ROGER'S WEB SITE - BALI and HONG KONG
On May 3rd, 2013 we set off on a 17-day trip to Bali and Hong
Kong. We spent 12 days in Bali and 3 in Hong Kong. The journeys
were long - the flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong alone is 15
hours non-stop. Coupled with a 1 hour flight from Phoenix to LA
and a 4hr 40 minute flight from HK to Bali, plus two 4-5 hour
layovers, the whole trip took about 30 hours from airport to
airport.
Bali is infamous for the party atmosphere around Kuta on the coast
where hordes of drunken Australians gather to celebrate youth. We
stayed far away from the 'beer-soaked bikini' section (as one
guide book puts it), inland near Ubud, which is billed as the
spiritual and artistic center of Bali.
Here are some e-mails I wrote to friends and family and photos
taken at the time.
Sun 5-5-13
Hello,
Didn't mean to trumpet our progress but there's little else to do
except sit around in airline lounges and do e-mail. We are in Hong
Kong now after a 14hr 50m flight from LA. It is dawn here and Barb
is in the shower. Cathay Pacific are redesigning their business
class and we were lucky enough to get a new one on a 777ER. It was
very comfy with a bed long enough even for me, a big flat
screen TV with over 100 movies, TV, music on demand. Way better
than BA Club class. The food was OK but not fantastic. We have a 4
hour layover here, then a 4hr 40min flight on the upper deck of a
747. We HOPE that Wayan will be there with a sign welcoming us to
Bali.
Love,
Rog & Barb
Wed, 5-8-13
Subject: In Bali
Hello All,
We've come down a peg or two since I last wrote, (some of you will
be sniggering with delight I'm sure :-) The ride from Hong Kong to
Bali was not so svelte, We were in a beat up old 747 that
shuddered so much when they started the engines I thought it was
going to fall apart. The upper deck business class was so crummy
that Barb made a fuss and we and another girl that latched on to
us got moved downstairs where the accommodations were no better
but at least we could see out the window. The flight was
uneventful other than that, but now I see why Cathay Pacific
redesigned their biz class. Bali airport was the usual zoo with
rugby scrums everywhere and people touting to carry bags, change
money, etc. Wayan was there in the crowd to meet us, beaming from
ear to ear. He put leis round our necks and we were off. He hired
a van and a driver to take us back to his villas. He and his
family are incredibly nice, warm people. The villa is very basic
and open with no A/C.
I am sitting out on the terrace covered in mosquito repellant with
the tree frogs singing away next to me. Last night I thought
"won't this be romantic, falling asleep to the symphony of the
jungle", but after half an hour the cacophony got so loud I had to
give up and put in ear plugs. The villa is open air in all
directions, including the bathroom, though half height walls make
it private. Last night was hotter than hell, at least for a wimpy
Brit, and we couldn't sleep until early morning even with all the
doors and windows open. This morning we were up at 6, first light.
The days are exactly 12 hours long because we are almost right on
the equator. We had an excellent breakfast in Wayan and Nyoman's
café. The food here is very simple but excellent - lots of
tropical fruit, rice and noodle dishes.
We set off to walk to Ubud, the closest town, but we dawdled too
much and it was way too hot for walking by the time we came back.
We were both exhausted, I was worse off than Barb. The temp is in
the 90's and very humid. So we had a pre-lunch siesta, lunch, and
a then post lunch siesta. We emerged at about 5:30 p.m. and met
some Australian friends of the family here. Jen works with
challenged kids in Australia and is burned out so she's on a
year's sabbatical and is building an up-market spa in the
compound. Her aunt, Therese and friend Steve are retirees like us.
We are hoping we will adjust to the heat and Wayan is going to
take us to see some elephants and monkeys, temples and scenery
tomorrow. We may go for a couple of days to a little fishing
village with our new friends later.
I have to give up now as the mossys are getting through in spite
of the gunk and I don't want to get Dengue fever. In short it's
quite basic here but we're having fun. It's an experience anyway.
