Cairns, Sydney and Area Beaches

This trip almost didn't happen. It started out as a long joke. Our friends Jason and Angela had been planning on going to Sydney since July to see Jack Johnson in concert. Every other day it seemed Jason would try to get us to go, almost pleading and making it really hard to say no. It was a pipe dream for us really, we fended him off as long as we could. We couldn't find an easy way to make it happen. Could we find a babysitter in Australia to watch Kyra while we went? Should just one of us go and the other stay home. Nothing seemed logistically possible or fair to all parties involved. Then when U2 announced a tour date just a few days after the Jack concert Vicki came up with the splendid idea that we would each go to one of the concerts while the other stayed with Kyra. Which is exactly what we did and I must say that it worked out pretty great. Now I realize that we could have all three gone to the Jack concert, it was quite mellow on the lawn, but in the end we decided that we would each be granted a night of freedom to enjoy ourselves to the utmost. Jason and Angela are good concert going friends. Both Vicki and I made the most of our evenings out and felt like we really got to experience a different side of Sydney than on our previous visit.

We stayed in a much different part of town. An area called Potts Point where the streets are tree lined and the cafe's plentiful. Still walking distance to the Opera House and Sydney's many parks and gardens, Potts Point provided us with a really good base to occupy the interests of both child and adult alike. Every other corner seemed to have a little park or playground for Kyra to expend her energy. It was a really nice aspect of the city.

One really great experience we got to enjoy that is not pictured below was the Chinese exhibit at the Sydney Museum. Some artifacts from the tomb of the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, were on loan and we took a rare opportunity to see them accompanied by more than 200 other rare and interesting artifacts including several statues of his Entombed Warriors, Chariots and Royal Guards. It was pretty cool and I doubt we will ever go to China to see it in person, so we were glad we went, but don't have any pictures as they were forbidden like many other things in China.

Below are some photos, we hope you enjoy!!


Here is Kyra on her favorite swing in the playground just around the corner from our hotel



Vicki apparently is really popular in Sydney. Here she casually leans against a pole on her very own street.



Of all people, Oprah was in town. She pretty much took over the place. She even interrupted the Jack concert with her nearby firework display. You just have to laugh I guess. But Australia expects to generate millions of tourist dollars from her recent trip which is good I guess, but it doesn't seem like Australia is really hurting for tourist dollars. Pretty much everybody I know would like to visit Australia already, so I dont really understand the big push, but whatever. So they rolled out the red carpet everywhere she went and treated her like royalty. Which I suppose she pretty much is. But we felt skywriting was a bit much.



One of the better activities we did on this trip was to visit some of the nearby beaches. We spent a day in Bondi and a day in Coogee. Above is Kyra and Vicki posing on the ever famous Bondi Beach.



Kyra playing in the Tasman Sea.



This statue of a lifeguard diving into the ocean fascinated Kyra to no end. She couldn't figure out what he was doing and what it was all about. She was at first intrigued, then scared a bit and then just interested in its very existence. It was a very funny couple of minutes where you could just see the wheels turning in her little head.



This is what an Australian field trip looks like. By law, the kids are required to wear hats.



This is what Kyra looks like when an Australian field trip takes over the slide she had been solitary enjoying moments earlier.



Coogee Beach from a nice coastal walk along the bluffs.



Angela, Jason, Kyra, Vicki and Matt at sunset on Coogee. After a not too shabby day at the beach we finished it off with a relaxing pizza dinner on the bluffs overlooking Coogee. It was a nice evening and a good sunset over what must be one of Sydney's most serene and relaxed suburbs.



Captain Kyra



One of the added highlights to this trip was that we got to end our time in Australia with a few days in Cairns before our flight back to Guam. Now that Kyra is a bit older she can really experience all the free play areas that Cairns has to offer. One is the pool that we spent most of the day at, but the other is the kids area along the Esplanade where Kyra decided was a good place to cool off. As Cairns this time of year is quite hot, it was just what the doctor ordered.



Big fish eating Kyra.

Tokyo

Vic and I had a bit of "Island Fever" so we took a short trip up to Tokyo to check out this fair Earth's largest city. We figured 4 days was about all we could take. As exhausting as Tokyo can be, I found it pretty entertaining and when it was all said and done I felt like I could endure a little bit more. To me Tokyo is like one of those friends you had in High School that you liked being with but just gets to be too much to handle when you hang out for more than a few hours at a time. I guess any really big city can be draining and as a visitor, Tokyo seems easier to manage and is best seen in moderate doses.

