{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China}

 With Northwest Orient aboard the 747, husband Pieter did arrive after 10-½ hours at the Narita Tokyo International airport of Japan, local time 17:00.

They needed a temporary visa which was no problem at all.

By bus they went to the Radisson Hotel Narita

Radisson Hotel Narita is a great place for staying longer...

On March 22 of 1987, it was still called Narita International Hotel...

But the address remained the very same, and also the telephone number.

While the delegation went by bus to the hotel, Pieter wrote in his diary that he'd never seen so much military and tanks etc. around the airport, it looked like they expected an attack any time. 

The Japanese dinner with chop sticks went well and it even went better with some hot  Sake wine.

Everybody was very tired so they were in bed by 21:00... But Pieter managed to write some postcards and a short letter to me.

On Monday March 23, Pieter woke up early and had breakfast alone and took a walk. It was a cool and rainy day.

Pieter also prepared the slides for his lectures to be given to Chinese Universities. 

By 9:00 they all went by bus to the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and a shopping center.

Sorry there are no actual photos as I mentioned already, we lost several slides during our move...

The weather was not so good for taking photos... as visible in this photo above.

By bus they went to the airport again and with flight 930 C.A.A.C. 747 to Shanghai, China with a lay over of 1-½ hour before continuing to Beijing.
Flying on such a rattling Russian Ilyushin Il-62 was quite an experience!

 Again there were lots of soldiers...

The service on China Airlines was by far not comparable to our US airlines. Flight attendants could learn from e.g. Singapore airlines. 

Pieter asked for some white wine with his dinner and the flight attended filled up his coffee cup (yes, with wine!).

C.A.A.C. means Civil Aviation Administration of China

 Late evening arrival in Beijing, China in the rain and it was rather chilly....

Luckily Hotel Kunlun (red marker bottom left) was not far from the Airport (to the right at the top).

Will be continued with Arrival in Beijing, China...
Thanks for your visit!

Related links:

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{We at least got SOME Magnolia Blossoms}

So pleased with the turnout of SOME Magnolia Blossoms on our Magnolia x soulangeana!

Tuesday, February 23, was such a lovely and even warm day when we got these photos made.

Don't you love to see an almost blue sky and such huge magnolia blossoms?!

The previous days were rather dark, not good for photos.

On Monday, February 22, Pieter took this photo where we still had more blossoms on this tree but no sunshine, just a dreary day...

Luckily, this 2nd Magnolia tree was not blooming yet on December 30, so it had a lot less frost damage later in January.
You can find the links below this post from December 30, and also from spring 2011, when we had PERFECT MAGNOLIA BLOSSOMS!

Love the house when the sun is out; things look so happy even with the dead winter grass.
Yes, Centipede grass dies completely back during winter!
Do you notice that the shadow of our live oak tree on the wall looks like another tree?

Sadly our Italian cypress trees are brown...
Not looking too happy and we lost already one of the total three.
Again, looking like two live oak trees with the strong shadow on the wall!
Also in the photo below, that shadow remains.

Husband Pieter took those last three photos.
Taken from behind the pond with the gazebo visible too.
One of our kitties is walking past the wall.
The sunshine makes that wall look almost white; which is not the case as you see in the above photo.
Love the reflection in the water.
Spring is in the air and I'm happy because of it!

Related links:

{Magnolia Blossoms on December 30} | previous post by me

{SPRING 2011 IS GRADUATING!} | previous post by me showing PERFECT MAGNOLIA BLOSSOMS

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia}

Let's start with these series of husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia on his People to People Citizen Ambassador Program.

On Friday, March 20, 1987 we both left for the Atlanta airport to leave the USA.

Pieter was flying west bound to East Asia and I was flying east bound to Europe...
So we hugged each other goodbye for 3 weeks and Pieter left with Northwest Airlines for Seattle, Washington state, via Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota.
My plane left some 7 hours later so I stayed with some elderly friends till than.

This is an actual photo from Pieter at his final destination in China!
~ 
Everything on Pieter's Northwest flight went well, and upon arrival in Seattle, they did have a briefing with the entire delegation.
They also had to practice eating peanuts with chopsticks, followed by dinner.
They stayed at the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in Seattle

The Four Seasons Olympic Hotel is now the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle but the address and even phone number did not change! 

Next morning after breakfast they again had some briefings, with Max Gerber of the Citizen Ambassador Program and guest speaker Karl Lo, Director of the University of Washington East Asia Library. 

After that we went by bus to the airport for check in.

Pieter got an upgrade with Northwest Orient and had seat # 12 in Executive class from Seattle to Tokyo, Japan on Northwest Orient flight 07.

Than somebody made a mistake and the evacuation slide came out and got inflated!

That caused two hours delay...

The flight to Tokyo was about 10-½ hours and it was a strange experience for having daylight the entire time. 

