Stalking Gothic Korea

Hello Elders and Others!

As most of you know, I have recently moved from Stuttgart, Germany to Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

Those of you who know me know that I really loved Germany, and have been having a hard time making the transition to my new home. One can only wallow in longing and self-pity for so long before one must begin taking action...or one risks becoming a dreadfully boring, introspective wank. So, springing into action like the industrious Elder Goth that I am, I set out to make a change in my prospects.

I decided that one way I can enhance my experience here, and make it much more meaningful, is to actively seek out a Gothic community and events where I will be able to feel at home. I don't live in Seoul, but it's less than an hour's train ride away. Heck, I used to walk longer than that for the pleasure of making my way to a good club. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a city larger than than New York. Goths are everywhere, and there have to be some there...in the dark, secret places of the...peninsula. ;)

Since Korea has a very reserved culture, it might take some digging to find them. And when I say reserved, I mean that it hasn't been that long that it has been socially OK for women to smoke in public.* If there's one thing I can do properly, however, it's research. That's what this series of posts is about...I am going to chronicle my adventures...stalking goth, in Korea!

My initial research led me to believe that the Goth scene here had peaked a few years ago, growing fast but fading quickly soon after. I was nevertheless intrigued to find links to fashion shows, Gothic shops, music, even Gothic k-pop...all only a few years old. Digging further revealed all sorts of promising gems...Korea's only ghost tour (murder, mayhem, prostitutes, oh my!), current online music sites, architecture, a Cathedral, a tumultuous history rife with grief and conflict, a thriving arts scene, shopping, make-up, goth couture, exquisite toys and dolls, and...dare I hope?...an intermittent club night!  I plan to post about all of these things on a semi-regular basis. I hope you find it interesting enough to come back and join me from time to time!

Thanks to the marvels of the modern age, I was able to actually reach out directly to distinct individuals involved in the scene, and it didn't take me long to stumble upon some fairly recent posts by a fellow goth expat currently living in Seoul. Specifically, I ran across this post by the lovely RissVandal. I reached out to her immediately and asked about interviewing her for this series of articles, and she even invited me to visit her friend's newly re-opened goth shop in the Hongdae region of Seoul.

We have a meet-up planned for this coming Saturday, and I absolutely cannot wait to meet her. She seems like a lovely person and I am very excited to get to know her better. My next post in the series will include her (no doubt riveting) responses to my questions about being Goth in Korea and her experiences here, as well as any pictures or video I manage to nab from our brief introductory tour and her friend's shop. And about the shop...interested in browsing online? Here's the link. ;)

*On the other hand, it's not uncommon to see Soju Warriors stumbling around pleasantly day-drunk.   Soju is a local spirit distilled from rice, traditionally. It is delightfully neutral, sometimes labeled as "Happy Water", and is found everywhere, cheaply. "Soju Warriors" is the term given to men who take it as a measure of pride (or just zero fucks to give) that they consume massive quantities of the stuff and frequently can be found passed out in public parks, sometimes as early as mid day. Google search images. Some of them seem sweetly fond of each other, nestled closely together, or even stacked one on top of each other on park benches.

Back to the main purpose of the blog--greening it up, Baby!

Do It Yourself--you'll be glad you did.

 It's been a while since I have posted here. I have been busy with other things, and working on things to post about. :)

I've been crocheting a bunch lately. My family likes to have "couch blankets." When we were still in Bloomington I made almost all the hats and scarves we wore during the cold months, and I gladly crochet dishcloths and washcloths for our daily use.

Why would I do these things, when I could save time and maybe even money (good yarn is not cheap, but SO worth it) by running across the street to Target or Kmart or where ever and just buying a blanket for $20 or 5 washcloths for a dollar? Why? I have good reasons. Very good reasons.

1) So these precious skills are not lost to time. If I HAD to, I want to know that I can have nice things because I can make them, grow them, raise them, etc. People used to make nearly everything for themselves and their neighbors, now we make almost nothing for ourselves.

2) Every stitch is like a directed meditation on the person you care for enough to make the item. Will they like it? Will it be warm enough? Will it be too warm? Every single stitch is an expression of love and care.

3) I like to imagine that the recipient will feel loved, honored and comforted by these labors of love. Even if they don't, though, I have still gained knowledge. I have created something beautiful and nurturing. I have accomplished something worthwhile, and I have enjoyed myself while doing so.