We packed a lot in during our stay, had long days and soaked up as much as we could. Upon our arrival we headed to Yoyogi Park. It was very shady and cool compared to the concrete jungle circumventing its borders. In the center of the park lies Meiji Shrine, considered by many to be Tokyo's most important Shinto place of worship. It was a nice afternoon and a relaxing way to spend the remainder of the day after a series of planes, trains and automobiles.

Large Torii at the entrance to the Meiji Shrine. The logs used to build this torii are said to have come from a 1,500 year old cypress tree on Mount Tandai in Taiwan, which surprised me due to my previous held opinion that everything that came out of Taiwan was plastic. Who knew!

Saki Casks along the path to the Meiji Shrine - these were typical gifts for the Emperor given by various important people and dignitaries over the ages.

We were sure to adhere to the cleaning rituals at the Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park. Left hand, right hand, then the face. Don't forget to bow.

When we go to sleep Kyra must sneak out and socialize because she seems to be pretty popular everywhere we go. Just one of many instances where we were stopped by a gaggle of Japanese locals who wanted to capture the enigmatic white child. I'm pretty sure these people were tourists themselves since they took about 200 pictures a piece. She took it all in stride for about 5 minutes and then got kinda sick of it all and started crying.


Across from Yoyogi Park lies the Harajuku District where you can glimpse the future leaders of Japan dressing up like comic book characters. Big hair, Little Bo Peep style outfits and lots of makeup. It was a pretty crowded area, full of self expression and individuality. Culturally interesting but not exactly enticing for me to adopt. It was just another one of those days where I just kept reminding myself how goofy some of the Japanese cultures can be. We all have our quirks and peculiarities, but it seems to me that the Japanese have more than their share.

Where's Waldo. One of these things is not like the other. Most places we visit we attempt to blend in as best we can, but I pretty much gave up in Tokyo. Even in the widely diverse Harajuku District I couldn't seem to fade into the masses.


We stayed near the world's busiest train station - Sinjuku. The book we had said about 2 million people pass through there every day. It seemed more like 4 or 5 million to me. We went through there several times and at all hours of the day and it was simply jam packed all day long. It made me miss Guam just a little bit.

Typical busy street near our hotel in Shinjuku.


We spent some time at Ueno Park, Tokyo's version of Central Park. It was filled with shrines, temples, statues, Japanese street performers singing La Bamba (Sabes Guantanamera?) and a Pandaless zoo. Everywhere we went we saw billboards and signs directing us to see the Pandas at the zoo. The little zoo map even has a big panda on the cover. Once inside you can take your picture with a 10 foot tall ceramic panda. Wouldn't it be safe to assume that there would be real live Pandas inside as well? Stay thirsty my friends. There are no pandas at the Tokyo Zoo. They had otters, tigers, gorillas and penguins, but no pandas. A few hours after leaving the zoo we ran into this guy who asked us what we had been seeing in his city and when we told him that we had just come from the zoo his head bowed in what I could only assume was shame and said "I am very sorry, we have no pandas anymore." I guess its a big controversy, perhaps China stole them, but there are definitely no pandas and Tokyo's citizens sure seem upset.

Swans at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo

A very large Hello Kitty in the Baskin' Robbins near our hotel, Kyra kept looking at it as if she was wondering what the purpose of such a thing could be. Sometimes even I have no answers.


One really cool thing we did was visit Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market. The largest fish market in the world. (are you sensing a theme here) It was big. Lots of strange things going on. The metro stop for the fish market is 4 floors underground and when you get off the train you can already smell fish. We followed our noses several escalators and multiple stairways up and had a nice morning meandering through the stalls and watching the salesmen tolerate our presence. There were lots of crazy fish I'd never seen before and several of the stands sold live seafood. Not jsut fish, but crab and eel and all sorts of other living creatures packaged up and squirming around in see through containers.

Tsukiji Fish Market

This guy is sawing up some frozen tuna. I tried to get Vicki to distract him while I grabbed a slab but he was not easily swayed.


We spent an afternoon in Odaiba. Japans architecturally interesting district as we later named it. There were lots of cool buildings that stood testament to Japan's superior engineering. I guess they have to somehow make up for the runway I often land on in Osaka that is sinking into the ocean. We spent a long time at the Miraikan building which is their National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Most of it was in Japanese (but there was a lot of English explanation) and there were several elementary school field trips going on, but we pieced together the gist of it all and came out a bit more educated in the process. The coolest thing they had was a huge room with a rotating electric globe hanging 50 feet up from the ceiling. You can lay in comfy couches and look up while the earth changes in real time. They also have sequences of weather patterns over the last 30 days as well as ocean temperature changes over various periods of time. Kyra liked it quite a bit and later decided to take a nice little nap. We didn't argue one bit. It was quite relaxing.