I've borrowed the Wi-fi hub from the café and installed it in our
villa, so that's how I got on the Internet.
Love to all,
Rog & Barb
The Karsa Compound - our villa is the top floor
of the red-roofed building on the right.
CLICK to ENLARGE most IMAGES
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The Karsa Kafe
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Nyoman (Wayan's wife) and Jen
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Kadek fixes her Dad's hair
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Komang, Wayan and Kadek
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Note: Balinese names are given in birth order and often
regardless of gender, so 'Wayan' is often given to firstborns,
'Kadek' to a second child and 'Nyoman' or 'Komang' to a third. Hence
Wayan's wife Nyoman shares the same name as Wayan's father as they
were both third children. There are other first, second and third
names also. Other firstborn names are Putu, Gede and Ni Luh (females
only).
May 7, 2013
Subject: Bali-hi, Bali-ho, Ballyhoo
Hi Folks,
Things are going from bad to worse down here below the equator.
Wayan took us on a long drive round yesterday, first to an
elephant safari park, then to see a beautiful plot of land between
two rivers that Robert (our mutual friend from England) is hoping
to buy for his retirement home. Then we went to see some
magnificent rice terraces climbing up a big hill (see top photo).
Then finally to the "monkey forest" when numerous simians
entertained us. It reminded me of the old family dinners. I
realize a picture is worth a thousand words in all these
cases and I hope to send some soon.
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad", I hear you say - and you are
right, it was great.
The first disaster occurred when I messed my pants in the
elephant place. Must have been the sight of all those giant turds.
Then I left my ATM card in the ATM at the park. We left without
realizing what I'd done, so last evening Wayan had to drive me
back to the park but the card was gone. ATM's here swallow the
card if it's left in the machine so hopefully it'll be OK. We
can't cancel it because Barb has a clone which is now our only
source of cash.
By then I was feeling increasingly bad and now I have a full blown
attack of Bali Belly. I can't be far from a loo. Actually, I am
probably maligning Bali 'cos we haven't been here long enough. To
cap it all, the water shut off during the night so we can't flush
the loo, which was in a dreadful state by dawn. As soon as it got
light I found a bucket and filled it with water from the rice
paddy to flush the toilet. As Barb said "I think we're getting too
old for this life". Right now, I agree.
Anyhow, must go and find out about the lack of water.
Love,
Rog
Prayers at the Temple
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Putu, Barb, Kadek, Nyoman, Komang and Wayan
in their Temple finery.
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Barb, Therese (Jen's aunt from Australia), Putu and
Steve (also Australian but lives in Bali)
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Note: While I was clinging to the loo, Barb
went to a big celebration at a local Temple (above). This was
the final day of a 5-day annual religious celebration.
Friday, May 10th
Subject: Balinese Lessons in Life
Hi All,
You are really not going to believe this next
story. I am rapidly becoming known as the Bangkiang Sidem village
idiot. Before that, to close a few loose ends:
My stomach is fine now. 36 hours of only water, tea and hydrating
salts did the trick. The water supply came back on in the villas
in the same afternoon and we have electricity continuously now. I
still am not acclimated to the heat but Barb is doing much better
and handles it pretty well. Some days are cooler than others. Our
remaining debit card is still working.
Anyway, on to the story. We walked into town last night along the
Campuhan Ridge at about 4:30 when it was starting to cool down and
arrived at about 6, had a beer in a nice thatched roof place (the Lotus cafe) overlooking
a temple, and then ate in Nomad which, according to Wayan, is
famous. We found bland food and a place full of tourists and
expats. So far the best food we've had is right here at Wayan's
Kafe Karsa. We were intending to go to a Balinese dance show at a
temple but the service here is on Bali time, which moves
glacially. So we missed the show and looked for a taxi home. There
are no taxis as such in Ubud, the drivers of private vehicles just
hang out on the street touting for customers. The first guy we
talked to offered us a ride at the price we were told was fair
which was 50,000 rupiahs or $5. We did not even have to negotiate.
