down under

Ahoy,

I was incredibly pleased to be meeting up with my bestie in Melbourne! She had been in Australia for a bit already. My mom was very pleased the airbnb I booked for us had a washing machine. She quickly decided she needed to do laundry every day.

Upon arrival, we went wandering around some coffee shops before being able to check in. Mom had arranged plans to meet with her friend for dinner in Chinatown. We looked around in Chinatown before dinner. A and I stopped for a beer while my mom and dad went on the hunt for a Chinese newspaper.

Our first day took us on a van tour along the Great Ocean Road. Mom and dad were into this because we were not walking as long distances as we normally do. This trip is similar to going to Big Sur. A lot of epic ocean views and natural wonders. We also saw koalas and kangaroos in the wild.

Queen Victoria Market was just steps away and it's just full of fun stuff to look at from books and games to apparel and food. Everything is there! At the visitor center, we found a map for a self-guided walking tour to see all the graffiti in the neighborhood. I think we got pho that night. There are a lot of ethnic foods in the area.

Melbourne is an incredibly diverse metropolitan city, in that respect it is so similar in feel to any other urban place - it didn't feel like we were abroad as much as Singapore did. But still a great place to visit, really comfortable and easy to navigate. Would go again!

When we went back to the states, I arranged for my folks to stay a night in LA, which gave my mom an opportunity to harass her friends at 6am on a Sunday to come out to get her to go to dim sum. And we took them to disc golf. What an epic trip! We packed so much in there!

best,
jt

music city

Ahoy,

Our latest expedition took us from Chicago to Nashville. I took the opportunity of being able to fly from Chicago to head south before heading west. I have not seen much of the south - it is such a trek to get out there from LA.

We took our first day to get out to the Parthenon of Nashville. It was erected for the Columbian Exposition and so loved that they eventually made it permanent. It's a replica of the real one in Greece and I got to get a lot closer to this one than the original. There is an art/history museum inside. It is a lot of art. That was his one art museum pass for the year. Art museums are on the bottom of my museum hierarchy, so A has to trick me into going to them. Eventually my high school friends made it to the park and we walked back to get BBQ. We walked through the Gulch, and made it to that main street of bars with live music, eventually picking a place that had a girl performing. It was a great pick. We walked back to get Hattie b's hot chicken for dinner. It was good, but I don't know if it was better than Howlin'.

Our next day was our rainy day. We started off indoors at a restaurant because the boys missed their breakfast. It stopped pouring for a bit while we walked downtown to the capitol and the State Museum, which is full of fascinating and old things and free! It was pouring while we were inside. We got a ride to go to Prince's, again, not as good as Howlin'. Our next destination was a bar that had games and axe throwing. The wait was too long so we played cards for a bit before heading back. I was trying to emphasize an earlier call time for the boys the next day.

Our goal was to get an 'early' tour for the Belle Meade Plantation. The Journey to Jubilee tour was so worth it and educational and eye opening! Please do this if you go to Nashville. We learned about the few slaves that are named that worked there. Of the 136, only 5 have known identities. It was part spoken word, part lecture, part critical analysis, etc. Really such a unique experience. And includes a wine tasting.

Our next stop was disc golfing. There were a lot of holes, and we did not finish them all. But great course. I wouldn't mind going again. I called it when I was hungry. A distillery tasting was coming up and I thought it would be wise to get food beforehand. Alas, the hot chicken place that was near the distillery turned out to be closed and under construction despite what google was reporting. It was heartbreaking. With a time crunch to be back for our tour, thus began my mad dash to find food with 4 boys trailing behind me. We walked to the farmer's market near the State Museum from the day before. When we got there, it was closed for a private event! Heartbreaking. Then I led us to a fast food style seafood place that miraculously, was open. It was surprisingly good. And we got back in time for our tour. Nelson's Green Brier Distillery has a history that is made for movies. We got to try a lot of their varieties that are unfortunately not available in LA.

