WTVS News

Archive for October, 2009

I was at the used bookstore the other day and passed by two people who were looking through the travel section. They happened be looking at a book on Valencia, Spain as I walked by and this made me stop. I pretended to look at the pet care and training books on the other side of the isle while I listened to see if they were planning a vacation there. And it turns out, these lucky people were. Ah Valencia, it certainly brings back memories. I haven’t been there in years, but periodically have dreams that I’m there and the city continues to haunt me. Not in a creepy or frightening way, but in a beautiful and unforgettable way. Certain people feel strong connections to different cities, countries and geographical elements, yet I can’t imagine anyone who would not feel this type of connection to Valencia.

It must have been 8 years ago that I went there with a group of friends. It was one of those situations where one friend really wanted to go and organized it so that the more people that go involved the less expensive the trip would be. I was kind of reluctant at first because I was trying to save money for the next semester’s tuition, but finally my close friend talked me into going. And I’ll be forever grateful to her for doing so. We were able to stay in one of the Valencia hotels, and had three rooms between all of us.

One of the places I visited was the Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful and amazing. The Cathedral is located where the temple of Diana used to be in the Roman times, which gives an indication of the historic relevance and age of this city. Much of the architecture is beautiful and dates from various periods in history and this contributes to the awe and grandeur of its contemporary atmosphere. We visited Valencia just before the huge Fallas Festival began, so unfortunately we missed it. I’ve heard that it is an incredible event and full of spectacle, food and entertainment. The fallas themselves are lighted torches and I couldn’t help but to interrupt the potential travelers across from me in the bookstore to tell them about it. I’m pretty sure I helped them make the decision to go Valencia themselves.

I have always driven older cars with high odometer readings.  This has lead to some anxiety when taking off on road trips, or just simple driving through the city streets of Phoenix.  One time, my Honda Accord decided to just quit running, at midnight, on the I10 freeway heading from Pasadena to Santa Monica.  I pulled off to the side of the very infrequently deserted Los Angeles highway.  I popped my hood and spent a few minutes looking at the engine, as if I would somehow be able to figure out what was wrong.  But I knew nothing about DIY auto repair…I did not know how to do it myself.

A good friend of mine uses motor cycle manuals to fix his vintage BMW bike, but I always just assumed that the workings of an engine would just be too complicated to even try and understand.  So, I got back into my Honda and turned the key.  It started, so I sputtered along back to my friend’s house that I had just left, holding my breath the entire way.  I had no cell phone, so I had to make it back.  I left the car at his place and he drove me home.  The next day, I went back and had the car towed to my mechanic, who was conveniently located in South Pasadena.  The problem was a simple one, one that I really could have fixed, had I taken the time to learn just a little bit about the inner workings of my mysterious Honda.

The problem was with one of the radiator hoses.  I could have known that the hose was about to blow had, I just taken a little bit of time to learn how to spot problems waiting to happen.  The hose had been dried out from years of driving the car in the desert of Phoenix.  The part itself cost $10.  But between the tow and the labor, it cost just about $300. Sukha, my mechanic, was a very good man, which is the reason he was my mechanic even though I lived miles away in Santa Monica.  Not only did he let me watch him change the hose, he gave me one of his small engine repair manuals to take with me.  Now, I couldn’t rebuild an engine today, but the small things?  Well they just don’t scare me much anymore.  Thanks to Sukha in South Pas!

We had about a two hour flight from Bangkok to Singapore. We, my husband and I, travel a lot, and let me tell you, we’ve never seen a cleaner place than Singapore. It’s so organized and easy to travel too. There’s virtually no violent crime, everything’s spotless and very well designed. Yes, there’s a catch, there are plenty of illegal activities, but you just need to be aware of them, and you’ll be fine. It’s almost too sterile here, almost. The people make up for that! What a rich culture.

We checked into one of the top Singapore hotels before we wanted to do some sight seeing. Singapore is a very affluent small nation. We found there isn’t much in historical sights, most of the attractions here are manufactured, but wonderful! During the next few days we visited the Botanic Gardens, the Singapore Zoo, the ‘all the rave’ Night Safari and the absolutely stunning Jurong Bird Park. My husband and I are hard to impress, but we found all of these attractions to be well done and superb.

One place we visited was really unique and different, it’s the Haw Par Villa. A place with a vision of a man who invented Tiger Balm. He felt there wasn’t being enough done to educate the people of Singapore, so he began using is fortune to build a kind of a ‘morals’ outdoor theme park. It’s on his estate and made of concrete. It’s really weird, wacky and bizarre. Sometimes disturbing and very kitschy. He has a great collection of dioramas showing the perils of wrong behavior and showing rewards for the right behavior. In the center of all of this is a long artificial cave that is filled with figures depicting suffering, the ten levels of Hell and then there memories erased and there reborn to have another chance to get it right. We laughed a lot. It’s a must see if you come to Singapore.

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