Kyra looking up at the globe

Big Globe

Shibuya - The worlds busiest intersection is here, there were lots of people. Kyra almost lost her pacifier crossing the street, but alas it was found and she was able to sleep that night.

It was a good trip, we were glad we went. I liked Tokyo even though it can be a bit too much at times. I think that visiting in the fall or spring would make a big difference as the cherry blossoms are supposed to be a nice background compliment to the vast urban feeling all around you. I'd go back, there was just so much to see and do, we had to be picky and selective, but I would like to see some of the other parts that we neglected. Survey says: B+.

Singapore and Malaysia

Let me first say that we simply had a swell time in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with our friends Jason and Angela. We had been planning on doing a trip together for some time and it was really nice to actually make it happen. They displayed tons of patience and flexibility throughout the trip and always seemed to pick Kyra up or play with her just when Vic and I needed it most. They made the whole experience of being in a foreign place much easier as they served as part tour guide, part nanny, part social coordinators but mostly just good friends.

Singapore is quite impressive. From the moment you land you know you have entered a different sort of place. Its really clean, safe and orderly. And it feels big despite being just a small island. It's a very western city. I felt more like I was in America there than I do in America sometimes if that makes any sense. But there are many differences, some better some worse. There are lots of rules and lots of signs telling you what you are and are not supposed to do. If you have drugs, they kill you, the announcement on the plane even says so. If you chew gum, they put you in jail or cane you, you're choice I guess. And whatever you do don't spit in the street. The whole time walking around I felt pretty safe even though I never once saw one police officer or security guard anywhere. Not one. Rumor has it that undercover guys are everywhere. That man standing over there with the sunglasses reading the OK magazine, he's not really as interested in Lady Gaga or Paris Hilton as he is in finding out if you're really going to take your stroller on the escalator. I guess a healthy amount of paranoia is a good thing when it comes to crime. Maybe it was just me or maybe it was just not being use to it, but I felt like at any moment I might be hauled off to some interrogation room for questioning as to why I didn't flush the toilet. Which is an actual law punishable by some sort of terrible public humiliation I'm sure. So it was fitting that in a land so full of rules, regulations and penalties that we first visited the kitschy and wonderlandish attraction known as Haw Par Villa and its "Ten Courts of Hell".

This is Haw Par. Its kinda weird. It doesn't serve any real purpose that we could come up with, yet we went in anyway. Inside you can find the "Ten Courts of Hell" which is basically a tunnel with displays that look like it was some elaborate 5th grade project. I will say however, that it is quite informative and if you are of the persuasion that reincarnation is real then this is the place to scare you straight. I suppose one way of being a better person is to know that if you curse or waste food then in the afterlife you will either be thrown on to a tree of knives or sawed in two. My personal favorite was the hill of knives which became your fate in the 4th court of hell if you litter or neglect the elderly. Or maybe that penalty was being crushed by a boulder, I can't seem to remember, but you definitely shouldn't do either of those things. I didn't think of it so much at the time, but now as I reflect upon it I am amazed at the things we come up with and turn into theology. While every "crime" in the courts of hell are things we would mostly all agree are not such great things to make a habit of, the way about it perplexes me. I never thought of Hinduism as having population control issues or rules meant to instill fear into its subjects or else xyz might happen to you when you die. But whatever, it was somewhat entertaining to us, except for Angela who thought it was completely and totally ridiculous that we even considered going in.


These are really big masks hanging on a fence for no apparent reason. Kyra liked them.


This is Clarke Quay. Pronounced Clark Key for some reason. I guess it's remnants of British influence persevering to this day. They also use words like queue and colour instead of line and color. And I can only assume that when the power goes out they use a torch to light their way, but in a place like Singapore I'd wager that the power rarely goes out.


The Clarke Quay Turkish Ice Cream stand. Which served up a pretty good scoop as well as our afternoon meeting place.


Sometimes Kyra would fall asleep at just the right moment so we could enjoy a few beers with our friends. This trip was the first time Kyra would sleep in her stroller. It was really nice to not have to go back to the hotel to give her naps everyday. You know shes in deep REM when her pacifier falls out and she still stays asleep.

We ate really well on this trip, which thrilled Vicki to no extent. Pretty much every type of food can be enjoyed in Singapore and we had our fare share of the fare. Indian, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Malaysian etc. It was all pretty good. So, I hesitate to include this picture due to its graphic nature and as it is not really representative of Malay cuisine but it was just too good not to include. I can assure you that these are some sort of clam-like delicacy and not the result of castrated horses. Yes, many juvenile jokes were made and when Jason and I felt as if we couldn't take it anymore we opted for the Spanish Tapas place. Which for some reason had a Mariachi band playing La Bamba followed by Guantanamera. Spain, Mexico, whats the difference when you're this far away, right? The Spanish would be quite offended and rightly so, but the food was spot on. (hey jon. Tengo una pregunta...sabes guantanamera?)


