A New Year, A New Blog

Please cruise on over to my new blog, Mom on a Plane. It’s still travel-related, but with a twist. Hope to see you there!

Dubai Fall Fashion Week 2009

Traditionally the Islamic headscarf is a symbol of modesty, but today more and more Muslim women are dressing in eye-catching outfits, albeit with their heads covered.
“We are seeing a move to accessorizing the abaya, anything from crystallizing to embroidery.”

There is a “fine line,” though said Simon, “They wouldn’t belt them, or make them shorter, the idea is that the body is covered. In other words the new popular new styles are not tighter fighting or more body accentuating, they respect the purpose of covering up.

U.S. teens arrested in Japan

A silly, stupid prank gone bad? The teens were 15 to 18 years old. Shouldn’t they know better?:

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Japanese police on Saturday arrested four American teenagers suspected of stringing a rope across a street near the base in August and causing a Japanese motorcyclist to crash, seriously injuring her.

The teens, whose parents are servicemembers stationed at Yokota, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but have not been charged, authorities said.

Japanese police can question adult suspects for 48 hours and hold them an additional 21 days while prosecutors determine whether to file charges. Though the young Americans are considered juveniles under Japanese law, they could be charged as adults. It was unclear Saturday how long they could be held in custody.

Angelique Kidjo: “Musical Tour de Force”

Angelique Kidjo

How could I have missed her before today? She’s a four-time Grammy winner, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, activist for numerous organizations and has performed with Carlos Santana, Branford Marsalis, Josh Groban and dozens more.

Here she sings Afrika with Alicia Keys at Mandela Day 2009:

There’s no place like home…for Tex-Mex

Hatch Chile Potato Casserole from Homesick Texan

My two oldest kids go to college in New England. The culinary upside: we have gallons of insanely expensive maple syrup (remember we’re two thousand miles from the closest sugar house) stored in our kitchen pantry. We profligately search for ways to use it. A recipe calls for maple flavoring? No problem. Substitute a half cup of the real thing. Oh…why not a cup?

The culinary downside of living in New England: the dearth of Mexican- more precisely Tex-Mex- food. Every time the kids come home, on the way back from the airport we stop at their favorite restaurant. So this Wednesday, before dropping off their luggage, meeting their new puppy or seeing their grandparents, they’ll devour enchiladas verdes, nachos, salsa and, for my 22 year old, an authentic Texas margarita.

Which is why I introduced them to the Homesick Texan, a blog written by a “tex-pat” who recreates the dishes of her youth, written in the soothing vernacular of my rural Texas grandparents, in New York City.

This recipe for Hatch Chile Potato Casserole will be the perfect accompaniment to the beef tenderloin my Manhattan-bred mother-in-law serves every Christmas Eve. And spicy enough to satisfy my kids’ Tex-Mex cravings.

Surreal video: “Diving in a Newly-Flooded Meadow”

[via World Hum]

Test

Beware the dastardly ragamuffins

Entrance to Pearl Radio Tower, Shanghai

[via Signspotting]

More to the story?

Uproar in the British press over the $35,000 awarded to a impossible-to-satisfy couple for “loss of enjoyment” on a cruise:

The Milners, from Leeds, sailed from Southampton on the ship’s 15-week maiden voyage in January last year and hit heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay when the floor began to flex loudly.

They were offered an alternative cabin for the New York to Los Angeles leg then upgraded to a ‘penthouse suite’, complete with a butler. But the Milners, in their late 60s, ‘could not unpack’ and relax as they didn’t know when the couple who booked the suite would be joining the cruise, the court heard.

They returned to their original cabin only to face the noise once more and were offered a mid-range suite which they rejected as it ‘ didn’t feel right’.

Disgusted, the Milners disembarked in Hawaii (where they spent 6 weeks in a luxury hotel) and received a full refund from Cunard for the part of the cruise they missed, nearly $80,000.

Surely, a full refund isn’t the standard response to disgruntled passengers. Were the complaining couple perceived as “more trouble than they’re worth”? Or did Cunard recognize their culpability? If so, will the large judgment diminish travel companies’ willingness to refund dissatisfied customers?

Bubble trouble in the racing industry?

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum with his wife, HRH Princess Haya of Jordan at Ascot

It is difficult to over­estimate the scale of Sheikh Mohammed’s investment in racing over more than three decades. Darley, his breeding business, owns more than 50,000 acres of land, spread over England, Ireland, the US, Australia and Japan…

There are those, however, who believe that as a buyer of racehorses, Sheikh Mohammed’s obsession with accumulating the best at any price has created an unsustainable market, even if it has helped out some hard-pressed owners…a commentator for the US-based Thoroughbred Daily News, predicts top prices would drop by 50 per cent without the Maktoums.