Skip to main content

WHY TRAVEL?

Travel is great, but staying home might be better.  There is something to security and comfort that at my age neutralize adventure and excitement.  Plus, this pandemic provides another challenge.

Then again, my time to live is growing short, and I don't believe in anything like an afterlife.  If I can physically do it, I will continue until I can't.  To conclude my just completed odyssey, on nostalgic Tuesday, I'll link a past experience with what I just encountered.  


I begin by selecting one of my flights from Honolulu to Bangkok, this one in 2011 via Narita Airport.  You can read the details, but the reason why this trip was so memorable is because, first, it mentions my staying at the Singapore Marina Bay Sands, and, more importantly, led to my series of emergency escapes away from Tokyo after that Great Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Cataclysm.  Note I say that I had 16 different kinds of alcoholic drinks during the Honolulu-Tokyo-Bangkok flights.  I later broke that record with 26 drinks on a later Honolulu-Tokyo-Bangkok flight.

I first went to Dubai in 2015 as one stop in what I called my Grand Around the World Adventure (GAWA).  I compared it with My Ultimate Global Adventure (MUGA) of 2013, which used the Star Alliance First Class fare.  It all began on 26March2013 from Honolulu to San Francisco (because I had to drop my golf bag off to meet up with Kenji's golf group when I eventually get back to SFO), then on to Sydney.  MUGA ended 51 days later.  But this is about GAWA and Dubai being astonishing, as I said on 11October2015.  I had some great meals (as at Zuma for $227) here, but show my $10 in room dinner one night of Panda soup and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Okay, so what's next.  I have never cruised in the Indian Ocean, so don't have an equivalent to re-show.  However, I have been to India in the past, and told myself never to go back again.  So as my nostalgic entry feature my most commented posting ever, India Sucks.  Hmm..don't see any comments.  I wonder what happened to them.  Here is another link to read those comments.  Anyway, the Explorer had three stops in India, and you can see my posting about them.

21 days after leaving Dubai, our ship arrived in Singapore.  I got to really appreciate this city/country this time.  I had been here before, but now better appreciate how a place less than half the size of Oahu can rise to such heights.  An extraordinary set of circumstances came together to make Singapore...Singapore.  Here is a posting from 2017.

- 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DAY 1 on the DIAMOND PRINCESS

But first, Sheraton Yokohama Bay highlights of our Sheraton Club eats/drinks and breakfasts. Breakfast stations. Then taxi off to the Diamond Princess.  Fall colors. Approaching from the rear of the Diamond Princess. Departure of Diamond Princess from Yokohama, Departure snack of lamb, beef, penne pasta, Johnny Walker Gold and champagne. Leaving Yokohama. We then went to Kai Sushi for dinner, Sushi and sake dinner, Then, off to Fun Dance Class. That followed by karaoke. The night continued into some old time disco.  Finally, after midnight, back to our stateroom.  Walked 4127 steps today. -

DAY 4 IN SEOUL: Most popular Korean Songs from the 1950's to the Present

Korean music was almost totally missing, growing up in Hawaii.  The exception was  Arirang .   Today, BTS and BLACKPINK resonate around the world.  In addition to the 600 year-old  Arirang,  what is the all-time #1?  My favorites are: Baby Shark , released by Pinkfong in 2016. For one, it is the most-viewed You Tube video ever, hitting 7 billion views and surpassing  Despacito  in 2022.   Is now up to 16.47 billion views, with  Despacito  at 9 billion. Top 10 music videos, based on data from   Kworb   and   Wikipedia :  Note that most are nursery songs. "Baby Shark Dance"   – Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories (16.47 billion) "Despacito"   – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee (8.91 billion) "Wheels on the Bus"   – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (8.29 billion) "Bath Song"   – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (7.31 billion) "Johny Johny Yes Papa"   – LooLoo Kids (7.13 billion) "See You Again"   –...

THE VERY BEST MOVIE MUSICALS

Two weeks ago I featured the   best dance films.   Many of them are repeated here because where there is dance, there is also music.  An excellent best musical list from   IndieWire : #1    Singin' in the Rain (1954) #2    All that Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979) #3    West Side Story (1961) #4    Dancer in the Dark (2000), featuring Björk #5    Mary Poppins (1964), nominated for 13 Oscars #6    The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) #7    The Wizard of Oz (1939) #8    Nashville (1975) #9    Cabaret (1972) #10  Moulin Rouge (2001) #11  The Sound of Music (1965) #12  La La Land (2016) #13  Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) #14  My Fair Lady (1964) #15  Fiddler on the Roof (1971) #16  The Red Shoes (1948) #17  A Star is Born (1954), there was another in 1937, then 1976, and finally 2018.  The 1954 version starred Judy Garland and James Mason. #18  The...