He drove a nice new, roomy Toyota Avensis (a minivan similar to
the Highlander) and was very friendly. Torrential rain was falling
and I dug out my torch (flashlight) and wallet to pull out a
50,000 bill. It was still raining as we got out but not as much
and we used the torch to negotiate our way down frog alley to our
villa. As soon as we got inside I went into a blind panic as I
realized I did not have my wallet. I raced back up the path
looking for it but it was no use, it was in the 'taxi', an
unmarked car with an unnamed driver who was by now long gone.
The walk into Ubud along the Campuhan Ridge.
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View from the Campuhan Ridge walk.
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The Temple in Ubud from the Lotus cafe.
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I was beside myself for hours and could not sleep. Barb took it
all more philosophically, apart from reminding me at regular
intervals what a Dickhead I am. (Sorry, Dick, maybe you can
provide a better epithet). There was the equivalent of $300 in
cash, two credit cards, my driver's license and my green card
(Resident Alien card) among other things. Barb thought all along
that the driver would come back with it, and I thought he might.
The locals were split on the issue, some said that the strong
sense among the Balinese that dishonesty ruins your karma would
force him to come back. Others, including Wayan, thought that he
might but that poverty might cause him to overcome the karma
factor and that money was money. Whatever, the news was all over
the place in hours and even those who couldn't speak English were
stumbling out of the rice paddies and trying to console me. Nyoman
(the grandfather) spent ages wandering up and down the path in the
pouring rain looking for my wallet.
Today Wayan took us sightseeing to several ancient temples. One
was located in a gorge with a rushing river flowing through it.
Literally gorgeous. At each one we had to don sarongs (the men
wear them too), to cover our bare legs. We saw people ritually
bathing in water spouts and pools shared with huge carp. Everyone
was having a great time. The Balinese are devout Hindus but they
don't take religion very seriously. We saw one Buddhist monastery
and a huge banyan tree like the one Siddhartha meditated under
before he became the Buddha. On the way I filmed rice being
harvested near us and I can still see them hard at it now as I
write in the fading light. The brand new Toyota rental car cost
$25, we paid Wayan $50 after some resistance from him, we bought a
tank of gas and the small entry fees to the temples. It was a
great day, but hot, so we were glad of the air-conditioned car.
Wayan called Nyoman (his wife) as we neared Ubud on the way home
to see if my wallet was returned but no luck. So we parked up in
town and started looking for our driver. B & I had trouble
describing him and his car because it was dark when we rode home.
We created quite a stir and eventually the "chief" of the drivers,
their unofficial leader and Wayan's old school teacher, promised
to see what he could do. He said to come back in a few days. None
of the other men could identify our guy.
We got home and I had just turned on the computer when Wayan came
out of the café gesticulating and shouting "good news!". We put
our shoes back on and rushed up there to find our driver beaming
from ear to ear and holding my wallet. Much celebrating broke out.
Mostly booze-free I should add. We've had nothing but a couple of
beers since we got here. So karma won, lessons were learned, and
all lived happily ever after. As a final lesson on greed, Wayan
sidled up to me as I was counting out $100 for the driver and said
"you really should give it all to him, you know". I felt really
cheap and did so. Wayan explained later that it would not make a
good story down in the driver pool if a driver returned to say
that his karmic duty had been stingily rewarded.
