thericechronicles: April 2015

Saturday, April 25, 2015

My Mom is 80

My Dear Great Ones,
My mother Helga turned 80 on April 25. Her life has been an incredible ride. Born during the Nazi era in Germany she lived through the trauma of WWII and witnessed the incredible rebirth of Germany after it was basically physically and psychologically destroyed.

Later she met and married Alfred, a poor, but brave refugee from East Germany. With job prospects slim in Germany and a baby on the way Alfred and Helga summoned up a ton of courage and immigrated to Canada. First stop was Edmonton followed by Dawson Creek, BC. While Alfred worked his way up with Mobil Helga mothered three children, learned English and got a Canadian teaching degree. This was added to her German teaching degree.

As the years moved on Alfred and Helga moved around with their three youngsters from Dawson Creek BC to Calgary, then Denver, USA, Vienna, Austria, back to Calgary, then to Toronto, and then back to Calgary, off to Celle, Germany, and finally back to Calgary again where Helga and Alfred retired. Whew.

Throughout all that time Helga ran a tight ship at home, keeping it always clean, meals always there on time, clothes clean and ironed. Her interest in the outdoors, travel, skiing, grandchildren, and visiting others is a great legacy that I have adopted with great pleasure.

So happy 80th birthday Mutt and thanks for the positive contributions you have made in my life.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Fantastic Palawan

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and I spent our honeymoon on the lovely island of Palawan, Philippines. Recently it was voted as the world's best island by a travel magazine. While that is certainly debatable the following pictures will certainly present a strong case for that distinction.

First of all the beaches, lagoons, mini islands, and landscape are spectacular.

Beach near our hotel.

View from the 800 meter zip line.

The beach near our hotel was vast, with beautiful sand and hardly any people. The water was warm and clear.

My lovely wife adding to the beautiful scenery.

Enjoying a boat ride through a lagoon.

The local culture is colorful, unique, and fun.

Celia in front of a local bus packed to the rafters with people and goods.

There were a few peddlers, but they were not obnoxious and pushy.

A local village near our hotel.

Fresh buko (coconut) was everywhere.

The fruit was great.

Local tour guides relaxing.

Halo Halo (mix mix) a local snack/drink common in the Philippines.

A local street scene.

A good, but cheap local restaurant.

Ambience is a little lacking, but its quaint and the food is good.

Fresh coconut was refreshing and very nutritious.

Worm eating challenge. Very entertaining.

Dining local.

Man up in the palm tree collecting cocounts. Was rather entertaining. Little indents cut into the trunk of the coconut tree helps the man climb up and down.

Mangos. Love them. Mango cake rocks.

A common local way to travel.

Typical Filipino fare.

Celia and I rented a van and a driver. On the way to our destination we stopped at the Half Way restaurant. Food selection however was rather minimal.

Stray dogs seem to be everywhere in the Philippines. This spotted one, for real not painted, should be considered a prize. Never seen anything like it.

Typical village hut.

Snorkeling in Palawan is good.

Having a Go Pro camera is fun cause it works underwater!

Celia and I went to one of the World's seven natural wonders. It's the Puerto Princessa Underground River and you need to take a boat to reach the entrance.