In loving memory
Gerri Hickman 1953-2005
Dedicated to the life and memory of Gerri Hickman. Loving wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend and teacher. Gerri was only 52 years old when she lost her 4 year battle with breast cancer on 9 April 2005. We miss her!
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Singapore
In 2011, Singapore became the 5th highest average hotel room rate city in the world. With only 2 casinos, in one year, Singapore has become the second largest gaming (revenue) destination in the world, 2nd only to Macau, Las Vegas trails with 78 casions and is in 3rd place. The population of Singapore is approximately 4.86 million. Singapore is very cosmopolitan and diverse with Chinese people forming an ethnic majority with large populations of Malay, Indian and others. English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese are the official languages.
Getting Started
Over the years there have been things that I have experienced or observed that have made me laugh, cry, get mad or just want to share with others... And maybe, just sometimes, I might have an opinion or two or maybe even a few more. Here are a few of those instances. Welcome to my world... So go make yourself a drink and take a look at some of my experiences over the years.
Mumbai airport was my entry point and stands out as they are upgrading the airport. However, for current travellers (and certainly for passengers for the next couple years) it is like picking your way through a mine field... It is great to have wheels on your suitcase but mine did not survive being dragged over chunks of concrete, the smallest being the size of your fist (and that was inside the terminal). Third failed suitcase this year! Bangalore was where I spent the most time in a car as the property I was visiting was way out of town. I timed my arrival
exactly at the right moment to experience when thousands (no exaggeration) of trucks are allowed to enter the city (banned from entering the city 6am-9pm, to help solve the already impossible road congestion). I hit the roads from the airport at preciously 905pm. Imagine thousands of dark, smelly, angry, woolly mammoths lumbering to life and taking over every lane, shoulder with total disregard to direction of flow... Imagine the smells that a huge beast that has been sleeping for a 1000 years would give off (internal and external) spewing and blackening already polluted skies... Not one with head nor 
taillights, no side or rear-view mirrors and every one of them painted with the words "OK to Honk", on the back. The one rule everyone follows, ALL THE TIME! "NO FEAR" best describes my driver who got us through it all, amazingly unscathed but weary after 3 hours of dodging huge over loaded semi's, oh, and did I mention the cows (literally the kind that moo! a sacred beast in India) are wandering aimlessly through the maze of broken down and diagonally parked trucks and randomly crossing the road at every street-light-less curve? The drive back to the airport the next day was no less memorable... Chennai presented me with a 900am appointment. To which I am happy to report I was 15 minutes early for! Dressed in a crisp white shirt, my "power red" tie and freshly pressed suit even if I do say myself, I was looking like something out of GQ! I headed to the elevators to find them 'under repair'. All four and the signs looked like they had been there a long time... The office was on the 12th floor, easily do-able in an air-conditioned building... (I think you know where this is going), did I mention it was 94 degrees with 98 % humidity and then there were the resort catalogues I was toting along with computer etc etc... By the time I arrived I looked like the poster boy for The World's Dirtiest Jobs'. The only crease left on me was where my shoulder strap had sunk in well below normal shoulder skin level... Calcutta was memorable on so many levels... Most of which (traffic, heat, smells etc.) I have already mentioned so won't repeat myself...
Add to it flooding from monsoon rains, a huge impoverished, highly illiterate population headed by government officials who say things like (no joke, this is a real quote) "we need to stop hydro-electricity from entering our state because it will take all the electricity out of the water and we will be powerless"! Need I say more... But to leave on a positive note and show my glass over-floweth... I am not going to even mention the diarrhoea or fever that kicked in midweek.. I will say India is the best place in the world to be a driver (bus, truck, private car etc). Where else can you climb behind the wheel of a vehicle with no prior experience, no licence, no tests, no rules, no right of way... NO FEAR! Its back to Vietnam next week I am sure to have something to report... Lessons Learned in Asia
Wednesday, 09 May 2007 It is now getting unbelievably close (and dare I admit this and disclose my true age...) to half a century that I have travelled in/to Asia and close to a quarter of a century of residing therein. One might think, as I did, that I would have learned my lessons over the years and that I would be fairly knowledgeable of Asian ways. However, in the past several weeks, I have learned that old lessons are sometimes forgotten and there is a lot more lessons to be learned. Some of these may seem a bit random but if you bear with me, you will see where I am headed...
Lesson #1 - learned as a young boy, when laying on the floor watching TV in the living room, do not lay too close to the sofa around 6pm.
Lesson #2 - learned as a young boy, my father came home from work (see time in Lesson #1), kicked off his shoes, sat on the couch and took control of the TV.
Lesson #3 - learned as a young boy, the alpha male controls the TV remote (back then, referred to as the clicker). This is a life lesson, really not germane to this message, but something that is undoubtedly understood by women, beta & younger males & children the world over and is also a lesson young people need to learn.
Lesson #4 - learned as a young boy, my father's feet smelled absolutely terrible after a long day at work (thus Lesson #1 was very important to remember).
Lesson #5 - learned over the years, crack the window slightly when you enter many taxis in S.E. Asia as they often smell exactly like my father's feet (see Lesson #4).
Lesson #6 - learned several weeks ago, when un-bagging groceries at home, if you think you bought something at the store, but don't find it in the bags, do not assume you forgot to actually put it in the cart or the clerk neglected to bag it.
Lesson #7 - learned several weeks ago, don't be lazy, take the elevator down 17 floors, walk back over to the parking garage and check to see if the item mentioned in Lesson #6 might have fallen out of the bag and is actually still in the car.
Lesson #8 - learned several weeks ago, when leaving the country for a four week trip, refer to Lesson #7.
Lesson #9 - learned a few weeks ago, when returning from a trip as described in Lesson #8 do not wait another week to check on your car especially if you did not heed Lesson #7.
Lesson #10 - learned a couple weeks ago, a rock melon (also referred to as a cantaloupe) can completely disintegrate and be reduced to seeds, white fungus growing on the leather-like remaining rind and a home for fruit flies on the front passenger seat of a car when the car is parked unattended in the tropics for the time period discussed in Lessons #7 & 8.
Lesson #11 - learned a couple weeks ago, the juices from a rotting rock melon drip down the back of the passenger seat into and stain carpets & the underlying pads, and actually eats through the leather of the seat outlined in Lesson #10.
Lesson #12 - learned over the past couple weeks, the item referred to in Lesson #11 smells almost, but not quite as bad, as my father's feet (see Lesson #4)! And, all the carpet and leather cleaners in the world can't reverse any of the problems caused under the circumstances discussed in Lesson #11.
Lesson #13 - learned this weekend, from a trusted Asian friend, an old S.E. Asian trick is to put a bundle of pandan leaves (long palm like leaf sold in local stores and used almost like tin foil when cooking) under the seat described in Lesson #10 to absorb odours and leave the car smelling fresh.
Lesson #14 - learned on Monday night, do not blindly follow the advice of those mentioned in #13 without asking some clarifying questions.
Lesson #15 - learned on Monday night, after sitting in the sun all day, a car with pandan bundles under the seat (see Lesson #13) smells just like a smelly taxi!
Lesson #16 - learned in life, I really really hate the smell of pandan leaves left in a car (see Lessons #5 & 15).
