Americas

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South of the border

The weather took a turn today.  Shortly after lunch we picked up our Avis rental car and headed to Seattle.  The drive itself was under 3 hours but the border crossing took about an hour due to queues with the usual photographing and fingerprinting. We took a detour to our motel at the character-rich University […]

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Lunch with old school friend

We met up with an old school friend Hong Tee for lunch today.  I hadn’t seen her since school … errr … some 20+ years ago.  It was a nice catch up over a yum char lunch at Chinatown nearby.  The quality of their har gau (prawn dumplings) and also the prawn-and-scallop ones were top […]

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Wednesday once more

Above: Homogenised milk at a cafe; for one to add to coffee or tea. We arrived at 1415 on the same day we left home, thanks to the international dateline. The queues at Vancouver airport for the arrival formalities were long.  The officials were thorough in the questioning of visitors.  We managed to clear all […]

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Taking a walk on the wild side (Warning: Graphic narrative)

It is the last Sunday in September and that means it is Folsom Street Fair … the biggest gay event in San Francisco, especially for those into leather, fur (not of animal origin but on chubby human) and bondage/discipline. It seems to have evolved and there were many women and heterosexual couples dressed up (or […]

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Castro but not Cuba

Above:   I couldn’t believe my eyes. We shifted into a hotel within San Fran itself today … all part of the plan to be more accessible to everything after a night of luxury.  We grabbed lunch with a friend of Kim’s who was living near the Castro area (nothing to do with Cuban leader). Tomorrow […]

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Bad news from home

As it wasn’t going to be a long drive today, we spent the morning shopping in Monterey.  Many of the stores are the same nationwide and they offer the same good value and quality not found anywhere else in the world.  This is a very blessed country in many ways. We checked into the very […]

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Hearst Castle

We explored the San Luis Obispo area briefly this morning before heading up the Pacific Coast Highway to do a sight we had previously missed out due to lack of time.  This was the Hearst Castle which is located about halfway between LA and San Fran. We had previously done most of the attractions in Monterey and […]

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Driving up the PCH

After a slow start, we caught up with a crew friend who was overnighting in LA.  In the early afternoon we headed up the Pacific Coast Highway bound for San Luis Obispo for our nightstop. Much of the route wasn’t new so we didn’t do all the scenic stops … only a comfort stop at Santa Barbara […]

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Jump-starting a whale

I had a full day to kill before my 2300 departure out of JFK airport.  After a leisurely breakfast I toddled over to the United Nations for their free tour.  They have guides leading tours through the day and we had a particularly informative chap from Israel.  With more time on my hands, I settled […]

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Pleading poverty

Weatherwise, it was a nasty day in the Big Apple.  Cold, wet and windy.  My Couchsurfing host suggested the Museum of Natural History as a good indoor attraction to kill the day.  Good choice! Entry was by donation, suggested at USD 15.  At the current exchange rate it was quite a pinch so I pleaded […]

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