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Juliet Sinclair's Trips
Juliet Sinclair's Trips

Juliet Sinclair's Trips

war bereits in 13 Ländern Weiterlesen🇺🇸Overland Park
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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 8: Balloch/Loch Lomond

    25. Mai 2024 in Schottland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Happy to report that Steve did a fine job driving on UK road! He got us out of Glasgow and drove us to a small town by Loch Lomond safely.

    Loch Lomond is the largest freshwater lake in UK. Balloch is a charming little town next to it with a busy dock. Our hotel is right across street from the dock. A busy restaurant is on the bottom floor of the building, they were getting ready for a large crowd due to the championship game of Scotland Football League when we arrived.

    We took a relaxing lake cruise, learned some interesting things about the area. The line dividing Lowland and Highland of Scotland is right in the middle of this lake. Mary Queen of Scot spent her last days as free person in a castle on an island of this lake.

    However, we didn’t truly appreciate the beauty of the lake until we climbed a little hill that locals fondly called “the dumping”.

    We were the only people climbing the hill, stopping once a while to enjoy some very classic Scottish scenery as we walked. Once we reached the top, the entire lake expended in front of our eyes. Stunning, simply stunning views of the sparkling water, the dotted islands, the blue sky and white/grey clouds, and the mountains peaks on the horizon. WOW!! What an amazing view!

    Since we were the only people on the hill, we lingered for a while and patted ourselves on the back for coming here.

    Next, we headed to Finnich Glen, a hidden glen near here that appeared in the show “Outlander”.
    There were very few parking spaces here and we were lucky to find one. Walking on the muddy path right by the cliff of the glen was a bit nerve wracking, and the stairs going down to the water was steep and broken. We decided not to risk our lives for photos, instead walked to the end of the trail and headed to the water in a much safer way. It’s interesting to see how red the water was…iron in the clay perhaps?

    The boys insisted having proper Scottish Fish and Chips for dinner. So we went to a take out place that seemed attracted many locals. The fish were fired golden brown and crispy! Although we had to take them back to our hotel room and sat on the floor to eat them. Very different than our posh dinner in Glasgow last night 😂    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender
    John Knox' Memorial in GlasgowJohn Knox' Burial site under a parking spot in Edinburgh

    Day 7: Glasgow

    24. Mai 2024 in Schottland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    The rain has lessened a bit in our last morning in Edinburgh. We managed to get a couple good photos of the castle as the background.

    The train ride from Edinburgh to Glasgow provided some nice scenery of Scotland countryside: green meadows and rolling hills, dotted by black cows and white sheep. All seemed very pleasant and peaceful.

    We had heard that Glasgow was not a pleasant city, a trashy city with drunk people, but when we arrived here, we were happily surprised. The city is clean and grand, rows of Victorian buildings with wide streets in the middle. A major throughput is a pedestrian street which made the city very walkable. A large square right in front of the city chamber is dedicated to unknown soldiers memorial, and statues of writers and scientists, which is a nice diversion from all the statues of politicians we’ve seen.

    Best of all, we finally saw some patches of blue sky!

    Glasgow Necropolis is a very large cemetery about a mile away from the city centre. John Knox, the person led the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, has his memorial at the highest center ground here. However, his body is actually buried in Edinburgh, currently under a parking spot in front of a church. I will post both photos with this post.

    Dinner tonight was at a very fancy restaurant near our hotel. Evan and I had been wanting to have a Beef Wellington dish since we arrived in UK, and we were very pleased that this restaurant did an excellent job with it.

    Although I did something quite embarrassing. I couldn’t find the ladies bathroom (it’s on a different floor than Men’s which is in the basement), so I went into the bathroom for disabled people. To flash toilet in UK, sometimes you need to pull a string. I mistakenly pulled the distress string for the disabled person instead of flush string. I frantically tried to find a way to stop the alarm but couldn’t. I had to walk all the way upstairs to tell the manager of the restaurant. He just laughed and told me this happened all the time. He was able to shut it off thankfully.

    We will be renting a car tomorrow and head west. Steve is rightfully nervous about driving on the “wrong” side of the street for the next two weeks!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 6: Edinburgh

    23. Mai 2024 in Schottland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    The rain was relentless today and certainly dampen the mood a bit. When I came here many years ago, a beautiful blue sky was the backdrop of this charming city, which helped making it my top 3 most beautiful cities in the world. Today, the visibility was so low that you can hardly see anything even looking out from the top of the castle. However, rain is very much part of Edinburgh’s character. As a lady tour guide told us later in the day:”If you come to Edinburgh, don’t complain about the rain. Because you came willingly despite of it.”

    Our first business of the day was actually laundry. We carried our big bag of laundry and walked all the way to the University of Edinburgh area. What should be the most mundane part of the day turned very interesting, because of the owner of this laundromat.

    As soon as you see him, you knew he was trouble. This overweight older gentleman with a red face is clearly fond of the bottom of the bottles. As soon as he opened his mouth, you can tell how much he likes to offend people.

    A university student from Edinburgh university came in and gave him an interview, asked him some local issues. He is anti-immigration, anti-establishment, almost anti everything!! We sat there listened and rolled our eyes. He later tried to talk to us, I didn’t take an easy on him with my mocking tune. He became exasperated and said they call a woman like me “Stalin’s grandma”! 🙄Since he seems to a know-it-all type of the guy, Evan asked him:”is there anything you are not expert of?” He said:”Stay married.” I said:”Why am I not surprised?!” 😂 Although he does very three very cute dogs in the shop.

    After a quick lunch at a restaurant specializing Baked Potatoes, we had a nice tour of Edinburgh Castle, and was lucky enough to see the change of the guards here as well.

    Unfortunately our dinner at a French restaurant right by our hotel was mediocre, but the best thing of the day had yet to come.

    The Edinburgh Ghost Tour was excellent! There were so many interesting and sometimes grisly stories in this ancient city. Our tour guy was a lady who was very passionate about her job and was great at telling stories. After walking through the streets and alleyways of the cities, listening to the stories of hanging and tortures, we arrived at the underground cellars of the Edinburgh. It was very interesting to wander through the underbelly of a city with a rich history, getting to know about the operations of some more questionable methods.