Lesson #17 - learned a couple weeks ago, I prefer the smell of rotted rock melon to pandan leaves and my father's feet (see Lessons #4 & 13).
Lesson #18 - learned today, a replacement leather seat and rear carpet for a 7-series BMW cost $1,250 in Singapore (see Lesson #11) I suggest you learn at least Lessons #6, 7, 8 & 9, that way you won't have to learn Lesson #18!
Remember, you are never too old to learn...
Only in China
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 9:46 AM
Subject: Only in China.... I had business in Shenzhen, China on Wednesday and spent the night there. (For those of you not familiar with China, Shenzhen is on the southern coast just across the border from Hong Kong. It is a relatively small city by China standards (about 10+ million people) and one of the fastest growing cities in China. The border crossing to Hong Kong is the busiest in the world with an average of 200,000+ people passing through daily, 300,000 on holidays!
Inspected a couple resorts and had meetings followed by a 10-course Chinese dinner with the head guy and his management team. After which, he asked if I would like to watch the World Cup, Portugal was playing (and beat) Mexico. (For my USA friends, The World Cup is the world soccer finals. The World Cup is, to the rest of the world, what in the USA is, the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Play-offs rolled into one). I said that would be great let's turn on the TV and he said we would go somewhere else to do so.
Minutes later his car pulled up, it was a beautiful, new, gold, 7 Series BMW. When we hopped in my eyes were drawn to two things... 1. My client's wife, a stunning 25 year old (husband is 50+) former professional dancer, now actress in a hit Chinese TV drama. The 2nd thing that caught my eye (and hurt to see) was the interior of the car; (champagne coloured leather) was covered with Snoopy (yes, the dog from the Peanuts cartoon) paraphernalia. Stuffed Snoopys in the year window, Snoopy floor mats front and back, various plastic Snoopy toys glued to the dashboard including the 'bobbing head, almost-life-size Snoopy' (I guess since Snoopy was never really alive one cannot say life size, so I guess I should say as big as I imagine it would be if it was a real dog...) on the dashboard and even Snoopy seat covers... And to top it off, blaring from the 12 speaker, state-of-the-art sound system was something that could only be described as the Chipmunks singing a Mandarin version of "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?” It all made for an interesting ride.We pulled up to the front of a building that could only be described as a Las Vegas casino entrance. Flashing lights, massive entrance, doorman and lots of activity. We descended the grand staircase into what looked like a busy 5-star hotel lobby. There were lots of uniformed staff running around and we were approached by a man in a tuxedo. A few Mandarin words were exchanged and we were all handed a numbered bracelet with a key dangling from it, I was number 11125. The guys (3 of us) were ushered in one direction and the wife in another.
Through a maze of doors and hallways we emerged into the largest locker-room I have ever seen. The 11,125 number on my bracelet was probably in direct correlation with the number of lockers... No sooner had we entered when two attendants appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and escorted me to a locker bearing the same number as my bracelet...
Before I could really grasp what was going on, one of the guys was untying my shoes and the other unbuttoning my shirt. I fended them off and finished undressing myself while they stared at me doing so. I was then escorted to the showers and pushed in a shower stall. I emerged clean but found the towel that I left hanging on the hook missing. The two guys were waiting for me and no amount of gesturing seemed to make them understand I wanted my towel. They indicated I was to follow them. We rounded a corner and my guides left me and I turned to find a huge indoor swimming pool, with waterfalls, Jacuzzi sections, Vichy water tables, big screen TV's on every wall it was incredible! The bad part... there had to be close to 300 naked Chinese guys running (almost frolicking) around enjoying the facilities...
I started to worry... Now you should know that I am not exactly the modest type... but this was definitely NOT my 'scene'... I looked around for my associates but they were nowhere to be found.
I spied a doorway on the other side of the pool and headed in that direction on (still bare assed mind-you) so I opened the door hesitantly afraid of what/who would be on the other side. Fortunately, on the far side were floor to ceiling shelves of towels and clothing with attendants handing out brown, gauze shorts, shirts (really more like a midriff top, not a pretty sight with my belly hanging out) and slippers. Again, the attendants try to help dress you but I pushed them away demonstrating I am capable of pulling on my own shorts. Moderately covered I pressed on to new frontiers...
Through the next doorway I found a massive living room type area. Couches (maybe 40 or 50) coffee tables and maybe 100 people (men and women) lounging around drinking tea, smoking and watching 60 inch plasma TVs that adorned every wall and pillar. We were all wearing the same colour/style shorts, tops and slippers. I looked around for my associates to no avail so I found an empty seat and planted myself. o sooner did my rear-end touch the couch when a glass of hot tea was put down in front of me and I was offered a cigarette (which, I declined for those of you concerned about me going back to bad habits...) and some fruit.
I watched the warm-up show for the football match for a while when my host came up and said he was looking for me in the pool... I mumbled something about not being able to swim.... The wife showed up, albeit she looked a whole lot better in her shorts, midriff top and sandals than the men... We marched into a restaurant (mind you, we had just had a 10 course Chinese meal an hour or so prior...) we were served green tea, sliced fruit and ice cream (choice of 6 flavours)...
We sat there for about a half hour chatting when a young woman came to escort us to another area. We rounded the corner to find ourselves in a huge cinema except, and I am only guessing here, there were 300 loungers (recliner/single sofa), stair-stepped and facing a huge movie theatre-sized screen showing the match. In those seats were 300 people getting head, shoulder and foot massages AND while be massaged, they were getting a manicure and/or pedicure... AT THE SAME TIME! There were at least 2, often 3 attendants to every customer.
We were escorted to the VIP section where, in addition to being able to clearly see the big screen, we each had our own, individual 19 inch plasma TV that swivelled in front of our face. 200 cable channels, everything from Chinese opera to CNN, HBO to Italian soap operas. The speakers were in the head rest and could be adjusted to cut out all other noise in the room. I had no sooner sat back and was about to catch up on my daily fix of the BBC when I had a girl start giving a manicure, a guy giving me a pedicure while another girl was massaging my head and shoulders. This time I did not object!
That went on for over an hour. The interesting thing about the nail treatments is that they did not use a nail clipper or a file. Everything from cutting the nails, to trimming cuticles and getting rid of calluses was done with razor blades. Amazingly, not a drop of blood was spilt (neither theirs nor mine) and I can only described when I look down is, I now have "happy feet".... They have not been that smooth or trim since I was a baby. Oh, did I mention that while sitting there we were served more cut fruit, a variety of teas and choice of noodle dishes? All the while we watched Mexico lose to Portugal, 2-3...
You might think that would be the end of the evening, after all, it was well past midnight. But no, an attendant came up to us and escorted us to a bank of elevators and when we emerged from the lift several stories up where we found a labyrinth of massage rooms, 525 massage rooms to be exact. The rooms had massage tables for 2, 4, 6, 8 or 12 persons. Each room had a 60 inch plasma TV. We were escorted to a VIP massage room which included four massage beds, five 60 inch plasma TVs (one on each wall and one on the ceiling so no matter which way you faced you had a view, four massage chairs and EIGHT attendants! For the next two hours we were massaged, stretched and, at times, seemingly beat to a pulp. Hands were poking and prodding everywhere (but not 'there', for those of you with dirty minds). No talking by anyone in the group, just the odd moan or groan as muscles were pulled and joints were cracked. />
At 2:30am we were escorted to another restaurant and served a variety of Chinese dishes and 'healing teas' it was there we discussed the pros and cons of our massage therapists.;
Finally at 330am we were escorted back to the showers and lockers where, once again, I fended off the attendants and demonstrated I am capable of pulling up my own underwear...
