Want to come with us on the trip of
a lifetime? You have the day off today,
don’t you? Pack your (virtual) bags
& join us on our travels through the Orient. We took this trip in 1980. We went with our friends, Joe &
Helen. Joe, like Joe E. Lewis, had been
rich & he had been poor. (As Joe E. Lewis said, “Rich is better!”) When our Joe was rich he traveled strictly
first class, so on this trip, we did, too!
The trip started with a JAL
(Japanese Air Lines) flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. Maybe.
My husband claims it was Singapore Air Lines. I can’t remember, but he’s usually right. It was an overnight flight, so after a
wonderful dinner—a roast carved right in front of you—we watched a movie &
then were shown to our bedrooms. YES, I
said bedrooms! It was the only time we
ever had real beds & not reclining seats on a plane. At the hotel, we opted to take Japanese style
rooms. We slept on futons on the
floor. I had a marvelous night’s sleep
& woke up refreshed & raring to go.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed (forgetting I was on a futon),
put my feet on the floor & found my knees right next to my head! We took a cab tour/shopping trip through the
city. The cherry blossoms were in
bloom. Beautiful! I don’t know if they still do it, but the
cabs drove with their lights on. When
they were stopped at a red light they turned them off.
From Tokyo we flew to Singapore,
where we stayed at a suite at the Holiday Inn.
Not first class, you say?
WRONG! This suite came with a
personal butler. How lovely it was to
spend the day shopping (Helen & I took a local bus. We figured it would be fun even if we got
lost, which we didn’t.) & then come back to our suite, take off our shoes
& have the butler take our packages & pour us a glass of wine. Joe & Bud stayed in the room one day
playing gin rummy while we shopped.
There were prostitutes readily available & Joe wanted to hire a couple of
them. Not for sex—he thought it would be
funny to have them sitting there naked, watching our two guys playing cards,
when we got back. Good thing he
didn’t—I’m not sure how funny Helen or I would have thought it was. Below is a picture of apartments flying the “Singapore
National Flag”. That’s right—it’s
laundry drying! Look at how spotless the
streets are. Also, here’s a picture of a
small shrine on a street in Singapore.
We took the ferry to Hong Kong. I think it cost less than 25 cents per person,
American money. Hong Kong was a
shopper’s paradise. In one of the MANY
jewelry stores, I fell in love with a delicate gold & jade bracelet. I can’t remember what they were asking for
it, but it was probably around $1,000—way out of our price range. They expected you to bargain in these stores,
but I am not a bargainer. Bud is. After lengthy negotiations, he told them he
would pay no more than $400. They
countered with $410. He told them $400
was his final offer. They asked if he
was going to let a mere $10 keep his wife from having this bracelet that she so
obviously loved. He said “Yes” & we
walked out of the store. They cane
running after us. Bud won—or I guess I
did—I got my $400 bracelet! At that
time, Hong Kong had a couple of department stores run by the communist
government. Their prices were
unbelievable. There was no bargaining,
nor was any necessary. Bud got a few
silk neckties & I bought a pair of 100% silk pants & 2 embroidered
“pictures”—all for around $1 each! We
also took a bus tour of part of China—a difficult thing to do at the time
because of politics. I remember visiting
a kindergarten (the children were adorable) & being served warm beer. Below is a picture of busy Hong Kong harbor.
Our next stop was Manila, where we
stayed in the Douglas MacArthur suite of our hotel. I’m not used to the life of a plantation
slave owner, so I was quite uncomfortable with the fact that we had a houseboy who
slept on the kitchen floor. Manila
seemed to have only the very rich or the very poor—no middle class. If you were poor, you lived on the street (literally)
& begged. If you were rich, your
world was filled with beautiful places that Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos had
built. We found it depressing.
From there we went to Thailand. There were many signs in the airport warning
travelers to watch out for pickpockets & con men. (We got a call at the hotel from a man who
identified himself as our driver & told us our car was ready. That would have been fine, except we hadn’t yet ordered a car!) We had dinner in the penthouse restaurant of our hotel. The French maître d’ seated us & handed each of
us a menu. He returned in a couple of
minutes & very apologetically took my menu & Helen’s & gave us new
ones. We couldn’t understand why until
Joe explained it. We had originally been
given “host” menus—with prices—instead of “guest” menus—with no prices. Neither Helen nor I had noticed there were prices
on ours! Thailand was fascinating. We saw Buddhist monks with their shaved heads
& colorful robes. We saw the palace
of the king of Siam. It was being
renovated & was covered in scaffolding & it was still the most
beautiful building I’d ever seen. The
outer walls were covered by thousands of tiny mosaics. We rode a bus (motorboat) down one of the
many canals & went to an elephant market.
Below are pictures of Bud, me & Helen in front of the palace &
Joe & Helen looking at a baby elephant being offered for sale at the market.
A reminder from Fozzie Bear not to over-imbibe today:
That sounds like an incredible trip. And Singapore is still spotless. Which I would like to see here.
ReplyDeleteI resolve, not to attempt any resolutions. There is enough failure in my life already.
It WAS incredible!! I see you & I made the same resolution.
DeleteOh my, I'd have seriously considered buying that poor baby elephant and then try to find its mama for a reunion. I know, I'm hopeless.
ReplyDeleteChina has always been on my bucket list. Sure would like to go first class however like you did. Come on Lotto.
First Class was GREAT--which is probably why they call it First Class!! Good luck with Lotto.
DeleteLove your travel photos and commentary. Mrs. C. and I are going to Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand in February. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the things in your wonderful pictures. Take care and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI realize many things have changed (it's been 30+ years) but I hope you have as wonderful a time as we did!!
DeleteBedrooms on a plane!!
ReplyDeleteNow I've heard everything.
I LOOOOVE Fozzie Bear!
Manila sounds awful, I'll make a note to never go there, should I ever win the lottery.
And REALLY good food, too!! Those days are probably long gone.
DeleteI like Fozzie Bear too ... what fun ... hate to read that about Manila! terrible ~ I have always wanted to go to Thailand .. don't reckon you'd adopt me … ?
ReplyDeleteThailand was fascinating--as far as the adoption is concerned, there's a LONG line ahead of you!! Please take a number & wait until it's called.
DeleteWhat an interesting trip you had. I've never been to Asia, when I was younger and traveled, I was always so worried I would stand out, being so much taller than everyone else. How dumb is that, I now ask. I never minded being tall here, so why would I in Asia. Happy New Year, dear Fran. One of your favorite guys may stop by your house today. And no it's not Santa.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously never met Yao Ming, a 7' 6" retired Chinese basketball player who played for the Houston Rockets. Looking forward to what's-his-name's visit!!
Delete