    Just to make the day even more interesting, we saw a fire truck parked right in front of our hotel, and we were ushered into a nearby building by the security since our hotel was being evacuated. Fortunately, they determined it was false alarm shortly after.

    We will say goodbye to this city and head to Glasgow tomorrow.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 5: Edinburgh

    22. Mai 2024 in Schottland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    The train to Edinburgh was delayed due to a pedestrian’s collision with a train in the morning, the train supposed to depart before us was cancelled. In a remarkable British fashion, there was no dispute among the passengers regarding who should get the seats despite the fact two trainload of passengers squeezed into one. Can’t say the same would happen if it occurred in America, can definitely say there would be many arguments if it occurred in China!

    The rain has haunted us from London to Edinburgh, and it will remain throughout our stay here. Sadly.

    We have decided to give Evan a proper hand made Scottish Kilt as his birthday present (possibly his Wedding attire in the future!). As we walking into this Traditional kilt maker shop, we knew we had come to the right place. There were old ladies making kilt right there on the second floor of the shop!

    Evan picked a very nice Sinclair tartan with red hue, it’s called Sinclair Modern pattern. I can picture a very handsome Evan wearing it on his wedding day in the near future. A mother can dream!

    I have to give a shoutout to a fantastic restaurant here called Baba, it’s a midwestern restaurant with some amazing food! Seriously, besides the lamb shoulders and pork neck dishes that melt in your mouth, I really don’t know how anyone can make a simple cabbage dish so tasty! The best food we had so far on the trip!

    There is also a hot chocolate shop here. Can you imagine the entire menu of hot chocolates? Every item listed where is sourced and % of coco within it. What’s even more unbelievable was the fact adding Sichuan pepper powder (they grind it right in front of you) can elevate the taste of hot chocolate to another level! The best and most unique hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted!

    Looking forward to a full day of activity tomorrow!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 4: London

    21. Mai 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    When Rome conquered London 2,000 years ago, they built some grand buildings and a wall around the old city of London. After they left London, so did many educated and Latin speaking Londoners, therefore there is little historical documentation on what or where those buildings were. As the high rises started to be built in London, they dug deeper and deeper, and uncovered some amazing archaeological sites from the Rome period.

    Which is why, having a private tour with an archaeologist in London is a cool thing for us to do. Our guide is actually one of the archaeologists who are currently processing a newly discovered site in London, and was very excited to tell us all about the history of London and the architecture aspect of the buildings from different time periods. We walked a large section of the London that the tourists may not set their foot into.

    We learned so much from him! I have to say, standing on the top of Tower Hill, the site where many famous people were beheaded, was a surreal moment of our trip.

    The National Gallery is celebrating 200th year of its history, so they have free admission this whole year. The luck we had for the past 4 days of sunshine has finally run out. With the constant drizzle outside, walking the grand halls of National Gallery seems to be the perfect thing to do as we spent the last full day in London.

    Dinner was at one of the best restaurants in London called St John Restaurant. The bone marrow salad was delicious!

    Heading to Edinburgh tomorrow!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 3: London

    20. Mai 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We had another full day of activities today again! First in the morning, Westminster Abby! When I went inside of the Abby many years ago, I was stunned by its beauty, today, my draw dropped once again. We have been to many magnificent religious places in the world: St Paul’s Cathedral in Vatican, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and my personal favorite, Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Westminster Abbey is in my top three list. It’s the perfect blend of elegance and grandeur, the sunlight shining through the mosaic windows certainly added even more beauty to the space.

    Finding out that Stephen Hawking is buried right next to Newton warmed my heart.

    Due to the approaching of King Charles birthday celebration in June, the regiment of guards were having rehearsals. Our guide told us that it’s rare to see so many guards together like this, along with the full march band. We saw them rehearsing their formations at the horse guards field, and later marching on the Royal Mile towards the palace. So very cool!

    We then took the River Cruise on Thames River, sailed to Tower of London, which is one of my favorite historical sites. There are so much mysteries and so many deaths happened in this amazing fortress, not to mention the 35 Beefeaters walking around the compound, linking the history with the present. Also, the biggest diamond in the world, the crowns wore by all the Kings and Queens (happened as recently as just few months ago), and the royal armors/swords… so many cool objects at one place to showcase the wealth of a empire. It really does get any better than this!

    I was delighted to see a beautiful little girl in her fancy dress, running and dancing on the lawn in front of the King’s house (once held the notorious Guy Fawkes), and then hear booming voice from a Beefeater, telling her to get out the grass. Hilarious!

    Dinner was at a tiny little Italian restaurant where they made refresh pasta in front of your eyes. The food here was delicious!!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 2: London

    19. Mai 2024 in England ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Churchill has always been a leader that’s admired by both Steve and I, so we were very excited to be able to visit his war room.

    Walking into the underground bunker was a surreal moment, knowing how much this place had made a difference in defeating the Nazi in WW2. With his ruthlessness in leading the army, his charm leading the people, Churchill was exactly what Britain needed to win the war. We’ve learned so much about the man during this tour.

    When I visited the British Museum many years ago, I remember being angry seeing the artifacts that I could only see as photographs in our text books, but could see in person here. Now, I was back here this afternoon, and my feelings were mixed. As our excellent guide had pointed out to me, how many of these artifacts would’ve been destroyed during Cultural Revolution if they were still in China? Yeah, I was not mad about the museum as before. Seeing all these magnificent artifacts from different cultures and different times in history all in one place, it’s kind of nice actually. Not to excuse all the evil the imperial had done to the world, but the result may not be all bad.

    After an excellent dinner at The Ivy Restaurant, we went to see a play called What Play that goes wrong. Seen some episodes on tv before and loved them, seeing it in person was way better!! The talented cast did a fantastic job to bring so much laughters and excitement to the whole theater! Most importantly, kept me awake from falling asleep from jet lag. Highly recommended!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2024 London/ScotlandReisender

    Day 1: London

    18. Mai 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After an easy travel day, we arrived London just after noon. The immigration process was surprisingly easy and fast!! Way better than the process we endured on our recent trip to Toronto. The Canadians should really learn something from UK.

