On the road back home (Updated)
December 18, 2012 Leave a comment
I am writing this travel blog on our last 12-hour flight back to Hong Kong. It is going to take me at least 1-2 days to recover from the jet lag. There are so much to unpack and so many gifts to distribute. There are also a lot of travel photos and videos to sort out and edit. Not forgetting the piles of works waiting for me back in the office.
This is one of those rare moments when I get to spend quality time on the road with my just Felicia and Elkan. We were on the road for 12 days. 5 cities, 23,000km – We spent a total of 27 hour on the planes, 23 hours on the trains, 70km on foot towing 50kg of clothes / gadgets / souvenirs / maps / food supplies. Sounds like a pretty fun adventure. It is!
Looking back all the photos and videos I have taken throughout our 12-day tour, it has been an amazing trip for 3 of us. We have discovered and experienced so much (the snobbish Parisans, the warm Italian and the chatty English and the custom-free border crossings within Eurozone, the complicated tax refunds etc). I guess it helps to travel in a different time zone. Amazingly, I didn’t receive any phone calls from work. I guess my colleagues and clients have been very nice this time.
Our world revolved around Elkan. It was both hassle and fun to travel with him. I guess it will take him many years to fully appreciate all these trips that we have been taking him. Afterall, he has just turned 8. Elkan and us see things in very different perspective. Felicia and I awed at the great marvels, what he saw were just old buildings. He was picking up histories and stories as we moved from one destination to another. Often, he surprised us with the questions / imaginations that went on in his head. It was good to have him on the road with us though he can be a very restless, lazy and untidy traveler. But again, he was just a little boy.
Our health took a heavy toll on us. We fell ill on our first night in London. It took me 3 days to recover from the jet lag. I was down with fever and backache for many days. Felicia had sore throat and was coughing throughout the trip. Elkan suffered severe rashes around his lips due to the dry cold climate. Nonetheless, our spirits were high. We didn’t even let the unpleasant pickpocket incident affects our moods. Our deepest heart-felt gratitude to all the encouragements and good-wishes we received from our family and friends on social media – it is always good to know your friends and loved ones are constantly around us digitally and spiritually.
The only thing we missed badly is our usual travel companion (Kalinda, Tracy, Lionnel and Harshad). We wished someone can babysit our hyperactive boy when we were enjoying our peaceful stroll in Rome. And we wished we had more family photos taken at all the landmarks. I have deleted so many blurred and poorly composed photos that were taken by strangers. We miss the noise and fun with our friends. They made quite a difference.
This is going to be a pretty busy week before the world supposed to end on 21st Dec. Anyway, the spokesperson at the Vatican City put up an official press release that the world will not end this year and ask its devotees to celebrate Christmas. It is not up to the Mayan to call the shot. Not yet, He said.
Dear God, thanks for this wonderful road trip. It is everything. (Enjoy the video)
12 years away from home - Singapore. Writing my stories here for my lovely mum & dad, friends and most importantly, for my wife & son back home. A self-confessed gadget freak, a spontaneous prankster on the outside and a warm loving heart inside. Enjoying a happy life with loving families, friends plus a dream job. Realising mum’s motto – “Exceed Yourself Every Day”. Always believing that “Simplicity is Beauty”.
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