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Post by domeplease on Dec 4, 2018 11:41:23 GMT -5
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Post by domeplease on Dec 5, 2018 14:04:59 GMT -5
--12-05-18 IMPORTANT: www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/booked-the-wrong-flight-heres-how-to-switch-your-plane-ticket-without-paying-a-fee/ar-BBQtvWj?li=BBnbklE&ocid=U147DHP --12-05-18: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-05/this-restaurant-has-spent-1-200-years-perfecting-a-christmas-dinner?srnd=premium --12-05-18: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-05/how-dateline-s-josh-mankiewicz-finds-the-best-meals-everywhere-he-goes?srnd=premium --12-05-18: us.cnn.com/travel/article/most-visited-cities-euromonitor-2018/index.html Top 20 cities based on 2017 arrivals and 2018 estimates 1.Hong Kong: 27,880,300 arrivals (2017) / 29,827,200 arrivals (2018) 2. Bangkok, Thailand: 22,453,900 arrivals (2017) / 23,688,800 arrivals (2018) 3. London, England: 19,827,800 arrivals (2017) / 20,715,900 arrivals (2018) 4. Singapore: 17,618,800 arrivals (2017) / 18,551,200 arrivals (2018) 5. Macau: 17,337,200 arrivals (2017) / 18,931,400 arrivals (2018) 6. Paris, France: 15,834,200 arrivals (2017) / 16,863,500 arrivals (2018) 7. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 15,790,000 arrivals (2017) / 16,658,500 arrivals (2018) 8. New York City, USA: 13,100,000 arrivals (2017) / 13,500,000 arrivals (2018) 9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 12,843,500 arrivals (2017) / 13,434,000 arrivals (2018) 10. Shenzhen, China: 12,075,100 arrivals (2017) / 12,437,300 arrivals (2018) 11. Phuket, Thailand: 11,613,100 arrivals (2017) / 11,945,500 arrivals (2018) 12. Istanbul, Turkey: 10,730,300 arrivals (2017) / 12,121,100 arrivals (2018) 13. Delhi, India: 10,157,000 arrivals (2017) / 12,505,300 arrivals (2018) 14. Tokyo, Japan: 9,549,400 arrivals (2017) / 9,896,300 arrivals (2018) 15. Rome, Italy: 9,531,600 arrivals (2017) / 9,703,200 arrivals (2018) 16. Antalya, Turkey: 9,482,400 arrivals (2017) / 10,729,300 arrivals (2018) 17. Taipei, Taiwan: 9,273,300 arrivals (2017) / 9,783,300 arrivals (2018) 18. Guangzhou, China: 9,004,800 arrivals (2017) / 9,392,000 arrivals (2018) 19. Mumbai, India: 8,984,900 arrivals (2017) / 10,670,100 arrivals (2018) 20. Prague, Czech Republic: 8,806,700 arrivals (2017) / 9,038,900 arrivals (2018) |
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Post by domeplease on Dec 6, 2018 13:34:03 GMT -5
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Post by domeplease on Dec 13, 2018 8:33:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 9:10:31 GMT -5
Hey, pipp. Just read your post regarding Kuwait. I lived there from 1985-88. Lived in Kaitan for a year then shifted house to Khaldiya for two years. I had a 1982 Land Cruiser I drove everywhere. Best car I’ve ever owned. Not the best place I’ve ever lived though.
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Post by inger on Dec 13, 2018 11:55:21 GMT -5
Hey, pipp. Just read your post regarding Kuwait. I lived there from 1985-88. Lived in Kaitan for a year then shifted house to Khaldiya for two years. I had a 1982 Land Cruiser I drove everywhere. Best car I’ve ever owned. Not the best place I’ve ever lived though. Was that a military gig for you, Chuck? I can’t imagine you doing play by play on Kuwaiti baseball... “ There’s a bomb to right field and machine gun fire to left-field near the foul line”... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 16:54:06 GMT -5
No. Was the athletic director at the American school. Just a young dude trying to jump start my career and make some money. I played slow pitch softball for the American embassy team. Softball was huge there at the time. We left about a year and a half before the invasion. I had friends who got stuck there and had to hide out with Kuwaiti families until the alliance chased the Iraqis out.
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Post by inger on Dec 13, 2018 17:27:09 GMT -5
No. Was the athletic director at the American school. Just a young dude trying to jump start my career and make some money. I played slow pitch softball for the American embassy team. Softball was huge there at the time. We left about a year and a half before the invasion. I had friends who got stuck there and had to hide out with Kuwaiti families until the alliance chased the Iraqis out. Dang. Pretty narrow escape. Some of these unsecured countries might as well be on Venus... I always enjoyed intermediate pitch softball. I wasn’t a big fan of the arched trajectory pitches in slow pitch...But I’m trying to wrap my head around an Embassy having enough players to field a decent team... Did you have to live within the Embassy to play on the team, or did you walk on?... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 19:58:13 GMT -5
There were lots of Americans living in Kuwait at that time. Military, oil people, all professions. We had a 7 team league. We would pick an all-star team and travel to Dubai where they had teams made up of Americans from Abu-Dhabi, Thailand, Hong Kong, Kuwait and other places. It made for a pretty wild 3-4 days.