Here's a picture of me, Barb and the driver (photo by Jen Truran):
Love,
Rog
Sat, 5-14-13
Subject: Off to the coast
Hi All,
Wayan is driving us, plus our two new friends Jen & Steve, to
the coast today where we will stay for a couple of nights. It's a
3-hour drive to Amed, a primitive area with no Internet so I'm not
taking the computer. We'll be back on Tuesday. Yesterday he took
us on a drive through amazing scenery and tiny villages to a hot
springs. I whined "couldn't we go to an ice cold springs?", but no
luck. As it was, the springs are way up in the mountains next to a
volcano so the air was cool and it was very pleasant soaking in
the warm mineral water for an hour or so. In front of us was a
huge lake ringed by mountains. At the foot of one mountain we
could see a small village which was accessible only by boat. Wayan
said it was very 'traditional', no tourists stayed there, and the
villagers lay their dead out on the ground instead of burial. They
built a fence round the body to keep scavengers off and the bodies
decompose without smell because of some tree or plant that grows
there. Bears further investigation! We had a mediocre lunch on a
terrace high above the lake and headed home. On the way we stopped
to look at a Luwak Coffee plantation. Luwak is very expensive and
is produced by feeding Luwaks coffee beans. The Luwak, or
Indonesian Palm Civit, looks like a cross between a fox and a cat,
is nocturnal and incredibly cute. The Luwak digests the shell of
the coffee beans and passes the inner seeds which are then
collected, washed and roasted, etc., to make a delicious coffee.
Or so we are told, we didn't have the guts to try a coffee made
from shit and, as I said, it is v. expensive.
No disasters to report this time, I'm pleased to say. I did find a
suspicious substance on the floor of our villa last night and I
confirmed my fears by shining a torch up into the rafters above.
It was bat guano and we have bats living above us.
Barb said last night as we sat on the terrace in the gathering
gloom "This is starting to feel like home." She has completely
adjusted to the somewhat basic living conditions and is very
relaxed.
More news when we get back.
Love,
Rog
May 14, 2013
Subject: Coastal Bali
Hello Dear Ones,
As announced we just came back from Amed, a 10km strip of fishing
villages on the NE coast named after the northernmost village. The
ride there was through spectacular scenery, dipping down along the
coast and then high up among jungle draped volcanoes. Rivers
everywhere drain this tropical land. We went with our new Aussie
friends, Jen & Steve, and with all three of Wayan's kids
stuffed in the back. Wayan drove. There is no finer example of the
Balinese character than the way they drive. The roads are
primitive and ill-equipped for the hordes of trucks, cars and
motorcycles that descend on them. They drive on the left, a rule
which is suspended at will especially by the bikes. There are
thousands of bikes, flooding up and down the gutters, diving
through impossible gaps between cars and weaving in and out of
traffic, usually carrying all kinds of cargo. Horrendous traffic
jams ensue, but there is no honking, cursing, or other
manifestations of road rage. Instead, they plough through,
breaking every rule but always with total calm and politeness. I
have never seen an angry Balinese. Horns are only briefly tooted
when passing a temple to say hello to the Gods, passing another
vehicle or as a warning on tight bends. When jams occur, people
leave their porches to direct traffic. One man folded in our wing
mirror and then carefully directed us through a tight gap.
Amed was quaint but far from primitive. Wi-fi everywhere. Our
rooms on the beach had A/C which is a good thing 'cos it's much
hotter there than in Ubud. The Vienna Beach hotel was old but fine
and at $50 per room per day including breakfast and dinner
for two, who could complain!? We did the usual beach stuff -
sunbathing, snorkeling, swimming - on a classic palm-fringed beach
with very few people there. The food was good and the staff
friendly.
Wayan left to go back to Ubud and we all stayed 2
nights in this mini tropical paradise, falling asleep to the sound
of the surf pounding on the beach or awoken by the occasional
savage thunderstorm. Wayan returned at 7 am with Nyoman and two of
the kids. He rented a boat and went fishing for four hours. He
returned seasick and fishless. Then the poor guy had to drive us
home for 4 hours in heavy traffic. We had to detour round Ubud
because of a cremation celebration, a very fine sight to see. I
can recommend dying in Bali if you want a good send off.
This morning we left at dawn to walk into town and see the Ubud
market. My powers of description fail me here, so you'll have to
wait for the video. Even that will not capture the smell and the
overall bustle and chaos of local commerce in action. Tonight we
have tickets to see Balinese dancing.