They drove me back and dropped me off at my hotel at 400am. As I got out of the car my client says "so, breakfast at 700?"
.... Only in China!
Sent: 28 June 2006 12:12ubject: Only in China - PostscriptI have received considerable feedback from my previous email on the above topic...Just to clear the air...
The food, head & neck massage, pedicure, manicure, full body massage by two attendants, dressing and undressing services did come at a pretty hefty price. I didn't want anyone to think I am living this decadent lifestyle and not paying my fair share.Total cost of the Was well over 280 RMB (about US$35). That included the HUGE 50 RMB (US$6.25) tip I recklessly tossed in at the last minute. I just didn't want anyone to think that I don't 'give back' to the locals when I give them the opportunity to serve me in the manner I so richly deserve...
I am sure you can get a better deal at your local beauty/massage parlour...
Gerri's sister Kathy flew over from the USA for a two week visit. They had a non-stop schedule that went something like this...
Tuesday was off to Holland Village to see the Dressmaker. Three new suits for Kathy and skirts for Alexis and vests for Gerri. They sampled laksa and glass noodles at the Thai Express. After an afternoon of shopping they met Joe for drinks in the Union Bar at the American Club.
Wednesday was their day for pampering with a trip to Bellissima for manicures and pedicures. 
They moved on to Arab Street to idle over the beautiful textiles. The last item for the day was movie night at Great World City Shopping Centre. They saw Lara Croft Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life in the Golden Classic theatre. While sitting in Barcaloungers, they had popcorn and sodas delivered by a waiter.
Thursday they hit the museums, first at the Ming Village Museum where they saw how they still make the blue and white Ming Vases. After a quick stop at a local noodle shop they went to the Asian Civilizations Museum on Armenian Street. They have a fantastic exhibit on the Peranakan Culture. Later that evening after quickly packing an overnight bag they crossed over the Causeway into Malaysia. They spent the night at Palm Resort.
Friday saw them out on the golf course by 9 am. After six months of no golf they did amazingly well. Kathy was a terror in the cart and on her short game. They lunched at Swee Kee on chicken rice. Making the loop they stopped in Johor Bahru for a bit of movie shopping. They had all the latest and greatest movies.....such a deal. By the time they reached home they were ready to relax and have a movie night.
Saturday they toddled off to see the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore. They lunched at the Fullerton Hotel on satay and crab cakes. They walked across
the Singapore River on Cavenaugh Bridge. On the other side they went to the Empress Place Museum which had fabulous exhibits on all the Southeast Asian Cultures. There were many interactive exhibits to enjoy. They spent several hours in the museum, not really doing it justice, but they were forced to leave at closing. Then it was off to dine at the Amara Hotel for Thai food.
Sunday the gang got up and had 'brunch' at Lei Gardens dim sum style. After trying to get Kathy to eat chicken feet which she would not do, they settled for char siew bau and har
gau. Joe did a bit of grocery shopping at Tanglin Marketplace while Kathy and Gerri ogled all the things she doesn't get in California. Then they took off for the Malay Village. There was a cultural museum and shops; fortunately it was the only disappointing outing of their time together. Then they drove out to visit Changi Prison and the Chapel museum.
Monday saw Gerri and Kathy back at Holland Village for a fitting of Kathy's outfits at the Dressmaker. They did a bit of souvenir shopping at the shops in Holland Village. After a quick lunch at Deli France they shot off to Chjimes to do some more souvenir shopping there. They crossed the street in search of a soda and ended up at Raffles City
Shopping centre. They enjoyed a soda there while watching the water fountain which surprisingly was designed by a firm in California. They raced back to pick up Joe at his office and had dinner at the Japanese Tonkatsu restaurant in Takashimaya. After dinner they dropped Joe off at home and they headed out to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. They saw lots of nocturnal animals. They especially enjoyed listening to the hyenas howling at the moon.
Tuesday Kathy and Gerri were back up bright and early for a day on Sentosa Island. They drove the car across onto the island, where they parked in one lot and then rode the monorail around to all the attractions. They saw Fort Siloso which was where the British tried to protect Singapore from the Japanese. They enjoyed the Underwater World, Dolphin Lagoon, going up in the Merlion that they have on the island, and last but not least the Images of Singapore which is their very own historical wax museum. The Dolphin Lagoon was charming in their attempt to be
like a Sea World wannna be, but truly the best part was that a storm whipped up while they were sitting on the beach in plastic patio chairs under canvas tents. The wind blew so hard that their hair was blown straight back from their faces. They dragged themselves home at the end of the day to collapse on our Lazy Boy recliners.
Wednesday and Thursday the girls spent on Bintan, an Indonesian Island. They took the ferry (hydra-foil) for a one hour trip to the island. They were bussed to Angsana Resort where they proceeded to do absolutely nothing, but had a blast doing it. They spent time by the pool, sitting on the balcony, and eating in the one and only restaurant at the resort. Pool time on Thursday was interrupted by ANOTHER storm whipping up. It got so dark and windy, that it chased all the guests away from the pool. Kathy and Gerri spent the rest of the day filling out their family tree books that they got at Borders and laughed themselves silly reminiscing over family stories.
Friday morning they took the Ferry back to Singapore in time to race to Holland Village for one final fitting of our outfits. Then they taxied to Orchard to have one last go at souvenir shopping. They cruised Lucky Plaza for the best bargains and found a few interesting items for the family. Later that evening they dragged Joe out for Chinese in the Pacific Room at the American Club.
Saturday, being National Day - Singapore Independence Day, they stayed home enjoying the pool and bumming around.Sunday they rode Bumboats on Singapore River for a different look at Singapore. They had lunch at Clark Quay. In the afternoon Joe whipped up his famous Cosmopolitans for them to sip while enjoying the sunset. They met Joe’s colleagues at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant on the East Coast to enjoy a delicious meal of chilli crab and drunken prawn.
There are lots more pictures but seems they are missing the cable for the digital camera... They should be able to download and add more pictures very soon...
In spite of what Jacky may tell you... Joe was the clear Canasta champion!!! And yes this is actually how Jacky looks at the card table!
<honest?...>
Our lease expired in January 2003 and we have decided to buy a place rather t
han continuing to throw money down the drain... I wonder if buying a place in Singapore is much different than buying anywhere else? Watch this space as it unfolds...
Sat 28 September 2002 - Went to a property seminar and learned that it is a pretty good time to buy here as the prices are just starting to creep up again after being quite low since the economic slump. Have talked to our bank and they are helping us find a good real estate agent to work with.
Wed 09 October 2002 - Had the agent over to the house to talk about what we are looking for in terms of a place. Walked him around our current dwelling and pointed out the things we like and don't like to give him and idea of what we are interested in seeing. He said he would arrange a viewing for this coming weekend.
