Traveling Doode

I am packed and ready to go.  More than packed.  I have more clothes, more traveling bags, than I had for a two-month stay in China back in 1998.  This for a six day stay in Tampa.

But this is no ordinary business trip.  This is the serious business of survival for a loved one.

This will be the third round of chemo.  If her blood tests go well – white blood count, red blood count, and platelets all at an acceptable level – my wife will check in to the Moffitt Cancer Center hospital for six days of slow IV drip.

I said third round.  More accurately, I should say this is the third round of the second chemo regimen she’s endured since last May.  The first course of drugs – poisons, really – worked magic in eradicating most of her rare cancer, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Most.  But with cancer, most is not enough.  Every cell must be killed or this very aggressive malignancy will come back.  Quickly.  In fact, her PET scan of last January showed the remaining cancer had progressed from her scan of October.

This step backward had precipitated the move to the second line of defense, harsher drugs that required very slow administration and nearly constant monitoring.

Cancer chemo treatments are divided into cycles, each lasting three weeks.  Monday will begin the third of four to five cycles of this chemo mix.  This will be preceded by another PET scan.

I pray that the PET scan shows the chemo is having its desired effect.

One of the simple joys I’ve found in my travels is people watching.  And thinking back, I conclude the best perspective for people watching is a second story window.

On the second floor, you are far enough above the crowd to have a big picture of what is going on at street level, yet not so far removed that you can’t pick out individual people or the little dramas and comedies of life as lived at street level.  You can watch people as jostle each other to get on a bus.  You can watch a man trying to talk his way out of a traffic ticket.  A mother wipes the remnants of chocolate ice cream her daughter’s face.  A sudden storm sends pedestrians scurrying for cover.

I discovered the joys of the second story purely by chance.  It seems several of my favorite spots to relax happened to be one floor above street level.  Usually the observations of life below are accompanied by a mug of coffee and pleasant conversation, often with my wife.

The first such observation post I can recall is in Singapore.  While we were living there, my wife and I formed the habit of visiting the IKEA cafeteria for lunch.  If we arrived early enough, we could get a table next to a window, overlooking the bus stop right across the street.  After a wonderful meal of salmon, potatoes, and vegetables, I would sip my coffee while I gazed out the window.

The next site is the Starbucks coffee shop on the second floor of the In Time Department Store on Yan’an Rd in Hangzhou.  There is a very busy bus stop right in front of the store.  The department store’s wide plaza is often the site of cosmetic promotions and fashion shows.  Very good watching indeed.  If you are there early on a weekday morning, you’ll likely see dozens of retirees practicing ballroom or other types of dancing, or Tai Chi.

Finally, there’s a spot in Shanghai I frequent.  It’s another IKEA.  The cafeterias there seem to be almost identical the world over.  This one overlooks a busy intersection and has an elevated train track at eye level.  You can watch the trains pass by, as well as observe the street vendors and pedestrians below.

So, my advice to you is find a good perch on the second story, preferably one that features good coffee.  There’s no better way to spend a pleasant hour people watching.

