Friday Reflections

Travel Tips-Don’t Leave Home Without These Things

 

Point to Ponder: Things don’t go wrong during most travels but in case they do, what level of risk can you afford in a foreign place?

 

Story Line: While traveling, Don’t leave home without these three things. 

1. A small box of first aid kit and some essential medicines in case of emergency. It has rescued me once in a small town in Japan and got me through the night until I found help next morning but my box has helped more of fellow travelers. 
2. A printed copy of essential documents like passport, tickets, visa, medical related and itinerary. Know of two friends whose bag, purse were stolen during travel and passports, credit cards were lost. One had printed copy of documents and the other didn’t. What followed were Stories of Triumph vs Tragedy. 
3. Travel Insurance: it has come to rescue many times for us: during volcanic eruption in Bali, when my partner got injured and six of us were stranded for 15 days in Helsinki and one more time when I had to cancel a trip to Turkey. We have also witnessed first hand what happened to visitors who didn’t have insurance and stranded in Bali, also one family who couldn’t travel to Malaysia out of Fiji because of forests fires smoke over Indonesia. 

 

Reflection:  In the year 2003 My work colleague, and I were traveling to Asia for business. Our first stop was South Korea. While there, he noticed that I was carrying a box of first aid kit which also contained many different kinds of medicines. He looked at me and said “ You are a sickly man; carrying many medicines”  I told him that I carried them for precautions, in case of emergency and needed it only once through all my travels. But many a times they have been useful to fellow travelers. I emphasized that he should understand as a teacher of Prevention and Think Different type classes. 

 

Unfortunately he didn’t give up and kept making fun of me on the trip until…One day we visited Suzhou in China, and he dined at a place famous for dumplings. 

 

Next morning we were scheduled to leave for Singapore. At 1:00AM, the phone in my room kept ringing while I was fast asleep. Annoyed I picked up and there was a very weak, more or less crying voice, “Do you have that Cipro? When I asked the reason he said “ I am very sick; I have high temperature and diarrhea. We need to travel tomorrow morning plus if I have a fever they will put me in Quarantine in Singapore” I asked him “Do you have a prescription for Cipro? He begged to give him medicines. I said “OK I have some non-prescription medicines that will help you with fever and stomach upset. Once we get to Singapore you visit Doctor” 

 

Well, the rescue passage the “Sickly man” always carried helped him get to Singapore”

That afternoon, He returned from Doctor’s office with four different prescription medicines. But the ordeal had not yet ended. 

 

At midnight I got a call from him “Anand I am feeling giddy. I am very giddy” 

Pardon my poor English, I said, but what does giddy mean? Stop making fun of me, he replied. “I am feeling terrible” 

Further inquiry revealed that he had taken all those medicines without food. 

To our misfortune the hotel didn’t have midnight food service but the receptionist was kind enough to go to kitchen and made some warm food and drinks for him. 

 

Next time we were traveling, I noticed that he was carrying one white box with him. Just to be a gentleman, I did not ask him what was inside. Seems he was Thinking Different. 😊

 

Here are two short videos with humor for Travel Tips. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6F3HYW5epUo?feature=share

 

https://twilightexplorers.com/danger-how-to-prepare-and-stay-healthy-while-traveling/ 😊

 

Here are two short videos with humor for Travel Tips. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6F3HYW5epUo?feature=share

 

https://twilightexplorers.com/danger-how-to-prepare-and-stay-healthy-while-traveling/

What is it between Me and The Monkeys?

Point to Ponder: “Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.” George Carlin

Story Line: Yesterday was our third day in Ahmedabad, India- the place I was born and spent first seventeen years of my life. It’s been long nineteen years since our last visit. 

The sun had disappeared and darkness had sat in. I was on phone talking to a friend while walking down a small street. 
Suddenly something big bumped into my back and shook me up. A second later I saw two big monkeys running away. A moment later I felt pain on my left hip and noticed my shirt was ripped up. Digging further I realized that even my trouser and underpants were torn and felt some burning pain on my skin. 

