DUBAI - NOVEMBER, 2013

This was my first trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. After a long flight from Los Angeles to Dubai via Washington, D.C. I settled into my hotel, the Al-Manzil, in the new and modern downtown area of Dubai. This is a view of the outside of the hotel, and views from my room, and from a window on the opposite side of the hotel from my room.

Across the street from my hotel, and after a short walk, you reached the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It is 828 meters high, and you can go to an observation deck on the 124th floor for terrific views of the entire area of Dubai. This is the view of the Burj Khalifa from outside my hotel, and a couple of views from other vantage points.

Outside of the Burj Khalifa and adjacent to the Dubai Mall [the largest mall in the world, naturally, with 1200 stores, 160 food outlets, and Olympic size ice skating rink, an indoor theme park, and a huge aquarium] was a large man made lake with fountains [much like the fountains in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but larger, of course.] Every hour there was a water show at the fountains accompanied by music, and which was also beautifully lit at night. These are a couple pictures of the fountain area.

I went up to the 124th floor observation deck for a panoramic view of the nearby downtown area, and although a little hazy, over the entire Dubai area. The first picture shows the location of my hotel [in the center, with the small yellow canopies over the outside restaurant area, and the last picture showing the Dubai Mall, next to the lakes in front of the Burj Khalifa.

Inside the Dubai Mall was a large aquarium and a four story high waterfall [with life size "divers".] You could easily spend an entire day just walking through the mall. I ate most of my meals at restaurants there.

I spent a full day in the old town area of Dubai which is called Bur Dubai. Until fairly recently, Dubai was a small fishing and trading town on the Gulf of Oman. With the discovery of oil, Dubai has been transformed into a modern international transportation and financial center, but the old town area still is a very traditional arab area with mosques, souks, and fishing and transport vessels, called dhows, that still transport goods throughout the Arabian Peninsula area. The two sides of the old town area are separated by Dubai Creek which is the entryway into the gulf. You can cross from one side of the creek to the other in small boats called abras.

Located in Bur Dubai are the Grand Mosque and the Dubai Museum which is located in the Al-Fahidi Fort which was built in 1799 and is the oldest building in Dubai. Historically, it served as the seat of government and the residence of Dubai's rulers.

Throughout the Bur Dubai area are many souks and street markets. I bought the boys' T-shirts in an area called Hindu Alley. This video shows the area around the Grand Mosque [during a call to prayer] and the Dubai Museum.

I really enjoyed my trip to Dubai, and would like to return to visit other areas of the United Arab Emirates.

NEW YORK CITY - OCTOBER, 2013

When I went to visit Michael and Brooke we took a weekend trip to New York City. We stayed across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey. The hotel was a short walk from the river, and we could see Manhattan from the window in our room.  A short walk to the PATH train station, and we were just one stop away from downtown New York. These are some pictures taken from the New Jersey side, across the Hudson River, with New York City in the background.

On the night that we spent in New Jersey, Michael and I went to a hockey game. We took the train to Newark and viewed the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks. It felt strange not cheering for the L.A. Kings at the game.

The next morning we all took the train to Lower Manhattan, then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then walked to Brooklyn Heights where we had lunch, then caught the subway to Battery Park where we took the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island. From Brooklyn Heights you have a terrific view of the east side of Manhattan Island, and of course on the ferry ride to Staten Island you have great views of lower Manhattan, and of the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

I had a great time on our trip to New York City, and I always enjoy the time I am able to spend with Michael, Brooke, Mick and Zoe.

TOKYO - OCTOBER, 2013

This was my fourth trip to Tokyo, so I have seen almost all of the local tourist sights. This trip I visited several places that I had never been to before. From my hotel in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo I had always had a view over the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which was just a short walk from the hotel, but which I had never visited. The garden is like a large park, and always looked very beautiful from the hotel. This is a view from the hotel elevator [which has a glass wall for viewing.]

I spent an entire morning walking through the garden, which had several dedicated areas of different gardens, such as an English landscaped garden, a French formal garden, a Japanese traditional garden, and a forested area called the Mother and Child Forest. After entering the park you followed paved paths throughout the various areas of the park. Here you can see the pathways, and at the first open meadow area, the city buildings in the background. My hotel, the Century Southern Tower, is the white building in the middle of the last picture.

Shortly after entering the park you come to a large, modern, greenhouse which displays more tropical plants in a very beautiful landscaped display that included streams and ponds.

Walking through the park I occasionally came upon groups of schoolchildren on a field trip to the park. As is always the case in Japan, each class wore a distinctive colored baseball cap or t-shirt to distinguish them from the other groups.

These photos are of the French formal garden portion of the park.

My favorite area of the park was the traditional Japanese Garden area, which included a very nice Japanese teahouse.

The final area of the park that I visited was the Mother and Child's Forest area, which was the area of the park closest to the area of Shinjuku where my hotel was located.

In previous visits to Tokyo the view from my hotel room had always looked to the east over the Gyoen National Garden, but on this visit my room was on the north side of the building looking to the north, over the busy area of Shinjuku.

On Sunday of my week long stay in Tokyo I took a day trip with my friend, Chikako, to Yokohama which is about one hour by train south of Tokyo. We visited the Sankeien Garden, which was the former estate of a wealthy silk merchant. The garden was in a hilly, forested area outside of the downtown area, overlooking Tokyo Bay. We followed the paths throughout the park like setting and viewed the lake [stocked with Japanese koi], the pagoda, and the former residence of the owner. It was very beautiful, and hard to believe it was right on the edge of such a large city.

After touring the garden we took a bus back to the downtown area of Yokohama, and after having a great Japanese meal, walked through a park which overlooked Tokyo Bay. There were lots of families out enjoying the beautiful weather, and most surprising of all, several thousand people at a large Octoberfest celebration, partying with beer drinking and dancing to polka music!

 
I always enjoy my visits to Tokyo, as it is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I look forward to returning soon.