Rome Trip 2

After a long delay, I'm resuming posting about our Rome trip over the New Year's. I'm going to be calling these posts Rome Trip 2, 3, 4.... because I'm just too lazy right now to think of a catchy title.

Here I am standing in front of the Spanish Steps, made famous by that Audrey Hepburn movie "Roman Holiday". I never saw the movie. In fact, I never heard of it until I moved to Japan. That movie is extremely famous here for some reason. Whenever I told someone in Japan that I was going to Rome, they would ask if I was going to eat ice cream in front of the Spanish Steps. When I asked why I should do that, they mentioned Roman Holiday. So I was going to do that, but eating ice cream is now outlawed there... oh well.

  

Trevi Fountain. This picture doesn't come close to capturing how beautiful and amazing this fountain is. Not only is it peaceful and serene, even with a bunch of tourists standing around, but the detail in the sculptures and artwork is unbelievable. One of the highlights of the trip, for sure.

Here I am standing in front of the Pantheon. This building is almost 2000 years old and dates from the Roman Empire, but is still standing. Talk about some good building codes. It was closed the day we took this picture, but we went back later when it was open. Pictures of the inside to come later.

Piazza Navona, only a few blocks west of the Pantheon. The piazza is so wide, it's hard to capture all of it in one photo. It's a very nice place to stroll around, maybe grab a bite to eat, or something like that. On the day we visited there, they had a carnival in the piazza with a lot of snack and game stands.

Rome Trip - The Start

We went to Rome for four nights beginning on December 31, 2009. It was one of the best vacations I have ever taken.

As you can tell from the ground in this picture, Rome was a bit rainy at times, and it was chilly. It meant, though, that there weren't huge crowds.

This is the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, near our hotel in the center of Rome, near the main train station. We saw this on our first morning in Rome. Not a bad way to start the vacation!

Freezing Las Vegas

This is me in the courtyard at the Flamingo before heading out to the Strip on Christmas Eve 2008. Look at what I'm wearing; that should tell you how cold it was that day. Even that wasn't enough; I needed a bigger coat and some longer undergarments. It was freezing!

Disappointments - '08-09 U.S. Trip Pt. 2

We woke up late on Christmas Eve, still a bit tired from the previous day's travel. Our excitement increased, however, after we took a look at the view from our hotel room in daylight for the first time. What a view! (Picture to the left.) We couldn't wait to explore Vegas.

We went downstairs to the courtyard of the Flamingo. It quickly became obvious to us that it was freezing cold. The night before, the hotel employee who checked us in told us that a few days ago there was actually snow in Las Vegas... snow!!! It was hard to believe. Also, we watched the weather forecast on TV before heading out, and it said it would be around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). But down in the courtyard, it felt more like 32 degrees (0 Celsius) with the wind factored in. The cold didn't seem to bother the hotel's namesakes (pictured left). It bothered me, though; I had my fleece jacket, knit cap and gloves that I usually wore in Osaka, but even that didn't seem to be enough.

The cold would remain with us the whole time we were in Las Vegas, which was the first disappointment of the trip (certainly not the last!). We left Osaka to go somewhere warm and comfortable, and we thought our U.S. trip in California and Nevada would provide that. But nope - it was actually colder in Vegas than it was in Osaka when we left. My image of Vegas as a hot desert area was out the door for good.

After perusing the Flamingo courtyard, we first headed to the Venetian, where we planned to ride the gondola there, but changed our mind at the last minute, in part thanks to the $13 price tag. (I'd rather save my money for the real ones in Venice, Italy.) Still, the hotel itself and the shopping areas were beautiful and luxurious.

After that, we were hungry, so we headed to the Bellagio for lunch at their buffet, which we heard was the Strip's best. I was shocked at how long the line was to go in - on Christmas Eve! And they had special holiday rates: $35 per person, compared with the usual $25 lunch price. Two more disappointments. However, the food was very good, and so was the service. You could say that it was worth it. They had a nice assortment of dishes. I enjoyed the meat, salad and some of the side dishes, while my wife enjoyed the crab legs and sushi.

We had plans for after the Bellagio, such as looking around at more casinos, enjoying some of the free shows, and perhaps doing some shopping. But after lunch, we felt too tired. Our bodies had not yet recovered from the long plane ride and subsequent car ride. So we just went back to the Flamingo and slept most of the afternoon.

