JAN 30, 13 .. I AM SAFELY INTO HONG KONG ..

Wednesday Evening The 30th of January 2013 .. 9:49PM ..


I am only one .. But Still .. I AM ONE ..

I cannot do everything .. But Still .. I CAN DO SOMETHING ..

And because I cannot do everything ..

I WILL NOT REFUSE TO DO THE SOMETHING I CAN ..

Edward Everett Hale ..

Those wonderful words get me UN-stuck when I AM stuck !

Too much to say and where to begin ..

YESTERDAY .. Monday and Tuesday .. January 28th and 29th ..

THE FLIGHT(S) HERE ..

Getting out of Detroit, Michigan..  we were blessed with a snow and ice 'storm-from-hell' .. Danny 48073 picked me up at 4:30AM and we were off .. I boarded the flight to Chicago 'just a tad late' .. we all sat and we sat .. then we all DE-BOARDED the flight to Chicago .. back inside the terminal we all sat and sat .. then we all RE-BOARDED another aircraft at another departure gate .. en route to take-off we had to stop and get the aircraft 'de-iced' .. then we  flew to Chicago .. arriving about two hours late ..

It took me one-good-hour to get from Chicago O'Hare Domestic Terminal 2 to O'Hare International Terminal 5 but get there I did ..

THEN THINGS WENT FROM CHALLENGING (Yes 'Zilla? Re-read the above 'Zilla.. ) TO THE ULTIMATE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE EXPERIENCED ..

In spite of being several hours late into Chicago O'Hare .. I was so early to the Cathay Pacific Airlines Check-In-Desk in Terminal 5 that no Cathay Pacific staffers were on duty yet !

So I waited about half-an-hour and checked in ..

"Sir .. you are in Business Class Sir .. Please go to our Cathay Pacific Lounge before boarding Sir !"

International Security is tough .. but I made it through ..

And then HOO-BOY the trip was off-and-running ..

Into the Cathay Pacific Lounge I went and what did I see ?

A FULL BUFFET .. Lemon Chicken .. Bow-Tie-Pasta with Cheese Sauce .. String Beans with Slivered Almonds and Onions .. Wonderful Roasted Potato Quarters .. Greek Salad .. Fresh Fruit .. and more .. every liquid you could imagine and all you wanted .. Beer and Wine .. and Gatorade and every possible soda pop ever made .. Water too .. and some desserts too !

Arrrrggggggg .. ten plates of food and one hour later I was stuffed beyond-the-beyond ..

We boarded .. we took off on time .. we leveled off .. the Captain turned off the seat belt sign .. I reclined my bed in Business Class and SLEPT FOR OVER FIVE (5) HOURS .. I awoke .. burped .. refused the gourmet dinner .. well I took the Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream ! .. and SLEPT ANOTHER FOUR (4) or so hours ..

Hot dog .. because I'd slept for Nine (9) Hours .. I had ONLY Six and one Half Hours (6-1/2) more to fly !

We landed in Hong Kong on time .. 7:35PM local time on Tuesday the 29th of January ..

It took the usual two hours to pass through Immigration and get my baggage and pass through customs and then get the train to Hong Kong .. then get the bus to the YMCA at 41 Salisbury Road in Kowloon in Tsimshatsui ..

Then I 'crashed' in my room AFTER riding the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island and back and getting two gallons of bottled water to drink and bathe with and getting international telephone calling cards .. and making some telephone calls and (?) I keep myself busy ! I hit-the-sack after mid-night !

WEDNESDAY the 30th of January ..

So what did I do all day today .. Wednesday the 30th ? .. I got up and made some more phone calls and ate SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE FOR BREAKFAST at 9:45AM ..

After my breakfast of SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE .. I went back to my dorm room at the YMCA and ? ..

I lay down at 10:30AM this morning to 'refresh and take a short nap' ..

I SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD FOR SEVEN AND ONE HALF HOURS (7 1/2) ..

