Style matters and no one can ever match the style of the early riding pioneers like Ted Simon or Helge Pedersen. Really great style rides might include never going home, never taking an airplane.
Anyway I happily went home and took airplanes, again. A friend of mine the other day called it moto-tourism.
Anyway, the second plane broke down in a hilarious way, just as the pilot was taxiing for the runway in Manila so we stayed there for 24 hours
They have interesting buses in Manila, but. The Guatemalans would see these buses as Godless wrecks and the Phillipinos would think camionetas de pollos were modded by effeminates. One of those two would have it completely wrong
We had an email from a close friend recently, which turned into a discussion, asking for a really big favour if we ever got to Manila. She asked that I spring, heist, bribe, or do whatever has to be done to free a long-suffering elephant called Mali from the zoo here. Can you believe Townsend at times.
I’ve heard various things about Manila and wished it had been on the route after this short glimpse. We had a very strong first impression.
Anyway, despite the airline screwups, the airport had great wifi at MNL, for Blitz
Then, 42 hours later, home.
My traditional home view, for a reason too long to get into, looking west down Georgia from Granville. I’ve paused and looked down this street from here for more than half a century
Walked across the Burrard Street bridge a couple of times
Was a bit surprised at the huge number of new pot shops that have sprung up everywhere. This one had an incredible selection of food in the fridges. The sales guy gave me a warning about the cupcakes, said whoa, be careful of those
And of course the world’s best cocktails. The bartender dialing it in. Been a very long time since we’ve seen this kind of attention to service. Since we were last in Vancouver actually, nothing similar since. I’ve got a theory about this, but it can wait
Then, too soon, we headed back. This time it was difficult.
Through Narita with the new bike seat, there
To KL with the new bike seat
The longer you’re away from Vancouver the more you appreciate it. I’m extremely grateful for what has turned out to be a much more important walk-about than I anticipated, tough and low times (there have been a few) included. So thanks to however it happened.
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