Observations from Guangzhou

I am about to wrap up my 4th day of Hotel Standby in Guangzhou, and NOT traveling around the Far East, so I decided to share some observations of my stay in this local area. I would not say these are "earth shattering" or even "astute observations", but they are certainly mine and I just wanted to pass them along:

• Flip flops and/or sandals are required footwear for all motorcycle drivers
• The required seating position of all infants (2 years or less) riding on their parent's motorcycle is on the fuel tanks.
• Infants are not allowed to wear helmets or shoes when riding on these fuel tanks
• All license plates use alpha numerical numbers, even though Mandarin and Cantonese is the written language??
• All logos on shirts, bags, jackets, etc are written in English (see note above)
• Women don't smoke
• Short shorts and high heels seem to be the dress of every young chic women
• Men will soon out number women by 2 to 1 in China's future
• Even with these odds (see above) women walk 2 steps behind men
• Everyone works or at least has a uniform and is standing in a work area
• Work rules?? What rules? The hotel staff, waiters, concierge, etc are on duty from late at night and greet you again early in the morning
• The banana bread at breakfast is excellent

And so it goes.....

Moose

Another Adventure in China

Well, I think it is Sunday morning 12 July, as I am now back in my room at the Pullman Baiyun Airport Hotel in Guangzhou. I am a little confused as I left Mainz Germany on a Friday night and now find myself on the other side of the International dateline on a Sunday morning. I have now been up 6 hours, and have read a book for 2 of them, workout for a 1 ½ hr, and ate a huge breakfast…all before 9am in the morning. Not sure what I am going to do for the rest of the day!!?? On top of all of that, I can not access my Facebook account or log onto my Google Blog page. Seems like the Chinese are a little particular on what DNS addresses they allow and Facebook and Google Blogs are off limits! I have asked my brother Pat to submit this blog for me today, just so you all will know why I am not responding to your various comments and notifications. Hopefully, I will travel to another country this week and can open those accounts later this week.
This International trip will be the most unusual for me to date, as I am sitting Hotel Standby for the next 6 days in Guangzhou. My duty is to be available to be called out (one hour notice) from this airport hotel and fly anywhere in the Far East that FedEx needs me. I have to be in my hotel room between noon and midnight for the rest of the week, so I can be reached in case they need to scramble a crew for some additional flight. Obviously, not my first choice….but I will manage to survive between the hotel gym and my reading material that I brought! I finish this trip up on Friday night at midnight and then take a 3 hour limo ride to Hong Kong where I am scheduled to stay for 31 hours before I fly home via L.A. and then Memphis. I know….I do have the perfect job!!!!
The picture above is from the market place in Guangzhou, that sits directly outside of the other hotel that I stayed in during my last stay in China. I added to give you some local feel …..
Hopefully, I will get to respond to more questions via my blog and Facebook later this week. Meanwhile, I want to remind everyone that we do live in the greatest nation on this earth and that we should never take it for granted. You can never really appreciate our freedom until you visit a country that knows very little about it……
Blue Skies………moose

Mainz Germany July '09

Well it has been so long since my last Blog, that I had forgotten my password to log in! But not to fear...I figured it out and will start this travel blog now that will take me from Amsterdam to Frankfurt & Mainz, all the way to Guangzhou China tomorrow morning. Not sure where I will end up flying in the Far East, as I will be sitting hotel standby for a week, which means I am an "extra crewmember" that may get assigned anywhere they need me.
My trip started in Memphis on Wednesday night which had me arriving in this beautiful little town on Thursday afternoon. I have been here before, so I knew how to find the jogging trail along the Reine River as well as how to navigate the streets. I went to bed early last night, as I had been up for 27 hours, and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 3:30am. It was fun walking the streets this morning as the sun was coming up, as the streets were mostly deserted. What I find interesting are the people who clean the streets in the early hours dressed in immaculate orange jumpsuits and driving these high tech German vehicles. I love seeing the differences in cultures and the pride the Germans take in their communities. Of course, I had to take advantage of the many pastry and coffee shops that line this village and eat a couple of treats this morning (with some very strong coffee) to get my day started. I think I will have to find that jogging trail again today before I leave tonight!!
I have now caught up on my sleep and will spend this afternoon strolling down some different streets and hopefully will take some more pictures. I will arrive in China tomorrow morning, which will put my body clock back 13 hours from home as opposed to the 8 hours ahead that I am now in Mainz. Naturally, I remained a little confused as to what day it is..but I promise it doesn't affect my flying :). I hope to continue this blog from Guangzhou, but the last time I was in China I was restricted from accessing this blog account. If that is the case, I will just have to keep you posted via my "eaglemoose" FaceBook account. Keep your fingers crossed. Until then....Blue Skies from Germany
Moose

Penang Malaysia - Eastern & Oriental Hotel

Well, I thought it was about time to renew this blog, since I have been out of Ghangzhou for 2 days now. I was able to access this blog web link in Shanghai without any problem but the Internet Server in Ghangzhou would not let me log in. Hmmmm? No doubt the "censor control" is a little more active in southern China.
The picture on the left is me standing on the hotel veranda (today) after I had just finished my early morning breakfast at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel. I was the only one there as the sun rose up over from the east. It was awesome! I asked my photographer (waiter) to capture the background, so I guess I am lucky to be in the picture. I have about 5-7 more pics that I will post on my Facebook account.
My birthday Sunday in Ghangzhou was rather uneventful, as I worked out in the morning, ate a big lunch and then went to bed at 4pm. My alert call from Fedex came at 1155pm and I left the hotel at 1am to fly 2 legs to Penang (2500 mi journey). My first leg to Cebu was with a 38 year old female Captain, who has only been in Fedex for 5 years! She got upgraded early because she volunteered for Hong Kong. I enjoyed the flight and she did a nice job, considering her experience. Of course she is ex-Air Force (KC-135 driver) so I felt ok with her flying. The flight took us over Hong Kong and across the South China Sea into the Southern Philippines. Once we arrived in Cebu, we were greeted with a host of yellow shirted cargo loaders (smiling Philippino's) who unloaded and loaded our plane in about an hour. I then waited another 45 min on my next Captain who had spent the night in Cebu, who eventually met me at the aircraft. Phil (Captain) is my age and has been living in the Far East for 10years, so we had a lot to talk about. This leg to Penang was over 3 hours and it took us next to Vietnam, Jakarta and then into Penang. Landing at this little airport (on an island) was beautiful! Not a soul in the air as we let ourselves down to 2000 ft over the water for a visual approach back into time. The runway is surrounded by a host of vegetation, water, huts and little farms. I will try to take a picture of it today when we taxi out. I have been told many times you see boa constrictors and iquana lizards laying on the taxiways as you taxi across the airport, which should give you a mental picture of the landscape. I did notice on final approach, that there were machine gun pill boxes on the beach, which were obviously left over from the Japanese forces in WW II. It was interesting to see.
Today, I will go to the little exercise room and try to work off my Indian cuisine from last night and my great breakfast this morning. My plan then is to soak up some more of this 90deg sunshine, read by the pool, and mentally prepare for my next flight (45 min) to Kuala Lampur which is about 150 miles south of Penang ;) I will be flying with yet another captain, whom I will meet at the airplane tonight at 6:30pm. Our layover tonight is for 25 hours and then we blast out on Wed night for a 2 leg (6 hour flying) back into Shanghai which will end my journey. This trip has been fun and I have gotten to see two more cities (Shanghai and Kuala Lampur) which were both new to me. Shanghai reminds me of NYC, except much cleaner with no obvious street people. I am sure they are around....but it looks like the govt has everybody doing something (sweeping, cleaning, picking up trash) which keeps the city nice. Of course, their economy is booming and there seems to be lots of pride for their city and country. Refreshing actually.
Ok....this has been rather long....sorry if it was a little slow. I just wanted to catch up. I won't be flying international next month but hope to venture out again in July-September. Right now, my B777 training class starts on 22 Oct and will have me in Memphis until Christmas. Hopefully, I will have lots of Nashville time once that training is complete.

