" There is no greater power on this earth than story "
Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian actress to win the Oscar Academy Award for Best Actress in 2022 for starring " Everything Everywhere All at Once". When I started learning about travelling after my retirement in May 2006, it was not " Everything Everywhere " all at once ! I had to plan well (Lonely Planet style) & be selective so I had to prioritise & choose the touristy places I desire to visit nearer to my home country first ! A big learning curve for me & a testing of my mental, physical & spiritual strength ! China (The Great Wall of China), India (Taj Mahal) & South East Asian countries (these Asian countries have a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites too) were on top of my bucket list of countries I targeted to visit initially followed by Europe & countries like Egypt & Jordan (primary interest was to visit The Pyramid & Petra - both are Seven Wonders of the World) ! The most ambitious visit was on May 2009 when I made an overland bus trip from Tallinn, Estonia to St Petersburg & then to Moscow for my Russia with Love's Trans-Mongolia train trip to Irkutsk / Lake Baikal, Ulan Bataar (Mongolia) & Beijing (China).
My free & easy visits to various countries & pictures taken during these visits to a certain extent echoing, showing reflection or jogging my memory to a number of blockbuster films & moving songs of yesteryears ! While touring Aleppo, Syria, I bumped into Hotel Baron where Agatha Christie & T E Lawrence stayed while shooting the Arabic film " Lawrence of Arabia "; in downtown London, I walked past the London East End where " To Sir with Love " was filmed; an inside walk in Colosseum, Rome stirred my memory to the film "Gladiator"; my package tour to Eastern Europe including Salzburg, Austria & gardens visiting drew me to the background setting of " The Sound of Music ", visiting ancient & historic ruins of Italy, Mongolia & Beijing provided me a refresher course about the rise & fall of the Mongol, Roman & the dynasties of China, some of these storylines, narratives & actors were made into a script brought to life in blockbuster movies " Mongol ", " The Last Emperor " & " The Fall of Roman Empire " !
During my teenage & schooling years, I enjoyed watching blockbuster films & action packed thrillers eg The Sound of Music, Titanic, Gladiator, Ben-hur. Lawrence of Arabia, Towering Inferno, The King & I, The Bridge on River Kwai, From Russia with Love, The Big Boss, Shaolin Temple etc a number of these movies were Oscar Academy Award winners ! My children generation ie The Generation X (1965 > 1980) & Y (1981 > 1996) probably have not watched or have little inkling or knowledge about these blockbuster movies of yesteryears (quite often we ask what is the moral behind the blockbuster movie story ?), not to mention those who were born under the Generation Z (1997 > 2012) + The present TikTok generation.
Films which won The Best Picture Oscar Winners (Academy Awards) during my Good Old Days (to name a few) are The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben-hur (1959), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), Around the World in 80 days (1956), Gandhi (1982), The Last Emperor (1987), Titanic (1997), Gladiator (2000) ...... Some of the Best Actors & Actresses who star in these Oscar Awards are Paul Newman, Robert de Niro, William Holden, Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Elizabeth Taylor, Sydney Poitier, Julie Andrews .....
Time flies ! Famous film stars / actors / actresses had since passed away are Yul Brynner, Sean Connery, Julie Andrews, William Holden, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sydney Poitier, Bruce Lee, Charlton Heston, Steve Mcqueen & Paul Newman .....
In travelling, you are always somewhere bringing home a story to tell ! If you have ever accomplished a big free & easy trip, solo or with your travel buddies, take pride of it as though you have won an Oscar Academy award !
My two cents on some of these blockbuster films:
- " 300: Rise of an Empire " - Rome was not built in one day (great achievements do not take shape overnight). All roads lead to Roma (there are many ways to achieve the same result). When in Rome, do as what Romans do (when you are visiting another place, you should follow the customs of the people in that place) !
- " The Sound of Music " - The hills in Rajasthan, India are very much alive when I together with a travel buddy visited Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur & Jaipur, India in Dec 2023 !
- " From Russia with Love " - Love my once in a life time exciting Tran-Siberian solo train ride from Moscow > Irkutsk / Lake Baikal, Russia > Ulan Baatar, Mongolia > Erlian & Beijing, China (May 2009)
- " Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" - A steep uphill walk (together with my wife, I was born a tiger & my wife a dragon) from the foothill to the Temple Arch Bridge, Cangyanshan, Jingxing County, Hebei, China (Oct 2024)
- " The Last Emperor " - Puyi, the last emperor of China to ordinary citizen !
- "Yesterday" - I was working over a span of 36 years (1969 > 2006), now I am half a man I used to be !
- " To Sir with Love " - earning respect & winning the heart !
- " The Killing Fields " - Sad to say Gaza has now become a killing field !
- " The Towering Inferno " - a grim reminder of the 911 incident in New York !
- " The King & I " - The Grand Palace of Bangkok & The Land of Smiles.
- " The Vikings " - Bergen, Norway was founded by a Viking king & has a strong ties with Viking history.
