Category Archives: Travel

Expanding Home, Day 6: A Day of No Cancellations

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 15, 2023, Daet, Camarines Norte, Philippines– The beleaguered security agent had less than ten seconds to assess my situation, and so quickly sent me and my bags on our way, with the advice: “Take a motorcycle to Terminal 4!” I left her to her other, more immediate charges, and caught a Grab Taxi-whose driver looked at his watch and said, presciently as it turned out-“The ticket agents will tell you it is impossible for you to catch the flight, but two hours from now, you will be landing in Naga.”

My life has come to making careful choices, most of which turn out well. Relying on a temporarily slow-loading cell phone was probably not the best of those; an International SIM Card loads much more slowly than T-Mobile, and when I have to call up an e-mail, for official viewing, and do so “on the double”, a slow load is no load at all. (I have since gone back to the T-Mobile SIM card, since it works better.)

At any rate, I did land in Naga, two hours after the ticket agent told me that it might be impossible to catch the flight-even as there were thirty-five minutes left before boarding and I had already checked-in electronically. He made some calls, gave me a boarding pass, and I went through domestic security and on to the waiting area. There were still twenty minutes left, before the plane started loading, enough time for me to order and get coffee and a muffin from the Seattle’s Best kiosk.

Naga’s small airport had plenty of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers waiting, once we disembarked. The security guard got his friend, Jhun M., to take me to Naga Train Station, at a reasonable rate. Jhun is personable and a careful driver, so in a pinch, I will text him again for the reverse trip on Thursday. The train ride started promptly and the carrier itself moves a lot faster than many U.S. trains. It’s a local train, though, so it took 1 1/2 hours to get from Naga to Sipocot.

Filipinos are a gregarious lot, though, and before long, I found myself being chatted up by a lady whose interests are farming, nature-and the importance of doing what moves a person. Arlene guided me to an ATM and to the bus for Daet, by way of which she managed to contradict Rome to Rio’s insistence that the only way to the beach town, from Sipocot, is by taxi. In fact, the bus is reliable and used by many-as is the case in most countries around the world. (Arlene told me I am her first North American friend-and there was none of the stereotypical nonsense frequently attributed to women who befriend men, in Asian-American encounters. She has her full life here and is not out looking for love.) Having people of substance as friends is really what moves my life,but you, my readers, already know that.

I am now safely in Mirasol Residences, Daet, after an interesting bus ride through the mountainous terrain of northern Bicol- the collective regional name for eastern and southeastern Luzon and the nearby island of Masbate. Daet is a beach town, and though Mirasol is on the west side of town, away from the surf and sand, I will take a hike over to the ocean on Tuesday, weather-permitting. It is raining now, and probably will do so again tomorrow morning.

Here are some views of my home for four days:

Courtyard, Mirasol Residences, Daet

Camarines Norte Room
Metropark Village, the barangay(neighbourhood) of Mirasol Residences

Expanding Home, Day 5: Dockside from An Airport

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 14, 2023, Manila- The Stand Master’s advice was unequivocal: “Walk over that way (pointing towards a large KFC sign) and your hotel is right there.” Some of his drivers persisted in offering rides, and a few told me they thought the hotel was too expensive (as in “let me take you to my brother’s father-in-law’s cheaper hotel”). In the end, I listened to their boss, and walked to what was essentially like going dockside, from a marina. My Cotopaxi backpack and the laptop bag that Aram gifted me, four years ago, are designed for just this sort of transport, and I found my way, through the security cordon and across the airport ring road, with little trouble-especially as I had plenty of company. Filipinos are inveterate walkers, as are people in many parts of the Global South.

Terminal 1 (of the four that constitute Ninoy Aquino International Airport) is very close to a working class neighbourhood, with Manila Airport Hotel on the same property as the advertised Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. It is, though, a pleasant and clean little hotel, despite being in a building at least as old as yours truly. Filipinos are also somewhat officious, so I had to wait until the exact appointed time for hotel check-in, though I was able to leave my bags in secure storage and take up space in the lobby, until that hour arrived.

