Eggs and sausage and a side of toast, coffee and a roll, hash browns over easy, chile in a bowl with burgers and fries (Tom Waits)

Breakfast in America: Rae's Diner, Santa Monica, Saturday Jan 9, 2023

Wie geht's?

As we've been travelling around over the last four weeks I've noticed some stark differences between countries.

We started off our adventures in Dubai - things were pretty much as they were the last time we were here, ten years ago, while we were living in Al Ain. Adjectives like flashy, superficial, and bubble still apply - maybe even more so. This time the prices were an eye opener - it's no longer a place to get a bargain compared with home.

I bought some books from my favourite bookshop in the Dubai Mall and they were about the same price I'd expect to pay in Nu Zild (if I could find them). For instance, a hardback copy of Steven Wilson's 'Limited Edition Of One' cost 150 dirham - about $64.

From there we headed to the UK.

Basically, Britain is broken. 

Christmas holidays are a prime time for industrial action in England. This time around: nurses strike action, ambulance worker strikes, border staff strikes, massive train disruptions because of strikes, service industry shortages, breakdown assistance strikes meant lengthy delays on arterial routes. Infrastructure is limping along in Britain. It was a bit sad to see. 

Luckily, we didn't book any train journeys, if we had done, we'd still be trying to get out of London. Instead, we hired a car and toured around places we'd not been before. That proved a good move in the circumstances (Tintagel Castle and visiting my family in Bury were absolute highlights) but each journey time expanded with unforeseen circumstances - break downs unattended or too many cars on narrow roads because of the rail disruption. So a 3 hour trip became a 4 or 5 hour struggle to get where we were going.

Having said that, as I remarked to Jacky as we enjoyed lunch in Oxford Street's Marks And Spencer's. we just fit in here!

After Christmas, we headed to California. Santa Monica to be precise.

In stark contrast, the more laid back, friendly, warm Cali-vibe was again a factor. In fact, apart from a moody poe-faced receptionist at The Madonna Inn (San Luis Obispo), we found the people we came across on our travels to be more personable, friendly and helpful than we find in similar Nu Zild contexts. 

'You got it', became a familiar response in America.

The tipping culture is a huge adjustment for me, but apart from that our stay was made extremely pleasurable thanks to all the various burgers, pancakes and donuts I consumed (the Big Sur Roadhouse for donuts and the San Luis Obispo IHOP for pancakes were my favs).  

Given all those exotic foods, mysteriously, I managed to return to NZ the same weight as when I left.  

To summarise - three countries that are vastly different in feel and approach: UAE - all fur coat no knickers; Britain - home and broken; California - a cool world apart.

Love and peace - Wozza

Reality is like a face reflected in the blade of a knife; its properties depend on the angle from which we view it (Venerable Master Hsing Yun)

 

Wie geht's?

Jacky and I are currently in Dubai at the start of our month-long vacation.

Being in a plane from Auckland to Dubai for 17 hours has its moments and repercussions.

As timing would have it, during those 17 hours, we were able to watch the England vs France quarter final live while flying at 35,000 feet in an Emirates A380. 

What a world we live in!

Pity that Tottenham Hotspurs' Harry Kane lost out to Tottenham Hotspurs' Hugo Lloris and therefore football won't be coming home, again, still.

Disrupted sleeping patterns are one repercussion of 17 hours in a plane.

During the flight, we did manage about 6 hours sleep thanks to a sleeping pill, but it's not a very rewarding sleep.

So, at 2.00am on our first Dubai morning we were up watching the final episode of 1899 thanks to Netflix, my computer, and an HDMI cable to our hotel's TV.

Warning - a semi-spoiler is in the next paragraph.

It's been an intriguing 8 episodes but I have to say the final ending really disappointed me. The last episode (The Key) was heading towards a fantastic cathartic ending but then it abruptly deviated into The Matrix territory.

I was left ruing a lost opportunity for the female lead to redeem herself and her prior actions (paradoxically preserving her son's youthful status quo reality via a fake simulation).

Although I ultimately think there is a lost opportunity there, the whole series is mind-bending, mind-blowing and visually stunning. I didn't even mind the dubbing for some characters - even that fitted with the whole reality/fantasy schtick.

So, I recommend you have a go. But maybe not at 2.00 am after a 17 hour flight.

Love and peace - Wozza