And the journey continues.........mm

Shanghai....Another Fedex Adventure

It is just past 3pm now and I will be leaving Shanghai tonight after being here almost 25 hours. Today was absolutely gorgeous and a great day to explore Shanghai. The Chinese are celebrating the Chinese Dragon Boat holiday, which commemorates one of their philosophers who died in 200 AD, so there were lots of people about the city. These three young people in the picture, approached me in the Peoples Square (park) about 10am and asked if I was an American. Two of them were visiting a friend and were excited to meet someone who spoke English. I ended up spending the next 2 hours with them and it was like getting a personal history lesson of the city. They took me to a Chinese Tea house for a traditional ceremony (tea is very important in their lives) and then we all went to the Chinese Planning Exhibition Center and Museum. It was a great morning. I will have to include some of their questions as I write today's blog. I will say that the girls liked my prominent nose and actually wanted to touch it to make sure it wasn't fake! It was hilarious ...but they were very serious saying that many Chinese are getting nose jobs these days because it is so handsome. So...no more comments about the size of my "snoz" as it is very special here!!! They are also facinated with our American history (and current politics) and was somewhat disappointed that I didn't know much about the World Expo here next year or what their President's name was. Since I know my flying future includes China, I will learn a little more about their history and will definitely learn some conversational Chinese.
My flight over (14 hours) was on a B777 and was very comfortable with lots of attention (food and wine). I had to mention the wine!!! However, when we landed we had to stay on board for another 30 minutes as the Quarantine Health Department all came on the aircraft and took the temperature of everyone on board as part of their "swine flu" prevention. There were 5 of these folks all dressed "head to toe" in Haz Mat uniforms, boots, googles and masks, taking our temps with a hand held laser gun. We then proceeded to snake through a huge line (twice) to submit our medical history forms and the second time to get through immigration. I finally got to the hotel about 3 hours after landing. When I finally came out of the Customs line, I was met by a Chinese Hotel Bellman (uniform, hat and all) holding up a sign with my name on it. He spoke good English and said he had been waiting an hour for me. He never complained while leading me out (up, down, elevators, etc) to the garage pickup point. I never saw him use a cell phone but when we approached the curb a driver pulled right up to take me to the Hilton (downtown Shanghai). I was amazed at this organization!! The drive in was interstate the entire way with construction going on all over the place. It was interesting to see that cab drivers routinely stopped along the highway to relieve themselves. I haven't seen this since my tour in Korea. Their economy is definitely booming. Impressive, considering it is a Communist country...but there appears to be a lot of change occuring. I do remember my 3 young friends telling me today that it was very important for them to learn English since America is so important in the world. It was refreshing for me to hear this.....
My travels tonight take me to Ghangzhou (Canton) which is about a 90 minute flight. I still haven't met my Captain yet...but I do know he is in the hotel. He is based in Hong Kong, so this will be my first time flying with him. I have been to Ghangzhou before (not many westerners there) but lots of shopping around our hotel. I will lay over there for 51 hours then take off for Penang Malaysia and the Eastern Oriental Hotel. That's the hotel that reminds me of a Humphrey Bogart movie....a real step back in time. I will take more pictures there. You can find these on my Facebook account if you are interested.
All in all....a good start to this 10 day trip. I wish you all were here to enjoy it with me....so I will try to describe as much as possible in these blogs over the next week or so.
Blue Skies for China.............