We woke up around 5 P.M. or so, as Vegas turned dark. After eating instant ramen in our room (we brought a bunch of the stuff with us, along with a portable hot water boiler, to save money), we headed back to the Bellagio to watch "O", one of a few Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas. The title refers to water, which in French is eau, pronounced like the 15th letter of the alphabet. The acrobats did their performances mostly over a pool of water (sometimes they performed in the water). It was a good show - the performances were daring and exciting at times. However, the tickets were $150 a pop, and we felt that the show was not good enough to justify the price. We left somewhat entertained but a bit disappointed.

After "O", we started to (again) feel tired and sleepy, so we called it a night and returned to the Flamingo, hoping to rest enough so that tomorrow we wouldn't sleep most of the day again.

Beginning of a Long Vacation - '08-09 U.S. Trip Pt. 1

In late December and early January my wife and I took a nice 12-night, 14-day vacation that took us to two countries, three states, and a number of cities, primarily Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles. It was the longest vacation that the two of us have ever taken together, even longer than our honeymoon to the Maldives in 2007.

While I was looking forward to the vacation, I was not looking forward to the first day of the trip, which involved me driving us from Los Angeles to Las Vegas immediately after flying from Japan to the U.S.

We flew from Osaka Airport, a.k.a Itami (the smaller airport in the Osaka area), to Narita International near Tokyo to transfer onto a flight from there to Los Angeles. The Japan Airlines airplane from Osaka to Tokyo had our hopes up for a comfortable airplane ride. The plane was large for a one-hour flight; it was a Boeing 747, I believe. The coach seats had a lot of leg room, comfortable seats with moveable headrests, and foot rests. Very comfortable. First class must have been heaven! We were thinking, if the airplane to Tokyo is this comfortable, the airplane from Tokyo to Los Angeles must be really good.

We were wrong. The seats on the second flight were cramped, somewhat uncomfortable, and the seats had no foot rests. So much for a comfortable airplane ride to the U.S. I brought a lot of stuff to help me get some sleep on the airplane: neck pillow, eye cover, earplugs, among other things. But I just couldn't sleep. I can never sleep on airplanes. So when we arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), I was tired and sleepy - not exactly the state you want to be in when you have to drive six hours.

After getting the rental car, we departed LAX. I was happy that I could drive on the right side of the road without really thinking about it. However, I got lost trying to get to the freeway. Before the trip, I got driving instructions using Google Maps. But I had instructions from LAX to Vegas, not from Dollar Rent-A-Car, which was a few blocks away from the airport.

We spent maybe 30 minutes trying to find the freeway that runs right by the airport. Once we found it, we had to contend with massive traffic in the Los Angeles area, and that was around 11 A.M.! It took an hour for us to drive to the other side of L.A., where we stopped at a Wal-Mart to do a bit of shopping.

My wife and I always make it a point to stop over at Wal-Mart whenever we travel to the U.S. We can buy a lot of American foods and goods to take back to Japan, and at reasonable prices. During this Wal-Mart stop, though, we bought sandwiches, a salad and fried chicken from the deli for lunch, a lot of bottled water for our travels, and a six-pack of Coca-Cola for me to stay awake during the drive to Vegas.

And I definitely needed that Coke as we drove up I-15 through the California desert. I had to do all I could to stay awake. We had the radio blasting, and I sang along. I was drinking sips of Coke every opportunity I got. My wife would speak to me with a loud voice. It was difficult, but we made it to Las Vegas sometime before 8 P.M.

It was amazing to see the lights of the Strip, the place I had heard so much about ever since I was a kid. We saw the MGM Grand, New York New York, the Bellagio, and Caesars Palace as we drove up to the Flamingo - our home for the next five nights. We checked into our room, and the only thing we did before quickly going to bed was take a good view of the north Strip from the window. It was beautiful - we had a great view of the Mirage, Treasure Island, Harrah's, and the Venetian, not to mention the Stratosphere in the background. A relaxing way to end a tough and busy day.

Saipan Trip - Day 4

On Sunday, November 2, we woke up, had breakfast, and prepared to check out of the resort. We called the front desk to get one of those guys with the golf carts to come and pick us and our luggage up and take us to the front desk. We planned to catch the bus to town to do some last-day shopping after we checked out. But the golf cart guy was running late, so I ended up pushing the luggage to the front desk, which made me sweat in the humid Saipan heat. However, we made the bus on time.

We didn't do too much in town, it turned out - just ate at McDonald's and looked around a bit. I was happy to see the soda machines there where you can get refills; they don't have those in Japan except at the family restaurants with the drink bars. What they also don't have in Japan are the promotional games where you have a chance to win money, and a much better chance to win a free drink or something. They had a Monopoly promotion when we went, and I won a free McFlurry. However, the M&M McFlurry that I ordered was far too sweet for me. I guess I'm getting used to Japanese tastes.