    Our hotel is located at the heart of London. Walking distance to many attractions in the city.

    I was fortunate enough to book a tour at the Parliament House, since they only open to the public few times a month.

    Walking towards the Parliament House should’ve been an easy 18 minute walk, but a massive pro-Palestinian protest slowed down our pace.

    There were at least 40,000 people, carrying cease fire and pro-Palestinian signs, shouting slogans, and making speeches on a stage. Many Met Police officers were watching the march with vigilance. It was chaotic but peaceful.

    We also encountered protests for Zimbabwe and Sir Lanka on our way. Not as big as the pro-Palestinian march, but they also made their voices heard.

    The entire heart of London was sea of people everywhere we looked…until we reached the Palace of Westminster, where House of Parliament is.

    The Big Ben clock tower soared into the sky, welcome us with its magnificence. The line for the visitor entrance wasn’t too long at all.

    Walking into the massive hall where past Kings and Queens made their speeches to public was definitely awe inspiring. The signature gothic architecture style is consistent throughout the entire palace. The magnificent mosaic window reaches all the way to the celling.

    The staff working here were very polite and efficient. I accidentally dropped my water bottle and spilled water on the stairs, a staff was by my side almost immediately, smiled at me to ease my embarrassment, and talked on the walkie to ask for cleaning up.

    Considering the house of parliament is a working space for the lords and MPs to make policies, it’s remarkable to us that they open it to the public at all. We got the chance to walk through the glittering halls with golden ceilings, viewing the royal portraits and the statues of important Prime Ministers, like Churchill and Thatcher. Most amazingly, the halls of lords and commons where they actually debate and making laws and regulations. I wonder if they allow the public to walk through the halls in US congress like this.

    By the time we completed our tour, all the protesters had dispersed, but there were still massive crowds everywhere we went. I was just glad we didn’t need to take any public transportation at this point.

    Dinner was at one of the best Indian restaurants in London called Colonial Saab. We were delighted to see there were many dishes on the menu that we don’t usually see in other Indian restaurants. The food was delicious! There was an extra layer of complexity in the flavor that made it stand above the other Indian dishes we had before, including the food we had when we were in India a few years ago.

    By the time we got back to our hotel, we were tired but content. Early bed time for us today!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 16: Hongkong

    10. Juni 2023 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Note: this is my last post of our trip, because Facebook is banned in China, and we are heading to Wuhan tomorrow.

    I can’t believe Evan never had Dim Sum before! At least he didn’t have any memory of having it. I feel like a failed Chinese mom. LOL!

    There was an excellent Dim Sum restaurant very close to our hotel. The food was really great, and was reasonably priced, so I ordered almost everything thing from the menu. It was hilarious to see how many dishes were on the table. I had to explain to the waitress that it was Evan’s first dim sum and apologized for ordering too much.

    Today’s main event was Victoria Peak, an hill In Hongkong that offers the best view of the whole city. Taking a tram to the peak is a must for anyone visiting Hongkong. The tram climbs a very steep slope that makes feel like an beginning of a roller coaster.

    The view on the peak was as spectacular as I remembered. Few cities in the world can be an urban jungle but still maintains the natural beauty, Hongkong is an exception. The morning rain had stopped. There were some interesting cloud formations at the horizon, making a perfect backdrop for our photos.

    Every night at 8 PM, there is a light show at Hongkong harbor. All the buildings synchronize their lights with an orchestra music. We got onto the top floor of the tallest building in Hongkong, and throughly enjoyed the music and fantastic light show tonight.

    Heading to Wuhan tomorrow, can’t wait to see my family after 3 years apart.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender
    View from our hotel roomFood was so good!View of the mall from above

    Day 15: Osaka to Hongkong

    9. Juni 2023 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌩️ 28 °C

    For the first time I was disappointed with Japanese organization. At Osaka airport, there was a huge line for the security checkpoint! When it was finally our turn, we saw there was only one check line open, even though they had the capacity for 6! Even just opening one more would’ve been a huge relief for the long line. Disappointing!!

    4 hours later we arrived Hongkong. Evan was at awe with how many high rise apartment buildings there were. It was like an high rise forest extending to the horizon.

    Our hotel is adjacent to a giant indoor mall.m, which has 16 floors with a very interesting architecture design. The open area in the middle created an illusion of outdoor space, but if you look closely at the blue sky, you will realize you are still inside. The escalators seemed endless; we got off one there was another longer one. The final 2 were 4 to 5 floors high, probably over 200 feet long!

    People everywhere, so many of them! If I was home, I probably would be getting ready for bed by now, but here, at 10 pm, there was still so much energy on the streets.

    Having some fantastic Chinese food for dinner made us so happy!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender
    With our Kobe Beef pieces

    Day 14: Osaka

    8. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today is the last full day we have in Japan, and I only wanted the best food Japan could offer, meaning no more breakfast food from 7/11 anymore; it also means the best curry in Osaka and Kobe Beef in Kobe, Japan!

    Well, our breakfast/lunch curry was indeed the best we’ve ever had! This little curry shop is run by a very nice Japanese guy and extremely good curry chef. His curry has just the right amount of flavor for sweetness, spiciness and cumin. The pork cutlets were also one of the best I’ve ever tasted! We were thoroughly satisfied!

    Next was Osaka Castle. This magnificent building was built by the famous Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Born of a son of poor farmer family, he rose to power with his intelligence and cunning political skills, defeating all the Japanese clans in 16th century, and united Japan for the first time in history. Although since he invaded China and Korea during his later years, I’d only known him as a “bad guy”. It was very interesting to read his story in the castle museum, realizing how important he was in Japanese history.

    His biological son was born when he was already 59 years old. In order to ensure his son’s successful succession, he executed the entire family of his adopted son.

    His son was only 6 years old when he died, too young to truly rule the country. At age 26, an attack occurred on the castle which was led by the son’s rebellious uncle. The fall of the castle prompted the young shogun’s and his mother’s suicides, along with several generals.