The Monkey was off my back but what followed was many calls and then emergency visit to closest clinic followed by Tetanus and Rabies shots. It became a long evening. 
The experience will stay in my memory for the lifetime but it brought back memories of my previous encounter with a monkey. 
I was resting with my eyes closed under a tree in the Monkey  forest in Ubud, Bali. Suddenly I felt someone jumped on my chest. When my eyes opened it was a baby monkey and it was trying to touch my nipple and wanting to satisfy its hunger. I immediately pushed him farther but still didn’t want to miss photo opportunity. 
The baby, realizing its bad manners, hugged me and lied down in my lap. Atleast this monkey showed some manners and after a short nap, wished me good bye. 

Ubud Bali Encounter. 

Originally I had planned to write the reflection from our last week’s experience in Singapore titled: Singapore, the country that doesn’t rest innovating. ( now future reflection)
But I changed the topic after this Monkey experience because for ever I will wonder: What is it between Me and the Monkeys? Any ideas Welcome from the readers. 😊

Reflection: The current experience made me realize that I should have taken atleast tetanus shot, that was overdue, before I left for the trip. But carrying a small emergency bag with some essential medicines and first aid items became big asset to clean wounds before i could get professional help. 

 

 

Take Only Memories, Leave Only Footprints.

Point to Ponder: The relationships with companies are purely business and temporary; but the value you deliver, the relationships with people and learning experiences are lifelong. - Pravin R Shah 

Storyline: This week I came across two interesting stories:  One young man got laid off from a large corporation. In his note he talked about positive memories of the year with the company. Many notes from friends and colleagues recounted fond memories with him. Next day a former colleague sent him a photo of a nice motivational note he had written a month ago on one conference-room board. It was still there.

The other story I heard was about the person who retired after 39 years with an organization. The person left all items (SWAG: Plaques, Mugs, Clothing..) that were given to her in various company recognitions and celebrations. The person left without saying goodbye to many longtime colleagues displaying an attitude “I have nothing to do with this organization.”

This brought back memories of my days in the corporate world, and hence this reflection…

Reflection: Very early in my career I had come to the conclusion that the relationships with your company/your employer are purely business and nothing personal. No matter what claims are being made about lifetime benefits, good corporate citizenship, the best place to work on the planet Earth etc; The bottom line is- its business, and all seemingly attractive, tempting things are only in the context of what serves the business interest. (Another story for some another reflection)

Since then I’ve considered every relationship with my employer/ company as a business. With the mindset that someone is entrusting me and paying me to deliver certain results in terms of products or services, my duty is to deliver best possible solutions. This mentality served me very well in entire 40 years career.(1975-2015)

But the valuable benefits of those business dealings were a lot more than just business results or what I got paid for it.

Many talented, wonderful people around the world became lifelong friends. Dealing with so many different industries, companies and countries resulted in many learning experiences that enhanced the understanding of different technologies, cultures and history. And the significant positive impact of our work was acknowledged and appreciated in many ways by the organizations and people we served at that time and even now (many years later).

(Shhhhh…And I have treasured every memory; notes from people, coffee mugs, pictures, paper weights, jackets, recognitions for delivering outstanding results.)

Take only Memories, Leave only Footprints.

 

 

 

How will you measure your life?

Point to Ponder: 

Be the Reason Someone Believes in Good People

Story Line: Yours

Reflection: How will you measure your life?

 Happy Martin Luther King’s Day 

 

The Power of Belief

Preah Ko-Cambodia 3/28/2016

 

Point to Ponder: “You’ve got to dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening and live like it’s heaven on earth.” William Purkey

 

Story Line: Certain events, people and images we encounter stay with us for a lifetime. I would like to share this unforgettable scene during a visit to Cambodia in 2016. 

My wife and I were visiting ancient temple in the outskirts of Siem Reap. We noticed this little kid fully engrossed in dancing in tune with what seemed to be one of Michael Jackson’s songs. 

Only after a few minutes of enjoying his dance, my wife pointed out that he didn’t have any music playing device. He had an ear plug with long wire not connected. 

 

Reflection: That little kid was living up to the real message in point to ponder: Be in the present, love what you do and be free of anyone’s expectations or judgements. 

 

Wish You the Year full of Dancing, Singing, loving and Working on things you enjoy and creating your own beautiful story. 

