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Thursday, April 03, 2008
Houston we have a problem!
We have a lift-off but it wasn’t smooth…
After a 1.5 hr delay out of Narita we were finally on our way to adventure. 11.5 hrs later we landed in Houston, to transfer to our flight to Bogota.
For reasons only known to Mr. Bush and his team of security advisors, anyone landing on USA territory, regardless of their final destination, must clear customs, go through security checks and then when leaving of course the departure process (e.g. more security checks). No exception for us, even though we were only in transit. A ‘lovely’ experience which lasted 1.5 hrs and involved queueing multiple times waiting to be photographed, fingerprinted and bag-searched while not wearing any footwear.
While waiting in the queue for the departure security check, it became pretty clear that it was going to be impossible to make the flight. And judging by the many complaints we heard arounds us, we were certainly not the only ones…
After a sprint to our gate the plane had indeed already taken off. We´d missed boarding it by only 13 minutes. GRRRrrrreat.
With only one flight a day that meant we were stuck in Houston, Texas. Thankfully the lady at the service counter was very helpful and booked us on next day´s flight and provided us with coupons for hotel, dinner and breakfast.
Staying on the positive side, we figured we would go and see a bit of Houston but as it turned out the hotel was somewhere in the outskirts of town. Sooooo we resigned to eating hamburgers for dinner and watching NYPD re-runs until we fell asleep. The room was just like in the movies, as was everybody we observed over dinner, so it was quite entertaining actually. Envision hearing country music, strong accents, and sizeable Americans eating hamburgers. Very stereo-typical, but true!
Lessons learnt:
1] If at all possible, do NOT fly somewhere with the USA as a transfer hub.
For all consequenses described above. And also because for some reason, everytime we depart USA grounds we get “randomly selected” by the front security guy computer for a thorough frisking session.
2] Always ask for a wake-up call. Especially when you’re severely jetlagged…
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Colombia - Would you take the risk?
I found this fun clip about my home country. We are definitely taking the risk.
Make sure you watch it fully (or risk missing the point). Enjoy. 
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Fun Facts About Colombia
- Colombia is the only South American country that has coast on both oceans, Pacific and Atlantic. It has a total landmass of roughly 1,140,000 square kilometers, which is about 27 times the size of the Netherlands.
- Colombia has the world’s greatest diversity of orchid species (3,500) and birds (1,754 species). It ranks second in amphibians and third in reptile species. Out of the 14,000 species of butterfly in the world, about 3,000 of them, or 20%, are found in Colombia.
- 95% of the world’s emeralds come from Colombia and is the first Latin American producer of gold, silver, coal and ferronickel.
- 12% of the world’s coffee is produced in Colombia.
- At the region of Chocó, located in the Pacific region, it rains approx 10.000 mm per year.
- Colombia’s literacy rate: 92.5%
- Colombia is the world’s third-leading producer of women’s lingerie.
- According to the New Economic Foundation Happy Planet Index, Colombia has the second happiest population of the World (Not sure whether this is related to lingerie production though!). Vanuatu Island (Pacific Ocean / Population: 209,000) is at number one in this ranking.
Monday, March 17, 2008
quepasa!
As of today, this blog is officially launched! Check back regularly to see what we’re up to. Don’t be disappointed if there’s not more than a weekly update though.
Hey, after all we’ll be off on our honeymoon, spending our time mostly not behind computers! heh…
Thursday, March 13, 2008
19-day countdown
The tickets are paid, housesitter has been found, and spring is upon us. With a bit of luck we’ll be able to catch some cherryblossoms and do a small ‘hasta la vista’ hanami party, just before we leave!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives
Only about 5 weeks left before we’re of to South America. 
Lots of things to prepare, and work projects to manage.
Finally the ticket prices for april are coming in. I tried to make a booking using my airmiles but nothing seems to work out. Man they make it hard to use those miles… I actually have enough miles to get one return ticket to Colombia, but there’s no seat available for the return flight. Bummer! Trying alternative routes makes it too complicated - it’s definitely easier to use airmiles when you’re a single traveller. Upgrades are not really an option either, because the economy tickets that are applicable for this are almost double the price in the first place. Oh well.
We are so excited to go! Since the end of January we’ve been in touch with 2 local charities where we’ll do the volunteer work. They’re very enthousiastic about us coming too. Will write more later about what exactly we’ll be doing.
Other than that: went hiking last week to Mitsu-toge-yama. Great hike, great weather, but very tough because of steepness and snow. We started the hike at 10am and got off the mountain at 6pm (just before dark!) with only 1 hour break in total. My poor untrained body… I actually injured my left knee a bit. Strained my muscle or bone or something. Had trouble walking normally the last bit and it was painful. It still is actually--getting better every day but still not gone. Not good if this happens when we do the 4-day Inca trail because then I’ll get stuck in the middle of a mountain range.... Must practice and train more before we go.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Colombia here we come
Manuel got his leave of absence officially approved today! Look at his happy message to my phone:
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
footprint
Today it is Sinterklaas, but we’re not really doing anything with it. Saving it for another year…
Our days and weeks are full. The usual end-of-year rush brings lots and lots of work. And I am spending a fair amount of time singing with the British Embassy Choir in rehearsals and concerts as well. We’re performing a special program this season: ‘Sounds of the Winter’, composed by our musical director (Steven Morgan) himself. On Sunday we even had a day of studio recordings. Keep your ears tuned for that CD coming out.
Trip planning will have to wait until all of this is over. But: today the guide book ‘Footprint South America’ arrived. Pakjesavond after all. One step closer to our dream trip becoming reality!