Sun 13 October 2002 - Our first day of house viewing was disappointing to say the least. The agent picked us up and took us to one place. It was 
occupied (complete with a couple still in bed as we wandered around...), dirty and old. The only redeeming thing about it was the fact that it was close to the MRT. The agent assured us he would have more and better places to look at next weekend.
Wed 16 October 2002 - Our Agent called to say he had to go to Australia to attend his
brothers wedding so he can not show us around this weekend as promised (you would have thought he would have mentioned a wedding the previous week). I was quite annoyed and after some prodding he said he would have another agent put together some places for viewing over the weekend. For those of you in the USA it is no easy thing here to view property because only the owner and/or their designated agent have the key and they don't have open house as a rule. So you have to make appointments and keep your fingers crossed that the owner/agent will be on time as they have the only key. Oh, and they are almost never on time!Sat 19 October 2002 - The substitute agent was quite good. Pleasant personality, listened to what we where looking for and arranged a couple of good places to look at. We are feeling a bit better about the selection... Of course the places we want are in the big dollar range but all I want to spend is in the mid dollar... Gerri couldn't go looking today as she had a class to attend. The agent and I went into a unit at Morningside. Great unit that I think I want Gerri to come back and see it. They are asking big bucks but am told it is negotiable... The other places were not bad but not exactly what we are looking for.
Sat 02 November 2002 - No house hunting last week as I was on a business trip. I had asked the agent to arrange us getting back into Morningside so Gerri can take a look but he advised that it sold for real dollars.
Today only got to see one place. Great little place but was on the 4th story with no elevator... Wouldn't be that bad climbing the stairs on the way in/out each day but carrying groceries or God forbid, something much heavier, would be a real work out. Also no storage area and the kitchen was the size of the matchbox. Only asking S$1 million... it is a steal!We had dinner with a former work associate of mine and his wife is a real estate agent. I whined to her how much trouble we were having and asked if she knew anyone who might be good to work with. She said she usually only does rental property but she would see would she could find that might be suitable for us.
Sun 03 November 2002 - Went with our new agent friend in the morning to see a few places. They were much more in line with what we were looking for. She listened to us!
Then in the afternoon our old agent took us to see two more places. Locations were great but units were very old and in need of major renovation. One was so dirty that Gerri couldn't wait to get home to wash her feet (yes, you take your shoes off before going into people's homes here).Sun 10 November 2002 - The week before I had told the new agent how much I liked Morningside and low and behold there was another unit on the market. We went and had a look at it in the morning. We also looked at another unit right here in Cairnhill, the same building we currently occupy, but it was in the big buck range again. The second Morningside unit was on the market at a little more reasonable price. Just for kicks I told the agent to make an offer 20% off for the Morningside unit and 25% off for the Cairnhill unit. It never hurts to make an offer and see what happens
Mon 11 November 2002 - 
The owner of the Morningside came back a halfway. Cairnhill said they are not willing to go below 5%. I countered Morningside and told the agent to forget about Cairnhill. A couple more back and forth and we settled. It was getting serious now as we had to write our first check... 1% of the price to get things moving. This is really going to happen... I start getting a little nervous.
Wed 13 November 2002 - Time to meet with our lawyer to get the paper work going and have him do the title searches. My agent advises that another bank is offering a better loan rate and better terms so we are off to meet with the bank. Qualification is pretty quick here. Basically we are approved in a few hours...
Wed 20 November 2002 - 
The lawyer advises that everything is in order with the search. Offer has been accepted and we have to pony up another 9% of the total price on 29 November. We will take possession on 18 February 2003. We got confirmation that we can use funds from our Singapore retirement account to pay the 10% of the 20% down required and use part of the our monthly contributions to make house payments. It will basically make our house payments come to about 2/3's of what our current rent payment comes to... this is a really good thing!
Fri 29 November 2002 - Pay another 9% we are committed now!
Sat 30 November 2002 - Met with an interior designer to start discussing some renovation. Kitchen and master bedroom bathroom are the major items to be redone. Painting, some new lighting and few other touches were also discussed. On the way home we stop at the local appliance store to take a look at refrigerators, washers, dryers etc. suddenly we are going to have to start buying this stuff rather than just letting the landlord take care of it...
Sun 01 December 2002 - We spend the day with a million other people out at the Merchandise Mart which has 4 floors of home decorating ideas. Now we want new doors throughout, also redo the other 3 bathrooms and new wood floor in the master bedroom... It is starting to get a bit more expensive now... Afraid to get the designer's estimate...
Sat 15 February 2003 - 
Well I didn't do a good job of keeping a log of events for 2 1/2 months... Long story short after dealing with a mind boggling amount of paperwork, lots of lawyers and several government departments we will be handed the keys to your new home on 17 February. Renovation starts immediately and with luck we will move in the last week of March. Closets are being cleaned, garage sales happening and movers are giving estimates... Here we go again, by my count this will be the 11th move Gerri and I have done in our 27 years together...
Sun 09 March 2003
Renovation started the last week of February and is in full swing. Trying to take pictures along the way so we can monitor the change...
Sun 16 March 2003 -
Renovation continues with expected completion and move in on 31 March... Keep your fingers crossed...Sun 30 March 2003 - Our contractor was true to his word and was doing finishing touches on 30 March... The moving process began... It did not go as smoothly as hoped as the moving company just did not plan for enough men or time... We kicked the movers out at midnight on the 31st even though half the boxes were still packed...
Sun 20 April 2003 - The day after the movers dumped
everything in the house Joe took off for two weeks on the road to attended conferences in Orlando, Florida and Bali, Indonesia. The spent the weekend unpacking boxes and shifting furniture....
Sat 26 April 2003 - The contractor came back to help hang pictures... The place is starting to take shape and feel like home!
Sat 03 May 2003 - A table and chairs for the balcony and same for the kitchen make it a
April 2002
- Santa Barbara, California, USA 
When Joe arrived in the US on an unexpected trip, amongst many other things he was given the assignment of purchasing a car for Alexis. After his initial "reaction" to finding a few extra holes in Alexis' ear (see top left photo below) he calmed down long enough to get the job done. A 2002 Honda Civic LX turned out to be the car of choice.
Dad kept picturing himself handing the keys over to a 5 year old Alexis and is seeking mental assistance to get over it...
Joe also went and watched Alexis in action at her part-time job at "Java Jones". He marvelled at her coffee concocting/public handling skills. A chip off the old block!
Alexis took her new car out for a spin with her first stop being Anaheim to meet Joe and JR for a meal and some shopping. Dad only called her 5 dozen times while she drove back and forth to check on her progress. She did great... Dad was a basket case he just kept mumbling "they grow up so fast..."! It was great to be able to spend time with both kids, separately and together, he had great reports for Mom on their children's progress.
"The Sofa" - To many, Asia is known as a shopping Mecca. And it is... However, over the years
we have experienced many occasions where shop owners make buying harder than is necessary. The issue I have often pondered is the need for shop owners to give a receipt in triplicate for a $1.00 item and the receipt says NON-REFUNDABLE/NON-RETURNABLE... If I can't bring the item back, what do I need a receipt for? But I digress...
Those of you who have been to our home in Las Vegas and/or Singapore might recall that we had a fairly large L-shaped, black leather sofa. We bought this a few years back in Las Vegas, hauled it over to Singapore where we paid an outrageous amount of money to have it recovered with a finer leather. It served its purpose when the kids were living at home but now it is too big and the recliners on each end don't go back as far we'd like... Bottom-line it was time for something new.