4) The labor involved is also like a directed meditation on material possessions. For instance, I have two throw blankets in my home I bought on sale at the grocery store for $11 each. They are good, cozy blankets. But they are made of synthetic fibers, on the other side of the planet from where I purchased them. Do you know why we can get so many things made of plastic so cheaply? Because, according to most economists, the TRUE cost of production is not captured in the cost that we pay.

We don't pay to clean the environment of the toxic by-products created in manufacturing because of relaxed environmental standards in developing nations. We don't pay for the damage done to the local ecology during the process of extracting the raw materials. We don't pay for the changing weather patterns (yet), we don't pay for the lost human capital (yet), we don't pay for the true cost of discarded waste when that color goes out of fashion and 250,000 consumers redecorate their homes with a "new look for Spring" they saw on the DIY network or HGTV.

Material possessions. We over-value them and under-value them simultaneously. I guarantee you, though, if we all made our own blankets and washcloths and hats and scarves, we'd feel differently about discarding them when the next home fashion trend rolled through town. 

Those crocheted dishcloths are amazing, by the way! They work like a charm, hold up to rough use and go straight in with the laundry. No hassle, no fuss, no chemicals dyes, no sponges to get torn up and thrown away (and that's not even taking into account the germs on those former invertebrate members of the shallow sea life community.) I felt like the last person on Earth to hear about them, but there are literally thousands of free patterns available online.

I have also been crocheting blankets as I said. I have here a few images of the finished products (fair warning--this apartment came furnished and the "color choices" it was decorated with are NOT my usual subdued style--sunglasses may be called for):

This is the first blanket I crocheted, and I made it for myself to use while reading in my recliner. That explains the shape, right? I used Caron Simply Soft yarn, if I recall correctly, and I think the color was "rose garden." It was a joy to make, and I used the same pattern on this one I did for the one I later made for my son...because every time I turned around he was snuggling with "my" blanket and I wanted it back.

I tried to get a good shot of the stitches close up, but my photography skills are truly lacking. You can kind of see the pattern, though.

This one I made for my son, whose favorite color is green. He picked out the yarn in Bloomington and I started it on the long flight over.  I didn't use a pattern, I just had a general shape in mind, and stopped when it was "big enough." I used a very large hook size, and made a very simple double crochet net. (eHow has a tutorial on double crochet and to create the netting effect just skip one chain between dc stitches. On the next pass, dc in the chain1 spaces of the previous row. When  you reach the desired length, finish with a triple crochet edging. Leave a comment if you want more instructions!)  This blanket's been done for weeks now.

This was the next blanket I made. This one was for my husband and I used a red heart free pattern for it. Scott wanted a different yarn for it, and he chose red heart super saver urban camo. I thought the colors looked nice, but it was a hard yarn to find, and frankly, hard to work with. This will be the last time I start a project without at least getting an in-person impression of the yarn. The finished product came our fine, but I would have preferred it to be a little softer. Scott seems happy with it, but I would like to make him something cozier at some point down the line.

 

The next project I worked on was this for my brother. I used a different pattern for his, also a free pattern from red heart, and he DID like the look of the yarn. I am a "tight" crocheter, and always wind up using less yarn than patterns call for. The upside of that is that I can make blankets and things bigger then specified with the same amount of yarn. (I'm just guessing, actually, I'm sure why it happens, but it does. I consistently make the same project using about 3/4 of the yarn called for in the pattern.)

I have fallen in love with Bernat Mosiac yarn, and the next couple of crochet projects I will be working on are Bumble Berry Pie Afghans. I will be making one out of the color "Fantasy" for Ami and one out of "Waterfall" for myself. :) I SO can't wait. Here is the next project in the making:

This charming pink/purple/lavender square is the very first square for Ami's Afghan. It's going to be beyond lovely.

I will be sure to post more pics when I get further along with Ami's, but I might wait until I finish it. I love this yarn so much (it's GORGEOUS) I might be a little bit obsessive about working on it until it gets done.

My next post will be about bread making. I will be posting my recipe for white bread, corn bread and a recipe for very low fat banana bread. I have lots of pics already taken for both, so it shouldn't take too long to for me to get it all typed. Unless, of course, I am obsessively working on something else. After that, I will post tutorials for 2 basic crochet dishcloths.

Take care, and go make something for yourself!

Why Anjali Appadurai is my hero!