It was a good time for me to size up the interactions among the crew (convivial and egalitarian), the overall clientele (some older men with young wives and other couples who were matched in age, as well as some men my age and younger, who are here alone, as I am) and the ambiance (a nice little coffee shop, several small restaurants that were closed, as it was after 11 a.m. on Saturday, and a small Chinese restaurant, where I took a small order of dim sum, being still full from the breakfast served on the flight from T’aipei. Dim sum, in Manila, means steamed soft rice dumplings that are round and quite large. It was the cheapest item on the menu, but good enough that I will go back at some point, over the next two weeks, and order something more substantial.

Manila Airport Hotel
View from my room, Manila Airport Hotel, looking west.

I closed out the day by having an enjoyable “English Breakfast”, for dinner. This English repast included a “Hungarian Sausage”, which was definitely of Trans-Danubian origin, scrambled egg that was omelet in quality, two small strips of bacon (well-crisped) and a couple of pieces of fresh-baked white bread, also well-toasted. The coffee holds its own, comparable to some of the best in the U.S.

The long day has a sequel, tomorrow, so off to dream land I go.

Expanding Home, Day 4: Food for Thought, in the Sky

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Entertainment, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 13, 2023, T’aipei- Today was “short”, on the ground, due to having crossed the International Date Line, while flying here from San Francisco. In reality, the energy of Friday the 13th, to me always proactive, feminine- and never unlucky, played out in full-even as the clock, here in Taiwan’s capital, said it was 5:30 a.m., Japan-Taiwan Time, on October 14.

Most of it was spent in the air, above the Pacific Ocean, between the westernmost part of Alaska, (or which the International Date Line is significantly bent to the southwest, to accommodate the Aleutian Islands, and the easternmost part of Russian Siberia), and this resilient city that maintains its Mandarin Chinese character, while keeping developmental pace with its larger sibling to the west.

I’m tired, so this will be relatively brief. It is important to note that the quality of time spent in the air is just as important to character, as time spent in active pursuits on the ground. I chose three movies to view, each of which had life lessons to impart.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” was a sillier film than the first four, but does have a caution to impart about the consequences of unbridled ego-with the fate of a neo-Nazi “Second Fuhrer” inextricably linked, to his overaching desire to play God. Indy himself is questioned by his reconciled wife, as to whether he is “back”, emotionally and physically.

“Close”, a Belgian film about the innocent, ill-fated friendship between two adolescent boys, examines sexually-charged bullying, living one’s life through others, and the sometimes feckless behaviour of adults who befriend children and try to treat them as equals. It deals with the consequences of suicide for a community, head-on, and pulls no punches.

“The Little Things”, a recent Denzel Washington crime-solving vehicle, deals with remorse, insecurity in marriage and parenthood-especially of fathers relating to daughters, and of one or more unbridled egos,leading to the undoing of one miscreant-and maybe those of both of his nemeses.

This was the first half of my eighth trans-Pacific round trip. I spent it seated next to an intrepid, very large, woman, who is headed even further than me. As always has happened up to now, we looked out for one another-and for the flight attendants, who were always rushing about and, it seems, running into tired passengers who had to get up and move aside for one another. Oh, the joys of conflicting legitimate pursuits.

There were no bad guys on this plane-except on screen.

Expanding Home, Day 3: Transitory Headaches and The Homeopathic Telephone

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 12, 2023, San Diego- Columbus may have ended his first voyage across an ocean, on this day. I begin my twelfth such journey in less than an hour. Transitions have invariably included at least one headache. Today’s involved finding the auto park where Sportage will spend its time, while I am on the other side of the Pacific. You have to love Google Maps-three times directing me to a man’s welding shop, and all because CalDOT re-named a road and Google didn’t pick up on it. After the third time, I found the shop owner and learned that he gets five or six people a month stopping at his place and inquiring as to the Auto Park’s location. It was then that I called the Auto Park’s parent company, got the Auto Park’s local number and within minutes was securing my vehicle’s safety for the duration of my time away. Cell phones can be homeopathic.