This is China Town. Its pretty much like any other China Town that ever existed. You can eat Chinese food and buy lots of crap. We did both. Not pictured are Little India and the Arab Quarter where all the rules of Singapore seem not to apply. You can j-walk, spit in the street or even at someone. Little India was hot and filthy. Much like Big India I would imagine. But the food was great and the people were nice.


In general, I think zoos are sad places, they serve their purpose I suppose, but I always feel sad for the animals. We were told not to miss the Singapore Zoo though, so we didn't. It was awesome. Not as free as the St. Louis Zoo and not as expensive as San Diego, but better than both combined. This little guy above greeted us as we entered. They have a "free roaming" philosophy where the animals aren't in cages and can go about their business unrestricted. Its still a zoo and by all intents and purposes these animals are quite caged. i.e. they have manatees and seals in a pool about half the size of the rec plex. The lions and tigers had about a half acre to roam around, not much room to really roam if you ask me. But the zoo did seem to really emphasize the effect humans have on the animals and the importance of protecting them. It was good to get out of the city for a bit and Kyra really liked the tigers and feeding the giraffes. They have really long tongues, which makes sense I guess.

Vicki looks like shes having a good time, Kyra's not too sure but she warmed up to the giraffes a bit later.

The architecture in Singapore is unparalleled in my opinion, it reminded me of Barcelona in that way a bit. There were crazy buildings everywhere just because they can. This one by our hotel was very techno and electric, it lit up at night and gave us some splendid shows.


The Central Business District has lots of money and lots of buildings. We were told that the Financial Center of Asia was originally built along this section of the river because the shoreline resembles the belly of a carp (a symbol of good luck and fortune). So the financial wizards of the day put all their money along this section of town and what remains today is one of the most compact and financially wealthy area in the world.

We took a little evening river cruise. Kyra about jumped out of the boat. She likes water.


Jason and Angela take some weird photos. Well let me rephrase, Jason takes some weird pictures and Angela puts up with it. I think he's trying to get the reflection of the city off her sunglasses.


Typical Singapore dinner. On our last night in town we ate at the Hawker Stalls which is a very common way for the local people to eat. It was good. While we had spring rolls and other delicious eats Kyra was stuck with her usual squash mixed with peas and turkey, hence the displeasure on her face.


A short 45 min flight north took us to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This picture is from our hotel room. We got a lucky room with a pretty nice view. KL is pretty much like any other big city. Just cheeper and they have a monorail. Just like Disneyland except its full of Malaysians instead of Japanese. While Singapore is an extremely easy city to travel around, KL is the polar opposite. This was especially evident to us as we were trying to navigate around with a baby stroller. In Singapore everything is handicapped accessible, the signs make sense, the public transit is user friendly and things simply work as if someone actually put some thought into planning that city out. In KL everything seems as if its an afterthought. The subway and monorail have overlapping lines but don't connect. In KL there are stairs everywhere, sometimes it seems like there were stairs just because they could, like they made too much cement or something. This proved endlessly frustrating with a stroller. After day one, we opted for just taking cabs everywhere, which actually turned out to be about the same price as the public transit. Win win. I say all this but we truly had the mindset that going to Malaysia was a bonus add on/side trip for us and we were just glad to be there. We missed the ease and cleanliness of Singapore for sure, but KL had its high points and unique attractions. The main one being Petronas Towers (pictured top right) and KL Tower (top left). We mostly walked around and just soaked as much up as we could. There wasn't too much culture in this big city of shopping malls, seriously, there was a mall on every corner. We even broke down one night and had Papa John's. Ouch. But we did make it in a few Mosques and out to The Batur Caves one day which was really cool, as caves tend to be.

Apparently when you order a small pint of beer in Malaysia this is what you get.

Petronas Towers. They are tall.

Jason and Angela like to have weird pictures taken of them too. Actually, the picture above this one was taken with Jason in a similar position and I felt compelled to return the favor.


Vicki has never been to a Muslim country so she said she wanted to go inside a Mosque. It was pretty funny that I could go in with shorts, a t-shirt and sandals, while Vic had to gown up head to toe. Luckily they thought Kyra was a boy so she got off easy.


The five of us in front of a cool fountain that Kyra couldn't keep her eyes off of even for one second.

Batur Cave. And a really big Buddha.


