TRAVEL NOTES FROM DEAN

My permanent room-mate Elena has organized a group of about 20 to tour mainland China, Hong Kong, and Tokyo for two weeks come October. We had this kind of tour back in 1984 with a different group of friends. Besides the two of us, the group will include our older daughter Nancy and her younger son Rex, our younger daughter Lulu and her husband, and her husband’s sister. As usual in the return trip, luggage will be heavier because of irrepressible impulse shopping round and round in Hong Kong stores by the women (yeah, men too!).

This itch for travel abroad started when we went to Mexico in 1976. It was as fascinating as first love. So, we followed it up with tours to the Orient in 1978, Western Europe four times in the 80’s and 90’s, and the Scandinavian countries in the 90’s. One reason for this frequent globe-trotting is the encouragement given up by our children. They told us not to think of leaving them our inheritance, and instead spend our money on travels. Another reason is we are getting old, and as the saying goes: “Make hay while the sun shines.” These travels have become what fairy tales are to a child. This reminds me of the opening lines of a Frank Sinatra son: “Fairy tales can come true, it may happen to you if you’re young at heart.”

Some relatives and friends ask us this nagging question: “Are you going back to the Philippines to spend the rest of your lives in old age?” Unhesitatingly, we reply with a resounding “NO!” When we left the Philippines to immigrate, we had already decided to make America our new home and be buried in American soil. We had burned the bridges behind us. We have bought burial plots in a beautiful cemetery about 12 minutes drive from our house. There is no iota of regrets for sticking it out here in the U.S. The reason? Not to deride the country where we were born, but in there we cannot have as much comforts of California lifestyle that we presently enjoy. California has a variety of geographical features: mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, ocean, and deserts. Among the 50 states, California ranks first in population and third in area after Alaska and Texas. If California were a country, it would be the seventh richest in the world!

Los Angeles, 26 June 1998