We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about — Charles Kingsley
This is it, the moment we’ve been anticipating with dread and excitement is just hours away. Tonight we’re going to fly to Bangkok, then home to Cebu and Surigao in the Philippines, to be later followed by the long flight from Manila to Seattle, and finally a 5-hour drive to Chelan. We’ve traveled to these places so many times before. But we feel we’re venturing into a completely strange territory because this will be our first time to travel with our 7-month old baby. Should I even bother bringing a book or suduko puzzle?
The things we normally do, and I guess take for granted, won’t be as simple anymore. Like going to the mall and watching a movie at the cineplex. Or dining in restaurants and relaxing at our favorite bars while watching a live band perform. We may not even go island-hopping, although a drive to the beach with our nieces is still possible.
Instead we’ll be savoring every moment watching our son meet his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins for the first time. We will introduce him to some solid foods. His cousins will teach him new things. He will be spoiled by all our relatives. And we will be seeing him crawl, too. It’s a totally different kind of adventure!
I went to the bull races for the first time last Friday. This is an exciting event held in villages all over Pakistan, and as luck would have it, this one was held at a village just 30 minutes from Islamabad. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we drove to the site, where about 5,000 spectators — all men — have already gathered. Some waved and cheered us welcome. Many, especially boys and teenagers, gawked at us - an odd group of 15 foreigners including seven women. We became part of the attraction as some couldn’t take their eyes off us while the races were going on.
Bull races are often held in open fields. Each team is made up of two bulls and their “driver,” who holds the reins with his left hand, a stick to prod them with his right, while standing on a sled made of what looks like thick leather. Some teams have men running alongside the bull to make sure they stay on track. And that’s all, no helmets, or protective pads, nothing but quick reflexes to jump out of the sled if things go wrong as they often do. These bulls are fast. As if that’s not enough they also set off firecrackers on both sides of the track to make the animals go faster. It’s a very dangerous sport: drivers run the risk of being dragged, trampled, and getting their neck broken. The same risks apply to spectators who get in the way when the bulls veer off course.
This is why I was advised to stay away from the starting line, so that we can at least see the bulls and have a chance to run if they coming running towards us instead. Many people just get on top of trucks and carts, even trees. And our host arranged for a pickup truck for us. This was great, because we were able to see a lot of action. My friend Monica entertained us with stories of bulls charging into vehicles, and about one driver who got dragged on his stomach but refused to let go, and still managed to pull himself up and back on the sled to finish the race. Really remarkable when you see how fast these animals go. The only thing I didn’t like about this setup was we were facing the sun so it was hard to get clear shots, more so when the dusts were so thick. But I managed to get a few shots and video clips to give you an idea:
AirAsia was always the first airline we checked when we planned our trips while we lived in Thailand. This budget airline is simply hard to beat. Given that you plan well ahead of time, their tickets are cheap, service is fuss free (minimal but effective), and the schedule is not bad either.
Today it just got better - we received an e-mail notice (didn’t even know we signed up for anything, but this proves they don’t spam you unless they’re offering great deals) announcing their “free international seats” promo for the following destinations in Southeast Asia plus Australia and China:
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Okay, for those asking “what’s the catch?” you must book from May 14-16 and travel from Jan. 12-Apr. 30, 2009. And these free flights must fly from/to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They also give the following tips or advice:
Go to their website http://airasia.com between 3:00-7:00 am (I assume this is Malaysia or Thailand time), but avoid weekends and holidays
Choose midweek or mid day flights
Try other destinations; for as low as US$19 you can go for their “Ultimate Low Deals” and get 3D2N hotel and return (roundtrip) tickets to international destinations.
As a Filipino living in Pakistan I quickly learned that applying for a visa to other countries has become more and more complicated. And I’m not even saying that applying for a visa in my own country was easy either.
When I lived in the Philippines, and when the US still had bases in Clark and Subic, visa applications to the States were free. Partly due to this the lines at the US consulate in Cebu and Manila were unbelievable. Even when the US government started charging visa fees my friends and I still had to get in line as early as 5 am (only to find mosquito-bitten people who have been there since midnight). This changed when they allowed “dropbox applications” (for renewals that don’t require personal interviews) and introduced the interview by appointment only system.
My 10-year US visitors visa is expiring this year, so I took advantage of the winter holiday to have it renewed. It’s a good thing that I did because it took three months. I have gone to the US almost every year and never stayed more than 2 months during each visit. We were therefore surprised when I was asked to submit proof that I did not violate the terms of my 1999 student visa (thank God I saved all my school records) — even though I went back on a student visa in 2002. We heaved a sigh of relief when I finally received my passport with renewed visa just a few weeks before the old one expired. In contrast our baby’s new passport, which are printed in the US, took only two weeks. I did learn two interesting things during those trips to the consular office. One is that a lot of Pakistanis (at least a hundred a day) still want to go to the US and live there. The other is that it is important to use lotion and keep one’s fingers moist for fingerprinting. We thought it was weird when I got an e-mail to come for re-fingerprinting and “apply lotion on (my) hands for a week.”