I took a picture and posted it at the American Club's "Items for Sale" board along with a few other items. We were
pleasantly surprised how quickly we got responses. The potential buyers arrived at the house on Tuesday and minutes later the sale was consummated. Arrangements were to be made later in the week for movers to pick up the set and deliver it to it's new home.
I was interested in La-Z-Boy recliners and set out to find them in the local phone book. Nothing to be found under La-Z-Boy (or Lazyboy). The good news is that La-Z-Boy does have a website with a special section for finding dealers, however, that function was not working so an email was sent requesting information about a Singapore distributor. Wednesday morning we awoke to a reply telling us the distributor in Singapore was Melandas Casa Mobili Pte. Ltd. (we should have guessed, the name is a giveaway???!!!) The headquarters/showroom was only a few minutes drive from home. The buyers of our sofa called and said that the movers were coming Thursday so I told Gerri we'd better start looking for a new living room set and suggested we start out at the La-Z-Boy showroom Wednesday evening. Another thing I forgot to mention about shopping in Asia is that it is typical to have a salesperson glued to your hip when you walk into a store. They are often more of a hindrance than a help... For example: You walk in and say you are looking for a red tie and they proceed to show you blue, green, black... you reiterate that you are only interested in RED, they acknowledge what you just said and then show you something in yellow. But I digress...
The showroom was huge and the receptionist pointed us to the section where La-Z-Boys were on display. To our amazement, we were left "unattended" to hop from chair to sofa, recliner to medical assist chair for over 50 minutes. No salesperson in sight! There were a couple dozen different types of chairs/recliners, a handful of sofas and tons of catalogues/fabric samples to peruse through. We selected a few models and colours we were interested in and I went looking for a salesperson. A very nice gentlemen was sent over by the receptionist and we told him we were interested in a recliner and 3-seater sofa set. We said we wanted fabric rather than leather and pointed to the models in the catalogue that were the make and colour we wanted.
He immediately walked us over to a red sofa set that we had already determined was uncomfortable and was not a colour that we liked. We walked him over to a greenish/beige leather sofa/recliner set and said we were more interested in this model but with fabric instead of leather. He looked perplexed. (I should point out here that he spoke excellent English so language was not a barrier...) He took us back over to the red sofa and said "we have this". I explained again that we did not like the style, the colour and that model was not very comfortable.
The salesperson then walked over to an empty section of the showroom and pointed to the open floor space and said "the set
we would have liked used to be right here but it was sold and not there anymore". I asked if we could order what we wanted from the catalogue. He then walked over to another empty section of the showroom and pointed to another open space and said "there used to be a sofa set here we would have liked... but it had been sold and delivered two days ago". I revisited my question about ordering from the catalogue and was told "it might be possible but it would take 6-8 months as everything comes by ship from the USA". He then took us back to the leather set and said "this was available". I took him to a fabric covered recliner and said "we want two recliners of the same colour like this one". He went away for a few minutes and came back saying "we don't have two recliners of the same colour". He took us back to the red sofa set and said he could give us a special price... I then asked "what other stores in Singapore carry La-Z-Boy furniture". Again the perplexed look. I said, "you are the distributor for La-Z-Boy in Singapore right?" He replied "yes". I then asked, "so to what stores do you distribute to?" he said "our own stores". I then asked where their other stores were located. As it turned out there was only one other store and ironically it was located just a few steps from our front door. I asked the salesman to call over there and find out what models/colours they had... He disappeared again and came back and said "they only have the red one".
I asked why there was such a small selection. He said "since September 11, people have stopped buying as many La-Z-Boys that is why the selection is so small...". He then took us back to the leather set, pointed and said "25% discount from the sticker price".
Personally, I liked the leather. Gerri said she didn't want leather because the cat would scratch it and besides, it was green. I insisted is wasn't green, we have had leather for years and the cat didn't scratch it. I said it only looked green because there were pea green pillows on it and the carpet, lamp, candles on the coffee table were all green... I said it was beige coloured. Gerri looked sceptical. I started running around picking up different
coloured pillows and throwing them on the sofa to prove my point. I asked the salesman if he had any other colour leather... he walked over to an empty area and pointed to the floor and started to explain "there used to be a set right here...." I told him to go find some brighter light bulbs for the lamps so Gerri could accurately see the colour of the leather... It was obvious she needed to be convinced.
I then realised I had a choice to make, I could either be the dutiful husband and take Gerri from store to store in search of the elusive fabric-covered sofa and continue to deal with lots of other inept salespeople or I could take control and "strong arm Gerri" to make "the right choice". The prospect of watching TV while sitting on the hard/cold marble floor for the next several weeks/months while we shopped helped me with my choice... Steady, relentless pressure was in order! I told Gerri to test the sofa's recliners while I talked to the salesperson. I started the negotiation... 25% discount, child's play! Humph! I got it up to 35% with free delivery and a free leather care kit. I then went back to Gerri and said "it was too good an offer to pass up! The only other furniture they sell in Singapore is Italian... Low to the ground, uncomfortable and we could be shopping for months. If we didn't take this set it would probably be gone tomorrow and we would have nothing." She started to waver... I went for the kill, "if the colour does not work we can get new drapes to match the sofa"... Bingo! I got a very cautious "OK let's buy it", which is all I needed!
Mind you, this was Wednesday and although I had negotiated free delivery, the
question of when free delivery would be made was still open. The salesman said they could deliver in a week. I said "I needed it by Saturday!". He gave in too quickly, so I knew I had him so I upped it to Friday. "I have to have it delivered Friday morning or no deal!". He wavered, done deal! As they were wrapping it for transport our new sofa Thursday at 5pm the movers showed up to pick up the old people called and said there was a problem and they would not be able to deliver on Friday... I was just about to start yelling when I was told the problem was the sofa was on the truck, in the area already and they wanted to deliver it immediately. I was shocked and amazed! When all was said and done we were without sofa for exactly 35 minutes. I couldn't have planned it any better if I had tried.
And for those of you feeling sorry for Gerri getting the bum's rush... Once in place she came around to the colour not being green and really seems to like it! Of course, I love it... MY CHAIR has programmable massage/heat/lumbar action with remote control... What's not to like!For the "true lounge experience" click on the pictures below...
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2001 got off to a very chequered start... 
JR came home for a very short week in January. We had a great time but seems like we were putting him back on the flight only minutes after he arrived. We did take the opportunity of all being together to have a new family portrait done...
Alexis spent some unexpected time in the hospital... (the Doctor gave us the Gall Bladder but Alexis won't let me post any pictures! Imagine that!)
Joe's leg decided it doesn't like the way the Doc moved the veins around during surgery and 6 months later the swelling is back... A cardio vascular specialist is treating Joe with medication to repair the valves in the veins. Never a dull moment!
Jacky and Janet came for a quick visit from California. Great spending time with them! Enjoyed some great conversation, some good meals and a challenging day on the links...
Gerri needs to fight some cancer which we are facing head on! Click here to read about it... Any positive thoughts or prayers you can spare for her would be appreciated!
Welcome to our world...
