Miyajima

Miyajima is an island famous for the Itsukushima Shrine, the 360-degree views from Mt. Misen, roaming deer & monkeys, and lots of freshly made Momiji manju (maple-leaf shaped pastries filled with custard, chocolate and sweet bean).

Also, it just so happens to be the home of the world's largest spoon.

Hanging with the Deer in Nara

Americans like to kill and eat their deer. The Japanese like to let them roam freely, while tempting them with special deer biscuits.

Apparently, in ancient pre-Buddhist Japan, deer were considered messengers of the gods, and so today, they are still treated as sacred creatures. In other words, you won't see venison on the menu and you won't see antlers mounted in someone's home.

Bambi would be happy here. I certainly was and couldn't get enough of all the deer just hanging around. Fyi...the costume character you see is the mascot of Nara, the original capital of Japan. It's half deer, half Buddha and totally strange.

New Name

How could I continue my blog "B-Rug in the Little Red Dot" when I no longer live in Singapore? Easy. Spend lots of time in Japan and change little red dot into BIG red dot.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I'm enjoying Japan!

Sayonara Singapore

I only have 5 days left in Singapore. It's surreal. I keep having goodbye drinks, goodbye coffee chats, goodbye lunches...and I'm not 100% ready to say goodbye.

Before coming here, I couldn't even point this country out on a map (often because a red dot covers it on every map). Once I got here, everyone told me - get out and travel. And I did, at least once a month.

When I went to one place, I discovered 5 more that I wanted to explore. There's so much to see, and it's hard to believe that only year ago, Southeast Asia was just some vague landmass to me. Not any more...and I am better off for it.

But as many places as there are to see, being in Singapore made me realize that I just need to hop on a plane to get there. Sounds basic, but I never thought that way. Now, if a flight is under 10 hours, it's a cakewalk. I guess you could say that over the past 13 months, the world became accessible. My "to do" list is now pretty big.

Luckily, while I will be moving back to NYC, I will be living in Japan for a few months each year as well. So, although I'm saying sayonara now, don't take it personally Asia - because I'll be back and already, I can't wait.

And for all the traveling I did, there were great times and discoveries right under my nose in Singapore. It's a strange mix of the absurd and the truly wonderful. It's in that spirit that I leave you with the TOP 10 REASONS I WILL MISS SINGAPORE.

#10 Clean, air-conditioned subways that run on time and have cell reception & working escalators

#9 Seeing Indian men hold hands/put their arms around each other while walking down the street. It's what Indian friends do.

#8 Reserving tables by throwing down a pack of wet naps. After you do that, you can walk away to find your food and no matter how long you take, nobody will dare take your naps or table. (I think I'll start this in NYC and see what happens).

#7 Changi Airport. It's beautiful, efficient and calming - it puts everything in the US to shame.

#6 Freshly cut mango that tastes like the nectar of the gods. The little Chinese ladies at the fruit stand anticipate my order every time: "Two mango, is it?" to which I respond "Yes, lah"

#5 Practicing my Singlish with the experts, lah. No can in NYC! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish

#4 THE FOOD. Although, I crave to have real pizza, pancakes and grilled chicken from back home, I largely prefer the food here. Best of all - good, fresh food is affordable and accessible. Chicken Satay, Roti Prata, Chicken Rice, Lahksa, Carrot Cake (the Chinese kind), Char Siew, Briyani, Chendel, Snow Ice, Sugar Cane juice, Dumpling Noodles and the list goes on!

#3 Being able to say things like, "Cambodia for the weekend."

#2 Drinking coffee from a bag! Or, as they call it in Singapore, kopi.

#1 Having the merlion as my national symbol. The merlion (see picture) is part fish, part lion and a whole lot of laughs

US Road Trip Pt. 3 - St. Louis and the Cahokia Mounds

The Arch in St. Louis is simply awesome. It towers over the city and reflects the sun brilliantly...I think I took over a hundred pictures. To see the Arch from a riverboat on the Mississippi River (which, by the way, is not a very pretty river), to see it standing straight underneath, to see it from atop the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois...I was endlessly fascinated by it. We rode to the top for great views of the city and saw a very good documentary on its construction - can't we build more similarly exciting public projects in the US?

We then headed back to Illinois to visit the Cahokia Mounds - a World Heritage site and National Historic Landmark. It's the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas, consisting of large mounds built over hundreds of acres. These mounds used to be the foundations for homes, temples and funeral pyres. Cahokia was the largest city in the US until it was surpassed by Philly in the 1800s.

US Road Trip Pt. 2 - Des Moines & Iowa City

I'd been wanting to go to Iowa for a while. Not necessarily to see anything in particular, just to go. After all, they helped launch the Obama campaign and their Supreme Court just legalized gay marriage...to borrow an expression from one of my former co-workers: "Don't sleep on Iowa."

As interesting as our tour of the Iowa state capitol building was, as oddly fascinating as the farms of wind turbines were, as pastoral as the University of Iowa & Iowa City was, and as endless as the fields upon fields of corn were, the most memorable part of our trip to Iowa ended up being a pure accident...

"The World's Largest Truck Stop." When we saw this sign sticking out along the neverending flatness of I-80, we had to take a detour and it didn't disappoint. Trucker gear, fanatic patriotism, greasy food, and hilarious Christian t-shirts were everywhere. We were entertained, and maybe even too much so...I remember saying "hurry up" as we were walking towards our car to leave.

US Road Trip Pt. 1 - Minneapolis

Drove through Wisconsin on our way to Minneapolis, and I have to say, Wisconsin is the kitschiest state...and I love it. With its cheese shops, ski mobile crossing signs, and black-and-white cows, all you can do is smile...as long as you're there during the summer.

We helped Minneapolis celebrate Pride 2009 and did the touristy stuff as well - toured the Mill City Museum, explored the Modern Sculpture Garden, and imitated Mary Tyler Moore.

Did you know that Minneapolis is known as the Mill City - from the days when they were the flour capital of the country? Old mills, including Pillsbury, are still in tact and unsurprisingly are now being converted into luxury lofts.