Playing can be very hard work.

We had to get up at 5AM, drive 2 hours in the dark. Then a choppy boat ride with very large swells, cold and windy since it is winter time here in South Africa, a rain storm dumped on us, then we had to get into the super cold water.

Just then, a 12 footer Great White swim right next to us, close enough for me to touch it. That was an amazing experience.

We flew 15 hours from SFO to Dubai, then another 10 hours from Dubai to Cape Town, South Africa. We have never been this far away from home before.

We are loving it here. South Africa is a beautiful country.

We are staying 4 nights at the upscale beach town of Camps Bay. The Beach side is lined with fine dining restaurants, cafes, and shops. Gorgeous homes with million dollar views cover the sea cliffs base, with the famed Table Mountain as a dramatic backdrop. Our 2 bedroom apartment is just across the street of the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Below are some photos that show off the different flavors of Cape Town:

South Africa is a great country for foodies. It offers westerners fine dining experience at casual eating prices. This large lamb chunk pizza was around $10 US dollars. Hubby ordered this dish for lunch at a beautiful winery in Somerset West.

South Africa’s meow

View from top of the Table Mountain. We took the cable car up. The hike up is not for people like us.

Our summer is South Africa’s winter. But it is a nice 60 to 70 degrees weather, with rain showers here and there. It is very green with flowers in full bloom.

Oh, they have penguins on the beach.

And Ostrich along side the road that wanted to race us.

Camera happy at the Cape Point.

Picturesque Chapman’s Peak drive.

Cape Town’s many townships are where black South Africans live in extreme poverty. It was only a 20 minute drive from Camps Bay, where we are staying, and it sure feels like a whole world apart.

Just another 15 to 20 minutes car ride away is the upscale V&A Waterfront. Huge malls with expensive brands, and harbor view restaurants.

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Wharf and Mall.

Our fancy South Africa lunch at the V&A Waterfront Wharf. I have no idea what this dish is called…

Ostrich Steak is so good. I thought it looked kind of dry, but it was so tender and juicy. Great spices…delicious.

Back at Camps Bay.

It was still over 100 degrees at 7:40PM, with 50% humidity in the air. This sauna is called Dubai.

We were in Dubai for our 2 day layover on our way to South Africa.

This is the first time we have ever set foot in the Middle East, and in the middle of Ramadan! However, Dubai is nothing like the Middle East that we often see on TV.

Upon arriving the airport, we were whisked away by a female taxi driver! She wore a pinkish flower print head scarf, and has many friends. She kept getting calls and chatted happily on her cell phone most of the ride.

Along the way to our hotel, I noted how new, cosmopolitan, and extravagant this city is. I was wowing silently to myself looking out the window.

However Dubai in July is not exactly a treat, being very, very hot and humid. So, we decided to stay at the Atlantis the Palm. This is the resort with the big famous water park, and an enormous aquarium that some of their water slides pass through.

I have heard that Dubai is a very service oriented city, and the Atlantis certainly lived up to the reputation.

Atlantis’ staff to guest ratio is incredibly high. They are everywhere to be helpful and smile. Doors are pulled open for us with a smile and greeting, when we arrive at the guest tower lifts, a staff would already push the elevator button for us, and hold the door open for all of us to get in. Just about everywhere we went, we were immediately greeted and offered assistance.

They do all these without the expectation of a tip.

At the water park, life guards are stationed everywhere, even better, they have staffs stationed in the water whose job is to give you a little push or pull, and when the lazy river split into different rivers, staffs will be there to ask you which way, and send you off to your desired river.

The resort also built several water escalators that take you up to big water slides, so, guests are truly lazy on their lazy river.

We graciously allowed ourselves to be served in Dubai, and was sorry to leave.

“So! What did they like the most about the U.S.?” My sister asked enthusiastically over the phone.

I had just returned home from our two week tour of the Western US, and after a long and restful sleep in my own bed, my mind was still groggy from the road trip.

I flipped through the scenes from the past two weeks in my head, and this image had topped the list.

“Our blue sky.” I answered her.

“What?!” my sister sounded as if she heard me wrong.

“Our big blue sky. Our fresh air too.” I replied firmly.

“What….Isn’t their sky blue too?” my sister sounded disappointed. Clearly, she felt deprived of a proper answer.

“No. The cities in China are badly polluted. Their skies are usually brown there.” me, remembering my trip to China two summers ago.

“Really? Brown sky?” my sister.