I staggered awake at 6PM ..

So what to do ?  THAT is a no-brainer .. go have a dinner of SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE .. ride the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and return to Kowloon AFTER exploring the Hong Kong 'Central District' ..

And ? 

Write and Post this !  Oh my I do hope it makes some sense and there are not too many 'typos' and errors in thinking .. to be honest .. I still feel sort of 'fuzzy' from the trip over here .. and from sleeping far too long than was healthy !

With that I will sign-off .. 

THRILLED-BEYOND-BELIEF AT BEING IN HONG KONG IN CHINA !!

If the Good Lord 'takes me during my sleep tonight' I will .. 

'CHECK-OUT ONE HAPPY-CAMPER !!


Much Love from Bobba and from all of the Travelling Bobbseys here on-the-road again with me !!    Cap ..
  

JAN 25, 13 .. AND PEOPLE .. AND FRIENDS .. ASK ME ?

The other  day .. 'Zilla and I had another of our 'Why India Cap?' visits on the phone .. and .. as usual .. I have written over four hundred pages trying to explain to myself .. 'Why India?' .. I could not give poor 'Zilla quite the specific answer 'Zilla always seeks .. read on my friend .. read on 'Zilla ! 

As part of my 'process' before I leave for a trip to India .. I send post cards to my closest friends and associates in India .. 

TELL ME .. YOU JUST TELL ME .. "No Cap .. I am not .. in any small way .. 'touched' by the following e-mail" ..

Respected MY Legendary GRAND Father GOOD MORNING h r u & FAMILY

GRAND FATHER I AM Receive your HAPP
Y NEW YEAR WISHING I AM RECEIVED

SOME LATE SO I AM VERY ..VERY SORRY MY FAVORITE GRAND FATHER

PLEASE PARDOM ME . I HOPE & PREY TO GOD YOUR GOOD HEALTH & HAPPINESS YOU AND your family . SIR I AM SEE YOUR ALL BLOG AND YOUR CMMITMENT ,GUIDANCE SO VERY GOOD AND VERY RARE,AND SPECIOUS E PHOTO . YOUR FAITH-FULLY

Thank you Mister Shivam !  Thank you Sir !

You have no idea of how much your tender e-mail has touched my heart ..

God be Willing .. I will see you soon !

Your Friend and Your Ally .. Baba Kaps .. 

JAN 18, 13 .. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL !

THANKS TO MY WEB MISTRESS 'GULLIBLE' .. I THINK I HAVE PULLED THIS TRICK OFF !

It looks like I can 'go-back' and 'pull-forward' old photos !

I want to go back in time to the 21st of February 2012 .. and my leaving the New Delhi Airport .. NEVER . in all of my years of International travel have I seen the crowds that I encountered leaving India .. so below are two photos showing the crowds ..

Now turn around 180-degrees from the above scene and you see the below scene to my back ..

This 'blast from the past' will show you all what I 'look forward to' in the International Travel Scene !

For the FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS .. maybe for the first time EVER .. I became VERY 'concerned' that I would not get to my departure gate ' on time ' .. as it turned out .. I got to my gate exactly on-time NOT early .. BUT .. the plane departed OVER TWO (2) HOURS late ..

THANK YOU  'GULLIBLE' !

JAN 16, 13 .. STUNNING !

STUNNING !

ABSOLUTELY AND POSITIVELY  STUNNING !

In some odd-sort-of way .. I feel sort-of-sorry for those of you who do not deal with mental illness on a day-in-day-out basis.  You simply do not have a clue as to the absolutely 'giddy highs’ of the Roller Coaster Ride of Life you are missing!

WHEN I GET A ‘CALLING’ .. IT IS SO SWIFT AND IT IS SO SUDDEN AND IT IS SO ABSOLUTLEY INSTANTANEOUS THAT IT TAKES MY BREATH AWAY !

And I ‘just-now’ got one ..