28 January 2001 - Singapore Last night about 11:30 Alexis started to have another gallstone attack… We gave her the pills that the doctor prescribed to control the muscle spasms and ease the pain.. They kept her from hurting like she did 10 days ago but did not make it go away. Finally at about 2 am she fell asleep only to be up at 6 am with more pain… Another pill that helped but did not get rid of it. 8:30 we are in the Doctors office and she says the gall bladder needs to They were able to do micro surgery… They made three 3mm slits in her upper stomach where they poked Looks like two days in the hospital then 3 or 4 more of bed rest. The good news is no more attacks and she will not have to worry about her diet. So she should be back to her normal feisty self in no time.Parents are happy but tired. I’m home to make a couple of sandwiches for Gerri who remains bedside… We’ve spent more time in Mount Elizabeth This year….. 16 January 2001 - Singapore Never a dull moment with the Hickmans… W We were having a great time until late last night… It was 11:30 pm and we were in them midst of a hot and heavy Monopoly game (I decided to give everyone else a chance for a change and bankrupt early….). Everyone was laughing and having a good time when suddenly Alexis said she didn’t feel well and ran to her room to use the bathroom. A few minutes later she came back in tears and was literally writhing in pain holding her stomach. Having had such bad experiences with Malaysian doctors/hospitals we threw everything in the car and headed back to Singapore. Alexis was miserable all the way. Gerri is at the doctor’s with her as I write this and JR and I are waiting to hear. This could complicate Alexis leaving for Greece on Thursday…. Will advise as soon as we know… and I are thinking it is a | |||||||||||
The week was hectic... The big boss from the USA was in town which meant non-stop meetings... The two of us were scheduled to fly from Singapore to Hong Kong on the 5pm flight but schedule changed and the boss went on the 1:30 flight and I was to follow on the 5pm flight. The good news, I would get to travel alone, not talk about business for a few hours and perhaps catch a few winks on the flight. Even better, I was ticketed in first class and it was a Singapore Airlines 747-400 flight going on to the USA so it had the sleeper seats with the 17 inch LCD movie monitors with an unlimited number of movies, news, sports and TV shows to choose from. Perhaps a glass of champagne, a movie and a nap were in order for an evening flight. I arrived at the airport and headed to the check-in counter. It is quiet with only an older couple at the counter in front of me. I first noticed that the couple was wearing matching, purple, velour workout suits with matching Nike jogging shoes. I chuckled over the fact Suddenly the woman turns and knocks her purse off the counter spilling contents all over the floor. I start helping her pick things up and she starts thanking me and saying how kind I was... I simply say “You are welcome” and my accent gives me a way... She says “OH YOU ARE AMERICAN!” I nod yes... She pokes her husband and said (loud enough for The agent says “Mr. Hickman, are you just going to Hong Kong today?” I nod yes and suddenly hear Sylvia hollering at Harry, “HARRY, HE IS GOING TO HONG KONG TOO!” Harry taps me on the shoulder and says ��Are you going to Hong Kong too?” ... I nod yes and give the agent that “Hurry up give me my boarding pass look”... Harry and Sylvia are rearranging their carry-on (about 10 big pieces including very very large Balinese hats...)... I think to myself, if my hair goes completely either I’ll start polishing my head or at least invest in a good wig. I’ll advise Gerri that we are never ever to buy matching coloured shirts (or other pieces of clothing, velour jump suits in particular) and remember to thank my folks for moving me away from New York before I picked up a strong accent...).
“SO, ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR VACATION IN ASIA” screams Sylvia. I say I’m on a business trip (again)... “So where are you from?” asks Harry. I deliberate my response... If I say I live in Singapore it will leave me open to more questions... If I say somewhere in the USA it will lead to more questions... I opt for the truth... BIG MISTAKE. “SO YOU LIVE IN SINGAPORE?...DO YOU SPEAK JAPANESE” (mind you they just spent 5 days in Singapore where most everyone speaks and all signs are in English). I say “No, English is the official language and many people speak Chinese”. Sylvia proceeds to disagree with me and says everyone they met only spoke Japanese... I decide not to contradict her and just give an agreeable smile... Harry asks if I miss meat and potatoes... (I’m thinking one word answers are safe), so I go with a “yes”... He tells Sylvia “See, I’m not the only one who can’t eat rice all day long...” Sylvia starts to ask about my family, job, the weather, shoe size... when they announce the flight is departing. I quickly stand and say I have to run. “Have a great trip it was great meeting you!” I say as I head out the door.
I'm on board, in my seat trying to finish the Herald Tribune I’d started a few times, looking forward to a quiet flight... (you of course know where this is going) When suddenly I hear a shrill... “LOOK HARRY, THERE IS JOE AGAIN AND WE ARE RIGHT ACROSS THE AISLE FROM HIM”... I’d really like to forget the balance of the flight but not sure if I can ever forget the fact that Harry and Sylvia took turns standing in the aisle, blocking the flight attendants and everyone else in the cabin for 4 solid hours. Even if I do say so myself, I was a very patient trooper...(I never finished my paper, never got to turn on the 17 inch video nor close my We land and I bid adieu to my new best friends and run to immigration and baggage claim. I slump back in the taxi and hope for a quiet 20 minute ride... I get that, it was heaven... You’d think it would end there and I’m sure you are tired of reading this but... (and I swear this is the truth...) I’ve just finished the check-in process at the Shangri-La Hotel and am heading to the elevators when I hear (you guessed it)... “LOOK HARRY! THERE IS JOE. WHAT A SMALL WORLD!!!! ASK HIM IF HE WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US FOR A COCKTAIL, ISN’T THIS A BEAUTIFUL HOTEL, BILLY AND VERONICA (their oldest son and his wife...) WOULD JUST LOVE THIS, AREN’T THE PEOPLE NICE, I NEVER KNEW JAPANESE PEOPLE WERE SO NICE....” I turn to the bellman and in a hushed voice tell him to hurry... I yell back This evening upon returning to the hotel I see them before they see me and I’ve been hiding in my room writing this ever since.... I know... I’ll be that old all too soon, I should be more patient and understanding... and and and... By the way, if you’d like to correspond with Harry and Sylvia via email I have their other son, Mitchell’s email address, just in case you are going to New York and want to contact them for a meal... Harry and Sylvia don’t have a computer but Mitchell (25 years old, 6ft 2 inches tall, he is the tallest member of the Jacob clan) graduated with honours from MIT but spent a year back packing around Europe until he decided to come back and work at his Uncle Hy’s restaurant in Queens as a bus boy... but we all hope he gets a job with a computer company one of these days.... Just in case you were wondering... Hope this finds you well and happy. | |||||||||||
The following article was written by Alexis (my daughter the journalist!)