The other thing I realized was that I did not want to leave Samesun Hostel. It was time, though, and the Sowellian trade-off is that I will make several new friends along the way. The desk clerk at the hostel, as I checked out, was officious,but courteous. Her slightly standoffish nature is perhaps the result of dealing with hundreds of relative strangers who come and go each day. It just was a tad different from the other desk clerks I have encountered at Samesun.

I stopped briefly at San Diego Baha’i Center, to pick up a newly-printed study guide. Then it was lunchtime. In the interests of not running out my time on the crotchety parking meter, I stopped in at Carnivore Sandwich, a spot on the edge of Little Italy that is popular with sailors from the not-too-distant 32nd Street Base. Taking the Philly cheese steak to the waterfront was a refreshing idea, sitting on a park bench, greeted by a cyclist who wished me a nice lunch and by a pair of dogs, who were eager to sniff the remnants of my meal. After their owner gave a stern “No” to that idea, the trio went off to their motorized raft and on to her sailboat.

A short time later, after walking along the harbourside, near the Coast Guard complex, I headed towards the Auto Park, and worked through the above-mentioned challenge. A short shuttle ride later, it was time to visit Alaska Airlines. The check-in process was not complicated, with the comical incident of my camera falling out of the TSA bin, while it was going through the screening. When I asked an agent for help in finding it, she wondered whether it needed to be screened further. Nope-it was found, sitting by its lonesome, in a slight dip along the belt.

San Francisco- The flight from San Diego was smooth, but for mild turbulence over Big Sur. I found that the folder containing secondary copies of my flight arrangements and letters of introduction had remained behind, at the gate in San Diego. I have all I need on phone and laptop, so it is just a zing to my pride and a small life lesson.

An occasionally squawking toddler, and a trio of small dogs, yipping one in a while, from their mesh kennel, were the only interruptions to in-flight silence, as my seatmate and I read our books and admired the slender line of sunset, about forty minutes into the flight. I last saw her, intense in thought and trying to figure out the map to the International Terminal. Feeling it prudent to leave her to her own resourceful mind, I made the walk to this terminal, in ten minutes.

When I got to China Air’s ticket counter, a small group of Taiwanese elders pointed to the empty counters, then to their mouths- as in ” Go eat, then come back”. It was a good idea, as once I had supped on chicken salad and a cup of coffee, the ticket counters were fully in business. It did not take long, though, to get my boarding passes for T’aipei and Manila, then to undergo a second security check. Now, a small group of us are at comfortable Gate 11. It’s close to my customary bedtime, but sleep will come on the plane.

My account of this Friday the 13th will be brief. When we leave San Francisco, it’ll be 1:05 a.m., the International Date Line will be crossed, and it’ll be slightly after 5 a.m., Saturday the 14th, when we land in T’aipei. It will be quite a life, these next two days.

Expanding Home, Day 2: Care Shares,Key Chains and Kelp Tossing

6
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 11, 2023, San Diego- Medaglia D’Oro instant coffee is a hit with the workers at Samesun Hostel. For that alone, it is one of the best investments I have made, for $4.05. In the days of widespread labour dissatisfaction, befriending and encouraging workers, even in small ways, is a most important endeavour.

After a hearty walkabout along the southern end of Ocean Beach, and the subsequent cat nap, I sat with a few of the staff members and some other hostelers, and made key chains-tutored by the crafts and yoga lady-Lexi. My chain’s decoration is two-sided, with the all-important eye on each side. It will likely cause the lot attendant a double-take, when I lodge Sportage with him, for the duration of my visit to the Philippines. He may wonder which of my grandchildren made this. ( I have none, at present.) The truth of the matter can stay with me, and the readers of this post. I made two new friends here at Samesun (Lexi and her friend, Alicia), and that’s the most important thing.

