Unravelling The Travel

There's never ever been a year where I've travelled as much as I have this year. I travelled for a whole host of reasons - retreat, holiday, sports, missions and business. So after a year of being here, there and everywhere, I thought I'd blog a summary of my tavels.

It started early in the year when I put my SUV (a Hyundai Tucson) to the test by driving up to Malaysia's Cameron Highlands. The car proved it had grit despite being overweight and struggling just a bit to keep up with a Nissan Cefiro and a Subaru Legacy when we made our ascent. On the highways, my wheels kept pace. Despite having safety in numbers in our four-vehicle convoy, we also did cheeky leap-frogging on the straight, taking turns to take the lead. I have an appetite for speed and exhiliration as would most men my age, but you're never able to feed it on roads at home.

I never expected to dig up comments by former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad to support my point, but I thought his remarks, albeit cutting, drove (pardon the pun) home the point:

In Singapore, there are roads but when shifting into fourth gear, you fall into the sea because it (the country) is not big....It (Singapore) is only 18 miles from Keppel harbour to the Causeway. Not even time to change into fourth gear. You buy a Ferrari you can't change into fourth gear, there is no use. So we want to give them the opportunity to change into fourth gear on our roads.

In the first quarter of the year, I set foot on Hong Kong for a company retreat. I found the Chinese territory somewhat disappointing on these two counts - customer service and the PSI (pollutant standards index) of the island. I'd heard much about the delicious food (especially its dim sum) and was largely satisfied with the quality of meals I had. I was however almost scalded when a waiter half flung a bowl of steaming hot noodle dumpling soup onto the table. Despite their lack of quality service, the wait staff also failed to demonstrate patience while we chose items from their menu. It didn't help that the menu was in Chinese. Would I return to the territory? Yes. With thicker skin and more grace. If not for friends of my wife and me living and working there, there'd be every reason to give the former British colony a miss. To confirm my impressions, I've been asking interviewees whom I've hosted on my programme through the course of the year about how they'd rate Hong Kong in relation to Singapore in terms of living standards. The results tipped in favour of the Lion city. Enough said.

Then came May and I was off on a fully-sponsored business trip to Sydney, Australia, thanks to promotional efforts by Tourism New South Wales to market Sydney and its coastal and hinterland attractions as places to visit. It was their second time buying a Mother's Day Package on my station and I was heartened they came back for a second run after a successful campaign with us two years ago. It was great having my own mum come along on this trip.

Then for two weeks of August this year, like in 2005 and 2006, I was helping to (spiritually) plow the fields in rural villages in Kenya. My wife and I were part of a church mission team that visited a mission station headed by Pastor Richard Musyoki and his Singaporean wife Jenny. My third trip this time left me a fresh impression of Kenya after we visited a safari. It confirmed what the wildlife documentaries on tv had screened were all for real!

Last month, I travelled for the sole purpose of my sporting passion - tennis! Together with two colleagues who are even more hardcore tennis fans than I am, we packed our luggage (and tennis rackets) and jetted off to China to catch the season-ending ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai. I absolutely enjoyed the early chills of winter in the air, but even more, seeing real-life action on court at the Qi Zhong Stadium and all the big guns of tennis - Federer, Djokovic, Roddick, Davydenko, the Bryan brothers and a host more. The food was fabulous and if that's not good enough reason to get me back to Shanghai, how about tailoring at a steal of just S$20 for a long-sleeved business shirt?! Twas also great catching up with Juliana on the trip.

My last drop-in of 2008 found me on Cambodian soil earlier this month. Sponsored by the Singapore International Foundation, it was to lend coverage to one of their Singapore Volunteers Overseas porgrammes. Got to meet and speak with fellow countrymen driven there to make a difference and be a catalyst of positive change in the rural communitites of Phnom Penh. I managed to schedule other interviews with locals there so I could bring part of Cambodia home and share it on air.

Where next? Well, maybe a trip back to Hong Kong in the early part of 2009 for a short getaway and to catch up with friends and family there for Dorcas & I. We're also setting our sights on the UK around mid-year, but that's still tentative.

Meantime, here's wishing you a Blessed Christmas season and keep safe in your holiday travels!