Sin City Airport

We were going to write about how beautiful San Francisco is, but it will have to take a back-seat to this. Have you been to Las Vegas airport??? As soon as we got off the plane, and walked into the airport lounge, there were slot machines everywhere!! Seriously! Neon flashing lifts, ad posters with a large-breasted blonde woman holding a machine gun, billboards for male stripper shows, old women blinged up with cheap jewellery, leopard skin neck cushions, groups of single under-aged college guys, people going through mid-life crises and others playing the pokies. For all the Catholics, you’ll feel like going to confession just by checking in. No wonder it’s called Sin City. And this is just the airport. Oh my god…

Houston, we have a problem

Dean is holding two guns. One is a 12 gauge shot gun and the other is a .357 colt handgun. They were both loaded. With bullets. The photo was taken at the home of the guns' owner in Houston, Texas. They were legally bought and are legally owned. We went to a camping/outdoor shop which had a huge range of guns for sale, including the ones in this photo. We enquired about buying a gun and were told that we would be eligible if we have lived in the US for at least 90 days. When Lina asked how long it would take a US citizen to go through the process of buying a gun, the sales assistant replied, "Ten minutes". We've talked to Americans who firmly believe in their right to own a gun and to shoot someone in order to protect themselves and their families. We probably wouldn't get past Australian Customs with one of these, not that we would want to.

Weekend get-away over the border

One thing about Australia, is that you can't just get in your car and go to another country for the weekend. We're staying with Lina's uncle in Orange County, California (yes, the "OC") and went to Mexico for a couple of days. For Australians, it is very cool to cross an international border by road. This is a photo of Hotel Calafia on Rosarito Beach, Mexico. Its claim to fame is that The Titanic was filmed on its premises. Despite being trapped on the worst tour ever (we went to 3 out of the 6 places on the itinerary, we got lost in the Tijuana slums, we received strange stares from locals at our big inconspicuous van, we were pulled over by police and our tour guide had the most annoying habit of saying "hah" at the end of every fifth word); it was an interesting weekend get-away. The highlights were eating real Mexican tacos in a taco bar, drinking cheap Coronas, Lina testing her rusty Spanish and having breakfast at this hotel overlooking the beauty of the Pacific Ocean. We're looking forward to Mexico City next month.

Hooray for Hollywood

After getting over the feeling that we were going to get mugged and or shot at any moment, we really warmed to Los Angeles. We stayed in a Hollywood hostel whose claim to fame is that a Swedish backpacker guest hooked up with Paris Hilton. From the subway station to the hostel, we walked on stars with celebrities' names inside them, passed stripper shops for all your exotic dancing needs and mannequins with over-sized breasts. This photo, taken at the famous outdoor gym "Muscle Beach", explains why Venice Beach seemed like a steroid version of Baywatch. After two hours driving around Beverly Hills and Bel Air, on the laziest paparazzi-wannabe tour hunting for celebrities, the most famous LA resident we spotted was Jennifer Anniston's dog. We walked down Rodeo Drive with all the other tourists who can’t afford to buy anything, watched the LA Dodgers get smashed by the Atlanta Braves and stood in Matt Damon’s shoes (well, his footprints anyway). And after four days, apparently we inhaled the equivalent of 8 packets of cigarettes each from the pollution. Now that’s a nice welcome to the United States.

We love Nippon

Today, after 3 amazing months, we leave Japan. Visiting Japan must be on everyone's list of things to do before you die. Here are our DOs and DON'Ts for this beautiful country: 1. When spotting a geisha in Kyoto, you may get a feeling of being star struck but DON'T stick your head through the tea house to get a look because you may get yelled at; 2. DON'T think you are a singing superstar even after 12 hours of karaoke; 3. Just because some of the Japanese girls in Tokyo can get away with it, DON'T wear hot pants, platform high heels and have big blonde dyed hair; 4. DON'T accept lifts from Japan's worst driver; 5. DO blow a month's travel budget in your first three nights at a 5-star Ginza hotel; 6. DO have a sashimi breakfast at the Tsukiji fish market after all night partying in Tokyo; 7. DO spend a night in a Manga Cafe and have all you can eat ice cream and chocolate milk; 8. DO try the lamb chops at Gonpachi restaurant; 9. DO go on stage at a rock concert in Roppongi, rip your shirt off and have a sore neck for three days from head-banging; 10. DO sleep on a bench in Yoyogi Park even though you may appear homeless after a few consecutive days. We love Japan.