Dreamy Smile | by Samer Farha
The Voice | by Samer Farha
Museumsuferfest Fireworks | by Samer Farha
The entire Frankfurt set is now up.
Very Tall | by Samer Farha
A Slice of Skyline | by Samer Farha
I didn’t manage to get a lot of pictures while I was in Dubai. The heat kept me inside where air conditioning and ski slopes could keep me cool. The pictures I did take and like, though, are up on Flickr, now. Here’s the set and the slideshow.
Incline | by Samer Farha
In Profile | by Samer Farha
Sailing In | by Samer Farha
It’s taken far too long, but all my pictures from China are now up on Flickr. You can see the set or a slideshow.
Today marks two months away from home. It is also the last day of my around the world trip.
It started well enough in Japan, hopped over to Hong Kong, worked hard at the Olympics in Beijing, then off to Dubai and Beirut. From there, more work in Frankfurt and Berlin, with a side trip to Wiesbaden. Brussels was all about the food and drink, and then I hit up London for some more work. Iceland was the last country on the tour, and I hit up Reykjavik and Akureyri for a trip around lake Myvatn. I’m back in London now, wishing I had many more days here.
Home is the next stop, and then I’m off to Toronto for a short while (but that’s properly not part of this tour). When I get off my flight this evening, I’ll have been on 10 flights, and eight trains. That’s a lot of travel.
But this isn’t the end of the road for the blog (or the Flickr site). There is a huge back log of pictures to process, and then hopefully many more interesting posts as I digest this trip. Keep reading, and keep traveling.
So September 11 happened a while ago. So did the UK “liquids” bomb plot. If you don’t know by now that (for theater or for not) liquids, sharp objects, and snakes are not allowed on planes, you really shouldn’t be allowed to fly. Further, if you can’t quite read the label of the bottle of liquid and note that it says “300ml” and the sign says nothing more than 100ml will be allowed, you should be taken out and shot if you complain when they make you throw it away.
So, here’s a piece of free advice from me. Pack your liquids in your bag and check your bag. Yes, that’s right. Leave your bags in someone else’s hands, and then go and pick them up when you arrive. It’s an age old concept, but it seems that it needs more publicity.
It adds a few minutes to your travel time, but it makes going through security so much faster. And less of a hassle. And not just for you, but for your fellow passengers. So, I ask, do the right thing by other people.
And it would be very helpful if you left your crying kids at home.
The Ancestral Home | by Samer Farha
I made it to Lebanon.
It has been a long time. Eleven years, to be exact. There’s a lot to say about the country where I was born, but that’s for another post.
I’ll give you some background about the Lebanese, though. The society is very much based on family, and especially on who the father is. People hold on to plots of land that they inherited in towns they’ve long since left. Most don’t sell. Many don’t even visit. And so it is with me.
Jdeidet Marjeyoun is the small town in southern Lebanon where my family is from. Until this trip, I’d never been. I asked my folks to take me there, to see the town that’s so much a part of me but which I’d never been to.
The town is small, barely 700 people during the summer months. It’s a jumble of streets and empty buildings. Among those is the house which my great grandfather built. It still stands, despite some heavy fighting and shelling, and the Israeli occupation. Parts of it had to be walled in again, as there were trees growing through the broken walls and roof. But mostly, it is still much the same as when my father grew up there, and his father before him.
The house and land are now owned by three parts of the family. There’s the children of my grandfather (my dad, his brothers’ widows, and my aunts), as well as my grandfather’s two siblings’ decedents. Many of the people involved live in far flung places and don’t ever get to Lebanon. But they’ve all finally agreed to fix the place up, and have available to whomever wants to use it.
Maybe, in a few years, I’ll be able to go back in the magical winter time.
It Needs Some Work | by Samer Farha
For more background on this small town, it’s worth reading this article on Lebanon and Marjeyoun by the Washington Post’s Anthony Shadeed.
I’ve been rather slack about doing updates and posting pictures. There. I’ve said it. It’s not going to get a whole lot better, either. I just find the time flies, which means I must be having fun. I have decided I will write a couple of blog entries tonight on the train to Brussels, and I’ll try and post them tomorrow. But no promises!
See you on the other side.
Not Laughing Squid | by Samer Farha
The Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the most amazing places that I’ve ever seen.
Inspecting Tuna | by Samer Farha
More pictures from Tsukiji and Japan, as well as pictures from Hong Kong once I get to Beijing.
Hong Kong is just overwhelming me.
It’s loud and crowded. Very very crowded. The sidewalks are so crowded, I think driving might get you places faster. It’s bedlam. Too many people, too feet square feet of space for them. And to top it off, they are every bit as callus to their fellow man as we are: people just stop in the middle of the sidewalk, or park themselves on a street corner (where there are railings) and block the path. Despite the hectic nature of this city, there seems to be no hint of hurry in the people walking the streets. I often feel like I’m racing to get somewhere, when I’m just walking my normal gait.
And then there’s the smell. There is this distinct smell that permeates the streets of Hong Kong. I can’t figure out what it is, exactly, but it’s probably the combination of frying oils from street vendors, dried fish from health and food stores, the pollution, and of course the sweat pouring off millions of bodies.
The food here is supposed to be great. And I will say that what I’ve eaten has been heads and shoulders above anything I’ve had at a Chinese restaurant at home. But having said that, it made me a bit sick, and so I’ve stayed away. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a guide around here, and that the couple of restaurants I tried to find from WikiTravel were not where I thought they would be.
All this paints a grim picture of Hong Kong (and I didn’t even mention how humid it’s been), but I do like it. I like that a short subway ride away, and I’m in the hills. Or a shorter trip and I’ve gone from one busy open market, to a much busier closed and air conditioned one. It’s ever changing, this city, and it puts New York and Vegas to shame with the sheer amount of light and people around.
So between all the things to see and the not feeling great, I’ve got about a thousand pictures to edit, including many from Tokyo. I’m hoping the train tomorrow will have power on board, and I’ll do some editing while on a 24.5 hour ride.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” the saying goes. So, here I am in Hong Kong and I’ve decided to buy a suit. Or two. And a shirt. Or six. Custom made, too.
I’d heard about the wild deals you can get here: $700 for a suit and a couple of shirts; $1400 for two suits, a sports jacket, and a coat; and on, and on. At first, I was reluctant. You see, I don’t wear suits a lot. In fact, over the last year, I’ve worn a suit … never. The last time I was in a suit it was a tuxedo for the Oscars. In 2006. The last time I actually wore a suit to the office, one of the jokers there said, “How’d it go with the judge?” Yeah, it’s kind of rare.
So why a suit now, and why two? Well, it dawns on me that I have more money than the last time I bought a suit. It also dawns on me that that last suit no longer fits — not that it ever really fit well. So I had a number in my head: $1000. I would buy however many suits and shirts as I could for that amount.
I stumbled into Sensational Collection on Nathan Road, and talked to the guy there a bit. He seemed knowledgeable and friendly, and when I saw his prices I knew he was on the higher end of the game. The cloth seems to be of really good quality, and what he showed me of the suits and shirts waiting for delivery seemed of good workmanship.
I talked him down from about $1100 to $950 for two suits (one black with a herring bone pattern, and the other charcoal gray with a blue pin stripe) and six shirts (three with French cuffs, three with standard cuffs). The only concern I have is that they will be able to finish them by Monday morning. I’d like to take them with me so I can wear them out for a fancy dinner sometime on this trip.