    You can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if his father hadn’t killed the entire family of the adopted son… history can be so brutal!

    OK, enough about history, back to food! We thought it would be really cool to have Kobe beef in Kobe. So I reserved the seats at the best Kobe beef restaurant in Kobe. In order to make the reservation, I had to pay right then. So the most expensive meal we ever had was paid months prior us even arriving in Japan.

    As soon as we laid our eyes on the two perfect pieces of Kobe beef, we knew we were about the have the best meal of our lives. I can’t even describe properly the first taste of a piece of Kobe beef. It was so tender that it could melt in your mouth! If the perfection can have a taste, this is it!

    The entire process of cooking the beef was also well designed. Instead of having a large chuck of meat all at once, the chef broke the pieces into different sections, and cooked them separately between making vegetables: first, 4 small pieces of beef; then eggplant pieces; then 4 more small pieces of beef; then mushrooms… and so on. Every thing the chef put on our plates was so good that was mind boggling. The entire process lasted more than one hour! We were in food heaven!!

    Japan, a country full of perfectionism, gave us the final act of perfection with this meal. I can’t think of a better way for us to end our trip to Japan.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender
    Street performer in a wolf head

    Day 13: Kyoto to Osaka

    7. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today is traveling day, the train I had booked unfortunately was delayed significantly due to an accident happened at a crossing somewhere. So I purchased tickets for another train and made into Osaka in less than 20 minutes. Bullet train is very cool!

    Our new Airbnb isn’t too far from Osaka train station. We definitely got spoiled by the previous house, feeling disappointed there was only one bathroom in this house. LOL!

    Evan told us that Osaka was the city of neon lights, and it’s very true. When the sea of neon lights suddenly appeared in front of our eyes once we reached the downtown area at night, we were at awe!

    There were so many neon lights that it took a while for my eye sight to get adjusted to them. Part of the area looked like daytime! There were also so many people here, like sardines squeezing into a confined space. We estimated there were probably minimum of 10,000 people here with us tonight!

    The tallest building in Japan is called Harukas building 300, referring the fact the building’s height is 300 meters. Viewing the entire city from the top of this building was an amazing experience! Osaka is indeed a big city! Smaller than Tokyo, but bigger than most cities in the world.

    Tomorrow will be the last full day we have in Japan.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 12: Kyoto (Happy 18th bday to Evan!)

    6. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Day 12: Kyoto (Happy 18th Birthday to Evan!)

    This morning was all about celebrating Evan’s 18th Birthday! The candles I brought all the way from home were placed on the French pastries we got yesterday, our Japanese house helped making our photos picture perfect.

    I had scheduled a Kimono Tea ceremony, and we were very excited about it. I have to say, putting on a kimono is super complicated!! I can’t imagine if someone has to put one on themselves. Not surprisingly, it took a lot longer for me to get dressed than the guys.

    The ceremony was excellent! Our host was a very cute Japanese lady, who speaks excellent English. Although she wasn’t too confident about her English herself, kept asking us if we understood her. She was very good at keeping the conversation moving, and getting to know all the guests. The entire event was very charming and relaxing. Although sitting on your knees for a long time was very challenging after a while.

    Next stop, bamboo forests, which was about 45 minutes away from Kyoto. The closer we got to the little town by the forest, the more crowded it got. Even though the bamboo forest was absolutely gorgeous, the crowds certainly added some chaos to the supposedly peaceful atmosphere.

    One of the best rated restaurants in Kyoto is a tiny place with only 10 seats. I reserved our seats months ago by contacting the owner via Facebook, mentioning Evan’s birthday.

    The owner specializes Kyoto style dishes with local ingredients. Every single dish was fresh and tasty, absolutely amazing! We also had some great conversations with the owner and fellow diners.

    As we paid our food and about to leave, the owner stopped us, took out a birthday sash, a pair of funny glasses, a tiara , a laptop loops Happy Birthday song endlessly. Evan, who never liked being the center of attention, blushed all over. But he allowed the restaurant owner to put everything on him, even gave a speech. 😂 The diners who haven’t left yet certainly had a good time celebrating with us.

    I’d say Evan had a memorable birthday today! everything on him,    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 11: Kyoto

    5. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Nara is a city about one hour train ride from Kyoto, and is famous for its deer park, where a large herd of deers (more than 1,200) thrive and become a major attraction to tourists. The deers have been living here for hundreds of years, and considered as sacred animals in the city. They are well cared for and protected. The deer crackers you can buy to feed them are specially designed for them, and safe for them to consume and enjoy.

    As we arrived to the city, after walking about 5 minutes, we could immediately smell them. We bought some crackers, and walked towards the park. I was immediately mobbed by 3 or 4 deers! As a new comer, I was ill prepared for how to handle them. My stack of crackers were gone within a few seconds!

    Steve was laughing and handing me some of his crackers, this time, I learned to take a small piece to feed them. I walked away from those aggressive ones though. Those deers were biggest and most experienced deers, knowing how to bully newcomers. 😳

    The rest of the experience was more calm and fun. The deers would bow to you when asked to be fed. Some were more gentle than others. We didn’t like the ones who tucked our shirts, or nudged at us. The gentle ones got more crackers from us.

    Steve enjoyed feeding the deers so much that he went to got more crackers, and we went to different areas of the park, and fed different groups. The one deer with an injured leg got most crackers from us.

    It’s not often you see animals and humans interacting so peacefully together. Even though the deers are wild, without any caretakers around, no one was mistreating them. Humans are delighted, and deers are happy for the treats. What I saw was a park of harmony and coexistence. Loved it!

    Another major attraction in Nara is Todai-Ji Temple. As we arrived at the entrance, we were at awe of the size of the building, turned out the temple is the largest wooden building in the world!! And the bronze Buddha statue inside is the largest bronze statue in the world! We decided to come to Nara in a whim, so Evan didn’t do any research on this city. Finding out these cool facts was a delightful surprise to us.

    Tomorrow is Evan’s 18th birthday, so we headed back to Kyoto and bought some tasty pastries for his birthday celebration.