It was Pieter's first time, flying over the North Pole but he could not see anything because of cloudy weather.

To be continued...

Related links:

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{The Most Poisonous THREE-Letter Word... "EGO" - Overcome it}

 Here is another quote about the Most Poisonous Three-Letter Word... "EGO" - Overcome it.

We better let go of this "EGO" and become a more lovable person!

That makes us a little more 'angelic'

Like seen here on this Italian silver Giovanni Raspini Charm, with alphabet letter "E" and Angel for wearing your Name's First Letter.

Buy this 925/1000 silver 'E' alphabet angel for only USD 33.25 and FREE shipping within the USA:


Other alphabet letters are available at Spectrenoir ←just click.

Related links:

{The Most Selfish ONE-Letter Word... "I" - Avoid it} | previous post by me
{The Most Satisfying TWO-Letter Word... "WE" - Use it} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia}

It has been quite a challenge for finally working out this incredible East Asia journey to Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taipei...

Yes, after husband Pieter's actual trip on March 20, 1987 till April 10, 1987!

But it meant so much to him and due to his age, I wanted to get this out of the way before anything else!

Archiving things!

Pieter, being a world renown mushroom expert, got chosen for joining a group of 10, to visit Universities and lecturing and making field trips on behalf of the Mushroom Industry. 

His employer Campbell Soup did fully cover his expenses.

How much I would have loved to join him but we had absolutely no funds for doing so.

Paying for daughter Liz who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts and Design in Den Bosch, The Netherlands and also paying off the mortgage of our home at a hefty 9% rate for the time. As well as paying off my Ford Escort...

We also opted to fund the biggest part of Mom & Dad's FIRST flight to the USA...

So I did fly in opposite directions, to The Netherlands, when Pieter started his trip with a flight to Seattle, Washington.

This also proved to become our LONGEST time apart as Pieter had to go to Europe for about a week, right after Taipei.

In–between we had Mom & Dad for 3 weeks staying with us in the USA and I did most of the sight seeing with them as Pieter only had the weekends available.

I flew back with Mom & Dad to The Netherlands, as I had to do consulting work in Germany for 2 weeks...

All this while Pieter went to Australia and New Zealand for Campbell Soup.

We did have a very close blissful relationship via phone... 

PEOPLE TO PEOPLE

Fostering International Friendship... founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower

CITIZEN AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Advancing International Communication

HONORARY CHAIRMEN

People to People International
At that time it was President Ronald Reagan...

AIR SCHEDULE

People to People Mushroom Production Delegation to East Asia

ACCOMMODATIONS

Bear in mind that at that time we had no digital cameras yet and thus photos are not dated with information from area taken etc.

Due to our very turbulent life style at the time and an upcoming move from Georgia to Pennsylvania we never found the time for exchanging thoughts and viewing together his slides from this mega trip.
Also one box with slides etc. ??? got lost in that move... Making the puzzle only harder. 

But last year I managed to scan all available slides and now I also managed to scan some photos that Pieter had developed from his trip.

So in some upcoming posts you will get to see some of his incredible journey.

I also will try to visit some of your blogs...

Thanks a lot!

Related links:
{Hand Made Easter Egg Gift by Friend Ellie} | previous post by me showing the silk brocade table cloth
{Silk Embroidered Birds from China Trip} | previous post by me

{Silk Brocade for our PRINCE OF PEACE} | previous post by me showing the silk brocade table cloth that Pieter purchased in China...

{The Most Satisfying TWO-Letter Word... "WE" - Use it}

One more quote that is so valuable and even more so right after Valentine's Day we should remember this; year round. Also as a family or as a team with colleagues or in sports. 

Yes, keeping our Moral Compass pointing in the right direction is a healthy thing!

We better adhere to The Most Satisfying TWO-Letter Word... "WE" and Use it!

That makes us a little more 'angelic' when clinging to the "W"...

Like seen here on this Italian silver Giovanni Raspini Charm, with alphabet letter "W" and Angel

Alphabet letters are available at Spectrenoir ←just click.

Related link:

{The Most Selfish ONE-Letter Word... "I" - Avoid it} | previous post by me

{Lunch with Lovely 97 Year 'YOUNG' Role Model}

After a week with funerals and such, for the Lovely 97 Year 'YOUNG' Role Model Maryan, as well as for us, we managed to have our Lunch together on Saturday at Deano's Italian

Maryan Harris has been a true American Patriot as well.

She graduated from the Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia a First for Women colleges.

Being already a teacher, she did however join the WAVES, the women's section of the US Naval Reserve. She had a very interesting duty of coding and decoding.

You could read about this American Patriot but it has been removed...

She still is very sharp of mind and also a witty person to converse with, here with my husband Pieter.

And more important: YOUNG at heart.