I hope you all enjoyed your dinner. Is everyone full? No? Waiter!
How many of you like to take a walk after dinner? There’s nothing like a postprandial to settle your meal.
Since this is a walk in our imaginations, I’ll take you to one of my favorite cities, a city almost made for walking: Hong Kong.
We’ll start our perambulation on Salisbury Road in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong, in front of the venerable Peninsula Hotel. The Penn, arguably one of the finest hotels in the world, has been the temporary home of royalty, movie stars, and dignitaries, for more than eight decades. The parking area in front of the hotel displays a couple dozen luxury cars, including the hotel’s signature fleet of dark green Rolls-Royce Silver Spurs. I once saw a quarter of a million dollar Lamborghini parked here. Right inside the front door is a dining area that is the epitome of elegance. Each afternoon, high tea is served here, where even a commoner like me can sip coffee or tea, munch scones, and engage in a little celebrity spotting. Be careful how you dress, though. I once had to sheepishly retrace my steps when I was turned away at the door for wearing shorts!
Here we will cross Salisbury Road and walk to the ultra-modern Hong Kong Cultural Centre, directly across from the Penn. The Cultural Center houses the Concert Hall – home of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Grand Theater – used for large scale opera, ballet, and musicals. As we wait to cross, Mercedes, Taxis, and double-decker buses wiz by in a blur. Only the very brave or the very foolish attempt to jaywalk here! The light changes and we cross.
We enter the lobby of the cultural center, pausing briefly to look at posters advertising upcoming events, and then we exit through the back door onto the Victoria Harbor Promenade. Across the harbor, against the green backdrop of the mountain that is Hong Kong Island, we see an array of skyscrapers, the tallest of which, the 88 storey International Financial Center, is the seventh highest building in the world. Another of Hong Kong’s signature buildings, the Bank of China building, rises like a pure quartz crystal from the skyline. This is unquestionably one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the world.
We won’t spend too much time here, but we’ll be back! We walk quickly to the west and arrive at the Star Ferry Pier. Ferries leave here every 7 minutes whisking commuters from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and back. There are two classes of service: first class on the upper deck, and second class on the lower. I discovered long ago that in this case second class is better, for it is far more interesting. We take our places in line. The half century old ferries may be quaint, but there’s nothing old fashioned about paying the fare. We swipe our smart cards over the sensor, and walk through the turnstiles. We can also use our cards on the buses, subways, and even at McDonald’s!
The ferry arrives, the gate opens, and we jostle with the rest of the passengers to board before all the seats are taken. Hong Kong is no place to visit if you don’t like crowds!
We find seats on the port side of the boat. Now you see why the lower deck is more interesting. All the action takes place here. Middle-aged men dressed in loose-fitting light blue sailor suits handle the lines as the ferry casts off, quickly faking the rope onto the deck in perfect spirals. The pilot house is also located on this deck, so we can watch as he steers the boat to the opposite side. We’re close to the water here, and you can smell the spray as it wets passengers standing too close to the guard rail. The magnificent skyline we saw from the Promenade looms larger and larger as was we approach.
We stand and head for the gangway before the ferry docks, so we can be among the first to disembark. The ferry glides to the pier and its side bumps against the fender. The sailors cast the lines to similarly-dressed colleagues on the pier who quickly tie the ferry up to the dock. Once all is secure a shrill whistle blast indicates all clear and the gangway drops. We quickly disembark and head for the exit.
Now I’ll show you what I mean about this being a walking city. We climb one flight of stairs near the exit and find ourselves on a covered walkway. As you can see, these raised walkways connect most of the major buildings in the city. You can do an entire day of shopping and dining without ever touching down at street level! The walkways also go to the mid-levels escalator which takes you half way up Victoria Peak to many interesting shops, expensive residential areas, a mosque, and the Man Mo Temple.
But now we’ll head back across Victoria Harbor to witness the climax of our evening walk, the Symphony of Lights. We disembark the ferry back in Kowloon, walk back along the Promenade, and find seats on the raised platform in front of the Cultural Center facing the harbor. It’s dark now, and we watch in anticipation the 44 skyscrapers on both sides of the harbor whose outlines are now traced with neon lights. At precisely 8 pm, music begins to pulsate behind us. The skyscrapers come alive as colors chase each other along the edges of the buildings. Powerful searchlights on the tops of buildings beam straight up, sweeping the bottoms of low clouds in time with the music. Brilliant green lasers shoot from the buildings on Hong Kong Island; some pass right over our heads and dance on the walls of the Cultural Center behind us, pulsating in time with the music. The mood changes as the techno beat gives way to classical music and the lighting changes to match. We’re swept along with the rest of the audience for the rest of the 14 minute show. Wasn’t that wonderful? Shall we head back to the Peninsula Hotel for a drink?

Welcome to the world of Traveling Doode.  Here you’ll find articles about my travel experiences over the years.  I’m not a travel professional.  I don’t work for a travel agency, or a hotel chain, or anything like that.  I’m just a guy who has a passion for travel and has done a lot of it over the years.

If you have the travel bug, like I do, how did you get it?  My exposure came very early in life.  My parents took me on my first road trip when I was barely a month old.  My mother tells me they used to heat the bottles for my formula on the engine of their car at rest stops.  This was in the day of glass baby bottles.  Don’t try it now!

If you also have the travel bug, stick around.  There’s much more to come!