"Get It Done": Urging Climate Justice, Youth Delegate Anjali Appadurai Mic-Checks UN Summit

I started this blog in part to share my experiences as I travel, in hopes of helping people who might be planning similar journeys. Primarily, though,  I started it because I am deeply, vitally concerned about the future of our species and every other species on this planet. The voices of the future have been regarded as vague or distant. Let's stop all that nonsense, and let's start being very blunt about how we are killing ourselves and each other and our children by our reckless complacency.

It won't take communists or an alien invasion to destroy humanity. All it takes is a lazy desire for convenience and turning 300 million blind eyes to the consequences.

I hope my nieces and nephews see this video, and understand that if they do their homework and seek out opportunities to raise their voices for justice then they can be heroes just like her. In fact, I hope ALL CHILDREN, EVERYWHERE understand that they can do it, too!

I just hope that for them, it isn't already too late.

Kuwait Towers and Desert Flowers

You know how easy it is to live some place and avoid ever going to see the things that are special "attractions" for visitors? Like people who live in New Mexico and never take the Carlsbad Caverns tour? (I have taken that tour.) Or people who live in New York City but wind up watching the ball drop every New Year's Eve on live broadcast instead of hoofing down to Times Square? (I have not seen the ball drop in Times Square.)

I think most places have something about them that make them different from other places. Jackson, Mississippi lies along the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a beautifully restored 444 mile walking/driving/biking trail running along a historical route used by people for thousands of years to cross difficult terrain. The area also has a petrified forest park, as well as the Mississippi Craft Guild, an Agricultural and Forestry Museum that includes, among many other things of interest, a masonic lodge and a working smithy, a Museum of Natural Science, a Museum of Art--you begin to see where I'm going with this.

Jackson Mississippi is full of surprises for people who have an outdated image of the deep south....which is basically everyone who hasn't been there in the past 25 years. Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and a personal hero of mine was from Mississippi. The state is the birthplace/home of an incredible array of talent in everything acting, popular music, world class ballet, great literature...it's hard for most people to come to terms with this treasure trove of cultural output as it conflicts so harshly with the toothless, politically inverted, impoverished image that so many people love to cling to. And yes, you WILL find that in Mississippi, just like you will find arrogance, ignorance and criminals  everywhere.

Mississippi is much, much more than that though, and most of the people who live or have lived there are looking for a way to change that image. In fact, there has been a campaign called "Mississippi: Believe It!" --created pro bono-- that is geared "to share little-known facts about our great state [Mississippi] … and the people who make it great."

All of this is a digression from my post topic, but please bear with me as there is a very important point to it. 


Since Miles and I arrived here in Kuwait, Scott has mentioned several times that he wanted for us all to visit the Kuwait Towers. They are a sort of "National Symbol," like the Eiffel Tower, but on a much smaller scale. The website describes them as "An urban monument that symbolizes Kuwait’s progressive and economic renaissance as well as a World cultural and touristic landmark."

We have been here since December 9th, so about three and half months. Almost every weekend, when we are asking each other what we want to do for the weekend ("I dunno, what do you wanna do?"--Lame, but all too frequently heard in our little apartment--) the option of visiting Kuwait Towers has come up. That weekend free time is very precious to us. My husband and Miles' father--same guy, fyi--is gone from us 14-16 hours a day working 12 hour shifts 5 days a week. We usually choose to do something besides going to static landmarks, because we want him to relax as much as possible and give Scott a low stress, enjoyable break from his daily routine.  Still, Kuwait Towers is a standard, regularly mentioned option for our weekend excursions.

The thing about landmarks, though, is that they are landmarks. They aren't going anywhere. You can always go see them "next time." This is how people who live in Arizona can manage to live a few miles away from it without ever actually going to see the Grand Canyon. I've never seen it, though I have spent most of my life living in the American Southwest. Just thinking about it even now I could kick myself.

Source.

And that's the thing about landmarks, though--that they are landmarks. Most of the time, it's for a very good reason, too. The Grand Canyon is worth making the effort to go see. It's magnificently gorgeous, even in pictures, and there's nothing else it like anywhere on the planet above sea level.