    We have been trying to go the the Michelin Star Curry restaurant for two days now. The first time we were here, the restaurant had a sign saying they were in vacation. The second time Google map said they were closed on Sundays. Today, Google map indicated it should be open. However, there was another sign at the door, saying the staff was sick, so they were closed for the next 2 days! Sometimes we get a reminder that not every place is like America, so profits driven that the people’s well being is secondary. Even though we are sad that we may never taste their amazing curry, we do admire them for caring for their staff.

    The last time we were is this area, I saw a restaurant fully of Japanese customers. So we headed directly there. Well, let me just say that you can always trust the locals to know where to eat. The food here is absolutely amazing!! One of the best we had in Japan so far. You can’t even find this restaurant on Google map! We wouldn’t have had the chance to eat here if we hadn’t passed by it. Disappointment turned into another delightful surprise for today.

    Evan’s last day as a child has been a wonderful one!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 10: Kyoto

    4. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    It always seems that the days are longer when you are on vacation. When you are home, the days are kind of similar and blending into each other, suddenly it’s weekends; while you are on vacation, there is so much to do that you are kind surprised that so much are able to be fit into one day.

    Taking advantage of living right in a tourist spot, we were able to take some photos without any tourists in them. However, we still didn’t leave home early enough, because soon after, the streets were full again. We plan to leave even earlier tomorrow.

    For our brunch today, we headed to a market about 20 minutes away. This massive foodie’s heaven is more than 400 years old! So many food stalls and shops stretching all directions, as far as eye can see.

    We were happily trying many different things to eat, fried rice balls on sticks, seafood on sticks, deep fried creamy seafood balls, grilled dough with sweet red bean paste in the middle, and a slice of butter. Every thing was so delicious!! You are not supposed to eat and walk in Japanese markets, we were doing well at first, but forgot the rule when eating the last item. An announcement was made on the loud speaker, reminding people not to eat and walk. We felt so ashamed since it felt it was directed to us. 😂

    One of my favorite places to visit when we were here 10 years ago, was Fushimi Inari Taisha, the mountain with all the red traditional gates on the paths. So I was excited to visit it again. Oh boy, compared with the visitors from 10 years ago, this place got so much busier now. It was hard to find a gap between people for a decent photo. We then figured out the trick was to walk slower than most people, so there would be more chance for a gap. We managed to take some nice pictures this way.

    Next, we went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, which has become a huge public park. We found a nice shaded spot under a big tree to lay down and rest. I actually took a nice nap there.

    We then ubered to another park with nice gardens. You can always trust Japanese to create relaxing spaces for you to enjoy.

    It was kind of hard to find a place to have dinner today. The curry place we tried to go to yesterday is closed on Sundays; we walked into a nice looking restaurant, only found out that it would cost us about $500 to eat there; picked another place and walked there with our already tired feet, only to find out they were closed, even though Google Maps said they were open. At this point, we were exhausted and hungry. Passed by a sign saying home cooked meal in the basement here, so we went down the stairs. The tiny restaurant only had 10 seats, but it did have three free seats. A cute Japanese couple was running the business, the wife did most of the cooking, while the husband running around doing everything else. It took a while for us to get our food, but the dishes were very tasty! Especially the home made dumplings!

    Checked my Apple Watch when we got back home, I walked over 24,000 steps today! So glad my ankle didn’t give me too much trouble.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 9: Kanazawa to Kyoto

    3. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Day 9: Kanazawa to Kyoto

    As we were leaving Kanazawa, the citizens were starting to line up the streets for the festival, and TV reporters already started their broadcasts. Unfortunately we were leaving right before the events started. Oh well, there is always the next time!

    The train ride was comfortable and uneventful, although we snacked the entire way with the yummy food we got from the train station before we left. The fancy cookies with a cat image on the box were especially delicious!!

    I think I found the oldest taxi driver is Japan at the Kyoto train station. He was at least 80 years old! Communication was difficult since the address on Google maps didn’t make sense to him. I ended up showing the nearest landmark to him, this time he got it and started to drive. Well, as Chinese say, the older the ginger the spicier it gets. Our driver was fearless when navigating the busy and narrow Kyoto streets, avoiding all the traffic! At one point, much to our amazement, he turned into an impossibly busy street with many pedestrians. As he slowly driving on, we slowly realized that our Airbnb was in the middle of the busiest tourist attraction in Kyoto!!

    Imagine you were standing in the middle of Time Square in NYT, and found your house right in the middle of it. Well, considering it’s location, we imagined it would be a tiny house.

    Well, we were wrong, very wrong. This house, with a simple black gate facing the tourists, is impossibly large, and beautiful inside. As you walk in, there was a cooking pit on the floor and a large tatami area. To our right, a large modern bathroom, a toilet room and a laundry room. Continuing inside, a dinning room with a fireplace and sofa, next is a decent size kitchen in Japanese standard. A nice courtyard garden outside.

    Second floor, the master bedroom has two king size beds!! Another bathroom with a shower, another toilet room. And then, there is an entire suite at the end of the hallway, with a tatami room, a living room and a bathroom! I think the house is designed for three families to stay here. Evan happily claimed the suite at the end of the hall, Steve and I each got a king size bed. 😂

    Getting onto our comfortable beds, we unintentionally took a nap. By the time we got up, it was dinner time.

    Aiming towards a Japanese curry restaurant which has a Michelin star, we started our stroll on the narrow streets with old houses, admiring how well the streets preserved their heritages and charms. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed today. So we randomly picked a Japanese Western food restaurant since it was busy inside. The hamburger steak and pork cutlets were delicious!!

    Walking the exact same route back, we realized we got a full moon tonight. The streets near our house were quiet now, revealing its real beauty.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 8: Kanazawa

    2. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Well, Evan’s plan is great so far, but not perfect. Because just as we are leaving tomorrow, there is the biggest Samurai Festival of Japan happening right outside of our Airbnb, but we will not be here to see it. There will be lion dances, taiko drums, and most interesting of them all, the marching of the actual descendent of Samurai families!! I can’t believe we will miss all of that! 😭

    There was heavy rain all day today, so we were focused on indoor activities.