CLARITY !

RAZOR SHARP PRECISE CLARITY ! 

It has been written for me that on ..

May 20^th .. God Willing .. I will fly from Hong Kong into Chicago O’Hare .. this trip IS BOOKED and paid for.

May 20^th .. or May 21^st .. or May 22nd .. around there sometime .. and it is NOT YET BOOKED .. I will fly from Chicago O’Hare NORTH TO ALASKA!

I will ‘summer’ in the NORTH .. and in late November or in early December of 2013 .. God Willing ..

I will return to Hong Kong and to India ..

ALL OF THIS GOD WILLING ..

“There it is my little ‘Captain’, there it is!”  .. “Got it God!, I have it !"

Oh somewhere .. somewhere out there .. I can hear it playing oh-so-clearly .. they are singing MY SONG just for me !

In an Ocean, ‘way out yonder, (As all sapient people know)

Is the land of Wonder-Wander, Whither children love to go;

It’s their playing, romping, swinging, That give great joy to me

While Cap’s Dinkey-Bird goes singing in the amfalula tree!

“Oh God of Abraham .. should I really publish this?” .. “Oh yeah Captain!”

Done deal .. With Much Love ..

Now YOU all love one another! .. That is what it says for us all to do !

 Cap ..

Would you rather believe and be wrong ? .. or NOT believe and be wrong ?

JAN 15, 13 .. THE JIGSAW PUZZLE .. PART II

THANKFULLY! there seem to be ‘a few of you’ following along here who actually prefer reading written posts as opposed to viewing strictly photos.  I base this on the fact that a few of you voiced this preference to me when I was posting photos here and posting written thoughts over at Baba Kaps Doxology (babakaps.net) my other web site.  As in .. “Cap, actually I am reading your writings at Baba Kaps Doxology and not looking at all the photos you are posting at Bobba Caps Dolology.”

At the Royal Oak library this afternoon I MUST try to find a copy of Julia Cameron’s book .. ‘The Right To Write’ .. so I can accurately quote her when she states .. “It is the ACT OF WRITING that calls forth ideas and not sitting around idly wondering what you are going to write.”

What you have just read above IS NOT WHAT I INTENDED TO WRITE when I sat down here at 8AM Eastern Standard Time in the City of Royal Oak in the State of Michigan in the United States of America. 

It seems to be a ‘Truth Of My Writing Universe’ that the instant I put pen-to-paper or fingers-to-keyboard I seem to no longer be in-charge of what results therefrom!  And I have personally witnessed this-exact-same-phenomenon in countless others who ‘write inventory’.   They think they are going to write about one specific line of resentments and fears and a completely different line of resentments and fears comes forth from their pen!

I RESENT THIS DRATTED ‘CTRL’ KEY ON THE LOWER LEFT OF MY KEYBOARD!  I REACH TO HIT ‘SHIFT’ AND I HIT ‘CNTRL’ AND I LOSE EVERYTHING!    I FEAR THAT I JUST LOST THE TOTAL WRITING I JUST BEGAN!

OK LET ME TALK ABOUT PHOTOS!

Back last November or early December I found out Google has put a limit on the amount of storage I can 'have-for-free’ here on Blogspsot.  Or at least Google has put a limit on my photo-storage-capacity.  OK I ‘agreed’ to pay them something like three dollars-a-month (NO GOING BACK they advised me!) for my existing photo capacity.   I then tried to post a photo and got the same message that I have exceeded my photo-storage-capacity despite the fact that a few minutes earlier I had agreed to pay $3 a month! 

So I sit   S T U C K !

Rather than jump to six dollars-a-month (or even more) forever .. and risk being told that still is not enough money and I can’t go back ..  I have stopped posting photos here.

This morning I just tried the following.  I went back to FWIW 179 dated February 26, 2012, and tried to ‘revert to draft’ that writing and then ‘publish it’ hoping that the entire writing .. FWIW 179 of February 26, 2012 .. would appear-here-and-now on January 15^th 2013.  Photos and all.