- " Titanic " - Belfast, North Ireland is the place where Titanic was designed, built & launched !
1) The King & I (1956) starring Yul Brynner) & The Grand Palace of Bangkok, Thailand - my weekend visit to Grand Palace with my colleagues after attending a training workshop in Bangkok (Dec 2005) prior to my retirement in May 2006 !
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| Grand Palace, Bangkok Thailand (Dec 2005) |
2) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) starring William Holden) & Kanchanaburi Death Railway, Thailand - my 12 days free & easy visit with my Klang buddies to Bangkok, Thailand (Jan 2016).
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| Bridge On The River Kwai Kanchanaburi, Thailand (Jan 2016) |
3) The Last Emperor (1987) & Imperial Palace Museum, Changchun, Jilin, China - my 28 days free & easy solo visit to Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong & Beijing, China (Aug 2015)
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| Imperial Palace Museum Changchun, Jilin, China (Aug 2015) |
4) The Sound of Music (1965) starring Julie Andrews) & Salzburg, Austria - my 14 days package tour to Eastern Europe with my wife & a sister (Aug 2018)
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| Salzburg, Austria (Aug 2018) |
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| Egypt Museum, Cairo Egypt (Oct 2008) |
6) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) starring Zhang Ziyi & CangYanShan, Jingxing, Hebei, China - my 14 days free & easy visit with my wife & 2 travel buddies to Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Jingxing County & Gubei Water Town (Oct 2014)
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| Temple Arch Bridges CangYanShan, Jingxing Hebei, China (Oct 2014) |
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| Golden Temple, Yangon Myanmar (Jan 2012) |
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| Shaolin Temple, Henan, China (Sept 2009) |
9) The Big Boss (1971) starring Bruce Lee) - my 3 days free & easy visit to Hong Kong & Macau from Guangzhou, China (Sept 2013)
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| Bruce Lee Statute Hong Kong (Sept 2013) |
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| London East End, England (April 2009) |
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| Troy, Canakkale, Turkey (Sept 2008 & Nov 2018) |
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| Colosseum, Rome, Italy (May 2010) |
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| Jerash, Jordan (Sept 2008) |
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| Red Square, Moscow Russia (May 2009) |
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| Times Square, New York, USA (May 2019) |
War Remnant Museum, Ho Chih Minh
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| Choeung Ek Genocidar Centre Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Jan 2014 &Feb 2018) |
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| A Dream of Red Mansion, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang China (Oct 2024) |
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| Impression Liu Sanjie Show Yangshou, Guangxi, China (Dec 2023) |
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| Iga, Ninja City, Japan (May 2008) |
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| Genghis Khan Tourist Area, Ordos Inner Mongolia (Aug 2024) |
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| Rome, Italy (May 2010) |
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| Bergen, Norway (May 2011) |
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| Titanic Belfast, Northern Ireland (May 2014) |
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| 911 Memorial & Ground Zero New York, USA (May 2018) |
24) Gandhi (1982) & Gandhi Smriti Museum, New Delhi, India - my 24 days free & easy first time visit to India (July 2007).
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| Gandhi Smriti Museum New Delhi, (July 2007) |
25) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) starring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sheriff & Anthony Quinn) & Hotel Baron, Aleppo, Syria
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| Hotel Baron, Aleppo Syria (Sept 2008 ) |
26) The Fall of Roman Empire (1964) & my 40 days free & easy solo visit to Europe (May 2010)
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| Rome, Italy (May 2010) |
Teresa Teng's Moving Song "The Story of A Small Town" - my 4 days free & easy visit to a Southern Thailand / Malaysian northern border town of Betong (a small town full of vibes) with my wife, a bother & sister (July 2023)
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| Betong, Thailand (July 2023) |
26) John Denver's Moving Song " Country Roads Take Me Home " to the place I belong ! A number of my free & easy trips in Asia are via scenic country roads far away from home ! But I enjoyed every moment of it !
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| Country Roads - Cameron Highlands > > Tapah, Perak, Malaysia (July 2019) |
27) Harry Chapin's Moving Song " All my Life is a Circle " I can't tell you why ! My travelling life from retirement to the present (2006 > 2025), LIFE is like a cycle, let's go round one more time !
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| Kanas Lake, Xinjiang, China The Start of my Travelling Life (May 2006) |
28) The Beatles's Moving Song " Yesterday " - I am not half the man I used to be - learn from Yesterday, live for Today & hope for Tomorrow ! My most recent free & easy trip was on a 16 days visit to North Sumatra, Indonesia.
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| Masjid Raya Baithurrahman Acheh, North Sumatra, Indonesia My visit of Yesterday (June 2025) |
29) Cliff Richard's Moving Song " Summer Holiday " we are all going for a summer holiday ! My 6 days free & easy summer holiday to Maldives with two of my travel buddies from Subang Jaya, Selangor.
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| Maldives (August 2017) |