Ruth

Ruth

Today is the day of Ruth's funeral in London.  Ruth, the bestist of friends for the past 50 years. The most appropriate tribute to Ruth, I feel, has to do with travel, Ruth's abiding passion.

Ruth and Jennifer a top The Duomo, Florence (2001)

Ruth and Jenny, my first wife, were undergrad roommates in Wydrington Hall, University of Birmingham (1965), rooming for two years, which I think set an all time  record for a blind pairing of freshers. Birmingham Uni. is where Ruth and I first met, life long friends after that.  Apart from visits to each other's homes in the UK, we also took off on something like 11 holidays together.  Here are a few photos from our latest trips together.

On the Mongolian Steppes (2007)

Mongolia, a wild place where you can hear birds fly, with hardly a fence to be climbed in all of its 1.5 million square kilometers.  Ruth and husband Richard spent a week in the capital, Ulaanbaatar , with Gek and I just after winter's end.

Tiananmen Square, Beijing (2007)

From Mongolia we all flew to Beijing, at the time the city was preparing for the 2008 Olympics.  Getting a lot of TLC it was.

The Forbidden City, Beijing (2007)

Love this photo of Ruth, consulting her travel guide in the Forbidden City.  Travel guides take up a large part of Ruth's bookcases.

Singapore City from Mount Faber (2009)

Singapore with son Toby.  Matching t-shirt a complete accident.

Chinese/Vietnam Border (2009)

Our Vietnam holiday took in Hanoi, Halong Bay and here to north, Sapa.  Very strange border this, almost entirely deserted with no cross-border traffic on the bridge.  Guess they are not the best of neighbours then?

Lake Kenyir, Malaysia (2010)

A driving trip around the north of Malaysia.  Here at Lake Kenyir's lake-side bungalows where monkeys scamper over the roofs, monitor lizards prowel the grounds and hornbills eye you from the tree tops. Fabulous location which we had almost entirely to ourselves.  A very relaxed Ruth here.

East Coast Malaysia (2010)

The beaches along Peninsular Malaysia's east coast  and the South China Sea.  Deserted.  Shame about the hats.

E & O Hotel Esplanade, Penang (2012)

The E & O Hotel, Penang's Raffles, for a bit of style.  Lots of the good and famous have stayed here over the years, including Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Herrmann Hesse, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Sun Yat Sen, among others.

Suffolk House, Penang (2012)

Suffolk House for afternoon tea is a must do for any Brit visiting the Pearl.  Marvelously restored very early 1800's Georgian style home to the British colonial governors of Penang, built on the site of Francis Light's nutmeg plantation.  Raffles was here in 1818, you know.

Sutton House, Hackney, London (2013)

Our last picture together from Gek and mine's last visit to the UK.  Ruth and Richard's place is always has first and last bed for the night on our UK visits.  Rest in Peace Ruth.