The title for this post describes the four airports we travelled through in six days. It felt fitting to just give the airport codes rather than the city names because we had such quick trips. Even though I wish we had more time, and we certainly didn't have enough to do each city justice, I'm glad we made it to all four: Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, and Dubai.
We started off in Seoul and spent a night in the Myeongdong area, known for the food scene and night markets. We went to a Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner, which was a new experience for me. You select the meat you want, then a large metal dish with charcoal is brought out and put in a cut out in the center of the table. A grill is placed over the charcoal and the meat is cooked by one of the staff. He or she rotates the meat and uses giant scissors to chop it into bite size pieces. The meat is then divided between the guests to enjoy. A bunch of side dishes like kimchi, pickled vegetables, and cabbage are also brought to the table. William is a huge fan of Korean food and considers it to be the pinnacle of Asian cuisine. He maintains that Vietnamese is the most inferior of the Asian food choices, but I heartily disagree with him. I love me some pho. Anyway, the Korean food was delicious.
We also went to N Seoul Tower and saw the city from above. We didn't realize how many mountains are around Seoul, and just how close to North Korea we were.
After only 24 hours (and kicking ourselves that we didn't book two nights in Seoul, just for the food), we left for Taipei.
We also had just over 24 hours in Taipei, so we made the most of our time by visiting the tourist hot spots. We spent some time at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, which is a beautiful park in the city with fantastic architecture. We saw the changing of the guard, which was interesting. The whole military history of Taipei and their relationship with China is fascinating. After reading a bunch and visiting memorials in Taipei, I still don't fully understand it, so I'll spare you my synopsis. However, like most political stories, its full of intrigue.
Taiwan is known as the home of boba/bubble/pearl tea. I happen to love boba tea, so I used it as an excuse to have as much tea as possible. This was at a night market- William had some sort of roasted corn.
After Taipei, we headed to Singapore.
This was my favorite city that we visited- perhaps because we had two nights and had a little more time to see things. This is another city with an interesting history. Singapore is basically an island at the southern point of Malaysia. It is very small, measuring 290 sq miles (750 sq km), about half the size of Rhode Island. Located 85 miles north of the equator, it is hot and tropical year-round. Singapore became a British port in the early 1800's, then gained independence in 1963 and briefly joined the federation of Malaysia, then declaring sovereignty in 1965.
The city itself is beautiful. One of the best parts is Gardens by the Bay, a huge park near the ocean. It has man-made 'supertrees', constructed with a metal scaffold but using plants throughout the trunk. It's easier just to show a picture:
You can walk around the base of the trees, or go up to the Skyway, a path constructed about 20m off the ground. It was so cool and had great views of the iconic Marina Sands hotel in the background.
Another really cool experience was the Cloud Forest, just next to the supertrees. This is a biosphere with thousands of tropical plants and an indoor waterfall. There is also an aerial walkway to get unique views. It felt like I was in Avatar. It's hard to explain just why this botanic garden was so fascinating, but just trust me.
We went to the top of the Marina Sands and looked out at all the cargo ships in the harbor (Singapore is the second busiest port in the world, the first being Shanghai). At night, we went back out to the Marina and watched a fountain show with some incredible architecture in the background.
Even the airport was fantastic- there was an indoor waterfall with a giant mall surrounding it connected to the airport.
After Singapore, we flew to Dubai.
This is about the halfway point to Europe, and many flights connect through DXB. We decided to make it a long layover and spend two nights in Dubai to help us adjust to the time zone difference and since neither of us have been to the Middle East. Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Each emirate has a king that makes the laws for their area. The largest (and richest) emirate- Abu Dhabi- is basically the capital and makes the decisions for the country as a whole. Each emirate has their own set of laws and economy. Dubai is known as the most liberal of the emirates, which has attracted many people and businesses.
The first day, we went to the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. It was completely overwhelming. There are over 1200 shops and entertainment experiences, including an aquarium, an ice rink, an art gallery, and a cinema. We walked around for hours and still didn't see the whole thing.
We also visited the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, which is right next to the mall. The Burj measures 828m (over 2700ft), and surpassed Taipei 101 (which we visited two days prior) as the world's tallest structure in 2010. We went to the 148th floor, and the view was dizzying.
Looking out, you see the ocean, then tons of massive skyscrapers, then the desert. There's not much else to Dubai!
Our second day we took a tour out to the desert. Our guide picked us up at our hotel and we drove 45 minutes south. Once we were outside of the city, there wasn't much except for a lot of sand. We went to a desert camp and spent the morning doing super touristy things. We took a side by side/dune buggy out into the desert, which was a blast. Both William and I drove, and we had so much fun.
Side note- the head scarf is called a keffiyeh. I was a little skeptical when they asked us to put it on because it seemed like a very touristy thing and almost cultural appropriation. However, I am so glad we did. Keffiyeh are commonly worn by men in the middle east to protect the face and head from the sun and sand. It was a really windy day, and the hot sand pelted us. You can't wear a hat because it will blow off in the wind. The fabric protects the head from burning and the face from the wind and sand. In contrast with a woman's hijab, a keffiyeh is not religious. I noticed that I had a negative view of wearing a head scarf and was almost shocked to look at these pictures of William and I wearing them. I think it's because I've seen them so many times on the news that I associate them with terrorism and violence. Well, it's good to recognize your biases- and I think I've found one of mine. The keffiyeh is nothing more than a useful piece of clothing. You might even say I've turned my cultural appropriation into cultural appreciation.
We also got to ride a camel, which was surprisingly smooth and comfortable. I was super excited to hold a falcon. I was a little sad because he had to sit on tourists arms all day for pictures rather than living a full bird of prey life, but it was so cool to see a falcon that close.
Although we usually don't go for too many touristy things, we had a really fun morning. We were both covered in dirt and sand by the end of our tour, and it was starting to get unbearably hot in the dunes. Fun fact- it was the same temperature in Dubai as Phoenix- 108F/42C- although more humid because of the ocean. We're glad we made the stop in Dubai, but we don't plan on going back. In William's words as we walked out of our hotel and into the blazing heat, "Get me out of this hell hole".
We've done a lot of miles and seen some amazing things over the past week. We've seen so many different cultures and people groups. Hope you enjoy our video!
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