Anxious to “SEA” you again!

17 June 2017

I’m excited to be heading back to SE Asia (SEA) again on Monday, 19 June. This will be my fourth excursion to SEA since retiring in January 2014. I can’t believe it’s been more than two years since my last trip there in January 2015. Anxious to see my old friends Wat and Jeff in Bangkok and to finally meet my Scottish mate, Derek, when I get to Saigon. Derek and I became online pals when he was touring Vietnam in 2015 and Periscoping his wild adventures on his motorbike from north to south in the country. He and his Vietnamese GF are hoping to show me more of native life in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Also looking forward to seeing one of my first Vietnamese friends, Trinh Viet Ha. I’m also seeing the Philippines for the first time and will be spending six days there in Cebu City and Manila with my Filipino friend, Terry, that I met here in the states. I’ll also be spending four days in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia. That, too, is a new country for me.

After traveling with Delta exclusively the last three years, I’m flying Emirates this time. I have always heard great things about their planes and service and the fare was cheaper when I was shopping. I’ve always flown Delta westward from the US whereas this time I’ll be flying eastward from Orlando on the 15 hour flight and have scheduled an overnight stop in Dubai. I’m planning to meetup for dinner with my former student John Pagnotti whom I taught in the fifth grade nearly 30 years ago!! His mom is a former colleague of mine and she put us in touch since he lives in Dubai. It’s a brief stop but I wanted to get a glimpse of this very interesting desert city.

After a good night’s rest I’ll only have 6.5 hours to Bangkok. That should be a blast as it’s on the Airbus 380 which is their enormous double decker plane. After leaving here mid day Monday, I’ll arrive in Bangkok, 7pm Wednesday evening which will be 7am Eastern Time. I think I’ll be ready for a nap. I found a one bedroom condo with kitchen, pool, etc. through an online B&B service.