Her choice was Pizza as they don't serve that very often at the nursing home where she resides...

There was enough left for taking back to her place to enjoy next day!

My choice was this Italian salad with olive oil and vinegar and added shrimps, which were so delicious and served warm!

Yes, we can brag about several great restaurants here in town and Deano's even got voted Georgia's #1 Pizza Place in 2013 and continues to earn high places.

Here I hug Maryan for her 90th Birthday and she celebrated that with Bubbly!

She also had my Mom & Dad over at her place in 2005, for Tea.

Many fond memories...

We do hope that we will be able to share many more together.

Thanks Maryan, for being such a great 'YOUNG' Role Model!

{Happy Valentine's Day}

Wishing you all a Happy Saint Valentine's Day!

Toi & Moi

{Gift Amaryllis Fully Blooms on Mom's Birthday in Heaven}

A rather sentimental day... We went to the funeral of a dear friend June and February 12 is also Mom's 2nd Birthday in Heaven.

A sunny day however and a beautiful Gift Amaryllis from sweet friends, given on my birthday, was fully blooming.

Such beautiful flowers really do lift up ones spirit!

A little miracle to see one by one 5 huge flowers unfold.

Sitting on the window sill in our Kitchen.

There is even a second bud, a bit lower, so we might see again an outburst of multi flowers!

Their stamens are very beautiful too.

What a joy such a gift!

In regard to my previous post, about living now with a Pain Free Back, I can add that also this Youtheory Turmeric supplement is available via Costco in the U.K. So for my European readers, that is another option to get it or mail order it through amazon.co.uk (just click on the hyperlink above) for a very reasonable price. Far better priced than the ones offered at amazon.fr and amazon.de as they ask outrageous prices around € 200 per bottle!

{Happy Birthday with a Pain Free Back} | previous post by me about my Auto Immune Disease

{The Most Selfish ONE-Letter Word... "I" - Avoid it}

We just start a period of the year where our Moral Compass could use some cleaning and attention...

Here a very inspirational quote:

The Most Selfish ONE-Letter Word... "I" - Avoid it

So very true in many ways!

We better let go of being Selfish!

Instead, we try for becoming a little more 'angelic' when clinging to the "I"...

Like seen here on this Italian silver Giovanni Raspini Charm, with alphabet letter "I" and Angel

Buy this 925/1000 silver 'I' alphabet angel for only USD 33.25 and FREE shipping within the USA:

Look for other available charms at Spectrenoir ←just click.

{Happy Birthday with a Pain Free Back}

Good news is that I was able to celebrate my Birthday with a Pain Free Back!

That in itself was the BEST gift one could wish for after more than a week of excruciating pain.

Because of my chronic kidney disease I cannot take any over the counter medication and neither did I want to start again on opiates, prescribed by my doctor. 

That's what I took in the end of 2009 when I was diagnosed with severe mid back arthritis...(?)

It resulted in being completely paralyzed, due to a rare auto immune disease and only with  Prednisone I was able to move again. But after taking that for about two years, my kidneys paid a price for curing this Polymialgia rheumatica.

So I'd rather tough it out and take nothing, except my daily supplement from Costco Wholesale the Youtheory Turmeric capsules that come with 180 in a pot.

Will show more below...

First a few Birthday dinner pictures...

Sorry for the poor quality... snapshots taken by husband Pieter with my iPhone, he even left out a friend...

I wore two layers of cashmere, a sleeveless mock neck and the very thin sweater with poetry that I showed in a previous post: {Cashmere Words of Wisdom & Update} 

Feeling doubly warm with this score from Last Call by Neiman Marcus that I also wore when I did FaceTime with Mom, two days before her death...

Since we had to arrange things last minute, due to my condition and not knowing if I would be able to sit through such a 5-course dinner, we were in a cozy group of four friends. Very special evening though!

At Ristorante da Maria from Dublin Farm "Come Home To The Country" I always do eat the dessert as well. Even being diabetes type 2... 
Here they just served mine with the birthday candle on top.

This was the choice of dinner and Pieter and I opted for the salmon.

Turmeric by Youtheory from Costco. Just click the hyperlink to go to my Pinterest board for further info after clicking on the photo!

This is what I have been taking during the time of my excruciating back pain and it sure did give me some relief! Usually I take one tablet per day but I went to two.

Turmeric seems to be an excellent anti-inflammatory support and also is good for your kidneys. Just click the hyperlink.

We might indeed be able to learn a great deal from countries where this has been used for centuries, such as India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and as part of Ayurveda and other branches of traditional medicine.

Youtheory® Turmeric Advanced Formula features Curcumin C3 Complex® - a patented turmeric extract that contains minimum 95% curcuminoids.

Costco just had as discount on these and I did stock up and will also mail some to my youngest sister in The Netherlands who suffers from Fibromyalgia.