So we finally went to go check out the Kuwait Towers. We weren't expecting much, but we didn't want to keep putting it off.  Before we did that, though, we stopped by Marina Mall to grab some lunch. We planned on going there because Lenôtre has a Lebanese breakfast buffet that Scott has been wanting to take us to.  We took our time getting ready, too much time as it turns out and we missed the buffet, but Scott was happy so I was happy. All I really need is coffee until about noon anyway. :)

Even though we missed the buffet, we decided to stick to the plan. We had been there once before after dark, and remembered seeing plenty of restaurants to choose from. Scott and I were leaning towards Au Bon Pain but Miles had been wanting to check out Johnny Rockets since we got here. I keep telling him that we didn't come half-way around the planet to eat burgers and fries. Yesterday morning we decided to let him try it. He's been growing into a fine young man, being more responsible, helpful and observant and we felt like it was his turn to pick the restaurant. Besides, we'd taken him to an Indian restaurant Friday night and he didn't complain once. Scott and Miles both had standard diner fare, and I ordered a green salad with a scoop of tuna on top and ranch on the side. I REALLY enjoyed that salad.

When we were finished eating we strolled up and down the marina side and took some photos. It was a lovely day. The sky was blue and the air was clear. I could just make out the skyline of downtown Kuwait City.

There was a slight breeze so that even though we could tell summer was about to it we were still pleasantly cool. I tried to get some good shots of the boats in the Marina, and to capture the lovely green color of the water here. I have always known the ocean to be greyish-black with blue tinges. Here, near the shore line where it's shallow, the water is a gorgeous green. When it gets deeper it turns a gorgeous deep blue. I will try to get some shots of that for a later post.

Marina Mall is actually two separate buildings connected by a pedestrian overpass.

Like most malls in Kuwait, it's big and shiny. Sitting on the water as it does, the Marina side definitely makes the most of the wide brick walkway to provide a lovely cafe atmosphere for restaurant goers to enjoy as they dine. In these photos I managed to capture some of the covered tables in the distance without disturbing anyone's privacy while they enjoyed their meal.

 

Lunch along at Marina Mall was a nice way to start our day out. I should note here that in Kuwait the work week runs from Sunday to Thursday, but Scott works the typical American week from Monday through Friday. What this means for us is that traffic is terrible on Thursday nights, and things are a lot less crowded on Sunday than they normally would be on a weekend day. It was pleasant, as I said.

From there we went straight to Kuwait Towers. They are open from 9:30 in the morning until 11:00 at night. That might seem a little late for an urban landmark to stay open for business, but Kuwaitis keep very late hours. I suspect it has something to do with the 130 °F that can be reached in high 
summer. Scott tells me it doesn't really cool off at night, either. I guess we should definitely make 
the most of these mild temperatures.

I tried to get some good photos of the Towers from the road. There just too many light posts, trees and buildings in the way. I have to say that they were much prettier up close than I had expected. I have seen photos of them online, but until I got close I never realized they were so colorful. I love the sea blues and greens. I couldn't tell if they used ceramic tiles or industrial glass or even paint to get the effect, but it was truly beautiful sparkling in the sun. It reminded me of a mermaid's castle, perched on the edge of the sea. An obviously Kuwaiti mermaid, that is, since she is so proudly flying the Kuwaiti flag.

As an interesting aside, something I have seen all over Kuwait and Dubai is light strings used in outdoor decorating. They are strung in different colors, usually white but sometimes also red and green as a show of Kuwaiti national pride. At the ticket kiosk I noticed some were strung on one of the poles using cable zip-ties to arrange them into a clever design. I had to point it out to Scott because it was so practical and efficient, and I might add, neatly and precisely done. 

Check it out-->

And the flowers! I grew up Gothic in the Texas, so I am quite used to finding beauty in aridity, thankyouverymuch! When I moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 2008 so I could go to graduate school in the SPEA program it was a revelation for me. Flowers were everywhere, and I fell in love with all. I especially love my house there, but that's for another post. Let's just say I have been missing the glorious blossoms of springtime in Bloomington. I certainly was not expecting the lovely swaths of color I found at the Towers. There was a lot of care that went into that landscaping, and I for one appreciated it immensely. I gladdened my heart to see these blooming things next to the shoreline. 

That tunnel thing is a covered walkway.

I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the wild looking blooms in the foreground of this one.

I just had to stand there and stare at this scene for a minute. Breathtaking. 