NO LUCK.  It just re-posted back-in-place new changes and all. So I am TOTALLY UNABLE  to move-around-photos  already posted.  Google just won’t let me re-use existing photos.

AND-THE-WORLD-TURNS ..

Now I am thinking that I will turn Baba Kaps Doxology into a photo web site and keep Bobba Caps Doxology a text web site.

OR!  Set up another Google Blogspot web site calling it Bobba Caps Photos or some such.

NOW TO WRITE WHAT I SET ABOUT TO WRITE WHEN I BEGAN !
Thank you so much Julia Cameron !

"What did you say Oh God of Abraham?" .. "You have given me enough money to pay Google one-hundred-dollars a month for photo storage!" .. "But you don't understand Oh God of Abraham!" .. "No yeah buts you say!"

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THE  JIGSAW  PUZZLE .. PART II

Two posts ago .. Friday the 4^th of January 2013 .. I began writing about the JIGSAW PUZZLE that a major trip out-of-the-country turns out to be for me .. I can’t speak for you!

THE JIGSAW PUZZLE now stands at about 80% complete. 

I have now completed the first-round-of-mail to those friends abroad who I will see or who follow me closely here.  Post Cards only because envelope mail will often be stolen and opened in the vain attempt to find money some people are stupid enough to actually send abroad!   All mailed together in one batch of mail so IF someone tells me they received their card I will assume the others also received theirs.

 Raj in Herbertpur in Dehradun 248 142 has confirmed by e-mail he received his card.  THANK YOU RAJ !

I am busy wrapping-up a lot of odds-and-ends here that I want finished before I leave .. lists of what I need abroad .. visiting friends I want to be sure to see before I leave .. I have already made two trips to Toledo, Ohio, to see Mel and Lori and will make a third trip next Monday.  And more much more I will not go into here.

Ask me .. “Cap can you believe you are about to make your tenth (10^th) trip to India?” .. “No I can not!”

Thank you Oh God of Abraham for my many blessings!

Over and Out for now .. Cap ..

JAN 11, 13 .. MISSING CAR KEYS .. TOO FUNNY

Patti just sent this to me and it is TOO FUNNY .. so I decided to post it here .. one never knows about these 'internet writings' BUT .. I howled and hope you will too!  Just a little 'day brightener' for us all!

 The author .. a lady .. begins ..

 Several days ago as I left a meeting at a hotel, I realized suddenly that my car keys were missing.  So I desperately gave myself a personal TSA pat down looking for my car keys. They were not in my pockets! A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing. Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car.

 Frantically, I headed for the parking lot. My husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen. As I burst through the door, I came to a terrifying conclusion that his theory was right. The parking lot was empty.

 I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.

 Then I made the most difficult call of all, I called my husband. 

 "Hi, honey," I stammered, (I always call him "honey" in times like these) "I love you." "I left my keys in the car and it's been stolen."

 There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice.

"Are you kidding' me", he barked, "I dropped you off" !!!!!!!

Now it was my time to be silent.

 Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me.

 He retorted, "I will, as soon as I convince this cop that I didn't steal your car!"

"Yep it's the golden years".........For those of you already here, you know! For those of you not yet here...YOU WILL BE!.

JAN 4, 13 .. THE JIGSAW PUZZLE ...

The term ‘jigsaw puzzle’ provides a good visual image of what-it-takes for me to put together a trip of several months duration out of the United States traveling to Hong Kong, China, and then on to India and the return trip back to the United States.

With any jigsaw puzzle you have certain techniques that you will follow .. one of my techniques is to find and to separate all of the puzzle pieces that have a straight edge ..  these pieces will form the outside circumference or edge or frame of the puzzle .. so I will begin by completing the ‘framing’ of the puzzle-about-to-be constructed.  Then I will look for pieces with similar coloring etc.

