BTW Sleepwalker, you've probably covered all of this in previous post... but it seems to me you're leading a very adventurous, and highly educational/broadening life... Home is the Philipines, now working in China... fluent in English and, presumably, Chinese.... any other languages under your hat? Have you also spent time in Europe, Canada, the USA or anywhere else in the Americas? How long will you stay in China? Do you have many Chinese friends... Are they ever critical of their government?

What part of the Philipines are you from? I haven't been there in decades. But I must admit, I do adore Philipino women. Yet I only knew them on a hit and run basis, so to speak... After my tour of duty in Vietnam was over in 1965 I flew out of England, throughout Europe and the Middle East. Returning to the US in 1969, I flew in and out of Vietnam from 1969 to 1971 on C141's. We usually rested overnight at Clark AFB.. But the most memorable time was over Christmas of 1965 when I was stationed in Vietnam and we flew an aircraft to Clark AFB from Saigon. The thought of riding around the countryside without people shooting at you seemed to take me over. We were there for a week while new electronics were being installed... I hailed an Angeles Jitney driver who hooked me up with a rented bicyle... I peddled around the countryside for a week, doing fast water colors.... and met a lot of very decent people.... One family even had me over for Christmas dinner...

Of course Clark AFB and Angeles were eventually covered with volcanic ash... Has that area ever been recovered?