The day started with a brisk walk to the pier. The surf was a good deal calmer than it was, when I was last here, in December. Noting a sign that said “Throw kelp back into the ocean”, I spent several minutes doing just that, though I know that the message was directed primarily at the ubiquitous fisherfolk along the pier.

Morning surf, Ocean Beach (above and below)

The skies were almost June Gloom-like (“October Opaque”?), and true to form, they would break into sunshine, later in the day. Meanwhile, there was plenty of colour on the ground, in Ocean Beach.

Another sweet OB mural
Two ladies, two pelicans and a lone octopus

It was a pleasure to share my rather large portion of Cashew Chicken and Pork Dumplings with a trio of sidewalk campers, who are accepted neighbours of the hostel. Likewise,the street people here are respectful of their business neighbours and do not harass anyone walking about. There is a neatness and order here, that is not always present in impromptu communities elsewhere.

Once lunch was a wrap, it was time for the walkabout that I mentioned earlier. In December, I focused on the pier and on the north of OB. The south side, also called Sunset Cliffs, is equally a delight, though the area above the beach is considered unstable, and is fenced off.

Sign at Ocean Front Drive, OB
Unstable above; fascinating below
Sunset Cliffs trail, Ocean Beach
Cove, along Sunset Cliffs trail, Ocean Beach
Surf gets feisty, Sunset Cliffs trail
A sandstone sculptor has left several messages, along the south side of Ocean Beach. I am certainly trying my best.

Expanding Home,Day One: Double Tenth at Ocean Beach

4
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 10, 2023 , San Diego- The desk clerk cheerfully informed me that I had arrived here in my favourite part of a favoured city, just in time for a free night of parking. Given what it can cost to park elsewhere in San Diego, I will relish this.

The day got off to an odd start, as old cheapo wrist watch, that I had planned on wearing while across the Pacific, came off my wrist at the band and crashed to the floor. I got the back parts securely on again, but the second hand will not move-so it sits back in my night table drawer, until I get back and can give a jeweler friend something to do in his spare time.

The rest of the prep and pack phase went well. I had breakfast at Wild Iris, caught up on correspondence, gave the landlord a rent check in advance and was out the door by 9:15. A steaming cup of coffee and half of a Southwest sandwich from Pangaea Bakery sufficed for a roadside lunch, at the pleasant and underrated Mountain Pass, west of Salome. The other half went down the hatch, at a second rest stop, at Ripley, CA-just south of Blythe.

The journey was uniformly smooth, though once again there was a crash, outside Ehrenburg, that slowed everyone down just a bit-and a vehicle fire across I-8, near Ocotillo, was cause for consternation-if only for the thick black smoke it produced. There were no ambulances at either site, so I am hoping that means all people got off without serious injury.

Back at Home Base, though, or close to it, two good friends were intentionally attacked as they rode their bicycles near their home. An attentive witness got footage of the driver and vehicle, so I hope he gets nailed. The friends will recover, but it is the idea of “This road belongs to ME!” that is most infuriating.

I am now happily ensconced at Samesun Hostel, having had a slice of Che and Chloe’s delectable pizza. A gentle drizzle here makes three days in a row that Aug-tober has been interrupted by unexpected rain. The heat is forecast to be gone now, so I will have a few days of mild weather before arriving in the tropics. I am ready, though, with bug repellent and a broad-brimmed hat that has a retractable bug screen in front.

My prayers go to Israel, Palestine, Ukraine-and to my aforementioned friends, for their recovery.