The clear message is to never assume a visa will be granted even if you have previously traveled to that country before. This is also true when I applied for a Schengen visa to go to Germany for the second time last summer. My German friend, whose birthday we were attending, had to file an application in Nuremberg and show proof of her financial status. In hindsight we should have just shown them our hotel reservations in Munich, Garmisch, Koblenz, and Vienna. I also had to get a travel insurance because the international coverage that I already have is not one of their accredited insurers in Pakistan! When I asked the consul officer why I had to do all these requirements which were not required when I got my Schengen visa in Bangkok she simply said, “because you are in Pakistan.”
Now I’ve been wanting to go to Canada since it’s within driving distance from my husband’s hometown in Central Washington. And of course, they have a special requirement that makes it nearly impossible for me to do: a re-entry visa to Pakistan. Unfortunately for us our Pakistan visa is renewed yearly before we leave for the summer. So I’m currently without my passport while the visa is being processed. And I can’t go miss work until school ends on June 6; then we leave for the Philippines and US on June 11. So unless the Canadian embassy can process visas in 1-2 weeks without a personal interview (or in one day with one) this means I have little chance of driving to Canada again.
I didn’t take this picture, my friend Monica did. She e-mailed an announcement about this event happening in Islamabad two weeks in advance and I totally forgot about it. So here I am, banging my head every time she uploads another batch of photos from that event: the army dogs exhibition, bull race, archery, sword dancers, etc. It’s not every year that these events take place in Islamabad and we get invited. A pity that our friend is leaving for Kuwait and we may not be informed about similar future events.
I had a photo blog in Fotopages since 2004, when we lived in Thailand. This blog was so easy to update because we traveled a lot to so many different places even during three-day weekends and for week-long holidays. That was just one of the nice things about being an international school teacher in Bangkok: all the means and opportunities to travel around Thailand and Southeast Asia because of the school holidays, cheap fares and tickets, variety of travel destinations, and tour packages available.
But I’ve used it less and less when Flickr came along, and my Fotopages pals have also stopped updating their accounts. Now I’m just using it to post pictures of our baby, and it’s password-protected but family and friends don’t have to open an account to visit it, unlike Flickr.
So what I’m going to do is start copying and pasting some of our travel posts here. It will take some time because there is no easy way to import/export, except copy and paste. And I will posts these according to the same dates when they appeared on Fotopages, so you may have to go to the Archives to view anything before 2008.
Took this photo on my way to sign my work permit at the Thai Ministry of Education. Weeks later I saw the green croc again on the way to a Thai friend’s house and exclaimed “hey, I’ve been here before.” Patiently she explained that these sculptures are found wherever a road is under construction, sort of a “Your taxes at work, sorry for the inconvenience” apology to motorists.
If they used cute mascots like this as “under construction” signs here in Islamabad maybe motorists are less stressed by the detours, dust pollution, and summer heat.
This is a 30-second clip of our Karakoram roadtrip. There are only 20 pictures, and one can get better results with less because this is only the free version. I did it to test Animoto, the latest thing in creating slideshows in flashy video format. Obviously it did not work when I did the “post online” option for WordPress, but luckily Animoto also allows me to post it to YouTube, which works with WordPress.
So here it is: (but if you get a message like i did that this video is not available just go to
We finally have a direct flight from Bangkok to Cebu! While in the process of planning our itinerary for the summer holiday with our travel agent I wondered again if there was a shorter and quicker way to get home without going through Manila. We checked Malaysian Airlines, Cathay Air, and Silk Air or Singapore Airlines, which have direct international flights to Cebu from Kuala Lumpur/Kota Kinabalu, Hong Kong, and Singapore. But the only international flights out of Islamabad to Southeast Asia are through Bangkok and Dubai. Under different circumstances we would love to spend a few days in Bangkok. But we’re traveling with a baby who will be meeting his relatives in both sides of the family, that is, in the Philippines and United States. So we’re looking at traveling from Islamabad to Cebu (with an overnight boat to Surigao) and then to Seattle and back to Islamabad.
So here’s the good news. Cebu Pacific Air, a low-cost airline, now flies to Bangkok. It also flies from Manila, Clark, Cebu, and Davao to Kota Kinabalu, Hanoi, Ho Chih Minh, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Macau, Seoul, Pusan, Kota Kinabalu, and Jakarta. I hope this company will remain in business so we can enjoy their low fares. I don’t have a problem with Philippine Airlines; I just hate going through Manila because it adds an extra day when I travel to my hometown in northern Mindanao.
I stumbled on this wonderful portal, http://www.paknamweb.com, to many good websites about Thailand and all things Thai (food, language, photos, blogs, etc.) while searching for the recipe for tom yum gong. I wish I knew about this site when I was new to Thailand. One particular site, http://enjoythaifood.com makes me wish I could go back there again and eat all the dishes featured in the picture menu, videos, and blog. I guess I’ll have to settle for the one day of stopover we have flying to and from Islamabad this summer.