“Yes, their city skies are usually in shades of light brown. But they can sometimes see a faint blue in the sky, especially right after a rain storm.” I tried to make the images of China a little less dreadful to her.

Sure, our beautiful cities, gorgeous coastline, quaint Wine country, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc. easily impressed and won them over, but it was the things that I have taken for granted that made their trip an impressionable one for me.

“Jenny. How come I don’t hear any ZhiNiao here?” Benny, my cousin’s best friend asked me on their second day in America.

Ah.. the ZhiNiao….my mind traveled back to Hangzhou, China.

We had just flown into Hangzhou from Taipei. That afternoon, we went for a walk around their famous West Lake. We heard this constant sound coming from the trees.

Having just arrived, we were easily fascinated by everything. The four of us took great trouble to isolate one of the sounds, and traced it onto a tree, and found the bug responsible for the noise. We pointed it out to the kids, filmed it, and snapped pictures of it.

A ZhiNiao looks like a giant fly. It is black, a little bigger than a thumb. It even has thin, see-through wings, like a fly. However, I formed an suspicion that it cannot fly. It seemed to just stay in one spot motionless, to fulfill its sole purpose in life, which is to scream loudly all together, all day, all summer long.

Our initial fascination with it very quickly faded, yielding to annoyance. By the following day, we felt a certain hatred toward the ZhiNiao.

“There are no ZhiNiao here.” I answered with relief.

“You don’t seem to have mosquitoes here either.” Benny.

“Right, we don’t have mosquitoes here.” me.

“Do you have cockroaches and mice in your house?” Benny.

“No. Not in my house.” me.

“I think your God, Jesus, must personally live here in America!” proclaimed Benny. “All the good things are here. All those bad things are with us in China!”

We had a good laugh.

I considered the 9-hour drive to Vegas, then the 8-hour drive from the Grand Canyon to Southern California, torturous. But my guests loved it.

“Why?” My sister had asked.

“Our roads are wide and straight. There was no traffic. They have never driven so fast before. Slower moving trucks always moved out of our way to let us pass. And our highways are free.” me. Taking a breath, I continued, “Even 5 or 6 hours into the middle of nowhere, our roads are still smooth and wide, with clear and constant highway signs to keep you from being lost, and to warn you to slow down for any upcoming curves.”

“Oh, and they loved the roadside scenery.” me.

“What roadside scenery?” my sister. We are all familiar with the boring dry hills that line the highway to inland destinations.

“Seriously. They thought the scenery on our road trips very beautiful.” me.

It was a few hours into our drive from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. Hubby was driving. The kids were in the back seats playing on their iPhone and iPod. I was trying not to doze off.

“It is so beautiful here!” our walkie talkie sounded off in Chinese. The minivan my cousin was driving was right behind us.

“This is beautiful?” My baby looked up from her iPod, sounding disbelieving, then went back to playing on it.

“What’s beautiful?” I asked over the walkie talkie.

“Just look how open the space is! And those enormous golden mountains in the distance. Very beautiful!” came the answer. So, they were not being sarcastic.

A couple of more hours of driving, we came upon more vast open valleys, and another set of imposing golden brown mountains looming large in the distance. At the edge of the valley, these golden mountains also took on a hue of purple and blue.

“Can we pull over for a quick stop?” my cousin’s voice sounded off from the walkie talkie.

“Why? Something wrong?” I channeled over.

“The scenery here is too beautiful. We want to stop and take pictures.” walkie talkie.

“No! We are on the freeway! You can’t just stop here and take pictures.” me.

In the days that followed, they registered several complaints to me about missing those photo opportunities.

On day 8, we were driving under an all-powerful sun from the Grand Canyon to Huntington Beach, California. We made a potty stop at a random restroom. I was standing under a tree waiting for everyone to come out of the restrooms.

“Holy Cow! You have hot water running in the faucet too.” My cousin came out looking all amazed.

We were traveling somewhere in close proximity to the Death Valley. The temperature was well over 100 degrees. Hot water was hardly a treat there. It was a punishment.

Unimpressed. I just stared back at him.

“And this place is so deserted. How does the restroom stay clean, and WHO put all that toilet paper in there?!” cousin.

I chuckled. In China, people have to carry toilet paper packs with them everywhere.

On our grand Vegas casino tour day, we were licking gelato at The Venetian’s indoor St Mark’s Square, and watching other tourists on their Venetian canal boat rides.

“They do a pretty good job giving you that Venice feel here.” I said to Nancy, my cousin’s wife.