NEXT: A Free Day in SoCal

Shani

4
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 8, 2023- Her smiling countenance is what we have left of her, at least for the time being. It is a sweet smile, and yes, it’s framed by a scantily-clad physique-but so what? SO WHAT? If that is the “crime” that led grown men abduct her, throw her in a truck, strip her naked and have women spit at her, while she was either unconscious or dead, it speaks volumes about the nature of the individuals and groups who are manipulating the Arabs of Palestine-specifically the long-marginalized, “rats in a cage” Arabs of Gaza.

We all know what deprived animals do when they are trapped and cornered. How much worse it is, for human beings-and when their own neighbours, their own chosen leaders, are the ones primarily entrapping them-as a means of stoking hatred towards a selected enemy-who responds in kind. Thus a few women in an unknown village, somewhere in Gaza, spat at the body of a young woman-who was unconscious or dead. Thus were girls, not much younger than she, made to watch-and be put on notice by their elders-that this is what happens to those who disobey the ulama, the imams, the Supreme Leader.

I am slated to leave for another part of the world, in less than a week. Some of my loved ones have urged me to reconsider, given the current situation in Southwest Asia. It is a fair request, and I am keeping a close watch on the situation. This journey, like all my travels on public conveyances, is insured to the hilt. If the situation escalates-which it may, and those sympathetic to the terrorists strike in the part of the world where I am headed, then I am prepared to stay in bounds, spend a few days in San Diego and San Francisco, and come back to live the dream. If the situation stays as it is presently-which it also may, I will take one leg of the flight at a time, and check updates, while in San Diego, then in San Francisco, then in T’aipei, to say nothing of being constantly vigilant, while in the Philippines.

Back to the matter of Shani Louk: She was at a music festival, in the Negev Desert, when she was abducted, taken to Gaza, stripped bare and paraded around a village like a slab of meat. There is little difference between this act, and all the other abductions, killings-on both sides of the border and torture-on both sides of the border AND the brutal attacks at a concert in Manchester, England, in May, 2017-except in the degree of death and destruction. There is little difference in the intent of the terror-mongers in southwest Israel and that of the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States-except in the degree of death and destruction.

Like the girls who were made to watch someone, not much older than they, be rendered unconscious, stripped of her clothing and paraded around, in total deshabille, their mothers’ and aunts’ sputum dripping from her body, we can only wonder how the human race got into this mess. Like the survivors of the Holocaust of 1943-45, forced to watch as their family members were herded onto rail cars and sent to “the showers”, never to return, we can only recoil in horror, as it happens again-albeit to a smaller group-so far. Like the innocent people of Gaza, the West Bank and the State of Israel, whose sole crime is living among those who exist by inhaling the stench of neurotically-achieved power, we can only redouble our own resolve to bring those tottering remnants of Byzantine folly to their just retribution. Extremism has begotten extremism-and it’s high time the gauntlet came down.

May Shani Louk be brought home to her mother.

Messages

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 4, 2023- When I closed my eyes at this evening’s prayer meeting, I saw a cabin in the woods, with soft, multicoloured lighting outside. After a few more prayers were said, I closed my eyes in reverence again, and saw the dungeon where Baha’u’llah was imprisoned for four months, in 1852. The full meaning of these visions could play out, in terms of my being physically-present in those locations, at some point, or there could be some related meaning, that pertains to something else in my life.

Messages can have “one and seventy meanings”, according to any number of spiritual traditions, including the Teachings of Christ, and those of Baha’u’llah- Who goes further, ascribing such a distinction to every written word in Scripture. Indeed, any time I get an inspirational message about how to spend a day, where to work and where to visit, it takes some contemplation, beforehand and along the course of the day, to be sure that I am maintaining the intended course of action,

The message that came to me, three weeks ago, to accept this week’s work assignment, was very clear: “Do your level best for the two children who will be your primary focus, while also helping with anyone else who needs attention, especially if the classroom teacher is busy elsewhere or is overwhelmed.” This has prepared me for a few instances, such as lunch time, when there has been shortness of staff and I found myself serving as an adhoc monitor. It also falls into my long-held view that every educator in an institution of learning is responsible, to a degree, for the well-being of every student in that environment.