Moose

Leaving Tel Aviv.....coming home via Paris

Well this was the last time that I was on the beach at Tel Aviv! I had just stopped jogging along the beach and boardwalk, when a nice European couple offered to take my picture. I have quite a few shots of the beach and local community but I really liked this one, having the Med and the City of Jaffa in the background. It is about 6pm and the sun is starting to approach the water as it is sinking to the west (right of this pic). Again, tradition has it that Noah's son helped build this seaport settlement over 5000 years ago. Can you believe that! I love the history here! It makes you realize how insignificant modern man really is.... Most of these historical facts can easily be verified by reading the Old Testament.
The beach was packed at this time on Friday. Most of the shops (religious owners) closed today at 3pm because the Shabbat starts at sundown and ends on sundown on Saturday. I suspect most of the people on the beach today were either Muslims, Christians or non-religious Jews. I have discovered that only about 40% of the Israeli Jews practice their faith, with 15% of these being Orthodox (fundamental belief that the Torah and the laws are Devine). It has been fascinating getting to know and understand a little more about their beliefs and culture. In fact, I went shopping yesterday and the shop owner was very traditonal and would not sell me certain items (that were on sale) because I wasn't Jewish. She was very nice and was willing to share her beliefs....of course I was very willing to listen. I stayed almost an hour! Plus she was a good sales person and kept quite a bit of my Sheckels.
Last night after a little Happy Hour in the crew lounge, Clell and I went to the city of Jaffa and had a HUGE middle eastern dinner. At one time there were 22 bowls (variety) of food on our table for us to eat...before the meat (kabobs) was brought out. We literally could not make a dent in the food. Of course, before we took the cab back we stopped in the local store and purchased some Israeli Red Wine. I hope I can get them home in one piece!
Today, I took a cab to the city of Petack Tikva, which was about 30 minutes away. I met my new friend Sapir Tal for the second time during this long trip. He is a Sifu (Master Instructor) in Chinese Kung Fu (Preying Mantis style) and is the inventor of the Spikey. I spent two hours with him in his Dojo learning some of his fighting style and how to employ the Spikey as an added benefit. I really appreciated his time, instruction and friendship. I plan on learning more from him in the coming year, as Pat and I are committed to market and sale the Spikey across America as a "personal bodyguard tool". I learned a great deal today and look forward to sharing it with those friends and family that currently have one of the Spikey's.
Upon my return from Sapir's I quickly learned about the shops closing up at 3pm on Friday's so the owners/workers can be in their homes before sundown. Of course, most of the Expresso Cafes were all open and jam packed. Kaffee (coffee), yogurt, pita sandwiches, french fries and ice cream are all very popular among the locals. Interesting, as you don't see many overweight people, although, smoking is widespread across all age groups!
The Israel part of our 13 day journey ends tomorrow morning at 0745 when we leave the hotel for the airport. We takeoff at 10am for Athens and eventually end up on Paris at 4:30pm. Unfortunately, our layover is short and we will stay at the airport hotel which offers nothing towards the "experience" of being in Paris. Our flight home will leave @8am on Sunday and go through Amsterdam and arrive in Memphis about 4:40pm. I hope to be home ("God willing"..my new Israeli saying) about 10pm on Sunday night. Other than some much needed dental work (lost a crown last wk) my next big adventure starts on Tuesday 26 May, leaving from Memphis to Shanghai, China, Malaysia and Singapore. That trip is a little shorter and will get me back home on June 5th.
I will try to submit a short report tomorrow....if time permits. I hope you have enjoyed these updates. It not only reinforces my own memories, but allows all of you who love me to follow my journey on a daily basis. It has been fun.....and I remain Blessed............

Oops! Just woke up from a 3 hour nap and I don't have much time. We leave the hotel in 30 min (10:30pm) and fly all night to Tel Aviv...I will make this quick.

Mainz is a beautiful village (town) located near Frankfurt. This chapel was about a 5 min walk from our hotel. My pictures really don't do it justice as this town reminded me of a movie set. In fact, this church looked like Snow White's castle from Disney World. It was here during WWII when the city was bombed daily by American bombers. The story goes, a B-17 bomber was shot down and the American gunner's parachute got hung up on the bridge crossing the Rhein and he was captured. Seems the towns people eventually hung him after being "stirred up" by the Nazi's. When the Americans heard of his fate, the bomber crews kept one bomb from every mission henceforth, and saved it for the town of Mainz on their way back to England. It was known as "Save one for Mainz". How this church survived is a miracle!
When we landed last night, Clell and I had some red wine in the bar with about 6-7 other pilots and then went to a local restaurant for some Veiner Schnitzel and a cold pilzer. It hit the spot! We ended up discussing politics with a 26 yr old student from Mainz and had a great time. Obviously the media has a big impact on the political views of so many Europeans. He was a smart young man...and eventhough we disagreed on our new President, he is very unhappy with the social system in Europe. He bar tends on the side as a student and hates the fact so many people are on the dole. Sound familiar?
Anyway, got to bed late....slept til noon....ran along the Rhein ...then had a braukwurst for lunch. No beer....gotta fly. Ok, time to go. Off to Tel Aviv via Athens. The first leg is mine. Landing in the harbor of Athens is gorgeous at night. We get to Tel Aviv at 7am tomorrow....for another 2 day layover. I'll hit the ground running ;-)
See you all soon......

Moose

Israel and my visit to the Old City

Well, I was going to give a few paragraphs about my 20 hour layover in Paris but discovered I had nothing to say! You see, I only had about 6-7 hours to explore and then I got ready and flew to Israel. I really never wandered far from the hotel during that time. However, once I got to Tel Aviv (my second trip in 4 years) I knew where my passion truly belonged. This blog will focus on Israel. Although, I will be back here in 2 days, I really wanted to share some of my "hands on" experience about my second trip to this land of "milk and honey".

I put this photo on the blog because it really sets the tone for me and what I have learned about the Israeli's (God's Chosen People). This young security officer (a student) is guarding the area around Kind David's tomb within the walls of the Old City. He has already completed his 3 years of obligation to the military. Has traveled abroad and is now back home pursuing his college education. As "students" these young men (& women) take these part time jobs as "security officers" (not guards) because of their military training and background. They usually speak English fluently, and because of their youth, do not harbor preconceived ideas or idiologies. In other words, they don't have prejudices which might cloud their judgement when making a split second tactical decision about something unusual. You see these security officers at every grocery store, department store, hotel, bar, etc, around Tel Aviv. They check every bag, purse and backpack outside of these various establishments. Many have hand held wands. All are armed! The only inconvenience for Israeli citizens is, if a store or establishment does NOT have this kind of security. If that is the case, most Israeli's will not go into that establishment. It is simply a way of life.

You will also find soldiers (kids) carrying their rifles everywhere within Tel Aviv (stores, walking, shops, bus stops, etc). Since the state of Israel is so small, unless you are assigned to a fort within the terroritories (west bank) or near Gaza (south of Tel Aviv) these young soldiers generally live at home and commute to work like most Americans do here. They are allowed on all trains and buses free with an ID. Needless to say, their street crime statistics are extremely low! The 18 year old girls have a 2 year obligation and the boys have a 3 year active duty obligation and Reserve duty until they are 40yr. The Reserve starts once they are back from traveling abroad.

I am staying at the Sheraton Tel Aviv which is located right on the Mediterranean Sea. It is about 100 miles to Jerusalem which is the capital of the State of Israel. Tel Aviv just celebrated its 100 year anniversary, which is located next to the city of Jaffa (5000 years old) which was settled by Noah's son Japheth, after the great floods. (That is the kind of history that blows me away). Our trip today was across barren wasteland and desert that surrounded us from the time we left the outskirts of Tel Aviv. We saw elevations from -1400 below sea level up to 2900 above sea level in Jerusalem. The West Bank is situated just south and west of Jerusalem and has over 1.4 million Palistineans living in that restricted area which is land won back by the Israeli's in the six day war of 1967. As in the Gaza strip, all utilities (water, electricity) is supplied by the Jews. A very interesting geo-political dilemma!!!