    Omicho Market is one of the most famous fish markets in Japan, and there is a famous sushi restaurant located within it. We were lucky enough to get seats after waiting for a short time. All I can say is that the sushi here was one of the freshest I’ve ever tasted.

    Kanazawa castle is mostly a wooden structure, there’s no nails in the entire building! Instead, they use intricate locking systems to keep the beams attached. We admired all the architectural details in this amazing building.

    Next, Kanazawa Modern Art Museum. There were a lot of people here, not too surprising since it’s a rainy day. Even though the art pieces were interesting, what impressed me was the fact an entire wing was dedicated to art pieces from Highschool students in the city, and some pieces were very interesting!

    Rain was pouring down hard on us, as we walked slowly towards the Tea House district. The old buildings were well persevered here. You could easily imagine what was like to have Geisha and Samurai walking around in these narrow streets.

    Hot shower felt nice after we got home.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 7: Tokyo to Kanazawa

    1. Juni 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    After a much needed relaxing morning, we headed to Tokyo Train station for our bullet train to Kanazawa.

    Apparently the food vendors near train station ticket counter have limited heating options, for example, they are not allowed to have microwaves. Once again, I am so thankful to Google Translator app, since the cashier had trouble understanding my request of heating things up. My cold bento box was actually quite good!

    Evan went to get some fried chicken, and he was eating it cold, and said it wasn’t too bad. As we were leaving, a Japanese guy stopped Evan, and pull out a piece of paper with English words on it. From what I could understand, he was the guy sold Evan cold fried chicken, and had hard time explaining why it was cold. So he went somewhere got his words translated and wrote them down, and then tracked Evan down to apologize and explain. Japanese people are indeed extremely polite!!

    Our bullet train ride was fast and smooth, 4 hour ride was a breeze.

    We booked an Airbnb house here. Even though the house is over one hundred years old, it’s very well maintained and tastefully decorated. I love the tiny garden in the courtyard! It has the perfect location of right next to all major attractions of the city.

    The reason Evan chose Kanazawa was for its famous gardens. Kenroku garden, which is right by our house, is the most famous one, considered as one of the best in Japan. Since it will be a lot of rain tomorrow, we decided to go there immediately before it closes.

    Well, if we can imagine what a perfect Japanese garden would look like, this is it!! Every sight you see here is picture perfect! The same location can look differently from different angles. The flowers blossomed by little streams, ancient trees of various sizes shaped the spaces, and little bridges provided the focal points. We could spend all day here to admire every corner. Unfortunately it was closing time.

    Dinner was at a restaurant called Itaru, it was a perfect place because it’s busy but still got few tables available to us. The food was surprisingly good!! The sashimi was the freshest we’ve ever eaten, especially the mackerel, it’s entirely possible the fish was caught this morning!

    Rain has started, and it’s going to last all day tomorrow.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 6: Tokyo

    31. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Today is sadly the last day in Tokyo for us, it’s also one of the most exciting day, because we would visit the coolest museum in the world called Team Lab Planet this afternoon.

    In the morning, we went to a popular Ramen restaurant Called Ichiran Ramen. You know they were serious about their food when they wanted to know how you like the richness of the soup and the firmness of the noodles. The ramen here is good, but not surprisingly, not as good as one of the best ramen restaurants we went to a few days earlier.

    For the first time ever, we encountered the most touristy place in Tokyo, Asakusa Shrine. There were so many tourists and groups we were shoulders to shoulders with many people. Leading up to the shrine were rows of stalls selling food and goodies for tourists. We all felt claustrophobic after a short while so we left soon after.

    Ueno Park is a known for its cherry blossom and museums. Unfortunately we were too late for the blossom, but we were sure that one of the 6 museums and a zoo would be a perfect place for a few hours this afternoon.

    We picked the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in the end, which turned out to be the perfect choice, because they were displaying the winners of best art from all the art institutions of Japan. We met an older gentleman standing in front of a nice painting, hesitatingly asked me to take a photo for him with the painting, because it was painted by his sister. I happily obliged. He was so happy, in his broken English, telling Steve I was a nice person. So sweet!

    Next, it was main attraction of the day, Team Lab Planet, an high tech museum that’s so awesome that every exhibit makes you say “holy sh*t! That’s amazing!”

    Here are my three favorites.
    - The Infinite Crystal Universe: crystal strings hanging from the ceiling, with the utilization of mirrors, they created an illusion of infinity

    - Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers: in a dark dome, the stars, flowers, and butterflies are projected to the ceiling. This is an exhibit that’s best viewed laying down

    - Floating Flower Garden: real flowers hanging from the ceiling, with mirrors on the floor and ceiling, you become part of the flower falls

    Please make sure to check out the videos of these exhibits, you won’t be disappointed!

    I have to say, Tokyo has become my favorite city of the whole world! It’s sad to leave here tomorrow.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 5: Tokyo

    30. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today’s focus is Shibuya, the downtown of Tokyo! It’s a full day of events from 10 AM to 10 PM.

    We skipped breakfast and went directly to Shibuya for Udon noodles.

    The world busiest crosswalk truly lived up its name; there were about few thousand people crossing at the Shibuya crossing with us once the lights turned green.

    The Udon noodle restaurant is on the 13th floor of one of the tallest buildings in Shibuya, and it has a great view! Even though we arrived early, there was already a line. By the time it was our turn, it seemed all the windows seats had been taken. So I asked the hostess if there was any still available. She hesitated and said if we can finish our meal within an hour, there was a reserved table available. I said yes.

    Oh boy, we got the beat table in the house! It was a private corner room with an amazing view of the Shibuya area. It never hurts to just ask, right? As we were admiring the view, our food, which consisted three huge bowls of noodles with many toppings arrived, and they were so delicious! We haven’t had any bad meals for Japan yet!