FAMILY LIFE UNALTERABLY CHANGED WITH CANCER DIAGNOSIS by ALEXIS HICKMAN They only had to tell me once. It hung in the air. The fact that something like this was happening to our family was incomprehensible. The words were understood, but the meaning wasn't. Breast cancer, what did that mean? The chance that an American woman will develop breast cancer by age 40 is one in 217; by age 45, it is one in 93. And if a woman reaches the age of 85, she has a one in eight chance, according to the National Cancer Institute. The American Cancer Society estimates each year about 182,000 women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the United States. One out of eight women. If you know eight girls, one of them will have cancer by the time she is 85, or, more likely, before. Second only to lung cancer, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women. This year, 41,200 women will die from breast cancer. Warning signs are usually a lump, or tumour, in the breast. Tumours form when cells are overproduced and they form a mass of excess tissue. The area becomes red and sensitive. While some breast tumours are benign and not serious, malignant tumours can invade and damage nearby tissue and spread easily to the rest of the body causing a life-threatening situation. When I found out that my mom had cancer, I had no idea what it entailed. I learned that she would have to go through eight weeks of chemotherapy, and then surgery followed by weeks of radiation. She told me she might lose her hair, eat less, get tired easily, lose weight and just be generally broken down. She wouldn't be able to do many of her normal activities like going shopping, going out to dinner, or during the worst periods, teach her classes. I went from knowing very little about this condition of cancer to having my life revolve around it. Cancer takes over a victim's life, weakening them until the can no longer go on with daily life. I still remember the day I found out. It had been a long day of classes and I was waiting after school for a late softball game. The game didn't start until seven so I had to hang around school all afternoon. When I checked my hand phone, I saw I had a message from my dad. He wouldn't be able to pick me up. He is often busy so I didn't think much about it. I didn't think of it again until I got home and found my parents sitting at the dinner table with tear-streaked faces. They sat me down, and talked to me about what it meant for my mom to have cancer. My head was spinning and I knew that everything in our lives was irrevocably changed. Since my mom was diagnosed, our once-happy home of three has grown troubled. Each ache or pain from my mom can mean something different. A throbbing leg turned into a thrombosis that left my mom with a serious limp. The cancer reaches into every corner of a victim's life. It leaves them as only a shell of what they used to be. My mother no longer leaves the house without a hat to cover what the cancer has done to her hair. She constantly takes pills and drinks nutrient shakes, just to make it through the day. Her few laughs and frequent coughs are accompanied by pain because the port inserted into her chest for chemotherapy is constantly inflamed.The effect of the chemotherapy, the cure, seems to be just as bad as the disease. Chemotherapy does wonders in killing the cancerous cells, but this potent chemical formula diminishes the body's ability to produce the white blood cells; the loss of white blood cells leaves the victim's immune system vulnerable to other sickness. Mom constantly fights colds and coughs that make her condition worse. Our family life revolves around her treatments and progress. My waking moments are spent worrying about what the next doctor's report will reveal. This whole experience has helped me to put my life into perspective. Such a drastic and life altering even makes daily happenings seem trivial. A quarrel with a friend, or a "C" on a math quiz suddenly doesn't seem to have the impact it used to. Whether or not my mom will be subjected to further treatments, or how invasive her surgery will have to be are what really matters. Although our outlook is often bleak, there is some hope. With early detection and treatment, the survival rate can be as high as 87%. I know that our will be one of these 87%, our family will be the one to defy the disease, and my mom will live to tell about it. Being diagnosed with cancer can cause a victim to feel defenceless and helpless. However there are ways to prevent breast cancer. A healthy lifestyle with a low fat diet and regular exercise is a first step. Yearly mammograms along with monthly personal breast examinations can detect breast cancer early on. The earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to cure. By learning about prevention and early detection, the prevalence of this disease can be reduced. At the onset of my mothers' cancer, I thought it was necessary to keep it a secret. I confided in a few friends about what I was going through and kept if from everybody. People probably wondered why I was so easily upset, and why I cried for the most trivial of reasons. However, it became clear to me that I would like to inform others about this situation, not to make anyone feel sorry for my mom or our family, but to give them a perspective on how serious this disease is. It has been a rough couple of months for my mom, and it will get rougher, but this time next year I know we will be a happy healthy family again. | |||||||||||
03 October 2001 - Hong Kong, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles etc. Just back from an interesting vacation... Timing is everything...
Then on Tuesday, 11 September (a day that will long remain in people's memories for all the wrong reasons!) we boarded United Flight #2 which was to be a non-stop flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. At the beginning of the flight the Captain announced the flight would be a quick, 12 1/2 An hour went by and we were still way up there but finally started to descend about 10 minutes later. I couldn't see land which surprised me but again, chalked it up to wind It was only after we pulled off the runway that the Captain came on and said "Some of you might have noticed that we have not landed at LAX, welcome to Honolulu, it will be explained in a few minutes". We pulled up
I grabbed Gerri and Alexis and we started working our way out. An agent caught me by the arm and handed me a hotel confirmation saying there was a room for us at an airport hotel nearby (my 1k status with United Mileage Plus pays off again!). We went to immigration It was surprisingly easy to get through to United reservations but the bad part was, they had no information to give. They just kept saying to standby and keep calling back every couple of hours. 3 days we sat by the phone... The hotel was full of other folks just like ourselves along with the flight crew from our flight. Everyone was friendly and asked each other if any had heard anything different... At 5am we finally got the word that we would be leaving at 1pm. The only flights operating would be those 8 flights that had been diverted to Hawaii from different parts of Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The take-off was delayed 30 minutes but by 1:30 we were winging our way to LAX. The flight had the same crew, same passengers and everyone was seating in the same seats... The same seats that were empty 3 days before were empty on the continuing flight. It still felt somewhat surreal. Landed LAX at 9PM. Approaching the gate you couldn't help but notice how little movement there was on the ground. There were aircraft parked everywhere, lights off and nobody readying them for take-off. Walking from the gate to baggage claim was strange as there were no other people in the terminal except those of us coming off flight #2. No people greeting family and friends, no other passengers rushing to get on other flights, no shops/snack bars open, no airline personnel manning all the gates and customer service counters. The baggage came relatively quick... Outside was just like inside... No private cars in sight. Lots of police and that was about it. Waited for the
Flights were still out of the question so we drove from Vegas to Santa Barbara where we spent a very short week getting Alexis all set-up for school: As you can see the dorm rooms are not spacious but that is probably the only thing negative one could say about UCSB. Campus is located on the beach, has huge open areas with lots of trees and is in a great part of the country. Life isn't bad for this new university student! Then it was on to see family and friends: Everything got very rushed and turned into a quick meal or visit here and there. We got to spend a day with JR, a meal with Jeanne and Rick, a couple visits with Dick and Shirley. Gerri stayed in LA for an extra week to spend time with Kathy. We also got to spend some time with Jacky. Joe headed back to Singapore on 30 September. He is still grumbling about the 4 hour check-in process he had to go through | |||||||||||
 Hickman Holiday Herald December 2001 - Volume 25 | |||||||||||
The year started out with JR home in Singapore to celebrate the New Year, his 21st birthday, Joe and Gerri's 25th wedding anniversary and spend time with family.
Things started to go awry while the Hickman's were spending some time golfing and playing in Malaysia. One evening, Alexis doubled over in pain and fell to the floor. Being all too familiar with the local hospitals, they tossed Alexis in the car and high-tailed it back to Singapore in record time. Shortly thereafter Alexis had gall bladder surgery... Only days after Alexis recovered Gerri went in for her routine check-up. The following day they got "the phone call" asking Gerri and Joe to come in to see the doctor. That visit led to a life altering series of events. They now know more than they ever want to know about breast cancer. The good news is that after 11 months of treatments and repeated hospital/doctor visits... Gerri is in remission! Gerri - D |
Alexis was class president for her final year at Singapore American School and it kept her very busy. Alexis also managed to fit in varsity volleyball, softball and swimming. She managed to maintain a grade point average that got her a scholarship from the American Women's Association of Singapore and helped her get admitted to University of California at Santa Barbara
where she started in September. Alexis arrives in Singapore on 13 December to spend Christmas with Mom and Dad.