I did learn today that most Israeli's drive like New Yorker's but with a little more patience and tolerance. No middle fingers and very little honking....just "go for it" kind of driving. Our guide today (10 pax van) said after one near miss today that "the fence around Israel was to keep all the crazy drivers from leaving". I believe it.

Before I forget it, the flight into Tel Aviv on Sunday morning at 0500 was very interesting. We flew in from Athens (unbelievable beauty with the lights around the islands) at 35,000 feet under total radar control from numerous flight agencies. However, at exactly 180 miles out we had to ask for permission from Israel control before we could continue. I was fully prepared to follow some Israeli F-15 if I found one on my wing when I was descending into their airspace.

We leave again tomorrow morning from the hotel about noon. We fly through Munich enroute to Frankfurt, and will arrive in Germany for the night about 8pm. The good news is we have a 26 hour layover then fly back into Tel Aviv on Thursday morning at 7am for another 2+ days here. I am excited. I plan to do a little more shopping, plus go meet (workout) with my new friend Sapir Tal, who is a Kung fu Master and who designed the Spikey that Pat and I are going to market and sell. It will be fun. I fly back into Paris on Saturday and home on Sunday...Mother's Day. I have quite a few pics from today that I will post on Facebook for those of you who belong. This trip has been wonderful and I continually count my Blessings for having such a great family and friends. More to follow......

Moose

Leaving Milan on my way to Paris

What a day! It was a gorgeous sunny day in Milan and my only regret was I had to fly back to Paris tonight. I loved the easy going pace and the cappaucino's were excellent. I am drinking my last cup before my driver picked me up from the hotel in Milan. Of course, that's probably why I am still "wired" some 7 hours later! Oh but wait....I did have an excellent expresso after my pasta dinner on Luftansa/Italia airline enroute to Paris so that may be keeping me up as well. Also, my second regret of the day was wearing my uniform on this deadhead flight as I couldn't enjoy any red wine that was served free with the pasta dinner on my flight. I love the way the Europeans enjoy life....too bad they will eventually run out of money. Today was a National Labor Day holiday for all of Europe, but it looks like there were Union strikes and parades in most major cities. Really too bad.

I took more pics of my day which I posted on Facebook. Most of my time was spent at the Milan Train Station, which had a open aired market place outside. That was fun! I also walked all through the station, which was literally wide open with very little security so I took a video of the trains inside. Not sure how to post that yet...but will try to do that soon. I got some fun video at the train station.

After spending a couple of hours there I ended up at Martin's sidewalk bar and had a ham and mushroom pizza and a couple of beers. I took my book The Distant Land of My Father ,that I got from Corinne via Lindsay, and read it while waiting on my pizza. It was a great afternoon! Oh by the way, my next great adventure will be in Shanghai (theme of that book) when I depart for the Far East again May 26-June 5. I will get that schedule out soon.

Ok, it is now 2am....and I am now starting to fade. I am having a good trip....just wish I could have you all here to enjoy it with me...then it would be great! Until tomorrow......

Leaving Basel Switzerland

Ok...I know what your thinking. I took a picture of Nadia (front desk at Swisshotel) so I could have a picture of a rather attractive Swedish blond before I left the country. Well, it's just not true! As you can see, Nadia is holding up Flat Stanley for Leslie's first grade class from Auburn so they can learn more about different countries and their cultures. I just happen to think "the people" are very important when learning about other countries so I decided to ask the first person I saw before I left the hotel.... and as luck would have it Nadia just happened to be available. She does get your attention however!

The day went great. I slept til 10am and then met my Fedex buddy (Clell) downstairs and took off for the Reine river and the old city of Basel. The streets were packed as the weather was nice and the European holiday (Labor day) was beginning that evening. We ate at a sidewalk cafe and then strolled deeper into this old city (architecture was awesome) and looked at the dozens of watch shops and eventually stopped and had some dark Swiss chocolate and a latte. It was delicious to say the least! By the way, my hotel room had an expresso machine which has been the best feature that I have seen in any of my hotel stays to date! Gotta get one!

Anyway, we walked a couple of hours, took some pics and then got back to the room in time to relax before we took off for the airport and our Paris flight. The flight this afternoon was much easier. Just having 2 flights under my belt made the language barrier and procedures seem a little easier. The flight into Paris was only 40 minutes and it was daylight the entire time, which made it easy to see the Effiel tower and the city. I did find out from my good friend Teus Groenwoud that the golden fields that I saw yesterday in France are the SunFlowers in bloom. That made it even prettier when I found them again today. Anyway, it was pretty neat to see the Effiel tower off my left wing as I flew the final approach into the Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris. Our ground ops only lasted 2 hours and then we launched off south towards Milan Italy. It was a gorgeous night and I got to find my North Star during the last portion of the flight. Finding the Big Dipper and the North Star is part of my ritual when I fly at night. Kind of my security blanket I guess. My partner (Capt) decided to jumpseat back to Paris after we landed so I am in Milan alone tonight/tomorrow and then I deadhead back to Paris (Luftansa) tomorrow night to join him for our Tel Aviv flight on Sat. I did manage to have one glass of red wine (Italian vinyard) before the bar closed in the hotel at midnight. It was a great day in Europe but it's time to say goodnight. I promise to resume this adventure in another 8 hours.......

Blue skies always...........

My First Paris Flight

As you can see from the picture of Flat Stanley, Mrs Moore's (Leslie) first grade class from Auburn made his first Airbus flight from Basel Switzerland to Paris France. The airport literally sits between Switzerland and France depending on which Exit you take once you have entered the airport terminal. That's why this no parking sign is written in both languages.

We left Basel this afternoon for our 43 minute flight to Paris. I was glad it was a daytime flight so I could see the terrain and small towns as we flew into the terminal area surrounding Paris. The language barrier was as difficult has I had imagined (my southern brain vs their accented English) which really makes the flight difficult. Believe it or not, the taxiing on the ground (following their instructions) is the most difficult. When you are in flight you can ask them to "repeat" because you have their undivided attention. However, when you are simply on the ground you are competing with dozens of other airplanes (speaking the native tongue) and the ground controller can barely get a word in "edge wise", which is tough because screwing up on the ground while taxiing is just as deadly. Anyway, the flight into Paris was awesome. The small farm plots all seemed to be a bright day glow looking yellow, which was pretty cool with the sun setting around them. I have never seen farm plots this color before??!! I also saw those same large wind generators in various locations which again seemed out of place. On final, I did notice a small village less than a 1/4 mile off the right side of the approach end, with a old stone church and huge steeple in the middle of the town. It looked like the same steeple that you saw from the movie "Band of Brothers". A real contrast in Old vs New!

