Important People Connected With My Trip
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2009
1
13
Trip End
Sep 30, 2009
Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
Saturday, April 10, 2010
For those people whom I may have met briefly, whilst en route to my temporary destinations in other countries and cannot recall their names, a special; mention, as they too have gone to make my trip what it turned out to be. For it is true that without other people, we as individuals alone, could probably accomplish very little. This I have come to realize, through my interactions with the many people from different cultures who, stopped to give directions, posed for photos, and were kind enough to take photos for me. I also make special acknowledgement of those people, who were too busy working and living an everyday existence, and but for the getting of opportunity, time and resources, almost would have certainly travelled with me. . All these people have a place in the history and writing of this travel blog, as they will always have in my heart, mind and memory.
Firstly,I will give special mention to a long time friend and fellow traveller 'John Healy', or these days 'John Boy,' whom I have known for many years past and had been the very person who had first introduced me to the idea of overseas travel, and actual travel stories, written by authors such as Bruce Chatwin, Paul Theroux and my all time favourite Monty Python, Michael Palin.
Remembering far back, some thirty or so years beforehand, there were often rumours circulating within our Glebe neighbourhood, that John Boy had gone missing. It was more factual however, that most of us that knew him, guessed, that he'd been off to some exotic but obscure destination, and upon his eventual return, was very likely to tell us his adventurous stories, such as of crossing the Sahara Desert, by way of hitching a ride on top of an Arab's truck, en route to 'Timbuktu' in Mali. As was common knowledge,John always did tend to get off the beaten track some what.
Unfortunately, the only time that I ever did get to travel with John Boy, was on an attempted trip north to Queensland, on which our train crashed and our trip was cut short. It was fortunate that we were not in the front carriage on that fateful morning, or we would not be here to tell this story. Still John emerged from our catastrophe, quoting the words from a song by singer- songwriter "Cat Stevens" or these days Joseph Islam. John Boy always had words for every occasion.
(There remains a standard joke amongst old aquaintances that, when ever a traveller had come home with an adventurous story, that, he was not to be believed and that instead of travelling the globe, he had dreamed it all up from an armchair in the suburb of Redfern, Sydney. This of course was really 'sour grapes,' fabricated by those who had never ventured further than, their front gate letter box or supermarket ). Not John Boy, he certainly was the real McCoy. He'd been there, done that! One other anecdote I recall, concerned the five Shekel note, in Israeli currency,John Boy had posted me from Tel Aviv. The note that accompanied it said: "Here buy yourself a burger"...In exchange for Australian dollars, the Israeli Shekel note was worthless: typical of John Boy's sense of humour.
Amongst his most adventurous stories, are concerning his trips to the Uk, Ireland and America. Often John Boy had endured much hardship after running out of money whilst on his journeys but always remained remarkably resourceful and always managing to make it home in one piece. In one travel incident, I recall that he spent a complete month living under a 'baobab' tree in an African province in Niger. He still hates mosquitoes to this day and knows the difference, between " hospital porter and news reporter",....a grave misunderstanding for which he was almost shot at the Ugandan border. John deserves special thanks and a place in this Travel Blog for providing years of tireless friendship and adventurous stories that have been inspirational in my quest to travel and write.
Another long time friend and editor of this Travel Blog is another John..., 'John Vevers' who remained my principal correspondent back in Flemington Sydney Australia. I mainly kept in contact with John Vevers via the Internet, as he was always certain to return my e-mails promptly and always had his fingers on the pulse of current events that happened at home in Sydney. They were mainly news and events that I needed to catch up on, whilst I was travelling throughout south east Asia. John Vevers has been responsible on numerous occasions for helping me re-kindle the enthusiasm, and at times, stamina that had 'flagged' whilst in the process of completing this Travel Blog. John has provided invaluable help with technical information concerning my acquisition of an Olympus Digital fe- 3010 camera, of which I took with me on my journey. Many thanks to him for instructing me on some of the finer points on taking digital photos and also for many late nights e-mails, bottomless cups of coffee, toasted sandwiches and hints and tips on writing, which is a passion he also shares.
There are so many things connected with my trip to south east Asia, that John Vevers has had a hand in making possible. For these he deserves most generous thanks...
Next I must give mention to the very essential piece of photo equipment that, I at first was very doubtful would work. This was mainly because it was acquired for such a cheap price and seemed so small and compact I initially had wondered if it would hold up to being at the bottom of a back pack, let alone take photos. However, now it has become apparent that without it, describing my travel adventures, would make this blog little more than a wordy,and long winded rant.
They say every picture is worth a thousand words, and indeed the photographic memories that the Olympus fe-3010, digital camera has provided me are really priceless. For when one considers what a photo really is, they may realize that it is in fact, a representation of one unique moment in time, that cannot possibly occur exactly the same way ever again. This may sound somewhat philosophical but to me, that's how I now feel about having taken so many remarkable photos, by way of pointing this small silver metal rectangle.