It didn't cost very much to get into the Towers. I think it cost about one KD (Kuwaiti Dinar) per person. Last time I checked, 1KD=$3.60. So, not free, but still not expensive for a national monument. The elevator attendant took our tickets and took us up to the 19th floor. There are actually 2 levels to the observation deck, and both levels are well supplied with ash trays. I didn't see anyone smoking on the first level. Unfortunately, most of the sea-side windows were opaque with maybe dust, or maybe something else. I still managed to get some good shots of the skyline, though. By the way, I must mention how absolutely amateurish my photography skills are. Thank goodness for auto-focus, or you all would have to rely on my descriptions for all of this. 

For those who might be interested, there appears to be *quite* the water park behind the Towers--and is that a go-kart track I see? Why yes, yes it is. :)

As we were reminded by plaques and pictures on the wall, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq about 20 years ago, and the Iraqis did everything they could to vandalize, destroy and otherwise break the spirits of the Kuwaiti people.

There really isn't anything I can say about those images. I think they speak for themselves. Miles was deeply troubled by them. His innate sense of justice was offended, and his first reaction was "Hey! They can't do that! Just because they have guns and tanks doesn't mean they can just come and destroy things that belong to other people...war is horrifying..." He's 10 years old. It's a pity some grown folks never even get that fully evolved.

I obviously have a wonderful, wonderful child that I am extremely proud of and lucky to know.

The upper level of the observation sphere is up a short set of stairs. There are 2 separate sections: and inner, stationary section and the outer, rotating section where the tables are attached. It moves so slowly that I didn't notice it at first. After did, I have to admit it was a bit disorienting. I ignored it long enough to take some more pictures of the skyline. I thought it was interesting that someone had put label decals on the glass. Since it spins, surely there would be many situations where people would get home and find "Arabian Gulf" labeled on their downtown skyline photos. It worked out well for me though. Guess our timing was fortuitous. 

I don't know if you can make it out, but the label on the left says "Arabian Gulf."

This is a good shot of the 2 different sections.

Once we had descended again I tried to capture some of the more interesting buildings in the skyline, but I am not sure how well they will translate to the blogosphere. Maybe you can make some things out.

More skyline....and More FLOWERS!

So that was the end of our visit to the Kuwait Towers. Over all, it was not what I expected. Ok, maybe it was a little bit of what I expected, but there was a lot more to than just that.
Remember my earlier ramblings about Mississippi and how inaccurate most people's perceptions of it are? OK, now think back to my earlier comments about the difference between Kuwait and Dubai.

I still see Kuwait in much the same way, but yesterday we got to drive around some parts of Kuwait City we have never seen before. Those parts were much better kept and much less frontier-esque than the parts I am most familiar with. Granted, the parts that were better kept are the parts where the rich people live and where the international business community visits, so of course they are going to put on the pretty-face. Still, I begin to worry that I have been hasty in my assessment of the country as a whole.

Several times I have been out driving around Kuwait and noticed what can only be damage from heavy artillery.  Seeing those plaques makes me wonder how much of what I have been seeing as carelessness and poor planning might be (at least partially) because I live closer to the oil fields than downtown, which is near the coast. Even there, I saw entire buildings that were burned, bombed and disused. I will get back to you guys as my opinions begin to coalesce into something more structured and sophisticated.

Speaking of sophisticated, I would like to thank VictorianKitty (of  Sophistique Noir) for the encouragement to post about flowers. I love them, but only when they are still in the ground or on the branch or vine.  I like them to live and thrive, but I wouldn't have thought to post about them without her April theme. Incidentally, if you like fashion and/or costuming, you should go check out her blog!

Weekend in Dubai--Day 2: The Burj Khalifa, Tallest Buidling in the World

Dubai is a city of records, firsts, bests, richest, biggest...-ests, etc. Once we determined we were going to visit Dubai, Scott immediately made it clear that the one thing he was most interested in see was the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

This was taken during the cab ride there.

 The Burj Khalifa was originally named the Burj Dubai, but it's completion coincided with the global financial crisis. Drowning in massive debt, and without the expected influx of tourism and prestige-rental dollars a huge bailout was sought from (the still quite oil rich) Abu Dhabi. In honor of that $10bn gesture the building was renamed the Burj Khalifa, after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan. It is literally so big you have ot have a special camera to be able to take an unobstructed picture of the whole thing in one frame. Believe me, I tried.