We stayed on the ground about 2 hours and then loaded up and flew back to Basel. That was my leg and again it was a short flight of 42 minutes. Almost, too short because you are always scrambling to program the computers, listen to "difficult" radio instructions and prep for the impending approach and landing. Clell (Captain) and I were both glad to be back on the ground after this flight. Our limo (Mercedes) was waiting for us on the Switzerland side (landed in France) and we got to the hotel at 11pm....just in time for a couple of glasses of the "house Cabernet"........which was HESS from California. What a hoot! I promise to drink better tomorrow night when we land in Milan. We did get to visit with a pharmaceutical "buyer" from Austria at the bar, and really enjoyed that conversation. Learned all about the dangers of chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients being shipped from China to Europe, which are oftened not properly documented. Our new friend said we were very brave to fly "unknown cargo" and that we should invest in a private parachute. It was a fun conversation and I bought him a beer for his concern ;)

Ok, tomorrow I am hiking to the Reine river and will do more pics and exploring of Basel. This will be our last day here, as the next two days will be in Milan and then Paris before we go south to Tel Aviv. Have a glorious day and be proud to be an American!

The saga continues..............

moose

Starting my European Trip

Greetings family and friends from the chilly damp skies of Basel, Switzerland. I just arrived this afternoon after a two hour stopover in Amsterdam enroute to Basel. I started out last night (Monday 4/27) in Memphis and flew non stop to Amsterdam. It was an uneventful 8+ hour flight, which is always the best kind. The Merlo they served me was a perfect fit for the chicken and stuffed mushrooms that I ate while watching "The Wrestler" on my personal TV two hours after we took off. I think I managed to sleep about 2-3 hours, albeit my knee was rather uncomfortable (thanks to my triumph over the CMM two days earlier). All in all.....a good flight ;-)

Not much to report yet, except for the beauty of the landscape of Amsterdam that I got to enjoy during the 10 mile approach to landing that was clear below the rain clouds. I knew I would see lots of canals and farmlands but the modern (hugh wind generators) was somewhat of a surprise. Not very esthetic and actually "stood out" (like a sore thumb) amongst the beauty of the green landscape. I did think the farms & farm houses that lined the taxiway at the Amsterdam airport reminded me of the pictures that you often see from WWII documentaries. Very pretty and quaint.......quite interesting next to this multi-billion dollar airport!

The weather into Basel had low ceilings so I couldn't see much while airborne. I will give you all a better description when I fly out and back to Paris tomorrow. We leave about 5pm and should return to Basel by midnight. I did get out today for an hour and strolled the streets with Clell Ray (Captain on our trip) and had a cold beer and gyro from a sidewalk cafe. Lots of young people on the streets, which was probably normal for 5 in the afternoon. The town looks industrial to me and very working class. All of the cafes were smoked filled at 5pm so we ate outside...but it was fun. I took a couple of pictures tonight and will do a better job of exploring in the next two day.

This journey (until May 10th) will include layovers in Paris, Milan, Frankfurt and Tel Aviv. I promise to enjoy every aspect of it and will share it with you all as I fly across this interesting and historical continent. And so it goes............

Hong Kong at Last!

It's 4pm on Monday afternoon in Hong kong (actually Kowloon Island) and I am about to make my last blog entry for this trip before I leave tomorrow morning for Chicago. It has been a great trip and my goal is to keep the Moose Trax alive as I hope to make a trip like this once each month. I will post my April schedule when it finalized.

I got my "alert call" at 10:45pm last night in Ghangzhou China and got picked up at the hotel around midnight for a 40 minute drive to the airport. While waiting on my partner to come downstairs for the ride to the Fedex ramp, I had a wonderful Cantonese language lesson from the Chinese limo driver who was there to drive us. I discovered that Ghangzhou used to be Canton China, which is the reason 90% of the population there speaks Cantonese and the other 10% Mandarin. I think most of China is now speaking Mandarin. Anyway, I wrote down phonetically such words as 1) how much "gay ching" 2) your name "lakeul man man"
3)Thanks "dol jay" 4) good morning "joel san" 5) good "ho ho" 6)beautiful "lay ho land"
and 7) goodbye "bye bye"
It was a fun way to kill some time and learn a little about this far away culture.
I did go out exploring earlier that day and realized that Sunday is their major social and shopping day. I bet I saw tens of thousands of people out shopping, eating and having fun. Their little shops all had young people standing on stools or boxes with microphones and/or clapping boards trying to get people into their shops. It was controlled pandemonium! I did have to stop and eat some squid on a stick skewer, as it seemed to be the delicacy that everyone was eating. It tasted good...but I thought perhaps I had pressed my luck and didn't eat anymore at the marketplace.

When we got to the airport that night I met my Captain who recently moved his wife and 2 kids to Hong Kong and was living there full time. It was our first meeting and I chose to fly from China to Manila, since he had never flown into Manila before...and he would handle the radios. It was a beautiful night and the stars and full moon were out. In fact, I discovered the Big Dipper is upside down on this side of the hemisphere but the north star is in the same part of the sky. Always pointing True North of course. One of the few rituals that I do every night that I fly is find the north star. For some reason it is part of my comfort zone. Getting into Manila was easy...getting out through Customs and boarding my commercial flight to HK was a little more challenging. They appear to be very security conscious (bags checked twice) and then names checked off at a security point as your entered your gate for departure. Of course, there must have been at least a dozen different languages spoken in that crowd of 250 at my gate, which made communication a little difficult when it came time to board.

I got to my hotel at 10am this morning which made for a rather long day & night. I did get out around noon today to do my first look around. Naturally, the streets and sidewalks were packed with business people as it was a Monday here. I saw a few westerners but not many. I guess I was not in the tourist area. However, I did get a good look at the Hong Kong harbour which now has the world's second largest shipping port taking up much of the waterway. I remember 27 years ago that harbour was filled with sanpans (Chines house boats) and the only way to get between Kowloon Island and Hong Kong Island was on ferry boats. There is now an underwater tunnel and 3 major bridges connecting the three largest islands in the Hong Kong area. The Hong Kong airport and these modern bridges are world famous because of the design and location. Worth taking a look at online.

It's now 6pm and I am ready to hit the streets one more time before I make my way home tomorrow. I didn't get to see the real Hong Kong this time but I will return soon and I promise to take lots of pictures on that trip for all my new fans. I hope to be on the road to Nashville late Tuesday evening but know that I will be home NLT Wednesday at noon.