    After lunch, we headed to the rooftop observation deck called “Shibuya sky”. Seriously, you wouldn’t be able to imagine how big Tokyo is until you see it from high up. The sprawling metropolis stretching to the horizon in all directions, further than what your eyes can see. Being the largest city in the world, Tokyo impressed me in so many ways! Their subway system is so efficient that we never have to wait for more than three minutes; their city is so clean that we only saw one piece of garbage the entire time we were here, even though there’s never any garbage cans on the street; the people are so polite that I rarely see anyone raising their voice. What a city!

    Slowly, we strolled towards Yoyogi park, a large park that’s right by Shibuya, just like how Central Park is in the middle of Manhattan. Immediately, all the urban chaos had faded away, and the ancient trees towering above us, providing much needed shade against the noon sun. We sat on our park bench for a long time, resting our feet and admiring the scenery, trying not to fall asleep in this quiet and calm oasis. Eventually, we got up, and walked towards Menji shrine that’s right by the park, but stopped for ice cream along the way.

    As night started to fall, the lights lit up all around us, we found ourselves back in Shibuya. There were so many people bustling around still, some trying to get home, some were resting on a rooftop park, sipping Starbucks coffee, some were having dinner with their friends in a long stretch of food stalls specializing cuisines from different parts of the country. I don’t think this city can be more perfect, but it continued to impress me with all its details.

    By 9:30 pm, we were riding an elevator towards the top of Tokyo Tower. I was already at awe seeing the city from Shibuya Sky, but the night scene on top of Tokyo Tower, which is one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, brought the awe to even higher level. So many lights, millions and millions of them, sparked against the nightly sky, and the moonlight paled in its brightness. It was absolutely magnificent!

    By the time we got back to our hotel, I have walked over 22,000 steps for today! Fortunately my injured ankle didn’t bother me too much anymore, otherwise this wouldn’t have been possible.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Tokyo: Day 4

    29. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    A week before this trip, I fell down the stairs. My right ankle was swollen, and I was considering renting a wheelchair in Tokyo. Fortunately after a week of elevation and icing the ankle, I was able to walk somewhat normally.

    Last time when I injured my right ankle, the physical therapist recommended 20 minutes of walking per day. Well, that’s not going to happen this time. Tokyo is a very walkable city, and I have been walking for hours a day. Surprising, the ankle is healing, and with the support of an ankle brace, I am waking better every day! So YAY!

    Today’s breakfast was food from 7/11 right next to our hotel. Unlike those 7/11 in America, the stores here offer some great premade food options. The dumplings, the curry donuts, and the egg salad sandwiches were surprisingly good and tasty.

    We headed to a famous artisan street this morning. A stretch of 50 stores under a railway track selling all the goods made by hand. After some browsing, both Evan and I walked away with a pair of hand-made kangaroo leather shoes. If you see me wearing a pair of red leather shoes, chances are they are made by a Japanese artisan.

    After a long subway ride, we arrived at Roppongi, an area famous for their high end shops and expensive restaurants. One of the biggest buildings here has an observation deck with an amazing Tokyo city view. Unfortunately, due to the rain, we didn’t get the best view of the city. There is also a modern art museum on the 52nd floor. I absolutely loved all the architecture displays. Many 3D models of the most unique buildings in the world!

    Today ended with one of the best sushi restaurants in Tokyo. Every dish was so delicious and beautiful, with the most exquisite ingredients that’s available seasonally. We ordered a ten course meal and tasted many things for the first time in our lives. Have you ever heard of pink pepper? It’s so tiny yet full of flavors!

    Well, today is an expensive day. 😬    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Tokyo: Day 3

    28. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    “Hello! Pretty lady!” Steve opened his eyes this morning, and said this to me as the sunrise lights shined through the window.
    “Are you crazy? I am so old now!” I said.
    “Well, just stating a fact.” He said.
    Well, after over 20 years of marriage, I guess it’s nice Steve still feels that way. 😂 Tokyo morning became very special to me suddenly. ❤️

    A few months ago, Evan told us he wanted to spent his 18th birthday in Japan. We told him sure, but he had to plan the entire trip. Well, he spent many days planning, creating a google spreadsheet for all the cities he wanted to visit, along with all the dinner options and activities. Amongst all the places, where we were going today was one he wanted most: Akihabara, the electronic capital of the world, the gamer’s paradise, the anime lover’s dreamland.

    As an avid gamer myself, and spent a couple years watching anime with Evan, I was excited to go as well.

    Although, the first task again was to head to one of the best restaurants in Japan. The restaurant is called Tonkatsu Hasegawa, They “use premium Hiraboku Sangenton pork from Yamagata. The house-made panko breadcrumbs are outstanding as well – they produce a golden crispy crust that is light and never oily.” According to the Time Out Magazine.

    This tiny restaurant only has few tables, so even though we got there early, due to the fact there was already a line waiting outside, we ended up waiting almost 2 hours to get in! However, their food was without a doubt one of the best in the world!

    After lunch, we finally got the chance to walk around the area, squeezing through thousands and thousands super nerds from the world. Pretty girls dressed in sexy maid outfits, handing out fliers. Sadly few people were paying attention to them.

    Evan wanted to get a plushie for his friend, and the only way to get the best ones are by using claw machines. There are stores with hundreds of claw machines filling in multi-floor buildings. Evan decided to get a super cute dog, started to try to pick it up, but failed over and over. A nice Japanese worker took a pity on him, opened the case and moved the dog as close to edge as possible, but the dog was still elusive to us. After many more tries, we left with our heads down. 😭

    We walked pass Maid cafe, both men felt too embarrassed to go in. We walked pass the Cat Cafe, Evan went to check it out, but since I am highly allergic to cats, we didn’t end up going inside. Apparently there is an Owl Cafe as well, but the reservation has been sold out for days. So we left without going into any cafes.

    Next, we went to Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Gardens, a peaceful oasis inside the steel forest of Tokyo financial district. The lovely flowers and pine trees were stark contrast against the background of grey buildings.

    For our dinner tonight, Evan picked a very unique restaurant called Maguro Oroshi Fisheries Terrace, a waterfront eatery with outdoor seating, including some nice swings overlooking the water. The food was cheap and fresh.