After shopping, we went to the airport to return to Japan. The wait in line to check-in at the airport was the longest I've ever been in, because they had security there checking every single bag and suitcase. Seriously. They opened each bag and checked everything, from underwear to eye drops. I've never seen such thorough searching before. I asked one of the staff if it is always like that, and she said, "Security is always tight in Saipan." Indeed.

We felt a lot better, though, when the Northwest Airlines counter lady gave us each a $5 gift certificate for use in the airport snack shop because we checked in online. We got $10 worth of snacks free. That's a very nice parting gift!

On board, the flight attendants handed out these cookies to the left. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, and you look carefully at the top, you can see my name. Why did they go through all that trouble to personalize my cookies? :)

Overall, the trip was okay. It was relaxing and enjoyable. If you want an active vacation, though, don't go to Saipan. There's not that much to do besides relax.

Rain in Paradise?

While the trip was nice, we weren't without occasional rainstorms, such as this one around breakfast time one day in Saipan. Still a nice view, though.

Saipan Trip - Day 3

On this day, we woke up to partly cloudy but beautiful skies. To the left is a picture of the villa grounds - so pristine and beautiful.

We continued to do what had become routine: we went to eat a buffet breakfast at 7:30 AM. After that, we went back, dressed in our swimming gear, and once again went to the beach for some snorkeling and swimming. We hadn't reserved a Nature Beach BBQ lunch that time, but around noon the grill was going and the crowds were coming. So my wife asked me to ask if there was enough for us as well. Luckily, there was. One good thing about the Mariana Resort and Spa is that the staff was friendly.

Well, maybe too friendly. There were two Japanese girls there that had lived in the U.S. for a while. They chatted with the local guys manning the barbeque grill, and the staff responded by going into the sea with the girls and swimming (and flirting) with them. That's life, huh?

Anyway, we swam a bit more after lunch. While snorkeling, we came upon this fish, in the picture to the left. Can you see the fish? You might have to click on it and see it close up. Just another of the many, many fish we came across off of the Saipan coast. Amazing. We saw everything except sea turtles (my wife said she saw on the Internet that Tinian, just south of Saipan, is the place to go for finding turtles). That was some of the best snorkeling we've ever done.

That afternoon, we went once again to the spa and enjoyed it one last time. We had a frugal night: a Cup Noodle and instant yakisoba night in the hotel room. We watched TV and relaxed. This was the core of our Saipan trip: relaxation. When we travel, we usually are running around all day seeing the sights. It was nice to take it easy for a change.

Saipan Trip - Day 2

On Friday, we woke up and ate a buffet breakfast at a restaurant with an ocean view. The breakfast was okay, but not worth the $18 price tag they put on it. (Luckily we had the Lady's Plan.) After breakfast, we headed down to the beach for some snorkeling.

At first sight, the beach looked disappointing. There wasn't much sand at the beach; the coast was very rocky there. We had to slowly climb our way into the water, so that we wouldn't fall and break our heads open. However, once we made it in, we could see immediately that it was worth it. Take a look at this picture:

My wife and I had been snorkeling before in Hawaii and the Maldives, but we don't remember ever seeing as many fish in one place as we did in Saipan. There were schools everywhere, even close to the coast where the water was only a few centimeters deep. We spent hours swimming and looking at the various fish.

Here I am with a few of the friends I made while snorkeling.

We snorkeled for the rest of the morning. At lunchtime, we ate a "Nature Beach BBQ" meal - just chicken, pork chops, weiners, a potato, a kabob with onions, scallops, and a rice ball, all barbequed. It was good, though, and we enjoyed the ocean view while eating.

After that, we did some more snorkeling, then headed back up the hill to go back to Mandi Asian Spa.

This is a shot of the jacuzzi. Immediately to the right is the wading pool, which was not too cold. You can see the ocean view in the background.

My wife loved the mist sauna there; she literally spent hours in that thing during our stay. I tried to go in there with her, but saunas are not my cup of tea. She says that sweating makes her feel good. But me, I don't need a sauna to sweat, and in Saipan, I was sweating enough. And when I sweat, I don't feel good. So that didn't work.

That night, we thought about eating at the restaurant at the resort where we were staying. One quick look at the menu changed our minds; the prices were too high! It was about $50 a meal per person. So we took the free shuttle to the DFS Galleria in Garapan, which is basically Saipan's downtown. We ate at - of all places - Capricciosa! If you don't live in Japan, Capricciosa is an Italian restaurant chain here, a bit similar to Olive Garden. Capricciosa must get a lot of business from all the Japanese tourists that visit Saipan. (They certainly got ours!)