Ok, one last update. I just got back inside my room after wondering down town for a little over an hour. I have never been approached by more tailors wanting to make me new suits!! You get to the point that you walk with your eyes "looking forward" just so you won't be approached. As the sun went down I walk to the harbour board walk behind the hotel that is called the "Avenue of Stars" and sits right on the harbour that separates Hong Kong Island from Kowloon Island. This is the harbour that used to be full of Sanpans with hardly any room to turn the boats. Tonight I didn't see any! It looks like an entire culture of boat people have moved on gone to land. I guess you call that progress.....??!?
The interesting part tonight was the turnout of locals on this board walk of the Ave of Stars. It is similar to Hollywood's walk of stars with the Hong Kong film industry. Lots of bronze statutes of different scenes and people. Of course the most famous is Bruce Lee. Tons of women wanted their picture in front of that statue. It was rather amazing the way everyone was taking pictures of the hand imprints, statues, stars, etc. And when the sun goes down, the city of Hong Kong is majestic with its lights and is quite beautiful from the boardwalk across the harbour in Kowloon.
I drank a San Miquel draft beer and enjoyed people watching from an out door bar on the water front. Now I am ready to crash!
I will continue to update as my Fedex travels take me to different places...so keep looking ...
Blue skies from Hong Kong

A New Day in Guangzhou China

It has been 9 hours since I closed out my last Blog....so I am rested and ready to pick up where I left off..............water buffalo near my parked jet in Penang Malaysia......

As I did my preflight inspection at 3pm on Sat afternoon, there were two Malaysian police officers sitting on folding chairs underneath the airplane. They had been there since the Airbus had landed by another Fedex crew at 10am. Swapping airplanes and never seeing the other crew is commonplace......however....seeing local police protecting your Airbus was another first. Of course, they had no weapons and no communication ...but I'm sure their presence was the real deterrent....unless someone really wanted to damage or destroy the aircraft then I doubt there is little they could do to prevent it.

Taking off at 4pm from Malaysia en route to Manila was another beautiful picture that has been ingrained into my mind. The mountains surrounding the little island of Penang and the blue water was an awesome sight. The 3 plus hour flight to Manila was uneventful (best kind) and we arrived in their airspace after sunset. However, as we flew towards the North East I got to experience another first for me as I made radio contact with Ho Chi Minh Control and heard names that took me back over 40 years ago. Places like Cam Ranh, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Nha Trang and Da Nang all came alive for me after so many years. The interesting part was the controllers for Ho Chi Minh control spoke better English than anyone I have communicated with on the entire trip. Who would have thought??

As I mentioned earlier, the approach and landing into Manila at 7:30 pm was uneventful. Although, there was a tremendous fireworks show taking place just off to our left side which you could see from at least 10 miles away. It seems one of the local malls on the coast line of Manila do this show every weekend night. Of course my first thoughts were how can a country which has so much poverty justify burning up so many dollars with a fireworks show on a Saturday night. It was just the first thing that entered my mind as we flew down final approach. Upon landing we were once again greeted with smiling faces and lots of "welcome sirs" as our load crew began the cargo swapout. We landed 30 minutes early (American time ;) but our Philippine guests made sure that our schedule would be adjusted as it took them nearly two hours to get us ready to leave again (previously mentioned Philippino time). Eventhough fatigue was starting to set in...you just have to smile don't get too excited as time seems to go in slow motion. I used that time to practice my Krav Maga skills and used the canvas cargo barrier as a punching bag. It really worked surprisingly well and actually got the blood flowing and woke me up. Naturally, the Philippine loaders came running up ..curiously wondering where the pop pop noise was coming from as I was shadow boxing the canvas. I got lots of smiles and head nods when they saw this old man bobbing and weaving. It was fun....and I felt alive!

Leaving Manila and flying north towards China at 10pm at night brought back another "deja vous", as I flew east of Clark Airbase on a dark but clear night. When I saw the lights of Clark from 15 miles away, my thoughts went back to 26 years earlier when I use to fly night missions in the F-4 going up to Camp O'Donnell to drop practice bombs at night. I'll never forget those missions where you rolled into a 45deg dive angle bombing run, hurling your self at the rocks below hoping that you wouldn't get disoriented when you pulled out of the dive at 500 knots. Funny what you remember and what "sticks" in your mind.??!??

Anyway, getting the radio handoff to Hong Kong control was simple and we made the transition from feet to meters without any problems. I was ready for it this time! The final controllers into Ghangzhou spoke pretty decent english and we got an easy approach into this huge runway complex with very few airplanes around to interfere with our arrival. Once we landed I immediately noticed how everything was under strict and positive control from the time we cleared the runway til we parked on our Fedex ramp. This complex is brand new and massive. I am sure Fedex has put millions of dollars into China...as this is our future. Once we shut down the engines we were immediately swarmed by literally dozens of maintenance, customs and cargo loaders. It brings the meaning of "Chinese fire drill" to life! By the time I walked out of the cockpit, I could barely move much less think. People wanting to see my Crew Declaration forms, paperwork, etc. I couldn't even get to our little latrine on board or grab a bottle of water from our cooler....the intensity level raised ten-fold over what I had just seen in Manila.! Of course, the van and driver were at the bottom of the steps with a very serious looking military fellow riding shotgun. I think he is the "political officer". This is the part that I describe on FaceBook as being the "drill". It is distinct and complete control.....which is the signature of Communism! Remember, this area is the FedEx ramp. Built and operated ONLY by Fedex crews and employees. As we approach our building (which is massive and probably 2000' long) it is surrounded by a dark and ominous fence which I described earlier as the "gulag". A uniformed ChiCom met us at the door and we went immediately to Customs which in the FedEx building. There were at least 5 Customs agents (no smiles) ready to examine our paperwork and to make sure we were following instructions. My Captain got them all stirred up because he was not going to take the scheduled taxi back to Hong Kong (3 hour drive) which all based Hong Kong pilots would normally do. In Rod's case, he still lives in the Philippines and was going to stay in the same hotel as me instead. He had cancelled this Hong Kong limo several days earlier, but he had showed up anyway. Holy cow....this was NOT what they had expected and it really threw them a curve ball. I thought Rod was going to get forced into that other van.....he just smiled and said I'm not going and we proceeded on together to our hotel (one hour drive) which was a brand new Holiday Inn in the city of Ghangzhou. The nicest one I have ever stayed in. I have caught up on my sleep and had a great breakfast several hours ago. It is now 1pm and time to explore, workout in their fitness room and then take another nap before my 2 am flight back to Manila tonight. This will be my last operational flight on this trip as I will take a commercial flight from Manila to Hong Kong at 0630 tomorrow morning. I will write more from Hong Kong.......

