Tag Japan

The time has come, my lovely friends, to bid adieu to the Middle Kingdom. We packed up our belongings– things we had acquired over two years in Beijing– and shipped them home in suitcases with friends over the course of a few weeks. When the 8th finally rolled around, we had a giant pile of suitcases to take with us, and of course tiny Gwendolyn and all of her belongings.

One side note. Our little baby was five weeks old when we boarded the plane from Beijing to Tokyo to Chicago. Yet she now has more clothing and accessories than both Mike and I combined. She has a car (stroller) a lazy-boy (car seat) and a contraption to strap her to our chests like royalty on parade. She also has a giant suitcase of clothing that spans from formal dresses and shoes to nightgowns and day clothes that would make Kate Middleton jealous. And that’s not even counting all of her diapers, wipes, lotions, soaps, medicines and more. So, of the five suitcases we flew out with, two were her things.

Our first flight to Tokyo was on JAL – Japanese Airlines. As someone who hates flying and hasn’t done it in over five years, I have to say that the folks at JAL were amazing. They took what could have been a horrible experience for me and turned it into a bit of a wonder. The ladies were so nice, beautiful and concerned with the baby’s comfort that it was almost over-the-top care. We went through the diplomatic line at security as JAL folks led us and the baby to the shortest line. We then went through security (baby got her first pat down) and then got priority boarding at the gate. Once on board they brought a snack for the baby (she was too young for bananas and crackers) and brought her toys (too young, but they left her a JAL burping bib) and then after takeoff they showed up immediately before giving drinks to anyone to set up the clip-on bassinet. Then they came by periodically to make sure she was comfortable and gave us a bag of diapers and wipes for her and allowed us to use the first class bathroom to change her. They were amazing. The flight was only slightly over three hours, and they filled that time up with doting on Gwen.

Then we had a five hour layover in Japan where we were shocked to discover a Mother’s Room with an area for breastfeeding, padding changing tables, and a tap that shot out purified, boiling water for cleaning bottles. Next door was a play area. We were so shocked at the care given to mothers, babies and kids in Japan, especially because in China people were still elbowing their way past me holding the baby at the airport, and smoking near her. Tsk tsk.

From Japan we boarded an American Airlines plane where the flight attendant never even acknowledged us. We had reserved a bassinet, but once in the air they said they couldn’t find it. They never brought us anything for the baby, and when Mike went to change her in the business class bathroom they kicked him out (the coach bathroom is smaller, smaller changing area impossible to use and a giant line to wait in while holding a fidgeting baby on turbulent winds). This flight was eleven hours long, which means that without the basket to rest her in we were stuck holding our newborn on our laps. That meant we couldn’t even fall asleep for a moment or she could fall. 11 hours of no sleep right over the nighttime was tough, really tough. And since we were landing in Chicago and renting a car we were worried we’d be too tired to drive. American Airlines was really, really bad. We were so dehydrated from lack of anything to drink in addition to sleep deprived and exhausted from holding up our eleven pound baby for eleven hours that we were near zombies when we landed. And by the way, there is no priority treatment for people with babies once you land in the USA. No Mother’s Room or anything. It’s hard to see such a stark contrast. (By the way, type in “American Airlines Sucks” on google to see more photo evidence).

We rented a car from Budget and the guy there upgraded our ride once Mike told him we had a newborn. That was a nice surprised. We had a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it barely held all of our luggage and piles of baby stuff.

So, we’re back in America and landed safely after 24 hours door-to-door with a newborn. She was a champ and didn’t cry once. And we’re so grateful to the amazing service on JAL for making the first part of our return so wonderful.

Vietnam

We conducted an online poll to see where our readers thought we should travel next. 37% of our voters thought we should go to Vietnam. We’re taking their advise and we’ll be heading to Vietnam within the next six months after our Central Asia trip. At 32%, our readers put Cambodia as their second choice for a ‘living vicariously’ travel destination. We’re heading there after Vietnam and will be writing and posting images from both countries within the year. In third place, our readers voted for Japan with 26%. Tsk, tsk inattentive readers, I’ve already been! You can read about the trip and see the pictures from Okinawa. 5% of our readers voted for Laos, which we will travel to while touring South East Asia. Surprisingly, 0% of our readers voted for Korea. While we’d like to visit at some point we are taking our readers silence as a sign, and will visit Korea some other time.

Poll results

Vietnam 37%

Cambodia – 32%

Japan – 26%

Laos – 5%

Korea – 0%

We’ve added new polls to our site and several surveys. Please take a moment to participate and help us A) refine our site, and; B) learn more about our readers, and; C) be more interactive in the travel/dreaming community. We have polls and surveys throughout the site so please click around and vote on a few!

On the third day- we rested.

Evil parrot

The next morning we were itching to get out of the cabin after having watched an entire season of The Office. We found that the most bizarre thing on the island was something called the Naha Pineapple Park. We arrived and new instantly that we would not be disappointed. A whole high school of young girls in plaid mini skirts, skull tattoos and backpacks shaped like teddy bears was just forming a line. We somehow got past them and boarded a golf cart shaped like a giant pineapple. What a thrill.

After the pineapple park we were ushered into the world’s largest sea shell museum. I’ll never scuba dive without a harpoon again.

After yet another overpriced gift shop we walked into the blinding sunlight and then, across the rays of light we saw an amazing sight- a Tropical Jungle Adventure park. After happily paying our entrance fee we skipped around the park petting goats, plucking fruit, catching butterflies and holding parrots. Our sister, at one point, managed to cover herself in evil, angry parrots squawking for sugar water. We fled the scene.

It was an amazing day, and that evening as I picked up my pajamas to get ready for bed, a gecko jumped out of the sleeve and ran through a crack in the wall. Lying wide awake, my sister and I listened to the sounds of the cabin mice as we drifted off to sleep.

-Posted by Lauren.

Oura Wan beach

The first evening my brother and I walked around the beach well into the evening talking and taking pictures. We watched the sunset, then sat under the stars. He humored my amusement with the clean air (something we have very little of in China) and the cleanliness of the streets and beaches. We talked long into the night and finally crashed. The next day we were set to pick up our parents and sister from the airport on the southern tip of the island.

The next morning I awoke to bad news- my parents had missed their flight, but my sister had made hers and would be arriving a few hours later than planned. My brother and I prepped for the change in plans by canceling the rental car and the other cabin rental and then searching the web for Okinawan transportation systems. We found them lacking, cabs were the primary mode of transportation without owning a car (and neither of us had an international license). Meanwhile, cab rides were on par with cab fares in the USA– and on our salaries they were hardly an option. We grabbed a government bus as far south as possible then hopped a cab to pick up the sister. Her flight was delayed, so we stopped at a small restaurant where I had my first taste of local cuisine. A very fishy and rubbery noodle soup that tasted, to my uncultured palate, like a balloon soaked in fish guts. Very healthy.

After waiting until the balloon digested, we set off again to search for the missing sister. Finally we found her- pushing three giant suitcases and bundled in several layers of clothing (presumably what would not fit in the massive cases). After hugs and high fives we began the journey back to the cabins- a full two hours by bus with multiple transfers, and then a twenty minute walk uphill to the cabins– with enough luggage to warrant a minivan. When we finally arrived back at the cabin we collapsed on the couches and did not move for some time.

Because our parents could not make it, they had hastily repacked our sister’s suitcase with gifts, and these we poured around a small Christmas tree I had brought from China. We opened a few gifts that evening– my other sister had sent us UNO, the card game, so we drank Cpt Morgan and Coke and played UNO well into the night.

-Posted by Lauren.