Our last night, we caught another live act before embarking on A's first White Castle experience. He said he would eat it again. That's a win! Our hotel was great. It had the best parts of a more intimate family owned bnb, but still the amenities of a big chain. Would stay there again!

We arrived in LA with plenty of time for New Year's Eve. Barely stayed awake to midnight, though.

best,
jt

another flight across the pond

Ahoy,

I realize I forgot to record our travels in November to Singapore and Australia. The flurry of returning just upon the holidays was definitely occupying my time. And now I'm afraid I don't have a great recollection! Eek!

I had arranged for my folks to arrive into LA for a night before we all departed on a Thursday morning. The flight to Singapore is not for the faint of heart. We did not arrive in Singapore until Saturday before the sun came up. There was a layover in Japan. I managed to finish Obama's book and left it at the airport in Tokyo right outside a book store. I hope somebody found it, but in retrospect - I really should have left it at the lost and found. There was a demo for ink block printing at the airport that I got to try. Mom and dad remarked that they will never go to Japan - that airport was probably the closest they'll ever get - a remnant of China and Japan's complicated relationship. But they do like sushi!

I booked us a cute little capsule hotel-like space for the first night because in a hurry, I realized I had booked our hotel for arriving during the day, but we arrived at night, and the room could not be ready yet. My bad. My folks did not mind it as much as I thought they would. Our hotel the next day was much more spacious. The room had a giant circle tub and a drop down projector screen. 

Singapore is hot as balls and humid. It is year round. I could not live there. Our first morning we went to the hawker center across the street. I arranged us to stay in Chinatown, which pleased my dad. He got to have rice everyday. Mom promptly got in a line that turned out to be the one for a Michelin star place. We ate a lot of food. Mom continued grumbling about how no one gives you napkins - you have to bring your own. Appalling! And everything has too much flavor. 

Later that day, we continued to Little India and back to the downtown area to see the Merlion. We were able to meet up with my friend from middle school who had moved here. He was our tour guide. He took us to one of his favorite local places before we went to the zoo for a night tour. We had never seen the animals that close or that active. It was really remarkable. Seems to me you can only see the animals at night because it is so stiflingly hot during the day. 

Our second day began with another hawker center. Apparently, it was considered cool if it goes below 100 degrees F. We went to encourage my friend out of his house by crashing his place, thus forcing him to come with us to get us out of his place. We dragged him on a hike that I think only A enjoyed because it was so hot - none of us wanted to do anything. At this point, it is clear all the days will be torturous. We could do nothing indoors or whine outside doing stuff. Kudos to A for putting up with our grumpy butts. Truly, not my best. There were wild monkeys on the hike that were not at all afraid of people. They have fewer issues with personal space than I do. 

That evening, we went to check out Gardens by the Bay. We caught sunset and had dinner at the hawker center there. After a mad dash to catch the light show at the forest, we did not make it. And my mom wanted to wait to watch the next show. I spent some more time whining about how the sun is down and it is still so hot! A is chipper as ever because he is made for the tropics. 

The next day, we went to Sentosa Island - a cheesy resort place that holds Universal Studios, among other attractions. I wanted to take dad ziplining. He had first seemed interested in Toronto, so I decided Singapore was the time to make it happen! I'm glad I got to help dad tic that off his list. He had a good time. A and my mom met us at the beach for our hike back. Again with the hikes! There was a really cool library on the way back inside the mall. It's totally automated. Dad got to read his China newspapers on the computer, and mom read tabloids. There was an epic storm while we were inside. 

Our final day, we went back to the Gardens by the Bay to go inside the big glass domes. One is this big forest/jungle with waterfalls and the other is a big flower show. They are both huge and amazing architectural works on their own independent of the also amazing plants inside. A and I also went to the City Museum, which was entirely fascinating and free! After a quick shower at the hotel, we hopped over to the airport to check out the Jewel. My friend met us there for dinner, where my mom again scoffed at the flavors. 

Our flight to Melbourne was a redeye. And would also take us to more temperate climates. 

best,

jt