Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Steps In Time...

Wifey & Son on Christmas Day 2004.
Huber Heights, Dayton Ohio, USA.

This is an interesting widget to plot and percentile the places you've been around the world. Thanks to Tanie from Pink Icing for introducing it in her blog.

I started late and got into traveling only when I got married... a honeymoon to Padang Indonesia. Lake Meninjau was especially a spectacular and magical place to be.

Then we had our second honeymoon to Bali Indonesia. A truly tranquil paradise. The place where we conceived our Son. The Bali bombing did not do any justice to anyone at all.

We were fortunate to be traveling to the US because of my work.

I brought both Wifey and Son together in all the business trips I had to go and made the best with each and every opportunity when we were there, taking weekend trips to places farther than where our hotels were.

The photo above is especially memorable simply because the day we were to fly home, our flight was canceled twice. That year was a record snowfall for Dayton, Ohio.

I guess we wanted to experience snow so much that we wished for it too hard and got snowed-in... marooned in our hotel room. I learned a lesson then that we should be careful for what we wish for.


So we were stuck for three more days, spending Christmas day in Ohio.

The news reported that no driving was allowed except for emergency vehicles only. I realized then that the semis were actually the heart of everything... sending food and stuff all over the country.

We hardly see any semis for those three days, so the fast food joints and restaurants were all closed. It was strange to see Burger King, Mac Donalds' and Long John Silver closed.

The only place open was Target, where we had to buy food to stock in our hotel room and where I had my first taste of pecan-pie. Yummy! Kind of miss it though.


That triggered the travel-bug in us to go to Europe and African islands.

We travel to experience stunning natural landscapes and unique cultures each place has to offer. The beautiful white sandy beaches are our first option for an ideal vacation destination. An eye-opener for all three of us indeed.

Like Tanie said, so many countries, so little money... sigh.

10 comments:

  1. Wow, you've been to many places Imran. Life is adventure for you.

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  2. Hello Barbara,

    I am fortunate that I got to step onto American soil because of my work, and several times after too.

    We were very fortunate because I was able to bring Wifey and son to all of these places.

    I just needed to fork out the air-tickets for them both while my ticket and our accommodation were taken care of by the company.

    We had mini-vcacations there making full use of our time going on the cheap by taking Greyhound coaches to farther away interesting places on the weekends.

    I would definitely want to go to New York and its Statue of Liberty; the Grand Canyon is also interesting... only if I have a chance to go on business trips again.

    Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week ahead.

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  3. Hello Imran. So you got to experience snow! Because I have dealt with the snow and cold all my life, I would love to have a winter that is totally green. When I lived in southern B.C. I did have a green Christmas a lot. I long for those times. Nice for your son to see snow and cold though. Great post.

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  4. Great travelogue. Your journey's look exciting to me and make me want to up sticks again!!

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  5. ps, thank you for the notable mention.......

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  6. Hi there, Imran! I'm still here...
    but I haven't been to all those places.

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  7. pecan-pie? Never tried it and it sounds like I've missed something :(

    I'm so like you, wanna travel and see the world.. first I'm gonna explore my backyard al europe, then the world! wiiii!!!

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  8. Hello Both,

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Wandi | Snow is great when looking from inside a warm hotel than outside.

    I am not a winter person, neither was Wifey, but our son had a blast with snow angles and snowball fights.

    We are more of the tropical beach type people. Love the sun, sand and crystal-blue waters... though we are very bad swimmers!

    Tanie | Your post inspired me to write about our most memorable time with snowstorms that marooned us to our hotel for 3 days from going home.

    Experience snow on the ground was incredible though not as fun as on the Swiss Alps.

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  9. What a seasoned traveller you are too. I love the pic of you and your family in the snow. You are all well and truly dressed for the occassion too and I can hardly blame you. It was so cold when I went to see Richie last Christmas in the US.
    I love your map and I think I will add one to my next blog post. If I was able I would love to visit all the continents of the world.
    Thanks for the idea.
    Have a good week-end friend.

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  10. Hello Ladies,

    Thank you all for making your journey here.

    Carol | It is indeed nice to see you again my friend.

    I think you traveled to even more beautiful and exotic places with your vast reading than I have seen in my life so far. Both of us have our eyes open to wonderful places in different ways.

    Crashy | Your backyard is truly exotic! There are several places I want to go... Prague and Russia's St. Petersburg are top on the list.

    Ellen | That was the most snow we've encountered in our lives. Coming from a tropical island, imagine how cold we were feeling than the average native person there!

    I am happy to pass the idea to you. It was from Tanie's that I got mine.

    Have a great weekend everyone!

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me your messages. I will also try to answer any questions you may have for me.

Thanks again and have a good day.

Regards,
Muhd Imran
PAL Blogger