“Maybe even better than the real Venice…this St. Mark’s square is spotlessly clean, and has A/C. Plus the real canal water at the real Venice can be smelly.” I added half jokingly.

“Why do you guys still bother to travel overseas? You have everything here. And your country is so beautiful.” Nancy said to me in all seriousness.

Before this trip, I often thought that America has little to offer to its tourists. Being such a young country, US has little history, and no ancient sites to rival the likes of The Colosseum and the Great Wall of China.

After spending 2 weeks with my cousins and their friends, I got to see America for the first time through their eyes. I came to the realization that I thought wrong! America is a fascinating country for its visitors.

In the two weeks just in the West Coast alone, we went from the beautiful city of San Francisco, to the rocky coastal waters of the Monterey Bay, to the sun drenched valley of the Napa Wine Country, to the great casinos in Vegas, to the breath-taking Grand Canyon, and finally the world-class amusement theme parks of Southern California. Every day awarded a complete different experience to my guests. Each day was so distinctive that it made the previous days seem so distant and remote.

As far as travel goes, I have often trumpeted that every time we return home from foreign destinations, even if it’s a wonderful trip, I always find myself appreciating America a little bit more.

It is interesting to note, that after seeing America through the eyes of my foreign tourists, the experience deepened my appreciation for this great country once again.

God bless America.

Related previous post:
Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China-Part I

Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China-Part II

We Bought Air for 100 Yuan in China

A Forsaken Old Farmhouse

How to spend 12 hours on a lake?

Preparing the kids for China

Day 5 & 6:

We spent the next two days in Vegas, and for its first-time visitors, a tour of Sin City’s powerhouse casinos is a must.

After a filling brunch at the Mirage, we spent the day on a walking tour of The Venetian, The Palazzo, Wynn, Encore. Then we crossed the street to Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, and Aria.

They played the part of typical Asian tourists well, snapping pictures everywhere they turned. Sometimes, as they aimed their cameras at one marvel, their heads and eyes were already turned to be amazed with another. Who can blame them?

The grand entrances, the casinos, the shops, the indoor gardens and water features, the walkways, and even every insignificant corner exploded with grand imagination and outrageous excess.

That evening, I took them to be further wowed by the award-winning original Las Vegas Cirque Du Soleil show of Mystere. It was truly a circus fit for the sun.

The following morning, we abused the Bellagio Buffet with a two hour marathon eating session. Then as a proper tour guide might do, I gave them the rest of the day free. My cousin and his friend went to try their luck at the casino tables, as their wives went shopping at the Outlet Mall. Hubby and I, plus the kids, spent a relaxing day at the pool.

Day 7:

Happy birthday to my baby! Yes, it was my baby’s 9th birthday. We woke her up in our hotel room with our cheerful happy birthday song, and honored our baby with sprinkled donuts. Breakfast in bed is our family birthday tradition.

After checking out of the Mirage casino, we were on our way to the Grand Canyon. We were headed for the South Rim, which is about a five hour drive.

We took a short detour to the Hoover Dam. Even though it was built in the early 1930’s, it still stood almighty and strong.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 3PM. We checked into the Yavapai Lodge inside the park, and quickly headed to the rim of the canyon.

The Grand Canyon took our breath away.

There are no words in our vocabulary that can do it justice in describing its glory, and there are no pictures that can do it justice to show its depth and grandeur.

It is almost unfair to Las Vegas; all its man-made wonderland only pales in comparison to nature-made wonderland.

We did a few hours of light hiking around the rim trail, and even ventured into the depth of the canyon on the Bright Angel trail. We found a quiet spot and waited to see its famed sunset, and saw the colors of the rocks change into a bright deep red. Yes, a ton of pictures were snapped here in just a few hours’ time.

That evening, we celebrated my baby’s birthday with a dinner party at the El Tovar Hotel’s restaurant’s private dining room.

After a delicious meal, we stepped out to the rim again and tried to see the canyon in the darkness, and was disappointed that it was just that: a gigantic hole of darkness. But when we turned our heads toward the sky, a gazillion shining stars in the sky took our breath away once again.

What a grand place to celebrate a birthday!

Day 8:

We drove eight grueling hours to Huntington Beach, southern California.

Day 9:

Disneyland! Yes, it truly is the best amusement park in the world. Even after a tiresome 8 hour drive the day before, we stayed until 10PM before heading back home.