We are leaving for Hong Kong on Friday (Thursday to you) so this
will be my last report from here. It has been a magnificent
experience, if somewhat tortured at times because of the heat.
We've been sleeping like babies, though, so we got plenty of rest.
The best thing about it is that we got to know a Balinese family
really well. If we had come on a tour or stayed in ordinary hotels
we would never have had the depth of experience or immersion into
the culture that we have enjoyed. We feel honored and humbled that
because of these warm, happy, friendly people, we have been able
to see far beyond the normal tourist experience. Then meeting some
expats who live here was the icing on the cake. They were able to
explain things to us that Wayan and his family, with their limited
English, could not.
The Balinese people are hard-working, God-loving, friendly souls.
I definitely feel a spiritual energy here that I have only felt in
a few other places on Earth (on top of a pyramid in Monte Alban,
and in the New Mexico desert at Shiprock). I told Jen this and she
said "What do you expect, these people are making thousands of
offerings to the Gods each day, it must have some effect". Indeed
they do, there are little handmade straw or flower offerings
everywhere. There is a dark side. A building foreman who works for
Jen as she builds her spa here has been banished because he has
'evil spirits'. Nyoman warned her family and Jen not to accept
bananas or anything from him because they would have bad spells
put on them.
We were all like that, not so long ago (about 1950 in Woodchurch
:-) and I don't think it's a bad thing that such simple, happy,
naïve, superstitious people still hang out somewhere in the world.
Love,
Rog
Putu in the Karsa Kafe - all the kids help in the
cafe - it reminded me of my own youth in the
Chalet Cafe, Woodchurch.
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Wayan's Dad, Nyoman, with distantly related toddler.
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The 6 a.m. sunrise view from our terrace of the
rice paddies and the unfinished swimming pool.
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A Final Note about Bali: Many people got the impression from the e-mails
that this trip was stressful, but in fact it was the opposite.
All the disasters were of my own making and, like all suffering,
made a good story. Like me, Wayan is very ditzy and is always
forgetting things (including our visit :-) so we struck up a
humorous rapport. Bali is a very restful, relaxing place, not
least because the heat forces long siestas during the day. Time
to read, lounge over a long lunch and take a nap.We are totally
indebted to Robert Neff who introduced us to this amazing
country.
HONG KONG
Dear Family/Friends,
We are in Hong Kong on a dull, gray, rainy day. Barb is in bed
with a bad cold. We arrived very late last night as our plane was
delayed almost 2 hours, so we did not get into the Hotel Icon
until after midnight. The new airport is super efficient. Forty
minutes after disembarking we were through immigration, got our
bags, through customs, got cash, bought Octopus cards and on a
high speed rail link to town. The Octopus card was the first "city
card" of its type. The Oyster card in London was modeled on it. It
is primarily for transport but can be used to buy almost anything
and can be topped up at any MTR (subway) station or ferry
terminal. We were whipped across the bay to Kowloon station where
things ground to a halt as the taxi line was humungous. The
streets were full of people and double-decker buses were buzzing
along everywhere. This city never sleeps.
The Icon is the third best hotel in HK, by most accounts. We have
a superb room on the 21st floor. One wall is a giant floor to
ceiling window so we can look out over the harbour from our bed.
We might just stay in our room for two days. Barb is certainly not
in fit condition to go anywhere right now and, besides, it's
raining.
I'm looking out for the vestiges of British rule. The
double-decker buses is one. They drive on the left (but so does
the rest of China), and they use British square pin electrical
outlets. The city seems to be thriving as ever, I have never seen
an airport as huge or as modern anywhere in the US or Europe. The
train was fast, clean and comfortable. Barb says "We have gone
from a real jungle to an urban jungle, but I'd rather have the
real." She thinks she got her cold because she wasn't meant to
leave Bali. The harbour is now full of ships, ferries and sampans.