We scheduled our tour--you are advised to buy the tickets well in advance of your arrival as the tours fill up quickly--for 10:30 in the morning of our second day. Since it's such a landmark, and since we could see it from our hotel, we decided to just get in a cab and tell them where we wanted to go. Usually we would have printed out maps and directions, but all we brought with us this time was a printout of our ticket vouchers. Even so, we were running a few minutes late and I was worried that we might miss our tour. You can imagine how confused, and mildly panicked, I was when our cab pulled up in front of Dubai Mall, which looked to be about a block away from the Burj itself.

Our cabbie didn't speak much English, and I was not about to get out of the cab until I knew what was going on. He had a conversation with Scott which I couldn't hear very well, but he repeated our destination and insisted that we were to go into to mall. Still somewhat worried, we got out anyway and went inside. Fortunately for us there was an information desk immediately inside the door and the nice man in the uniform behind the counter politely assured us that we were in the right place. It turns out that you get to the Burj tour by taking the elevator down and walking a short distance underground.

Since we were running a little later than we wanted to--i.e. just enough time to check in, get our tickets, and make the tour--I was feeling tense when I saw all the people who were also waiting to take the tour. I shouldn't have worried, though. Even though there were so many people, the every aspect of the tour is well planned and efficient. Everything was slickly polished and there was a definitely hum and excitement in the air. I couldn't help walking a little too quickly past all of the wonderful information plaques on the hallways leading to the elevators. I wanted to capture it all, but with so many people anxious to get to the top it would have been impossible to linger long enough soak it all in without causing an international incident.


The design of the building itself it a work of art. The foot print of the building is a triquetra, and this motif is repeated over and over again throughout the building. On the walls, etched in the glass room dividers, in the tile on the floors, in the logos on the brochures, etc. Seeing it everywhere, with some subtle variations in pattern and repetition, is not too hard on the eyes, though. It's usually subtly included in the already tasteful design of the building so you don't at all feel like you are being beaten over the head with it. Instead it is an elegant addition adding continuity (and branding *wink*) to an already impressively arranged space.

 The Burj Khalifa is not only the world's tallest building, but also boasts the world's fastest elevator, traveling at 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s). The elevator really is incredibly fast, and you see digital displays on the wall for the floor numbers as you pass them, as well as various promotional adverts, but it is packed so full of people you can barely see them. It would doubtless have more impact if it had glass walls à la the amazing wonkavator, but it was at least well air-conditioned and the ride was short enough that the shoulder to shoulder discomfort was bearable.

When you reach the end of the ride, the elevator opens onto the observation deck on floor 124. Though it's called the "At the Top Experience," it really isn't the top of the building. It's still very, very high though. Also, it isn't really a tour, it's just a bunch of neat things to look at on your way to and from the observation deck. The observation deck goes all the way around the building with floor to ceiling windows. There is plenty of space so that people are free to linger as longer as they like at the top, but it's small enough that after about 20 minutes you've really seen everything you came to see and egress occurs organically and comfortably. Have I mentioned how much I really like good planning?

We were warned on the bottom that it was a hazy day. I can only imagine what the view must be like when it is a clear day.

Looking UP from floor 124!

Scott joked that he couldn't "believe they don't clean these windows...GAH!" Uh, yeah, I'd get right on that, too. Hundred floors up. Just sayin'...

Yep, that's my boy. Brings a comic book!

I found out later Miles and Scott were pretending to be evil overlords using the mounted space cannons, cleverly disguised as digital viewing stations, to wreak havoc upon the hapless citizens and tourists below.

That round thing down there is the main entrance/rotunda to the very huge Dubai Mall, where our cab driver dropped us off.

There is a small gift shop at the top that sells bag, t-shirts, postcards, etc. I bought a shirt for my son, and would probably have picked up more stuff as souvenirs (I really really wanted to get a t-shirt for my husband too), but they just didn't have that much that interested me. I usually look for fridge magnets, coffee cups, t-shirts, pencils or pens, or postcards. The coffee cups were the tall thin kind. I prefer the more substantial ones. Any coffee cup that enters my home has to look like it will survive the inevitable early morning tumble it will take as I struggle to get it filled with warm, life-giving java before I'm fully conscious.

They DID have these gold foil-covered chocolate camels, though. If I had thought for one minute it would have survived the shipping ordeal I would have gotten one to send to my mother. I think she would have gotten a good chuckle out of it, but I could only picture her puzzled expression as she peered through the clear plastic box at the gold and brown lump that would have arrived in the mail some weeks down the line. So--I settled for a photo. This one's for you, Mom!

