Category: Travels for Fun
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THE WUPPERTAL SCHWEBEBAHN
‘Whopper-what?’ I asked. My new German friend, Volker, tried to share his hometown with me. ‘Wupper-who?’ I just couldn’t pierce through his thick accent so I pulled out my phone and brought up Google Maps and let him zoom in. ‘Wuppertal!’ I finally realised. ‘Never heard of it.’ Volker explained it was one of the major cities of North Rhine Westphalia and near Düsseldorf. But I had to admit my knowledge of German geography was still limited. ‘It’s world famous for its upside down train,’ Volker said. ‘I will take you…
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WEBERT. OLBERODE. ANCESTRAL HOME.
‘What’s your mother’s maiden name’? How many times have I had to answer that question? ‘Webert,’ I answer. But for most of my life it was only a name. A name I knew nothing about. And a name my mother knew little about. A few years ago I got bitten by the genealogy bug and started researching the Weberts. I didn’t need to do much work because others – Ulrike, Dan, Lou, Jean, etc. – had already done it. I learned from them that the ancestral home of the Weberts is…
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FINDING CHRISTIAN
PERHENTIAN BESAR – 8 February 1978 Olympus OM-1 on Kodachrome 25. Roll 2. Frames 22 and 23. When you travel alone you are inclined to meet more people … and some of those people become your travel mates. I was hanging out during a Chinese New Year holiday at a guesthouse in a small village on the east coast of Malaysia. A tall, sun-tanned Swede and I were the only guests at the place. Christian was sole traveller and on a long-term Asian adventure. Christian and I decided to try to…
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ALSACE. GERMAN OR FRENCH?
One of the few things I remember from high school history is the story of Alsace-Lorraine. It’s a region in present-day eastern France that has been claimed by both France and Germany and as a result has changed hands several times over the past two centuries. Traditionally the people of the region speak a dialect of German known as Alsatian, so Germany felt it belonged to them. But France figured borders should be determined by natural features so they staked claim to the land east of the Vosges Mountains to the…
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A HOT PRAGUE IN JULY
In July of 2019, Padma and I travelled to Prague with our son, Joshua, and daughter-in-law, Shereen. I didn’t write a story or take notes and I hardly shot any photos. It was hot. And it was busy. And I vowed never again to plan a visit a European capital city in the height of the summer holidays. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time. We downloaded Rick Steves Audio Walking Tour of Prague and let him guide us through the city. It was an excellent way to visit the city at…
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AMPELMANNCHEN
Not much of East Berlin remained intact after reunification. The West invested billions to rebuild the infrastructure. But when the German administrators suggested that all pedestrian crossing signals adopt the signals used in the West, the East Berliners kicked up a fuss. There was no way they were going to give up the beloved ‘Ampelmann’ crossing signals. The signals were not only part of their cultural identify but also cleverly designed. The traffic psychologist who designed the Ampelmanns realised that many folks are colour blind and didn’t relate to a green=go…
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KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH AN ALBINO
BATU FERRINGHI – 20 January 1978 Olympus OM-1 on Kodachrome 64. Roll 1 Frame 14 Every time I hear Roberta Flack sing ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ I am immediately transported back to Malaysia. Funny how our brains can so strongly associate music with time and geography. I was 19 years old, half a world away from home and drinking a beer at outdoor cafe while watching the sun set into the Indian Ocean. Roberta set the mood by telling the story of the boy who seemed as if he…
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ALPINE SKINNY DIPPING
NORTH CASCADES, WASHINGTON – July 1980 Olympus OM-2 on Kodachrome I think I invented selfies. I always wanted to have people in my photos but often I was the only human being around … so I became the model. I travelled alone in my younger days so I had no choice. A tripod and a camera with a self timer and me with a classic pose – that’s all I needed. As a result I have a lot of photos of me doing this and me doing that … even skinny…
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MY FIRST SLR
SINGAPORE – 12 January 1978 I bought my first SLR camera in Singapore in 1978. I was after an Olympus OM-1, a brilliant manual camera which was smaller than most of the SLRs on the market at the time. So it was perfect to throw in a backpack. At the time Singapore was supposed to be one of the cheapest places in the world to buy cameras as it had duty free status. Even so, it was hard to beat the prices of New York mail order. I visited lots of…
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