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 13, 2018 20:58:18 GMT -5
Hey, pipp. Just read your post regarding Kuwait. I lived there from 1985-88. Lived in Kaitan for a year then shifted house to Khaldiya for two years. I had a 1982 Land Cruiser I drove everywhere. Best car I’ve ever owned. Not the best place I’ve ever lived though. Just catching up with this, Chuck. I was there 1993-1995. Lived in Salmiyah, right off Arabian Gulf Road. (They never referred to it as the Persian Gulf.) We could see Failakah Island out our window, if you remember that place. Not far from the SAS Club and Al-Boom Restaurant. Sultan Center was the big shopping center near us. I remember Khaldiya. Funny you were with the softball team. I am thinking Nate Howell was ambo then? Not sure. A friend of ours in Kuwait coached the Kuwaiti National Basketball Team. As he would tell you, they were horrible. His name was Gary Moss. He probably got there just after you departed. He had been head coach at West Texas A&M -- his claim to fame was that as an assistant there he coached Maurice Cheeks, who as you probably know had a very good NBA career. Like many Americans in Kuwait at that time, he was escaping scandal back home -- his WTAM team wound up getting three years probation for assorted recruiting violations -- but the Kuwaitis paid very well and did not ask a lot of questions. Gary was a good guy and put me in touch with his friend Del Harris, who was coaching the Lakers when we moved to LA. Hey, anybody involved in big time basketball has something he is trying to hide. When we lived there, the most popular car was a white Chevy Citation made especially for the Middle East market after US production had stopped. You probably remember that there were a lot of white cars in Kuwait because they deflected heat better. Did you go to diwaniyahs as part of your work? Where the Kuwaitis lounge around on the floor for hours and hours, long into the night, eating and watching TV. It was kind of forbidden fruit when I was there that they got Israeli TV on the satellite, mainly so they could watch Israeli basketball. Did you ever golf there? At least in my time, the only grass was on the greens. Everything else was sand. You carried around a piece of artificial turf for teeing off and for wherever your ball landed. Water hazards were not an issue. I agree it is not somewhere to recommend as a place to settle down. While the Kuwaitis were very nice to us, we got out of there at every opportunity. Fortunately they have LOTS of four-day weekends!! So cool to come across another ex-Kuwaiti resident!! |
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Post by inger on Dec 13, 2018 21:53:50 GMT -5
This is amazing to me. There are all of what? Maybe 25 total posters on this forum? To have 2 that have lived in Kuwait is almost statistically impossible. At the very least, it’s statistically improbable.
Now, if I throw myself into the mix and I’ve played maybe 5 or six golf courses in common with one of them, that’s a bit less meaningful... but it does take me into the realm of the old Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game that people used to play.
Then we can throw Domeplease in there because he’s also traveled to many of the same places you guys have, and because...well...he’s statistically improbable all by himself...not to mention when you add in the parrot...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 22:35:50 GMT -5
Hey, Pipp--I used to eat breakfast at the SAS Club about twice a week. I had friends in Salmiyah. Apparently there is/was a big international school in that neighbourhood that was commandeered by Iraqi troops during the war. I played basketball for several teams around town for sports clubs. At that time you could have 2 expats on a team and you could play 3/4 of the game. I played golf there also. So funny I forgot about carrying around the astro turf. I remember in those days that you couldn't bring liquor into the country, but if you brought in 5 bottles they would take two and leave you three. Everyone had a bar in their house and we had some incredible parties. I made my own beer and wine in big blue plastic trash barrels. I would buy brew kits in the states and bring them back. I do remember the diwaniyahs and all of the guys out in their front yards. They watched wrestling a lot in those days. I don't recall any of the guys you mentioned, but I'm in my late 50s now so a lot of water under the bridge. i went shopping a few times with my then wife with a lot of money in our pockets relatively speaking, but besides carpets and those arabica coffee pots there wasn't much to buy.
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Post by inger on Dec 13, 2018 22:58:41 GMT -5
Hey, Pipp--I used to eat breakfast at the SAS Club about twice a week. I had friends in Salmiyah. Apparently there is/was a big international school in that neighbourhood that was commandeered by Iraqi troops during the war. I played basketball for several teams around town for sports clubs. At that time you could have 2 expats on a team and you could play 3/4 of the game. I played golf there also. So funny I forgot about carrying around the astro turf. I remember in those days that you couldn't bring liquor into the country, but if you brought in 5 bottles they would take two and leave you three. Everyone had a bar in their house and we had some incredible parties. I made my own beer and wine in big blue plastic trash barrels. I would buy brew kits in the states and bring them back. I do remember the diwaniyahs and all of the guys out in their front yards. They watched wrestling a lot in those days. I don't recall any of the guys you mentioned, but I'm in my late 50s now so a lot of water under the bridge. i went shopping a few times with my then wife with a lot of money in our pockets relatively speaking, but besides carpets and those arabica coffee pots there wasn't much to buy. You guys have indulge me on this...See if you played golf courses in common... (: |
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Post by michcusejoe5 on Dec 17, 2018 10:46:09 GMT -5
DoMe - a buddy of mine sent me the new TPC Danzante Bay golf course to put on our list of places to play someday. It looks really cool and looks like it is in your neck of the woods...have you been out there yet?
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Post by domeplease on Dec 18, 2018 11:33:20 GMT -5
DoMe - a buddy of mine sent me the new TPC Danzante Bay golf course to put on our list of places to play someday. It looks really cool and looks like it is in your neck of the woods...have you been out there yet? What city is it in Baja? To date haven't heard of it... |
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