After the getting our fill of the observation deck, we headed back down to have lunch in the amazing Dubai Mall. There is a much larger gift store at the bottom, for those who might be interested, but we bypassed it pretty quickly and went straight to the beautiful sculpture of the building they had on display.

Huge, slick, shiny, full of designer names and gourmet chocolate stores...it was really all too much for me. I'm sure we didn't even get to see half of it, but we finally found a place to have lunch which was really nice a refreshing. It was called Sumo Salad and it was really, really great. I heartily recommend it if you are lucky enough to have one nearby. And if you don't, consider opening a franchise. It's that good!  It was also nice to rest for a while. Before too long, we were ready to get back to the business of exploring the mall. There was really too much to see.

We did wander through enough, though, that we found our way to the the Dubai Mall Aquarium & Underwater Zoo which also boasts the Guinness Book of World Record's...uhm, record...for the world's largest acrylic panel. We got the full tour of the Aquarium with the glass bottom boat ride, trip through the "underwater zoo," and a voucher for the gift shop.
 
The boat rides are scheduled in in 30 minute increments, and we were there early enough that we didn't have to wait too long. While we were wending our way through the "creepy crawlies" section of the underwater zoo, we were offered an opportunity for Miles to sit with a constrictor and have his photo made. Scott had a severe allergic reaction to the tourist dollar trap and had to walk away for a few moments to get his blood pressure back down, but since Miles was game I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass us by! Was it gimmicky and over-priced? Absolutely. Was it worth it? I'll let you be the judge for now, and I will get out the pictures again to show Miles a couple of years from now. And then I'll get them out again to show my grand kids when they are 10 years old and ask them how they feel about it. *wink*
 
Turns out the "free" voucher for the gift shop was just one AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) more than a t-shirt for my husband cost, SO I got to buy him a souvenir shirt like I wanted without any more cash flowing into the Aquarium's coffers.

Incidentally, I am not poking fun at my husband over the money issue. The whole trip was well under budget, so it wasn't that we were spending too much, he was just upset on principle. I think getting upset over principles is a good thing. I especially admire it in my loved ones. What I might be poking a little bit of fun at is how he knows what to expect from these trips and he still gets mad anyway. Just like I get mad at dangerous drivers. It's the way of things. *grin*

When we finally exited the Aquarium we were all starting to get a little droopy so we wandered back into the central part of the mall to get some "hot beverages" as Dr. Sheldon Cooper would say. It just so happens that I got some killer souvenirs for my nieces and nephew at the exotic little shop across from where we had coffee, but they will just have to wait until the package arrives for the reveal.

From there we strolled back through the mall and decided to head outside toward the Dubai Mall Fountain. The thing is huge. In fact, there are two of them, but they are so big you can only see one of them at a time. Fortunately for us, when we were at the top of the Burj Khalifa, we just happened to get a shot looking down on the fountain that we got to watch. When we went out of the mall, we walked across a pedestrian bridge to find a shaded bench on the other side where we would sit and wait for the show.

The little black curlycue thing is actually the the pumps and pipes that drive the fountain in the video below. From this angle you can see to foot-bridge we crossed from the mall and the corner we were perched on for the show.

This video was taken March 6, 2012 at 5:45pm. If I recall correctly, we saw the earliest show and they occur every 45 minutes after that, but I'm not sure how late they run. You could probably check here, if you are curious though.

Though our spirits were much higher after such an enjoyable display, we were all definitely ready for dinner by the time the fountain show was over. Scott and I both wanted to take the opportunity to have a nice, quiet "grown up" meal in a sit down restaurant. Scott had done some looking around on that side of the bridge while we were waiting for the fountain to start so he had some idea of what was available. There was a lot to choose from, as in the rest of the mall, but we decided to try a place called the "Meat Co." It was expensive but pleasant and pretty much exactly what we were looking for. I was so tired I don't even remember what I ordered, but I do remember being embarrassed by the way some other American tourists were poking fun at our African waiter's name. I was livid about it, frankly, but I didn't want to embarrass Scott--or our very kind and professional waiter--any more than necessary.

Other than a cab ride home through the beautifully lit downtown Dubai, that was it for day two of Dubai. Day 3 was just an uneventful trip to the airport heading back to Kuwait, so that's all we have to report from Dubai!