Love,
Rog
May 20, 2013
Subject: Hong Kong Revisited
Yo Dudes & Dudettes,
Saturday
Some initial observations about Hong Kong:
We were here 33 years ago and there have been some massive
changes. The city is still the same vibrant, throbbing entity it
was then but there has been so much new construction that I hardly
recognized some areas, particularly on the Kowloon side. If anyone
doubted the resurgence of the Asian tiger, they should spend a few
hours here. The island and the mainland are bursting with
affluence. I've never seen so many up-market shops. By the Star
Ferry (which is now listed as a National Maritime Monument, or
some such) is a huge Arts Centre featuring international stars of
music, ballet and stage. I went to the Art Museum and saw an
exhibition of "The origins of Dao" which was world-class by any
standards. The Chinese here are sophisticated, beautifully
coutured and obviously enjoying a lifestyle better than most
Western economies.
I was on my own as my soul mate was too sick to venture out,
sadly. I rode the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, walked around in
the stifling heat, went to the Maritime Museum, the Art Museum
(the other show there was 'Animals in Chinese art') and returned
on foot to the hotel. On my way there were Falun Gong members
handing out anti-Government literature detailing the Chinese
Government's torture and deaths of FG members. The Chinese thugs
attack their genitals. I was encouraged that free speech continues
here in the "Special Administrative District" of China. Another
legacy of British 'rule'. I use the word lightly because the
British never really ruled HK but they did introduce the concept
of freedom from government which the Chinese here seem to have
enthusiastically embraced. Beijing leaves them alone because they
know better than to interfere with trade. If there's three things
the Chinese love above all else, it's money, money and money. This
is a far cry from Bali where they care not one whit about material
things.
Model Junk in the Maritime Museum
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Modern Junk in the Harbour
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Inside the Art Museum
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Barb was able to go out by evening, so we went
round the corner to a Thai restaurant where I had roast duck green
curry washed down with draught Tsingtao beer, and B had stir-fried
Asian broccoli and a Leffe. All excellent.
Bride and Bridesmaids
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Teenagers in the Thai Restaurant
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Harbour by night
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Sunday
Barb was slightly better today,
though she sounds like a frog. We had a full day of tourism.
Went over to HK Island and got on an open top tour bus. Stopped
off at the Victoria Peak tram and rode the cable car with
50,000,000 other people to the top. Occasionally the cloud which
hovers over the peak parted and we glimpsed stunning views of HK
and the harbour. Back on the bus we rode to Repulse Bay,
Stanley, and Aberdeen. The market in Stanley is famous but was
mainly clothes and tourist junk, so we were disappointed.
Aberdeen harbour is full of houseboats and a huge floating
restaurant and Repulse Bay has a nice beach. We found an
authentic Chinese café in Stanley with no tourists and had a
good cheap lunch there. Then back to Kowloon where we boarded a
boat for a night tour of the harbour. Finally, a taxi home where
Barb is now collapsing into bed. Poor little thing is exhausted
from her cold and all the croaking.
From the Star Ferry
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Victoria Peak
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Riding the open-top bus
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Noted a few other legacies of the British
occupation: The traffic lights, roundabouts, proper English
spelling (see above), 4 BBC channels on TV (though there are more
US channels including CNN, Fox News, CNBC and Chinese HBO).
Victoria Peak tourist trap
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Local Chinese Cafe in Stanley
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Wrestling with chopsticks
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Monday
A380
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We are in HK airport now,
waiting for our flight to LA. Outside the window of the
lounge here is a huge Malaysia Airways A380, the largest
airliner in the world and the first time I have seen one.
Sorry for the nerdy observation, but I am an engineer. In
that vein - it's totally weird that we leave here at 4:35
p.m. and arrive in LA 2 hours earlier on the same day. We
will race the spin of the earth and win, if all goes well.
Barb is slurping some vegetarian noodle soup Chinese
thingy. She feels like she's eating the chicken soup cold
remedy at home. None of the food we've had here comes up
to her stir-fry standards at home, in my humble opinion
and in her (not so humble) opinion.
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Cute dog in Stanley
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Love,
Rog
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