Before the trip, I had wondered into a second-hand goods shop on George Street Sydney and looked at a few different cameras, as I did not necessarily want to pay the earth for a new one. The fe-3010 sat on the shelf amongst dozens of other cameras of all shapes and sizes and was the cheapest model. This was mainly because the previous owner had not supplied a memory card. At first I had wondered, If I had wasted my money, but in fact I had accidentally procured a real bargain, considering the small price I paid for it. The Olympus fe-3010 has given me excellent photos and has stood up to quite a bit of physical punishment on its travels with me. I am very happy I ended up buying it and carrying it along on my journey.
The next person whom I would like to mention is "Girlie Fajardo" and her husband Lamberto, who were kind enough to visit us on numerous occasions, whilst we stayed in Manila, Philippines. Together they have several children all of different ages and doing different things around their modest house. Girlie works as a nurse in a clinic and expressed a desire to one day study medicine and become a doctor. I really loved her smile and found it absolutely impossible to feel down when she was around. Girlie just radiated warmth and sheer joy and never once seemed to tire of hearing our travel stories. Both Dave and I visited their house on several occasions and were always, pleasantly received by the children who loved to watch us and listen to us when we spoke. I guess coming from Australia, we looked and sounded different from what the younger children were really used to. Come dinner time, we would all crowd around the dinner table and after saying thanks giving to the lord, or Elshadi for our food, there would be much laughter and passing of food and drink. These are the simple things in life I know I had been missing out on for so long. They are such modest people but they are happy and there is much I have learnt from my experience of being with them. I was sad when we had to leave but that is how it is when you travel.
Next is my Brother David Potts whom of which I have mentioned in this travel Blog many times as Dave. He is important for numerous reasons as firstly I had not seen him for almost twenty years and also because he was most instrumental in booking air flights finding accomodation and budgeting our money, so that we never had any problems that kept us from eating,sleeping or travelling. Our twenty year separation has been for a number of reasons, ( mostly because David lives three thousand miles or almost 5000 kms from Sydney, which is situated on the east coast and Perth is on the Australian west coast ). David had done a tremendous amount of travelling before on his own, so was very savy when it came to stretching the travel dollar and finding the best deals. He also proved a most invaluable guide. I am confident that I may have done well, also travelling on my own, but it was absolutely the best way to catch up with a family member after so many years. Together we were able to catch up on a trip that I had dreamt about for some time especially riding the Unification Express from Hanoi City to Saigon in south Vietnam. That was an experience I shall never forget.( see earlier Travel Blog entry).
Whilst staying in a motel on the island of Mindoro, we met the next person, Angelica or Angie, who still keeps in touch by e-mail. Angie worked as a travelling sales person for a stock feed company based in Manila City, her job was such that she too had very little time to stay in any one place for very long. Dave and I met Angie one morning at breakfast at the Calapan Bay Hotel. The three us got on like a house on fire and it was sad when we all had to go our separate ways, but Angie was looking forward to finally getting home to see her children as she really missed them whilst she was on the road travelling and working. Such must be the life of a travelling sales person. However, we did manage to catch up one more time with Angie whilst we were once again in Manilla City and this time, we were able to meet her family and their maid.
I was fortunate enough to have my camera handy as we all enjoyed a feast in McDonald's restaurant, which incidentally had the largest wall photo of children dining out that I had ever seen in my entire life. It looked so life like. It was good to sit down to a meal with Angie and her family from the youngest to the elder, who seemed a little shy at first.
Whilst sitting at the table eating our food, I noticed that the maid who sat at the end of the table across from me, held her eyes downward looking at the floor at first, but after a while she and Angie's children began to smile and giggle as children will when they feel happy. I also felt happy, as I sensed that it was good to be in each others company. This is another occasion when I had realized that to be happy doesn't necessarily mean that a person has to be wealthy and dine with royalty. No, a good time can be had with very little, and being amongst good friends can make all the difference. These children looked happy and seemed content just to be at McDonnalds. To a lot of modern kids from a western background" Macas", may be just no big deal and in fact often taken for granted. It seemed as I looked around, there were also other families eating, drinking and laughing and I after a while, realized that it was really the 'closeness and togetherness' of these familes that made all the difference. Filippino families are very close knit indeed.
The next person also deserves a mention and was also from our time on Mindoro Island. She gets a mention as she really waited upon us hand and foot whilst we dined at the Calapan Bay Hotel. Rose had a smile that was exceptionally radiant, so much that it lit the entire room where we sat eating. Yes she had charisma. Rose was studying catering at her local education college and one day wanted to run her own restaurant. Our culinary host, certainly had the million dollar smile, that so often seems missing these days from people in the food service industry. We were very satisfied with the food at the Calapan Bay Hotel on Mindoro Island. Although the cyclonic weather, may have closed in on us, making the skies dark and gloomy, Rose's smile made all the difference. She was an asset to her employer no doubt.. Rose was one of the many people of exceptional friendliness and integrity that we met on our journey through the Philippine Islands.
I was sad to think that for many hard working Filippino people, there seems little or, shall I say not as much opportunity, as there appears to be here in Sydney Australia. Still they seem always eager to work, and Social Security, or the' dole' as we may know it, seems to be unheard of in the Philippines. Rose certainly did an excellent job in preparing and serving our food whilst we stayed at our hotel.