The Fourth Quarter of Life-John Helin

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Points to Ponder: I feel like my whole life was training ground for today and I am figuring out that in the fourth quarter of my life I want to finish strong. I really want to finish strong and this is what I want to do--John Helin

Credits for the video: John Helin, Kingston Media, ourmissionourveterans.org

Story Line: 2022 was a year of major changes in our lives. During this year of transition, I met many fine individuals. Through these interactions with people in various professions, cultures and countries- I heard some remarkable life stories. This end of the year reflection is dedicated to a remarkable person, John Helin. His life story is an inspiring one of transformation and selfless service. John dedicates his personal time and business resources to aid homeless veterans in locating and moving donated furniture into their new homes. I was fortunate to see first hand the effect John's work has on the homeless veterans he serves- from veterans recovering from drug addiction to a little five year old girl squealing with delight when seeing her new home for the first time and exclaiming in awe, "I love this house," John's selfless work has positively impaced hundreds of lives.

I can personally attest that John has made a big impact on our lives as well. I felt compelled to share coveage of his story from CNBC about John Helin

The following description about John is from the original central peninsula video. 

"The 4th Quarter of Life is an amazing story of transformation. At the age of 12, John Helin became addicted to drugs and alcohol. For 25 years John continued to fight these demons until one day he attended a service at Central Peninsula Church and made a commitment to straighten his life out. During this journey, John connected with their veterans ministry which helps homeless veterans throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As an owner and operator of a moving company, John came up with a perfect solution to how he could make a huge difference in the lives of veterans.

Many of John's clients had high end furniture that they no longer needed and they would give the furniture to him which included complete bedroom, living room, and dining room sets. John in turn would deliver and setup the furniture for previously homeless veterans when they were able access stable housing through community based organizations.

When John gets a call that a veteran has accessed housing, he immediately puts a plan in place to fully furnish the apartment. Today, John has provided beautiful furniture and an amazing gift to hundreds of veterans. John says, "I'm in the 4th quarter of life and I want to finish strong." 

Reflection: What has impressed me more about John is that he not only spends his resources to pick up and deliver furniture for previously homeless veterans but he also spends time listening to their stories. He takes time to share his own story of struggle and transformation which have made a significant impact on the lives of many people. While he is determined to finish strong in the fourth quarter of his life, he is helping others- many of them young veterans- to improve the early quarter of their lives. We feel incredibly fortunate to have met John and to be able to share his work and story with you. What I've learned from John is that no matter what may have occured in the past, you have the power right now to make a positive change for the future. 

 

If you like to help here is more information  https://ourmissionourveterans.org/

Happy New Year to All  

 

Fill your life with experiences…

Point to Ponder: “Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” 

 Story Line: For this wonderful week of holidays and festivals, I like to share some memorable experiences during our travel to Costa Rica, Canadá, Peru and Ecuador this year. Some were nostalgic, some unique and from each one offered new learnings. 

Human Feelings Are Universal. 
Upper Left: Daughter trying to convince Father to stop protesting against the President in the town center Lima, with armed guards only a few feet away. ( update: three months later that  President was removed by Peru’s senate for corruption)  Lower Left: Cooking healthy vegetarian meal in Costa Rica. Center: A five years old negotiating with fruit vendors to get more fruits for his family. The lady was very kind and gave him more for his money. Right: Grandma taking care of granddaughter ( piggyback) while weaving beautiful clothes. A  little later her daughter arrives to pick up the little one.  ( Reminded me of our mother in law taking care of our daughter whenever we went out)

 

Learning from Nature

UL: Rare Golden Howler Monkey in Costa Rica. Sad to learn that New research suggests that it may be due to pesticide use. LL: Hawkish Manners: A Hawk waiting for the other to finish meal before taking his/her turn. Center: ET Already Home. Where do you think the idea of ET character originated? Galápagos, Ecuador. Right Column: Amazing experience of watching Scarlet Macaws waiting for Blue Green Parakeets to go for mineral rich meal first. They want to ensure there are no predators there. ( like in wartimes, sending Monkeys to blow up grenades before army marches in) Only after they are sure it’s safe, they came down and drive away Parakeets to enjoy the rest of the meal. 

Goose Bumps Moments

UL Pointing at the spot in left field: Memories of World Series Game 6, Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Eagles. Bottom of ninth Phillies leading 6-5 and Joe Carter of Blue Jay comes to bat against Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams ( Wild Thing). on a two strike pitch, Joe Carter hit an inside pitch just over the left field fence for a three-run walk-off home run, giving the Blue Jays a come-from-behind 8–6 victory, and the World Series crown.  Watching that spot gave me goose bumps as I still remember exact spot in the parking lot I was listening to the game in Palo Alto, California.