Malaysia - Manila - China..What a day!

Ok..first of all thank you Pat for setting up this Blog. I really did know how to create a Blog...but I wanted to give you the chance to shine! I will update pictures upon my return since my "throw away camera" is not digital and so the pics must be developed. That will change on my next trip.

My Friday night was spent eating at this enormous Seafood Buffet in the Eastern & Oriental Hotel where we stayed. (note: I must correct a date from the previous post. This hotel was built in 1885 NOT 1985 as previously mentioned. That makes a considerable difference when I describe the unique architectural design and quality of this hotel). The variety was incredible as it ranged from Indian cuisine to squids, sushi, shrimp, lobster and a hundred items in between. Oh...and the beer and wine was free! I would say most of the guests were either Korean or Japanese with a mix of Europeans. I don't think any other Americans were there except for me and Rod Shockley (my Captain and best new friend). Rod is a retired Naval Aviator and a very large African American man , my age and with a similar personality. I think we cast a wide shadow last night! We stayed for 3 or 4 hours eating and drinking lots of free wine. Of course, we had to venture out to the local establishments to make sure all was quiet on the "Eastern Front". We must have been successful as there were no adverse reports this morning.

I really didn't stay out that late...but it was 1am before I went to bed and just approaching dawn when I got up this morning at 6. By the way, it is almost 2am (20 hours later) as I am writing this Blog from Ghangzhou China, so it might seem a little disjointed. Which of course it is....but I want to write this while it is still fresh in my mind. Morning coffee and a wonderful breakfast buffet was made special as I watched the sun rise over the eastern Malaysia horizon, while I sat on the covered patio on the water. I got a little exercise in the pool later on that morning, took a restless nap and went back to the airport in our "Butler driven" Mercedes. What I noticed once we got to the airplane were the water buffalo's and the small farm that was approximately 50 feet in front of our very large wide body Airbus. The fence was so close ...it was such a contrast with this modern aircraft sitting within spitting distance of a 9th Century beast of burden. I have never witnessed that before........ok battery is dying and so am I .....I will post more later.

Just landed in Penang Malaysia

The next leg was only 75 minutes and was into the tiny city/nation of Singapore. Again, the runway was huge and you flew over Malaysia (on final approach) with literally tens of thousands of palm trees underneath you. It looked like a giant nursery! When we landed and taxied back into the Fedex Cargo area, we went right next to these huge trees and beautiful bushes and plants. Right next to the taxiway. I wish I had had my camera available as I have never seen trees next to a taxi way before. It was awesome! The efficiency of the Singaporans (sp?) was a sight to behold. Of course, their English was superb and they had us ready to start and taxi in less than 45 minutes. I hear it is the best layover city in the Far East, so it will definitely go on my list of things to do ;-)
We took off (light weight) and I immediately climbed to FL 340 en route to this final stop of Penang Malaysia. This flight took us north again and across the equator. This airport is large although it only has one runway, and sits on a tiny island connected to the mainland and the large city of Butterworth Malaysia. Of course, all of these flights are done in "non radar contact", so you constantly have to give location updates with your position and altitude. Unheard of in the states! The final approach into Penang was magnificent. The mountainous terrain surrounding the airfield (sea level) goes up to 4500". As you came in closer you could really see the unique terrain and city of this little island. Malaysia was once under British rule, so everyone here speaks the Queens English. Most of the inhabitants appeared to be either Muslim or Hindu. I guess lots of Indians are settled here as well. Our driver met us at the terminal wearing a white tuxedo and driving a Mercedes. The city is jammed with people, cars and thousands of Honda 90 motorbikes! It is the headquarters of Intel, AMD, Fairchild, etc so the educational level of this country is very high. The hotel (Eastern & Oriental Hotel) has been here since 1985. My room has two suites in it and is all hardwood. The buffet tonight is all seafood with free beer and wine. Good thing I don't fly until tomorrow afternoon. Naturally, I took pictures of me signing the register, as I thought it could have been on a set from a Humphrey Bogart movie. I was and am impressed. Ok...enough for tonight....my Captain is calling and I must share some of my southern hospitality with these wonderful people. My travels take me back to China tomorrow, so I know I won't be venturing out there. Thanks for being so patient with my descriptive comments. I simply want you all to see it from my eyes......and so it goes.......
love moose