    We had planned to go to a high tech museum tonight, but by the time we got there, the tickets had all sold out! We bought our tickets for Wednesday afternoon. So looking forward to this visit!

    It has started to rain by the time we went back to our hotel.    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Tokyo: Day 2

    27. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Tokyo: Day 2

    We had been to Japan 10 years ago, and I have noticed some changes since last time.

    First of all, people here bowing a lot less now. I remember back then, everyone would bow to you at waist level excessively, to the point I started to worry about their back pains. I see them bowing at lesser degrees and less often these days, which I think it’s better for their backs.

    Second, improvements of public transportation. The fast train ride from airport to downtown is more comfortable and faster than the long subway ride 10 years ago. Also, the entire subway system has been improved with more frequent trains and better station identification solution, by introducing numbers. Instead of trying to remember the names of the stations, you can now just to by G18 or S10, much easier for the riders.

    OK, first task of the day, find the best Ramen restaurant and be one of their first customers of the day. We arrived about 15 minutes before they open, so we wandered a bit. By the time we went back, there was already a line. Darn it! Fortunately we still made it in this tiny restaurant. WOW! One of the best ramens we’ve ever had! Not too surprising since it’s top rated in Tokyo.

    Next was an art aquarium exhibition; so the displays were art pieces made with goldfish and flowers. Honestly before today, I didn’t know this kind of art existed, but it was absolutely amazing! Each piece was carefully created and exquisite, utilizing different kind of goldfish, accompanied by different colors and shapes of flowers, under ever changing lighting. WOW!

    The Imperial palace is located at the center of Tokyo, unfortunately it’s not open to visitors… due to the fact the Emperor of Japan and his family still live there. The armed guards posted at the gate were certainly very serious about their jobs. However, the lovely garden in front of the palace seemed to be a perfect park for the commoners like us. Many Japanese families were resting in the shades of the pine trees in the garden.

    Evan, being the planner of this entire trip for Japan, told us there was a food street near Tokyo wharf, so we were excited to head there for our dinner. Unexpectedly, the entire street of almost 100 restaurants, was dedicated to only one type of food, called Momjayaky. Basically it’s pan fried batter with many different ingredients, cooked on hot flat grill. Since the menu was in Japanese, we had a difficult time ordering. Fortunately our nice waiter spoke a bit English. Between his broken English and friendly attitude, and our handy google translation app, we managed to order three rounds of delicious and unique food. By the end of our meal, we had became friends!

    The first day in Tokyo was a resounding success!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's Trips2023 Japan/ChinaReisender

    Day 1: Tokyo

    26. Mai 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Finally we are heading to this long awaited trip!! For the first time ever, we set foot in the brand new Kansas City airport terminal. I have to say I really like the artworks, the efficient security lines, the new restaurants and shops. It’s so much better than the old terminal!

    Happy to say the flights to Tokyo were uneventful. Although I was surprised the airline food was getting better somehow, at least for United. The butter chicken and breakfast waffles were totally better than expected. Of course our expectations were very low.

    Tokyo is very crowded! Haven’t been back to an Asian city for the past three years, I almost forgot what’s like to walk in a crowd.

    Another thing I noticed was that despite the lack of garbage cans on the streets, the city is super clean. Also, Japanese people really obey the walking signs. Even on the small side streets with no cars around, they would still wait until the walking sign is on before crossing.

    The neighborhood around our hotel is really lively! Full of little shops and restaurants. We went to a Japanese BBQ restaurant, ordered some finest Kobe beef to grill; and then got some fried chicken from a hole in the wall place on our way back.

    We will be spending 5 days in Tokyo! It’s going to be amazing!    Weiterlesen

  • Juliet Sinclair's TripsBacelona 2022Reisender

    Day 7: Final Day

    12. August 2022 in Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Woke up and feeling like myself again. Coughing and sneezing are mostly gone. A bit dizzy and have a bit headache, that’s about it. It seems COVID is mostly behind me now.

    Will take an easy still, only walk around the neighborhood today.

    Coming back home tomorrow. YAY!    Weiterlesen

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  • Juliet Sinclair's TripsBacelona 2022Reisender
    Steve took a long walk while I slept.
    Steve gave a finger to Columbus statue 😂My giant bowl of fish stew, pretty sure it scared the virus off my body

    Day 6: Barcelona Hotel room

    12. August 2022 in Spanien ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    2 days, staying in the bed, sleeping most of the times.

    Day 1: some coughing and sneezing, sore throat, itchy chest, feeling chills in one minute, hot flashes in the next, but never escalated to fever.

    Day 2: chills and hot flashes were gone. Itchy chest was gone as well. Only few coughing and sneezing left. Mostly feeling back to normal! A bit headache still remains though.

    Thanks to the vaccines, thanks to science, it seems my COVID 19 experience is a very mild one.

    However, this experience is reconfirmed one fact: I CAN love my husband even more!

    Trapped in a small room with me, he was patient, caring, funny and gentle. Since he continues to test negative, with mask on him at all time, he was able to go out and get food. Fresh squeezed Orange juice, yogurt, bananas, cookies and pastries. He wanted to make sure his sick wife didn’t go hungry.

    Tonight, he managed to find my favorite Chinese dish in Barcelona! Spicy fish stew. I crave this dish from time to time, especially when I am sick. He managed to track it down and went to get it for me. As he was waiting, I guess the restaurant owner, who doesn’t speak a word of English, took liking of him, gave him all kind of extra food to take back to me. Some tasty chicken legs, roasted sweet potatoes, fresh honeydew melon slices and some fresh plums. As we opened up the package, we looked at each other and confused. We definitely didn’t pay for all these things they added in here. But then…who doesn’t like Steve once you meet him!

    He was munching on other dishes I ordered, left the giant bowl of fish stew for me to consume. I looked at him, and really wanted to kiss him, but had to refrain myself. For some reason, the forbidden things are always so much more attractive. 😂

    I think I will be back to normal tomorrow, will try to head out if I can while wearing mask the whole time. I think walking around this lovely neighborhood should be a safe activity to do.    Weiterlesen

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