Once we were full on pasta, we went to the DFS Galleria to look around. We didn't buy anything (not at those prices), but I did get a good picture of the world-famous (?) Saipan-da!

This memory will remain with me forever.

Chillin' In the Villa

Here I am, enjoying the living room part of the Saipan vacation villa.

A view of the villa from the outside. A bit run down, but not too bad.

Saipan Trip - Day 1

On Thursday my wife and I went to Saipan for a three-night stay. The flight was free, as we had saved up enough miles through Northwest Airlines to go there. But I was wondering if this trip would be anything like the trip we took a few years ago to Guam, when we felt like we never left Japan. The conclusion: it wasn't bad in that respect, but probably because there weren't as many tourists around as we had expected.

After leaving the small, old airport, our first impression of Saipan - other than the old concrete Japanese WWII military bunkers just outside the airport grounds - was that the buildings and houses seemed run down. A lot of buildings hadn't been painted in years, and some looked like they needed repairing. It looked more like what we saw in Malaysia during our honeymoon. The driver of the van we were in quickly drove past all of that, and we were on the other end of the island in a short 20 or 30 minutes, at our hotel: the Mariana Resort and Spa.

At first glance, the resort also looked run down, if the front entrance was any indication. Things looked better once we made it to the Center House. We checked in (with explanations given in Japanese), then a busboy in a golf cart kindly took us to a villa: a small cottage that would be our hotel room for the weekend. We didn't spend much time there, though. We unpacked a bit, then headed over to the spa area, called Mandi Asian Spa.

The spa was part of a package called the Lady's Plan (their spelling, not mine!). For $65 each, you can get unlimited usage of the spa area for up to 7 days, plus free buffet breakfast every morning. I was able to get a Lady's Plan, too, because I was with a lady.

The spa was nice. They have a jacuzzi, a wading pool, a flower bath, a warm reclining pool with a great ocean view overlooking the cliff that the resort sat on, and several massage rooms. That night my wife and I had a "cream bath" massage, where they put a bunch of scented cream stuff in our hair while massaging our head, neck, shoulders and arms. It was a good massage, but they made us sit upright on bamboo stools - quite uncomfortable, if you ask us.

The villa was a bit run down on the outside and in need of painting, but inside it was good. The bed was situated on a loft above the ground floor, and there was a nice stand-in shower as well as a bath for Japanese tourists. The room came with slippers, robe, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, razor and lotion. There was also a hot water heater for tea (although we used it for instant noodles that first night, to save money). There was also a refrigerator with drinks and cola, but if we wanted to drink a can, it would cost at least $3! Needless to say, we didn't touch them at all during our trip.

Upcoming Trips

Here's a list of some of the places I will be traveling to in the not-so-distant future (thanks to my beautiful wife for this idea):

• Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture (late summer 2008)
• Saipan (fall 2008)
• Hawaii (islands yet to be determined, winter 2009)

Look out for posts and pictures regarding those trips.

Going up to Diamond Head

While in Hawaii this Golden Week, we did something I never did when my family lived in Hawaii: we went to the top of Diamond Head. Here I am near the start of the trail leading to the summit.

The trail starts to take you uphill, turning sharply at hairpins as you make your way up. The more altitude the trail takes, the more uneven the path becomes, so make sure you have sturdy shoes when you go. Also, be sure to take a lot of water, as you will get hot and sweaty.

Just when you think the trail's coming to an end, you lay eyes upon this beauty: a long, steep staircase. I didn't count exactly, but there must be over 100 stairs in this stretch along. After this, you go through a tunnel, up a narrow, spiral staircase, then you arrive at a park worker at a desk inside a foxhole stamping certificates. They cost $2 and say that you made the trip up to Diamond Head. Past that, you go up through a narrow opening to the top, and you are presented with this view:

Lovely, isn't it? Definitely worth the trip. It does get windy up there, though; my sister-in-law almost lost her precious brand-name hat. Be careful.

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

When you stay at Disney's Pop Century Resort (one of many hotels on site at Disney World), you never forget where you are, as evidenced by the imagery on the bars of soap, shampoo and signage in our room.

Seeing so many Mickey Mouse faces had me a little too excited.

If you aren't tired of seeing Mickey in your room, just look at the front of your building. There he is, making a phone call.

On The Road... How Does That Song Go?

Enjoying a car trip around the Tampa Bay area. The bottom picture shows Tropicana Field in the background.