The cave had 240 steps leading up to it and a monkey on just about every one of them. Kyra sleeps with Carl (her stuffed animal monkey) every night, so she felt a special connection to these mischievous guys.

More monkeys.

Monkey eating a coconut.

Shrine.

One of the many times Jason and Ang entertained Kyra thus thwarting a meltdown.

In my most fatherly picture to date, Kyra and I pass the layover with some Coy in the Singapore Airport before our journey home. We ended up taking three flights for over 18 hours of travel before we made it back to Guam. Kyra traveled better than expected. Her favorite past time is eating the passenger briefing cards. At least they're good for something.

Another great trip. We felt very lucky to have seen these places and to expose Kyra to another culture. Your comments are welcome!

Vicki chimes in:

Here, here. Matt did a really good job of capturing our experience, so I don't have much to add. I really loved visiting both of these places, which was a welcome surprise since I was feeling quite a bit of apprehension about another trip with Kyra (the last few hadn't gone so well--lack of a normal sleep pattern plus overstimulation make for one crazy baby). Singapore was a beautifully immaculate city wherever you happened to be--the minute we arrived at the airport and it was covered with rainbow-colored orchid gardens and a palm forest, I knew this was going to be a different kind of city. Besides the law barring gum-chewing, I really appreciated our travel book's warning against urinating in public lifts...a luxury we Americans have grown so accustomed to.

Culturally it's a very interesting city, where Arab, Indian, Chinese and Malay people seem to respectfully and almost perfectly co-exist--from an outsider's point of view, all seemed to receive fairly equal representation in the city; no one culture seemed to overshadow the others. For a traveler with limited time, the city allows you to feel as if you are venturing into different 'worlds' without having to spend much time getting to each of them. Of course, with so many cultures represented, the food options were unbelievable. And the great thing about Singapore especially was that they have such strict regulations on food preparation in their dining establishments that you can feel free to be really adventuresome. I tried laksa (a dish of noodles in a spicy coconut cream broth with shrimp, fish, and garnished with half a boiled egg...strange but yummy), Haianese chicken rice (a dish served cold to cool you off in Singapore's sweltering heat), yong tau fu (a sort of 'salad bar' of ingredients like fish balls, squid, tofu, a wide assortment of mushrooms and small bok choy that you select from and place into a bowl to which the person behind the counter adds noodles, broth, green onions and a spicy red sauce and passes back to you), Indian prata, nasi lemak with beef (yummiest thing I tried in Kuala Lumpur--a plate of coconut rice, beef prepared in sort of coconut/peanuty curry, a spicy garlicky red sauce on the side, cucumbers, and roasted peanuts mixed with dried sardines...I avoided those on the side of my plate), iced umbra juice with sour plum (tasted like sweet cactus), and sang har meen (another noodle dish in an egg sauce topped with ginormous prawns and spring onions...the egg sauce was an interesting consistency). For some reason corn was really popular--they sold Corn in a Cup like it was snow cones or funnel cakes. Even one of the gelato options at the ubiquitous gelato stands/shops was 'coconut corn'--coconut flavored gelato with little kernels of corn sprinkled all over the top. Believe it or not, it actually turns out to be a pretty tasty combo. This trip really broadened my perspective on corn and its possibilities. Besides these local options, you could wander into any of the malls or the Quay in Singapore and find Spanish tapas, Italian, Mediterranean, "Mexican", Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, even Mongolian food options. As well as a BK (Burger King) Bar...that's right, you can enjoy a cold brew right along with your Whopper in plain view and no one bats an eyelash.

This guy put the other corn in a cup guy right out of business.

sang har meen

Probably the coolest personal growth thing that happened for me was being confronted with preconceived ideas about Muslim countries that I didn't even know I had. I wasn't thinking of holy wars and suicide bombers, it was more a general expectation that we would feel unwelcome as obvious Westerners in Malaysia. And our experience was completely the opposite. People were extremely warm and friendly, whether we encountered one another on the subway, in a shop, a restaurant or passing one another on the street. It didn't hurt that Kyra has one of the most disarming smiles in any hemisphere. Here are some pics of her and just a few of the MANY friends she made...

Near little India in Singapore

In the Kuala Lumpur airport

A street-side market in Kuala Lumpur...these nice fellows took a watch with a blinking light out from under their counter and were entertaining her with it.

Well, That's about all I have to comment on about this adventure... except that I also say what awesome travel companions Jason and Angela were and how absolutely great they were helping out with Kyra--without their help it wold not have been the wonderful experience it was.

Anyway, thanks for reading, guys!!! We miss you terribly--no matter how many fun adventures we have, it does not compare to being with the people we love.