During the tenure of my service at Kumpulan Guthrie, I was fortunate that I could travel on long service leave after every ten years I served the Company. This exceptional perk was inherited from Guthrie Corporation Ltd, the Mat Salehs who once owned Guthrie. When Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) took over the Company in 1981, vide the famous “Dawn Raid”, fortunately the perk remained. The amount equivalent was two first class plane tickets, two ways from Kuala Lumpur to London. However, we could convert to go elsewhere with the equivalent amount. Flying on economy class, I could pack my two children as well. Since I served 23 + years I was eligible twice.
(Very much regret, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd is now a history. The company together with another plantation giant, Golden Hope had merged with Sime Darby Bhd and the biggest plantation company in the world is now called Sime Darby Bhd).
1988 – The First Long Service Leave.
My two kids were still young and they were eager to go to Disneyland in California. We arrived in Los Angeles after thirteen hour flight from Kuala Lumpur with an hour stopover at Narita Airport in Japan. During that time the Malaysian Consulate General in Los Angeles was a friend of mine and he gladly dispatched his Driver to the Airport for our arrival. Unfortunately a box of various Malaysian fruits that I took along intended as gift pack was confiscated by the Airport Custom. I was naïve that all agricultural products are totally ban from entering California State.
We took shelter at the Consulate General official residence for a couple of days. At Los Angeles we went to the various attractions, the Observatory Centre, Universal Studio, Hollywood and the famous Chinese Temple where all the famous film stars left their foot and hand print on the wet pavement. We spent one solid day at Universal Studio. All day long we would be out somewhere sightseeing the City of Angels. I was fortunate, my friend the Consulate General had already planned and mapping the rest of our stay in US. In the first instance he recommended to rent a car and my wife to read the map. I kindly rejected because I was not familiar with left hand driving.
On the fourth day we went back to LA Airport and took the shuttle from the Airport to Anaheim. At Disneyland we stayed at the Magic Carpet Motel, just across the perimeter fencing of Disneyland. The children enjoyed two full days at Disneyland Amusement Park. I let them loose and meeting me at appointed time and place. We also took the trip down south to the famous San Diego Zoo and Strawberry Park Fun Land. I remember, I befriended an old American man at Strawberry Park and he asked for my itinerary. With a sigh, he said I am going to see America more than him. We went to Long Beach and had the pleasure of boarding the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose. It is now a museum piece.
From Anaheim we took a luxury coach to Las Vegas. We checked in at Dunes, the famous Casino Hotel along the Straight. While in Las Vegas we toured Lake Mead and Hoover Dam one of the five wonder of Civil Engineering. On top of the Dam I could stand between two states, one leg in Nevada State and the other in Arizona. The Hoover Dam is situated between two inter states. When I turned my head either way, the time varied by an hour. We enjoyed the bright neon light of Las Vegas and for leisure we hang around at the Circus Hotel & Casino. There was a circus performing non stop round the clock. The children were enjoying the circus and I sometimes sneaked to the slot machines. I did try the Black Jack and I found out, I could not make a living out of it. Just for record purposes, yours truly had gambled in Las Vegas.
The next plan was to purchase a 15 day Greyhound Bus Pass and I got it from Las Vegas Bus Terminal. The Pass enable us to ride on the Greyhound bus to anywhere during the fifteen day period. We boarded the bus crossed the Mojave Desert and our first stop was Reno, and stayed over night. The following day we headed west to Lake Tahoe. We booked into a chalet with a kitchenette by the Lake. We sat by the balcony, strolled by the lake, went on the lake cruise and enjoyed the beautiful sceneries especially the awesome sunset. We cooked our own food getting our supplies from the nearest Supermarket. The weather was very cooling and the appetite was good. The place was peace and quiet and we really had a good rest.
From Lake Tahoe we moved on to San Francisco. The city had just suffered an earthquake and the Oakland Bridge was still dormant. We got into the city via the Golden Gate. I had seen pictures of the famous Golden Gate umpteen times and this time I was crossing it. We rode on the tram; we roamed the Pier and the Fisherman wharf. To commemorate my visit to Pier 41, I bought a Canon EOS camera. We took a boat ride on the San Francisco Bay at Pier 39 passing by the Alcatraz Prison where Al Capone used to stay and cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bridge. We also took a trip to Muir Woods National Monument 12 miles north of the Golden Gate. The oldest Redwood here is at least 1000 years old.
Next destination, we decided to go up north. We took on the bus and final destination was Vancouver Canada. At the Immigration Checkpoint, the Officer cheekily asked for our visa and I proudly told him we were Malaysian, a member of the Commonwealth country and we don’t need visa to enter Canada. He smiled and welcomed me and family to Canada. We love the Canadian weather. We went to the Science Centre, took the seabus and we hop on to the sky train to Grouse Mountain. The weather was hazy and the mountain top was covered with snow. We stayed in Vancouver for a couple of days.
We finally decided to go back to base and we took the Greyhound Bus back to Los Angeles. We passed several cities, Seattle, Oregon and Sacramento to name a few. It was at Sacramento Bus Terminal Café over breakfast that I bought a homeless lady a cup of coffee and some bread. My children were surprised of my generosity to a complete stranger. As we rode on the bus, we were enjoying the landscape and sceneries of Western USA.
We arrived in Los Angeles two days before Thanks Giving day and we checked into LAX Hotel, very convenient Hotel only half a mile from the Airport. When I checked in at the Hotel, the Receptionist asked whether I was AAA (American Automobile Association) member for a discount. Out of the blue the Cab Driver, a complete stranger whipped out his AAA card and I got the discount. I turned to my two small children and told them that if we help someone sincerely, someone will eventually help you. Almighty GOD is always watching. The next day, I contacted Sam Soh Nga my Malaysian Chinese friend residing in Los Angeles picked us up and took us to the downtown Shopping Mall. My family would be heading for home soon and my wife especially got to pick up some things. The Mall was crowded as people were buying presents for their love one for Thanks Giving day. In the evening Sam picked us up and went for dinner. The next day was Thanks Giving day and most Americans stayed home. We wanted to do some sightseeing and not to trouble Sam Soh Nga, we took the Cab instead and headed to Santa Monica Pier just to enjoy the Pacific.
The next day, I sent the family to the Airport and they flew back to Kuala Lumpur. I stayed back as from now I was on official business tour.
The write out on the second Long Service Leave will follow suit at a later date. Recollecting my memories.
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