Day 10:

We visited Universal Studios, and saw shows and enjoyed many rides.

Their new Transformer 3D ride is just amazing! Wow!!

Day 11:

We had a beach day on Huntington Beach. Their wives went shopping again at the nearby Fashion Island Mall. The rest of us spent the day swimming, boogie boarding, digging a giant hole and building a canal in the sand, and just relaxing.

Day 12:

We went to San Diego’s Sea World and saw Shamu.

Day 13:

They spent the entire day shopping at the Camarillo California Premium Outlet Shopping Mall, then onto Los Angeles International airport for their midnight flight home.

The four of us spent the day driving the 7 hours home, and got to sleep in our own comfortable beds to recuperate from their 2 week American whirlwind tour.

Related Post: Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China – Part I
America, the Beautiful
The Big 8

Two weeks ago, the four of us greeted the happy faces of my cousin, his wife, their 10 year old daughter, their best friends, a couple in their late 30’s, and their 9 year old son at the San Francisco International Airport.

The ten of us got into two cars and drove 30 minutes to the Tied House Brewery & Cafe for drinks and finger foods.

After a pleasant meal at Tied House’s garden patio, we dropped them off at their hotel, told them to get some rest, and left them to contend with their jet lags.

Day 1:

We picked them up at 9:30AM and headed for San Francisco. We went straight for its famed landmark and crossed the bay on the Golden Gate Bridge to arrive at Sausalito. Sausalito is a beautiful upscale seaside town just north of San Francisco.

I have on good authority that Chinese people love to eat, so we officiated the tour with a nice branch at a charming sea-view restaurant at Sausalito.

I warned them earlier that San Francisco, as beautiful as she is, can be very temperamental. Any day, even in the middle of the summer, can be cold and cloudy. And I was proven right.

San Francisco was having a fit that day and covered herself under a thick blanket of fog. Even though we knew just the place to take our guests for the best photo opportunities of the bridge and the city skyline, our best photo showed a mostly covered bridge and a completely covered skyline.

Undeterred, we carried on to the postcard famed Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world, alive with its many beautiful flowers and colors, and full of camera clad tourists. Finally, we ended the day with a long stop at Pier 39.

Day 2:

We picked them up at 9AM, and headed south this time for Monterey’s 17 Mile Drive and Carmel.

While the headline news was all about the record high heat in the East Coast and mid-west region, we were enjoying unseasonably low temperatures. Once we arrived at the coast in less than two hours, the temperature dipped into the high 60’s.

They were surprised how cold our summer is, even as I insisted to them that wasn’t the norm.

Their two kids were from land locked region of China, so when we came upon a nice beach, with enticing clear turquoise water, they couldn’t contain their excitement; to the horror of their parents, I gave the children my blessing for them to enter the water to get their feet wet.

The excited kids kicked off their shoes and socks, and ran off like a mob to the beach to meet the approaching waves.

They were running wild with their feet spattered on the sea water on the soft sand, and squealed with happy laughter.

All parents like to see their children happy. Soon, the parents also walked closer to the water’s edge on the beach and snapped pictures of the kids.

Despite a chilly day, Monterey and Carmel are majestic and beautiful in any kind of weather.

Day 3:

We drove inland to visit Napa Valley’s wine country. Apparently, wine is very fashionable in China these days. And they wanted to see Napa valley, a famed wine region in America that they have heard so much about.

As we entered the town of Napa, the road narrowed into thin straight lines that cut through the vineyards on both sides. It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky was a deep blue, and the air was crisp.

We drove past acres and acres of neatly lined grape vines and made quick stops at the picturesque towns of Yountville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

We stopped at St. Helena’s Tra Vigne for lunch, where we enjoyed a delicious meal in their charming Tuscan courtyard, under a canopy of festively lighted trees.

That afternoon, we visited two wineries and drove around the town some more. My charges always managed to get excited whenever we drove past a winery they recognized from a label they had seen or heard of in China.

They wished that they had more time to taste more wines at Napa.

Day 4:

We drove 9 grueling hours to Las Vegas in 2 cars aided by our walkie-talkies and arrived just in time for their gazillion amount of lights to drape the entire strip that wows even the frequent Vegas visitors.

Las Vegas is like no other place on this earth. It has no rivals and features a mind boggling supply of choices in things to do, to see, and to eat. It is alive 24 hours a day, and even though we were extremely fatigued by the time we got there, Vegas seduced us to stay up really late.

Related post: A Family Outing
America, the Beautiful