The message that came to me, back in May, regarding my journey to southeast Asia, was to focus strictly on the Philippines-that a longer journey to the region, involving more nations, would happen in a few years. Such guidance can always change, as situations evolve in various aspects of my life and in the wider world. Yes, the dynamics of aging and health are among those aspects-but for now, that part of my life is not fraught with issues. I have three focuses for the upcoming trip: Visiting a sponsored youth, connecting with the Baha’is and a few other friends, and paying homage to those who died at Bataan and Corregidor, as well as to Jose Rizal and,if time allows, Lapu-Lapu, whom I regard as a figure little known in the West-but every bit as important to history as the great chiefs of North America’s First Nations.

Over the next few days, I may receive further insight regarding the matter, but for now, the message is to focus on the children and correct an oversight on a financial matter, relative to health care I received one and two years ago.

More Details, Under the October Sky

0
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 2, 2023- Since the early 2000s, one of my favourite inspirational stories has been “October Sky”, a film adapted from the memoir, “Rocket Boys”. The account of West Virginia coal town youths, inspired by Sputnik I to build rockets of their own, with the support of their high school teachers and principal-and gradually earning the respect of their families, shows that each and every community can produce leaders of thought and invention.

I am working, this week, with a pair of boys who are identified as having special needs. One functions at a basic level; the other, is seen by his peers as a leader and is vibrant and inventive, far beyond his apparent weakness. He will, with strong support, like what he has from his present teacher, rise to enormous heights.

The mind is a superbly equipped vehicle for transcending even the most harrowing disabilities. Penny showed that, in 2006-9, by earning her third Master’s Degree, after being discounted by a far inferior individual-her last supervising principal. Her example has sustained my belief in the human spirit, and will be in my heart, as I meet in two weeks, with a young man I have sponsored for several years, through an international child advocacy agency. He is dedicated to achieving high honours academically and going on to be a credit to his family and community.

I have encountered many such people, across the United States, Canada and western Europe, since 2012. Encouraging them, even in brief encounters and in small ways, has been hugely rewarding. As the scope of my journeys expands, between now and January, 2029, and ongoing contact via Zoom and other virtual means continues, I hope to be able to impart stories of many other rising stars.

Fourth Quarter- Frost, Frolics and Fastidiousness

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 1, 2023- The air is supposed to be chill, tonight and tomorrow, followed, later in the week, by a few days of AUG-tober. Then the silly weather will subside, and we may expect that Home Base-Prescott, and hereabouts, will have a more conventional tenth month.

I will be at work, all week, helping two special needs children at a nearby elementary school. There will be other events awaiting in the evenings: Ecstatic dance (online), which I can join for an hour or so; a Healing Devotional; a Red Cross meeting; the tail-end of a Study Circle that I have been facilitating; and another early evening devotional. Saturday will see a Harvest Festival, as well as regular service activities.

Then comes the fourth journey of 2023- The Philippines, by way of California and Taiwan. More details will be shared, as the sojourn unfolds. Long story short, it will dominate October, and take me away from service activities here. This bothers some people, but my life has been about following messages from my spirit guides. Sometimes, that has meant staying in one place and being fastidious in meeting the needs of a few. Since 2011, though, it has meant being willing to go to certain places, connect with specific people and perform designated functions, from running Red Cross shelters here and there, to keeping children safe on Halloween, serving dinner to homeless people and sponsoring a child or two, in disadvantaged communities.

One such youth will be a focus of my time in the Philippines. Faith-based activities will take up much of the rest of my time there. My biggest hope is that a bond between Prescott and those blessed islands may be forged.

November and December will bring more work around here, holidays spent with family(Thanksgiving) and friends (Christmas and New Year’s) and another trip around the Sun completed. The Fourth Quarter is never dull-stay tuned.