Young Stephen, or boy genius as I affectionately dubbed him, was but one of the many children we met whilst in Manila City, and as usual it was at a branch of McDonald's Restaurant, where we would be drawn into conversation. On this occasion, we were sitting adjacent to a young Filippino couple, who had a young son and boy! talk about having "personality plus". Young Stephen was only 7 years old but what a ball of energy and personality for a boy his age. His parents worked and lived in Manila and his father had a sucessful buy and sell business. Stephen was inquisitive about my digital camera and when we told him we were from Australia, his face beamed radiant and his eyes widened like bright buttons. Stephen said he had always wanted to ride on a kangaroo. Yes ride a kangaroo! and he asked us all manner of questions about Australia. I promised his mother that I almost certainly would include a mention of Stephen in my Travel Blog, and although it may have been a while in getting it into print, I always hold staunch to delivering my promises.
Well,... as far as riding a kangaroo, yes well..,I wasn't sure what images or impressions Stephen held of us Aussies and especially kangaroos, but it sure sounded obvious to me, that his fertile imagination had been fuelled by watching cartoons on Filippino television and like most kids his age, riding a kangaroo would have seemed entirely possible. Stephen was both like and unalike so many kids his age,that we had met on our journey. None-the-less, I dare not spoil his dreams and innocence in believing and wanting to saddle up and ride that kangaroo. I just didn't have the heart to mention that it just doesn't happen that way. Above all, I was quite taken in and melted, when I saw his expressive eyes and smile. So Stephen if you ever happen to read my blog...I didn't forget you.
The next people that I must mention are Christine and Martin from Hong Kong, who go back some way with me, as I was once married to Christine's mother. The marriage may not have worked out but Christine has a few children of her own now and they had certainly grown since I remember them as babies. Now there is Jasmine and Aliea and they were making a fuss of Dave as may be seen in the photo. Dave is being squashed into the bean bag as the kids smothered him.
Christine was and occasionally still is, a very talented night club singer but seems more of a full-time mother these days. Her husband Martin was unfortunately away in London on business but is without doubt a very nice guy by anyone's standards.
Whilst Dave and I stayed in our hotel room in Hong Kong we were delighted to be invited out by Christine to the football club in Happy Valley, where we all sat down and enjoyed a delicious meal. Later that same week, we were also invited to see Christine's and Martin's new home, which really was a magnificent dwelling, and to which Martin had put much of his time building and renovating. It was so good to be amongst friends again and I shall return to Hong Kong one day again soon if I am able. I always find Hong Kong an exciting place.
Next is a very beautiful young lady from Hanoi in North Vietnam, who was the manager of the Hanoi Asia hotel where both Dave and I stayed. Much to my shame, I cannot recall her name as I did in fact jot it down in my travel note diary, but upon closer inspection, found that the ink in my copy book had smudged and just cannot recall from memory what her name is. Still when the digital camera surfaced she certainly was not shy at being photographed and seemed to want more photos taken. This I found amazing, as most Asian woman seemed to shy away from my camera at first and really took some coaxing to have their photo taken, but this lady really wanted me to shoot her modelling poses. We had lots of laughs taking digital photos with her and she was very friendly indeed.... that was until she discovered that my name really wasn't Micheal Palin ( laugh ). ..Still we enjoyed excellent service at the Hanoi Asia hotel and I would stay there again should I return to Hanoi. There were a few photos of other people that also worked at the hotel that I cannot try as I may seem to locate. For this I must humbly apologise as they also deserve a mention, for the friendly service they afforded us whilst we stayed with them.
Finally but not least, are our good friends and chauffeur from Bangkok in Thailand, Oil and Mem. They were waiting to meet us at Bangkok International Terminal. Oil was kind enough to drive Dave and myself all the way to visit his mother who lived on a huge tree plantation quite a distance from Bangkok and from there on to Pattaya on the coastal fringe of the Gulf of Thailand. Mem, Oil's girl friend, was unfortunately too busy working in the city, as she held a high profile government position and really was very busy indeed. Still they arranged our accomodation and spent as much time with us as their busy schedule would allow. Dave had befriended Mem a few years previously, when she was a visitor in Perth Western Australia. Mem had been visiting the university there and was doing some sight seeing. As for visiting Bangkok City itself, I can't really recall that much detail, although we did get a brief glimpse of the city's sky line, as we turned out to be, somehow above the city on some very long and elevated freeways that spread far over the suburbs of Bangkok itself. I should like to go into the city proper one time and see for myself just what a modern city in Asia is really supposed to look like. I imagine its infrastructure would resemble that of other cities around the globe. Still I would love to see the contrast between the old and the new.
Overall we could not spend a lot of time with our Thai friends and it was sad when our travel journey had come to an end. After enjoying a meal in Bangkok, it was finally time to wave goodbye to them on our departure to Australia but were very pleased to be invited back to Thailand by them again, if ever we could make it...." Hey, of course we'll make it....What 'd ya reckon Dave?""...
Comments
tell me when you come back to Hanoi, I would love to accompany you and your friend.