sounded like air raid sirens. No one seemed to be evacuating their sites, so we similarly stayed put, but no clue what was going on. We were to far up the mountain for it to be an actual typhoon, no matter what the rain felt like, and it was also unlikely that it was an actual air raid. And then this was all repeated at 5:30am. We found out in the morning that it was warnings that the dams to the side of the lake were being opened because of the rain we were getting. Though apparently they do set off the same noises for other reasons, like once a few days previously when an old man got lost in the middle of the night.

After that we doze a bit more before properly waking up. We stay in the cooking shelter to cook our breakfast (mainly food we didn't manage to get to the night before). Only problem was that we didn't bring all our stuff to the shelter the night before, and one of the things we left at our water soaked site was the fire wood. So getting the fire going was a production of finding charcoal from old fires nearby, ripping apart what was apparently a bad book on kayaking, and eventually me tossing in pieces of bacon into the fire. It all worked out though, so we had yummy sausages, soup and noodles for breakfast.

Plan for the day was to visit this super nice onsen at one of the Prince Hotels in Hakone, though that wouldn't be on until a bit later in the day. So we spent the morning visiting Hakone Shrine, where Helen got married, as well as Hakone Sekisho, a reconstructed checkpoint on the ancient road from Edo to Kyoto, apparently in charge of keeping women from escaping Edo. Which I dont fully  understand, but eh. The shrine was really beautiful. The trees were massive, and it was all definitely worth climbing up the irregular stone stairs. we even passed by students having lessons in traditional japanese archery, which was fun to watch. Totally looked like something out of an anime, what with everyone running about in their martial arts/temple clothes.

Still a bit more time to kill, so we have a quick lunch at the near by cable car station. Had taco rice which was fun, partly because Helen and Hisashi ordered it from a computer. Then headed off to the prince hotel. The onsen was definitely nicer here - besides having slippers, and a full set of lotions and soaps and shampoos and such available, the onsens themselves had a view of a traditional Japanese gardens. Helen says that they get even nicer, with some having outdoor baths, but I thought it was nice and relaxing, particularly after our rough night.

Next was our ridiculously long drive back to Tokyo, where we hit a tonne of traffic. Stopped twice for little breaks a long the way, before making it back to the city two hours later than expected. Nearish to Helens place we stopped for dinner at what might be my favourite restaurant in Tokyo. Kaiten sushi, which Ive had before, but at this much bigger place. Like usual, there's sushi on a conveyor belt that you can take off as it passes by you, and little hot water spigots where you can make your own matcha tea. But there are also these computerized screens where you can make special orders. And when your food is ready, it zooms past on this little shinkansen train, stopping right in front of you. very fun, and I definitely ate too much.

And that's pretty much what i was up to for the last two days. Its raining right now, and Ive done most of what I set out to see here in Japan, so just a chill day of running a few errands and then hitting up a museum today.