JR continues working on his degree from California State University Long Beach having recently changed his major from IT to business administration. He is still working in Adventureland at Disneyland and shares a house with 3 other guys in Anaheim.
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JR made a surprise visit to Singapore to attend Alexis' graduation. He will arrive in Singapore on 3 January for 3 weeks at home. Mom and Dad can't wait to have him home again. Joe must have felt left out so he spent a short time in the hospital having the implants removed from his ankle. This was the last instalment in the whole leg saga...
To top it all off... The Hickmans were ( indirectly, thank God) affected by the terrible events of 11 September. Joe, Gerri & Alexis were flying from Hong Kong to Los Angeles to set Alexis up at UCSB on the 11th only to be diverted to Honolulu for 3 days. Under normal circumstances this would have been a good thing... but world events did not make it a good time for a holiday. Long story short none of the trip went as planned.
The Hickman's wish you all the best this holiday season.
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go. 9:30 we check into the hospital. 12:30 Alexis heads into surgery and 2pm she is delivered back to her room “sans” gall bladder. They even gave us the 20 stones they removed! Nice collection, we are thinking either a necklace or broach… what do you think?
the camera and other tools. They pumped her full of air to separate the organs and took the gall bladder out via the navel. They say she will have virtually no scars! She is already getting her colour back as we sat there and watched her sleep…
e had toyed with going to Bali, Thailand or East Malaysia for holiday when JR got here but we opted to stay close to home and just head up to Palm Resort (the golf club we belong to where did the ankle thing…) as Alexis had a swim meet on Saturday she didn’t want to miss and a class she needed to attend on Tuesday. 
It took about an hour before we pulled up to 
combination of gastritis and stress. Alexis has about 10 balls in the air at the moment between clubs, the Greece trip, homework, JR being here etc Let’s hope the Doc confirms that and it is simply a matter of changing a schedule or something…
that the women had blue hair (I don’t mean grey with a tint of blue... I’m talking sky blue...) He had a really bad, jet-black wig, the kind that you can see the webbing sticking out between his head and the nylon hair. In very thick New York accents they are explaining to the airline staff that they are on their 50th anniversary trip and they had visited Sydney, Bali, Singapore and they are on their way to Hong Kong and Beijing. I thought to myself, nice couple, hope they were having the time of their life... The agent was politely listening but it was apparent that she was more worried about when her next break was vs. the fact that the couple would be spending another 2 weeks in Asia.
everyone in the terminal to hear) “HARRY, HE IS AN AMERICAN TOO!” Harry turns to me and says “Hello, I’m Harry Jacobs, very glad to meet you... this is my wife Sylvia, we are on our 50th wedding anniversary trip and we are visiting 
I head through immigration and make a beeline for the lounge. I find a secluded corner and am happily reading the Herald Tribune when suddenly I hear a shrill voice screaming “LOOK HARRY, IT IS THE NICE MAN THAT HELPED ME WITH MY PURSE”. Harry asks if it OK if they join me as he pulls over a couple of chairs. I smile, nod and stick my nose back into my paper....
eyes for a short cat nap...) One of these days I’ll tell you about the Jacob children, grandchildren and recent delivery of the great grandchildren (twin girls who both have lots of curly hair...Helen and Margaret, 6lbs 11 oz each). I now know all the Jacob family by name, height, education and vocation...
“Maybe tomorrow night Sylvia... it is late and I have meetings in the morning good night” as I run for the elevators...
On 8 September, Gerri, Alexis and Joe headed up to Hong Kong for a few days of shopping, dining in old favorite restaurants and re-visiting places Alexis barely remembers from when we lived there. We had a great time and Alexis got a bunch of new school clothes (including buying coats for the first time in her life...). We went and looked at the old school where Alexis went, Gerri taught and the apartment building we used to live in on South Bay Close (next to Repulse Bay).
hours and they expected smooth sailing all the way. The flight went smoothly with the three of us dozing in and out. Alexis mentioned that the movies quit suddenly and I couldn't get the map to come up on the screen when I was checking where we were about 10 hours into the flight. I mentioned the movie/map issue to the flight attendant and she told me that there was a problem with the system so it had to be shut off. Didn't give it a lot of thought at the time. At 12 1/2 hours I was standing in the aisle talking to Gerri and Alexis and telling them to start getting their stuff together as we should be landing shortly. I thought it strange that we were still over water so late into the flight but figured there must be Santa Ana winds blowing so we might be landing from seaside which is not the norm at LAX but also not out of the question if the winds were blowing in from a different direction. An announcement was made saying we would be starting our decent in another hour. Seemed strange that the flight suddenly was taking almost 14 hours vs. 12 1/2 but I chalked it up to head winds. 
conditions in LA. The captain asked the flight attendants to be seated and 
I finally saw the coast. Strange though, it look very rural for a LAX landing... The guy sitting next to me said "oh we are up the coast by Oxnard/Ventura..." I accepted this but something just felt wrong... There was a large ship coming out of Marina Del Rey Harbor... (Big ships in Marina Del Rey? also noticed really blue water... clear blue water on the LA coastline? that isn't right...) We touched down and I looked out to see palm trees lining the runway which, if you have ever landed in LAX, know, is not the case. The runways do not run parallel with the coastline.
and customs... again it was very strange. 400 people quietly standing in line everyone with a shocked look on their face. Outside was just as strange as there were no private cars at the airport. We waited for a courtesy van to the hotel. While I would not recommend the Honolulu Airport Hotel for people planning on spending leisure time in Hawaii we were glad to have a roof over our heads and a place to watch CNN and find out what was going on... Would have been nice if the air-conditioning worked though especially because when you opened the windows... the freeway noise made it impossible to hear anything else... (I know... I'm whining...)
Hertz courtesy bus and on the way to the lot we saw police road blocks in front of all the airport entrances... At the Hertz lot there were cars stacked on top of each other. No one was renting cars and according to the agent they had hundreds of extra cars on the lot as those people who had been stuck in other locations had rented cars, driven back to LA and left the cars at the lot.
at LAX... Gerri got through a bit quicker but it got complicated when she and Kathy realized they had left Gerri's medicines back in Santa Ana after they arrived at LAX... Kathy gets the Mario Andretti award for driving back and forth to get the medicine while Gerri went through the check-in process....
2001 will go down in the Hickman history books as a year of challenges. With the exception of a few great events, they will be glad to put much of the year behind them. 
There are more stories if you are bored out of mind:
News & Stories 1997
News & Stories 1998
News & Stories 1999
News & Stories 2000
Burma, or Myanmar as it is called by the Military Junta, is a country where magnificent and ancient Buddhist temples gaze out serenely over a nation restless for change. Burma has plenty of wonders for the eye--sinuous, life-giving rivers, lush mountain forests, and intricately-drawn cities--but it can also trouble the soul. For the last 30 years, its people have been ruled by a notoriously repressive military government, the tatmadaw.
