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The Masons go to Asia

Contributed by: Paul Mason on 8/16/2005

The Masons of Northglenn took a family adventure trip to Asia this summer. Paul and Karen went with their two sons, Chris and Randall, and Chris' wife Amy. We used an all-Asia pass through Cathay Pacific that allowed us to visit as many cities as they could in 21 days. They visited Japan, Hong Kong, Beijing, China and Manilla, Philippines. Then Karen, Chris and Amy had to return to work and Paul and Randall ventured on to Taipei, Taiwan, Seoul, Korea, Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand. The following is Paul's summary.  

The first night everyone was in Japan we took a rental van and drove on the left side of the road to Mt Fuji and started climbing about 2 a.m. Sunrise was fantastic but the weather closed in so that visibility was zero at the 12,000-foot summit.  Jet lag meant sleep was going to be difficult anyhow, what better way to get over the 14-hour flight across the Pacific and five more hours to Japan? A GPS, standard in rentals, helped guide the way even though it was in Japanese, Randall knew enough about computers to figure it out (to the amazement of us all).  

The Japanese were friendly but didn't speak much English. Along with auto traffic, large numbers rode bicycles around Tokyo and Kyoto. We were impressed with how fit everyone looked and the exercise and the sushi must have something to do with it. We were also amazed at all the four-door micro cars that could carry four people. We even heard about a micro four-wheel drive SUV (the Panda). We wouldn't need any mid east oil if we all drove those!!  

All our flights went out of Hong Kong. Most of the time we hit the free Internet for e-mail between flights but one of our layovers was long enough to take the train in to the center of Hong Kong. An amazing, modern city, but we were surprised by the large hillsides of tropical forest. I thought Hong King was all cement and steel. Beijing was next. We stayed in a small hotel that was a converted home of a once wealthy family. It had a lot of character. The modern highways (complete with some luxury cars now and then) were just like home. Skyscrapers are going up everywhere and we were free to wander around some of the local shopping areas where bargaining was allowed, although the fixed prices were pretty low already. The day we took a tour van an hour away to the Great Wall it was 107 degrees. You actually can climb up a steep hillside section of the wall. To stand on the largest structure on Earth (they debate about whether it can be seen from 200 miles up in space - the Chinese say we can't see it) was awe inspiring. The Forbidden City is no longer forbidden - they don't even charge admission at every gate like I heard they used to. It went on and on - gate and building after building to the inner most safe haven for the emperor. He had all the trees cut down so assassins couldn't hide. How ironic to be a powerful ruler and live in constant fear.  

Next was Manilla (via Hong Kong again). There are travel advisories for Americans but we knew two families there and they felt safe enough. Ironically, that was the week of the London subway bombing. Terrorism succeeds when we give in to the fears in a way that is out of proportion to the threat. Driving kills over 40,000 Americans a year and our eating habits may be killing a million a year!! Speaking of American food, we could visit all the major fast food chains in every city we visited. We boarded an outrigger boat and sailed an hour to an island resort for some relaxation. The snorkeling was better than the Caribbean - especially the corals.  

Paul and Randall continued on to Taipie. Very friendly people - we asked a young man for some help ordering food at an underground mall and he paid for our meal!! It was warm here but we got out before the typhoon hit. Taipei is a scooter city – it even has separate lanes on bridges for scooters. The sidewalks were lined with parked scooters - most parked illegally. Red bean ice cream on a stick tastes much better than it sounds - they even had frozen tomato juice on a stick, it wasn't bad.  

Seoul was next. Again, the people where so helpful and friendly, especially in giving directions and in giving advice on what to see. The palaces in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan shared much in their architecture, most of it originating in China thousands of years ago. The average American lives better than the emperors did (and is free to travel more too).  

Whenever I was feeling uneasy about a person that reminded me of a terrorist I would try to go up and meet them. One man in traditional religious dress from Bangladesh told me in his limited English, "A million people ok, one people bad."  This was after the London bombing and I knew what he was trying to say. Most Muslims do not agree with the terrorists. This same gentleman helped us find our way from the plane to the clean, safe, efficient trains of Singapore.  

Singapore was a mix of ethnic and religious groups all living in apparent peace and harmony. We saw several schools put on traditional dances – one was Indian, another Chinese and one was more modern ballet like. Singapore is very well off and technological. We visited an Internet café where about 40 young males were enjoying interactive combat games with each other. I talked to an elderly man on the train and asked if he remembered the days of the British. He said he did but then he immediately said he also remembered the Japanese and how cruel they were in WWII. In fact, everywhere we went people seemed to volunteer that they disliked the Japanese for WWII atrocities and for not admitting them and apologizing today. Most people in the world have a long memory when it comes to bad things done to their ancestors. It's hard for us individualistic Americans to fully understand.  

Fatigue from sleeping in different hotels and walking around in the heat and the stress of trying to figure out everything (we weren't with a tour) was beginning to set in but Bangkok had a great hotel for $32 a night that included a full buffet of oriental and western breakfast foods each morning. There was a swimming pool too. The taxi and TUK TUK (three-wheeled scooter like taxis) were inexpensive but they usually wanted to take you to   tourist shops where they would get free gas vouchers for delivering us. The highlight was traveling on boats along the canals or rivers. Houses overhung the water and you got a glimpse of everyday life; people sleeping in hammocks, hanging clothes out to dry, cooking, and a monk studying. There were Buddhist temples everywhere and they were ornate and golden. Meeting people from totally different backgrounds was even more interesting than all the new sights and sounds.  

On to America - another 13 hours in the plane. We would get up to stretch our legs as much as possible and we had all the movies memorized. Games of chess and good conversation helped pass the time. The stewardesses reminded us of kindergarten teachers with their sweet, polite but constant reminders to sit down, put your seat belt on, put your trays away, or do you want a drink or a blanket? I'm glad we had the time together as a family (Chris and Amy live in Chicago and Randall goes to the Colorado School of Mines in Golden). Now we have more shared memories. Trips like these last a lot longer in the psyche that the 3 weeks they took to do.


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