OK .. with regards to a major trip for me .. do I want to assemble yet another jigsaw puzzle of what-it-takes to make a major trip?

So I must decide that I am going to travel or that I want to travel.

This decision is an absolute no-brainer IF .. I RECEIVE A POWERFUL, CLEAR, ‘CALLING’ to travel.  This is my most common trigger to travel.  I will not test your theological beliefs nor bore you with whom or with what sends me the message to GO NOW.

Lacking the clarity of being ‘called to travel’, I have to make the decision that either (1) I am going to make the trip or (2) I think I want to make the trip and that I will explore my options.

This upcoming trip is of the second category .. it originated more of an ‘I think I want’ endeavor than that of a  ‘calling’.  Frankly it is more of an ‘oh oh .. IF I don’t make this trip now I may never again be able to do so’ ..

SO I AM GOING TO .. GOD WILLING .. RETURN TO INDIA VIA HONG KONG ..

Now to the ‘jigsaw’ puzzle analogy ..

Puzzle Piece Number One .. MAKE MY ROOM RESERVATIONS IN HONG KONG .. IF you have ‘brain one’ .. you do NOT want to fly into Hong Kong with NO ROOM RESERVATIONS .. UNLESS OF COURSE you are willing to pay .. literally .. hundreds of U.S. dollars a night for a room.  My ‘speed’ is thirty five ($35 U.S. Dollars) a night ..

My last trip .. leaving August 30, 2011 .. was so sudden that I did NOT have the advance notice time to really ‘shop’ room reservations .. well I did ‘shop’ but I had to use Orbitz and Travelocity search engines .. and I paid well over one hundred U.S. Dollars a night with ABSOLUTELY NO FLEXIBILITY TO MAKE ANY CHANGES .. the good news being I did have a nice hotel room in a very  interesting and new-to-me district in Hong Kong.

This being my upcoming eighteenth trip into Hong Kong .. spanning over twenty two years .. one round trip I went via London and Paris .. ol’ Bobba Caps has learned ‘how-to-do Hong Kong’ in Bobba Caps fashion.

FIRST ACTUAL PUZZLE PIECE .. contact the YMCA Hong Kong in Kowloon on Salisbury Road and connect with an associate in reservations that I have been dealing with for some-many-MANY years .. I NOW HAVE a bunk bed reservation in the Dorms for January 29^th leaving February 5^th seven nights (their maximum stay in the dorms)  .. and returning on May 13^th leaving May 20^th a second seven night stay ..

TO ACHIEVE THE ABOVE TOOK several days of back-and-forth e-mail conversations believe me .. these dorm reservations are tricky and ‘dear’ .. many chinese youth visitors and educational youth tours get the dorm beds  locked up months and months in advance .. find me a better deal in Hong Kong and I will tip-my-hat to you!

Next puzzle pieces .. THEN working with what I had set up with the YMCA .. I tried to ‘fit’  airline reservations into the YMCA reservations .. they would NOT QUITE fit so I had to get back to the YMCA Hong Kong and ‘wiggle’ things there around.

The airline reservations were tricky .. here-to-fore I have always originated in San Francisco, California .. except the trip through London and Paris .. here-to-fore I have always flown on one single carrier .. Cathay Pacific .. United Airlines .. Air India ..ONE carrier .. not so this trip!     

This trip I am on American Airlines (Detroit to Chicago) .. Cathay Pacific Airlines (Chicago non-stop to Hong Kong) .. Jet Airlines (Hong Kong to New Delhi and return to Hong Kong) .. Cathay Pacific Airlines (Hong Kong back to Chicago) .. and finally the Chicago Illinois Rapid Transit ‘Blue Line’ into Chicago Union Station and AMTRAK Railways (Chicago to Detroit) ..