UR: on each side of equator line in different hemispheres (North and South). Ecuador 

 LL: Human Created Wonder: Nazca Lines, Peru. Numerous geoglyphs ranging from 400 meters to 1100 meters long created 2000 years ago. Can see the entire figures only from the planes. ( Must Visit). 16023 height on the way to Colca Canyon, Peru. Prepare well before venturing into high altitude adventures.  LR: Chinese were there 100 plus years ago: No matter where we went, small town, big town; Costa Rica, Canadá, Peru and Ecuador, Chinese immigrants significant contributions were visible. This photo is from Quensel, a small town in British Columbia, Canada. 

 

Reflection: A long time ago, I was asked a question: “How will you measure your life?” 

My simplistic answer was “By sum total of experiences”.  

People have their own views about this journey called Life and there will be many different answers. 

For me: In this journey called Life, every day we are faced with different situations and each one results in some learning experience. Sometimes we have done good and other times not so good ( as measured by our standards). In some situations we made positive contributions and in some not so. 

 

But in the end, in each experience there is some learning and an opportunity for growing to be better than what we were yesterday. 

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.*

Clock Wise 1. Sunset in Mal Pais, Costa Rica. 2.  A Rare Double Rings Rainbow around Sun over the Lake Titicaca (13000 feet) Peru. 3. Spirit Island, Jasper, Canada. 4. San Cristobal, Galápagos, Ecuador 5. Baños, Andes Mountains, Ecuador. 6. Monterey, California, USA

Points to Ponder: “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” – Anthony Bourdain

Story Line: Many readers are happy to see that Friday Reflections have resumed after a few months of sabbatical. They have asked to share new experiences from our travels in future reflections.

So here we begin with the answer to the question that has been often asked,  “What is the greatest learning from our travels?”

Every place we visited had beautiful places, uniqueness of it’s culture and curious people wanting to know about us as much as we wanted to learn about them. Their surroundings (Nature, Monuments, Techniques, Tools) and customs have evolved over time. Each has historical, environmental, scientific and social context. And curiosity about the details of evolution made us realize how much little we knew about the world. Many times we felt “Can there be a more beautiful place than this?”, only to reach the next destination and find another marvel.  

Going forward most Friday Reflections will be focused on people, places and experiences from our now Nomadic life. Occasionally there will be other subjects.

Reflection: Many times, for motivational or nationalistic reasons, we believe or made to believe that our country, our ways of doing things, our surroundings are the best in the world.

“There has never been a Nation (Civilization) like us and there shall never be.” But while visiting other countries, experiencing other cultures with open eyes and minds, we are humbled and enriched at the same time. Every place and culture has its own uniqueness and greatness.

There is so much that world has to share that it’s time we are aware, it’s a wonderful world of opportunities after all.

 

*Quote from Aristotle

Revisiting The Story of a Good Man on Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Holidays to All whose encouragement, support and help have made our life so fulfilling. Thank You for your kindness, care and love through the years. 

In light of the current world enviornment and state of our country (and ongoing World Cup Soccer), we decided to revisit an old thanksgiving reflection from the year 2007. 

Point to Ponder: "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the ability to direct individual accomplishments towards organizational (Team,Family, Nation) objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon things."- Andrew Carnegie

Story Line: But if you sometimes have trouble having compassion for the people you work with, consider the story of the good man who died and, because he had done a few things wrong, was required to spend a short time in hell.

While he was there, he found that one main torture was that everyone was forced to try to eat with spoons that were longer than their arms. The food kept dropping over their shoulders. The condemned were in constant torment for hunger in the midst of good food they couldn’t eat. Then the man was transferred to heaven.

To his surprise, he found that they had the same spoons there but they never went hungry because they fed each other.

Reflection: What kind of world do we want going forward? What changes do we need to make? Please spend sometime to ponder and initiate actions.

Note: After 17 years, Friday Reflections took a pause because of major changes in our lifestyle. They are resuming now and only time they will not publish is when we don't have access to Networks. Thanks to so many readers who sent us note saying how much they missed them.