Lates Update from Cebu

Dear Family and Friends....
It is now Thursday afternoon from Cebu...and yes I got a sunburn! We did not get out of Seoul on Wednesday night til almost midnight and it took us about 3 hours to fly to Chunghou China (FedEx hub). It was a beautiful night to fly ...but I got to ride sideways in a jumpseat in a MD-11 since our bird was broken. When we got to China, our hub turn was delayed another 2 hours because our Airbus was having some maintenance issue. With that resolved we got airborne for Cebu about 0540 this morning and flew about 2 more hours into Cebu.
China was incredible. The airfield and FedEx facility is brand new. It's huge. The aircraft was met with very impeccable looking Fedex employees with several military/political officers all around our airplane. It didn't take but minutes to remember you are in a very controlled Communist nation. Everyone was very courteous and efficient and we were driven by van into this new facility built next to the 25 wide body gates. The Fedex sort facility is very large and looks similar to the one in Indy except there were prison type fences (security) around the bldg, that looked like they were to keep the employees in, since it was already within the secure confines of the entire airfield. It reminded me of a gulag. Of course the Chinese security was very serious and their Custom procedures were methodical and repetitive. We stayed inside for about an 90 minutes and then went through the same drill just to go back out to our airplane. The maintenance issue took another 3 hours to resolve once we got to the bird...but the Chinese workers were very courteous and thorough ...and all spoke very good English. It was impressive.
When we finally go airborne our flight to Cebu was awesome. I got to see the most incredible dawning of the day watching the sun rise over the South China Sea while we were cruising at 12500 meters (FL 370) which was the most complicated part of leaving China. We never use meters in our flying, so trying to decipher their broken English and convert meters to feet had me hopping. The best part of the morning was flying directly over Luzon, which is the major island of the Philippines. This is where we lived from 1980-83. It was an incredible view and I actually got to fly over the same places where we used to fly F-4s during our training missions. The mountain ranges that start at the north of Luzon near Baggio and then One Hundred Islands and on down into the Camp O'Donnell where the Death March of Bataan ended after the fall of Corregedor. (Kelly...we hiked part of that trail while you were in school here). I flew directly over Clark AB and got to see Mt Pinatubo which was the volcano that destroyed most of that base in 1991. This volcano erupted in the same mountain ranges where we flew our F-4s and where Camp O'Donnell use to be. It was quite a morning flight for me! I took several pictures ....but it was from FL370.
We then flew directly over Manila on our flight into Cebu, which is part of Mac Tan Island, Philippines. This island is the Carribean for this part of Asia. Lots of Asians come here to vacation. It is famous in history as the place where the explorer Magellan was killed by a Philippino native named Lapu Lapu, which is the name of the airfield we landed. It is a little airport but Cebu is the second largest city in the P.I. It reminded me of the old tv show Paradise Island! It was really a beautiful setting as you came into land. We were met at the airplane with about 15 men, at parade rest, wearing yellow shirts, waiting to greet and unload our Airbus. Smiles everywhere and lots of "welcome sirs". Nothing had changed! The same industrious and courteous people that I knew 26 years ago!
The Shangri-La Hotel has lived up to its name. An open aired entrance, lots of security and waitstaff, all in colorful uniforms waiting to meet your every need! It was awesome. The large fans were turning, and plants and greenery everywhere. The entire first two floors of the hotel has no external walls. The bars, resturants, main check in, etc are open aired. The grounds were lush green and led to the several pools and decks and then down into their own beach. Not many Europeans ....just mostly Japanese and Korean guests. I did meet one fellow from Kuwait who took my picture..which will be posted once I return home. I naturally held true to my promise....went to the beach (after 1 hour nap) and got sunburned. I love it! I had a late lunch and then crashed again which now has me writing at 7pm. I am going to get a light dinner and drink one San Miquel for old time sakes. We leave the hotel at 6:30 am for a long day tomorrow. We fly to Jakarta, Singapore and end up in Penang Malaysia which is another lush beach resort. Man this is a miserable job but I don't mind the sacrifice.
Ok ...enough of this saga. I hope you all have enjoyed my description of this journey. I wanted you all to be a part of this adventure through my eyes and then my words. I will write more tomorrow.
Love to all
Moose

Seoul Update

Dear Friends and Family,
Not much to report this afternoon from Seoul (1pm now) and we leave the hotel at 7pm. Obviously, I finally caught up on some sleep...but awoke at 4am rearing' to go! I looked over our flight plans for today and then hit the gym. After I showered, I took a cab again to Yongson Army Post just so I could "hang" with the troops. I'll take another nap before we push for China.
The war footing here for the troops has stepped up a bit and most of these kids are walking around in full battle gear. I expected to see lots of kids (which I have) but there are more "gray hair" soldiers than I expected. Naturally, I don't think of myself that way ( I still have blond hair...right?) but I do think I could still handle the physical challenge. hoorah. The army post is hopping...lots of activity...lots of family and kids. I remember when I was on the "Z" how strange it was for me to see families when I came south to Seoul or Osan. I guess i always felt the "shooting" was only minutes away and this wasn't a good place for kids. It could be a very unpleasant and a monumental undertaking to try and evac these families if the North came South un expectantly. That is the same concern I had 22 years ago as well.
I haven't taken as many pictures of Seoul this time. I guess because it doesn't feel or seem different to me. In spite of the two decades of my absence...I feel like I was just here driving my MK 151 Jeep with Sgt Armstrong behind the wheel. Man I miss those moments! It seems we lived on the edge (physically and emotionally) for that entire tour ....I never felt more alive! I guess the pictures that I would really like to capture are the ones I can't take. Across the Imjin River up at Camp Bonifas or Camp Grave within spitting distance of the DMZ and the North Koreans!
I just got a fax slipped under my hotel room. Looks like our Airbus is broken tonight and I will be jumpseating with my captain to China (4 hours yuk). We then will have 4 hours on the deck there and then I will fly an Airbus to Cebu Philippines. Not a big deal...just a little inconvenient! Hopefully, the wx will be good at Cebu and I can hit the beach. I promise to take more pictures. Especially for Michael since this is his birth place. Love to all
Blue skies always
moose

First Fed Ex Asia Tour

My trip over to Seoul may end up being the most special part of this adventure. Asiana Airlines started their pampering of me 2 hours prior to boarding by putting me in their First Class Lounge. Only 12 seats in FC on this 747-400! We didn't mix with the Business class. Once on board...which we were escorted around hundreds of passengers, we were given our own little cubby hole that looked like a plush cockpit with a maneuverable chair (reclines to a bed) and private tv. Of course they insisted I wear their pajama's and their house slippers....which of course I did! Once airborne, I put on my eye mask and went to bed. I slept pretty well and didn't get up for about 7 hours (14 total). Naturally, I was hungry so I had some mixed nuts and fresh fruit and coffee. I then worked on my computer for a couple of hours (writing new Vigilance course) and then had breakfast. This was incredible. Fine china, linens, 6 stainless steel utensils all served by beautiful Korean women dressed in tailored suits. Really like eating in a fine dining restaurant. This meal was served about 4am and I had: pastry, fresh fruit, cereal, yogurt, cheese omelet served with fresh asparagus, baked tomato and potato cakes. I also had endless fresh coffee and a tomato juice.
After breakfast, I tidied up (hot towels) and change clothes. The bathroom had every personal hygiene item that you needed. We landed about 6am and I was clear of customs and in my chartered van in less than 20 minutes. The ride to the hotel took about an hour (terrible morning traffic). Of course the Millennium Seoul Hilton is very impressive as well.
At 0915 I took a cab to Yongson Army Post (20 min ride)....lost my new prescription sunglasses..then hopped a bus from Yongson to Osan. That ride took an hour. Osan has changed and seems to be growing more and very modern. I loved watching the fighters and remenising about my many hours, days and weeks operating out of that airfield starting with the F-15 in Team Spirit '79 and then my many trips there flying F-4s from the P.I. It was also where I finished out my ALO tour almost 22 years ago next month! Hard to believe it has been that long.
Ok..I am officially tired. It is almost 7pm and I have run out of gas. I am sure I will be awake around 2am (noon your time) so look for me online. Maybe I can find a way to chat. I willl complete more on this saga tomorrow.
Love to all....and GOD Bless these young airman and soldiers who choose to live this kind of life....
Moose
ps. I will give more details about the American soldiers in Korea tomorrow....