I am using 90,000 American Airlines Award Miles flying first with American Airlines and then Cathay Pacific Airlines .. I am paying $875 U.S. Dollars to a company named Jet Airlines to fly out of Hong Kong and return from New Delhi .. it will cost me $2 on the Blue Line out of O’Hare International Air Port in Chicago and free AMTRAK reward miles from Chicago to Detroit ..

BELIEVE THEE THIS !  Just the above ‘airline travel reservations’ were .. in and of themselves .. a ‘jigsaw’ puzzle within the jigsaw puzzle ! .. on the return I could NOT get all the way back into Detroit from Chicago try-as-the-mileage-agents could try!  We spent about three hours over several days trying to unravel this silly condition with no results!

More puzzle pieces!

UNLESS YOU WANT REAL TROUBLE IN HONG KONG AND IN INDIA .. YOU HAD BETTER TELL EACH AND YOU HAD BETTER TELL EVERY SINGLE BANK AND CREDIT CARD COMPANY THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN HONG KONG AND IN INDIA AND WHEN you will be there ..

OR? .. (with the exception of American Express .. the ‘Big Time’ International Travel Credit Card Company) .. WHEN you whip out your Visa or Master Card in Hong Kong or in India .. you will be stopped-short-and-firmly-and-suddenly and will have to ‘go-to-jail’ without passing ‘go’ .. your credit card will be DENIED!

Stolen credit cards travel-the-world-over with lightning speed and your credit card company is not a ‘mind reader’ as to why your card is suddenly being used
halfway-around-the-world in Hong Kong or India !

And more puzzle pieces!

It is a good Idea to set-the-wheels-in-motion to order up all of your prescriptions and other necessary items you will need or just want ..

AND?  At 4:30AM on Monday the 28^th of January .. Danny 48073 will pick me  and the Bobbseys up here at ‘1709’ and take us to Detroit Metro Air Port  for my 7:15AM American Airlines Flight to Chicago .. connecting at 2PM on a fifteen hour and thirty minute (15 hour 30 minute!) non-stop Cathay Pacific Flight to Hong Kong .. BUSINESS CLASS WITH LIE-DOWN-FLAT-STRETCH-FULL-OUT sleeping accomodations a first ever EVER for ol’ Bobba .. that ‘little perk’ cost me 20,000 additional miles but hey .. I decided to ‘just-go-for-it’ and I had the miles to spend.. my American Airlines Rewards Miles now stand at 615!  I wanted to and I ‘successfully zeroed-out’ my mileage balance.

IF I survive another three-month-trip in India .. and that is no-gimmie believe thee me .. I will return in economy class with my knees against my chest!  I stand a greater possibility of making the outbound trip than the return trip and IF I don’t make-it-back .. as I ‘breathe-my-last’ somewhere over there .. I will quietly ‘giggle’ thinking about the ride over in business class!

AND?  I haven’t even left yet on this trip and I want to stay longer and I am already ‘craving’ another trip after this trip!

What are we talking about here?  Incorrigible Travel Addiction?

Well ‘that-is-that’ says your correspondent ol’ Bobba Caps!

Signing Out With A Wink And A Smile!  About To Be ‘On-The-Road-Again’!  And I can hardly wait to get going!

Truly I feel oh-so-blessed!  THANK YOU OH GOD OF ABRAHAM MY CREATOR !  ..  Cap ..

JAN 1, 13 .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 ..

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

 HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

At this point in my life .. I have younger friends and fellow senior citizens who are facing some very serious life-challenges!  So I am not going to merely send you a ‘do-gooder-giddy’ .. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL .. greeting without adding a little  ‘discernment’ to go with it.

That being said, like it or not, good health or health challenges, it still boils down to what Abraham Lincoln is quoted as having said:

“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

And that catapults me straight to one of my  ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WRITINGS!

              ATTITUDE

by: Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

It is pretty difficult to ‘top this’ so I will close by again quoting Abraham Lincoln:

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.”

 May your year 2013 be packed with all of the life that you can possibly squeeze into it. 

With Joy from Patti and Cap ..