Success leaves clues

From Left to Right: Row 1: Photos of City Ong (aka CT) and Adventures of Gautam. Row 2: Art of Shubhada and Signature Smile of Xiomara

By Phoebe Pineda

Point to Ponder: Success leaves clues. Go figure out what someone who was successful did, and model it. Improve it, but learn their steps. They have knowledge – Tony Robbins

Storyline: Recently, we’ve spotlighted some people who exhibit extraordinary passion, creativity, and kindness despite maintaining busy work lives.  Looking at these remarkable stories, we’ve identified a few commonalities:

1. Childhood experiences: How people grow up is important in building the foundation for who they become as adults.  Shubhada grew up immersed in art and science; Xiomara lived in a social neighborhood where everyone knew each other; and Gautam spent his youth watching sunsets and exploring forests in the remote outskirts of Mysore, India. For CT, the youngest child with the big age gap with siblings, he exercised his imagination while playing alone.
2. Support and encouragement: Having a supportive environment and people who are invested in your well-being is key.  In addition to having parents who made sure he didn’t overwork himself, Gautam had a friend in high school who took him under her wing and helped him navigate the tumult of adolescence. Shubhada had very supportive parents. CT and Xiomara were deeply influenced by their mothers.
3. A turning point: Several of our subjects can pinpoint the moment they discovered their passion, whether by volunteering to take photos at a conference (CT) or borrowing money from their best friend to buy a train ticket to Nepal (Gautam).
4. Curiosity/risk-taking: Our subjects like to venture beyond the beaten path, driven by a desire to see the world in new and exciting ways.  Shubhada utilizes out-of-the-box thinking (OBT) in both her engineering career and her artwork; Gautam seeks out the roads less traveled as he explores new countries; and CT finds his camera lens drawn to everything from sunsets to animals to a drop of dew on a leaf.
5. Building a relationship between passion and profession: Just because your interests are diverse doesn’t mean lessons from one can’t be applied to the other.  Shubhada approaches both engineering and art with creativity and a methodical focus, and CT finds he’s at his most focused and ready to work after he’s spent some time taking photographs.
6. COVID as an opportunity: With the pandemic slowing life down, our subjects have embraced their passions.  CT documented life in his Malaysian neighborhood, Gautam and his family hit the road to Florida and Yosemite, Shubhada drew daily charcoal portraits of inspiring people, and Xiomara encouraged those around her to remain positive despite the circumstances. 
7. Love first: Though some make money from their passion, they do it primarily because they love it, and because they want to share the joy it brings them with the world.

Reflection: In Developing Talent in Young People, psychologist Benjamin Bloom identifies three key elements that are crucial to helping children discover and foster lifelong passions: exposure, support, and coaching.

My younger brother and I have been lucky enough to have parents willing to allow us to experience and experiment with different interests rather than limiting us to a rigid set of expectations.  As a family, we love to travel–and to eat–and over the years my brother and I have been exposed to all sorts of different places (and different types of food).  For my brother, a weekend is not complete if we haven’t hit the road–whether it’s a drive along the coast, a trip out to the new mochi donut shop, or even running errands at Costco.

Our parents have supported us in all our ventures as we tried new things: while neither of us took a liking to soccer, I enjoyed my ballet classes at the local rec center, and my brother is an avid runner.  Their support, both emotionally and financially, has enabled us to receive proper coaching in order to hone our skills, from my brother’s weekly cross-country practices to my continuing education in writing and literature at a university whose faculty are committed to helping their students develop their craft and grow as artists.

But you don’t have to be a young person to find your passion, to discover what excites you.  Expose yourself to new things, open yourself to new experiences.  Find a friend (or two–maybe more) to support and encourage you–and don’t be afraid to seek out a mentor!  You’re never too old–or too young–to find what you love.

Do What You Love

Live the Life You Imagined

The Path of Life

There is Art in Science and Science in Art

Originally from the SF Bay Area, Phoebe Pineda currently studies Writing and Literature at the University of California Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies.  In addition to storytelling, she enjoys sunset-watching, road trips, and making art.

Anand and Phoebe first met at a Kid-to-Work Day over two decades ago. Once a week, they meet to discuss the various stories, experiences, memories, and lessons he's collected over the years. They approach each conversation from two different stages in life, one looking forward, the other looking back.