It’s been a really fantastic trip, and sitting here in Raleigh, North Carolina (named after Queen Caroline) and looking back on it, even our time in UK seems a long time ago. London, Loughborough … even New York City. It has been wonderful to catch up with our old friends whom we worked out we had not seen for FIFTEEN years.
Old friend Steve H. drove us down to his gorgeous beach house (pix) in Emerald Isle which is off the southern coast of North Carolina, 2.5 hours from town, and it really should be classified a beach mansion it is so huge: on 3 floors, 5 bedrooms and two kitchens which are better kitted than mine. Everything is still enormous as they have so many resources still, including this guy we met in town who was 6’ 9” – I couldn’t resist asking to have a pix taken with him.
Raleigh has not changed that much since I first came here on a 3-month residency when I worked for IBM UK in 1987; it is still a sprawling city where space is no issue – there are just many more shopping malls which are HUGE – just to drive around the perimeter of the one in North Hills for example takes at least 10 minutes!!
I’ve of course had a BALL doing some retail therapy, but luggage space, let alone finance, ensures I keep well within budget. Like the UK, certain things are still very cheap here, especially now the pre-Christmas sales are on, with some items 80% off, but services are expensive. Janice has a cleaning service come in for about 6 hours a week for which she pays USD 120.00 which is about the average. Most of their labour is Mexican, and goods are made in China.
One day our friends took us to Wilson, NC, and we came across some cotton fields - never seen that in my life, city slicker that ah ahm. It was fascinating to see this stuff, and you can imagine how the black slaves used to labour in them ole cott'n fields which stretch for miles and miles. It's also fall harvest time and Halloween night was on Sunday, so plenty of pumpkins and creepy ghouls around.
Some BEAUTIFUL old houses around complete with suthern rocking chairs on the porch - straight out of Tom Sawyer.
However, the economy is bad, everyone here in the South hates Obama (Mid-term elections are on today which should show what a bad job they think he is doing) and property prices have tumbled. Of course compared to the east it is still expensive!
Mac’s enjoying his time playing golf with my friend's hubby Paul who is a very keen golfer with 10 handicap. And don’t even talk about the food – no wonder the average American is oversized there is such an abundance of everything here, and Southern food is fried and greasy - we even saw Krispy Kreme (donut) burgers at the State Fair here!
Heart attack stuff man, as they say. However I have to say after a month and a half of western food, I am DYING for some chinky food.
Tomorrow we head off to my cuz in Los Angeles, and on Monday 8th we will be flying off in the evening to arrive in KL via Taipei at about 11 or 12pm Wed 10th. Back home again.
It’s been a great trip, but I think by then we will be quite quite ready to get back. Phew!
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