|
Earlier this year, I had the honor of coordinating a mini Khai-Minh
reunion for my 1971/1974 Doan Ket Class in Australia. I first contacted
Thuan, a member of my class in Melbourne Australia,
for a suitable time frame. I originally planned the trip right after the
July 4th Holiday. However,
Thuan told me he was in charge of an annual big project for his company
and he wouldn’t be available until late July. So we set the time for our
reunion from July 22nd to August 7th. I need to get back to the USA before August 9th so I can
attend my Investor Conference in Las
Vegas from August 10th to 12th.
I then called my classmates to see who can make the trip with the
specified time frame. Tong Duong Hung, Huynh The Khuong and Tran Bich Ho
couldn’t make the trip due to the conflict of their working schedule. Ly
Thu Dung, Duong Xuan Diep, Han Ngoc Xuyen and Ngo Kim were able to make
the trip making me the lone male member of the USA
Khai Minh group heading to Australia.
Diep and I were looking aggressively for the airline tickets right
after the number of travelers was confirmed. We were looking for non-stop
flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne Australia to avoid the
hassles of transferring flight. After we got the tickets, I immediately
notified Thuan so we both could plan for our itineraries in Australia.
With two weeks in Australia,
we decided to spend our vacation in Cairns,
Sydney and Melbourne. Since we go to Australia
in July which is winter down there, we decide to spend time in Cairns to enjoy the
tropical weather in that region. Sydney is
the biggest city in Australia
and we don’t want to miss it. Most of our classmates are living in Melbourne so it is logical to make Melbourne our base for the trip.
After months of waiting, we finally boarded our plane to Melbourne Australia on Tuesday July 22nd
in late evening. It was a 15-hour flight from Los
Angeles to Melbourne
but we did not feel it was a long flight because we were all so excited
about the trip. We talked about the trip and our friends in Australia
whom we have not met in more than 30 years.
It was a smooth flight. We arrived at Melbourne
Australia
on Thursday July 24th at 8
o’clock in the morning local time. After we cleared custom,
picked up our luggage and went to the waiting area, Thuan was already there
waiting for us. We jokingly told him we are all willing to be 17 hours
old instantly just to see our classmates in Australia. I saw Thuan 6
years ago when I brought my family to Australia for vacation in
2002 but for the rest of my classmates, it was their first time to see
Thuan in more than 30 years. The good thing is they did not need my
introduction to recognize each other. We may look different physically
from what we were more than 30 years ago when we attended our beloved Khai Minh School
but our friendship remains the same regardless of when and where we are.
We were all a bit tired after the flight but time is so precious
for us so we did not rest. I told my classmates before the trip that I
will plan this trip for “The Young and The Restless” and they understand
it. After dropping off our luggage at Thuan’s house, we headed to Melbourne Chinatown
for Dim Sum. Kieu, Thuan’s wife and also a classmate of our class, took
off from work and joined us for Dim Sum as well. At night, Thong and Son
also joined the party. We ate dinner at Thuan’s house. We decided not to
eat out on our first day in Melbourne
so we had more time to talk. We also made phone call to Tran Ngoc Nga.
She immigrated to Australia
in 1972 after marrying to an Australian. Nga was a member of our 5A class
for only one year in the 1969/1970 school year but we still keep in
touch. Nga is living in Tasmania, an
island off the southern coast of Australia. We also called
Tran Nghia Quoc who is living in Perth in Western Australia.
Both of them will fly to Melbourne to meet
us right after we return from our Cairns
and Sydney
trip.
On Saturday July 26th, we left Melbourne
to fly to Cairns which is located in Queensland in the northeast region of Australia.
Cairns has
tropical weather similar to Hawaii.
During our 5-day 4-night stay in Cairns,
we lived in a 3-bedroom 2-bath apartment just a short drive from Cairns Downtown. We
went swimming at a beach in Port Douglas one hour drive north of Cairns. We also made
a trip to Great Barrier Reef for snorkeling
and scuba diving. It was a new experience for us snorkeling in the open
sea. The underwater scenery is beautiful with colorful coral, tropical
fishes and occasionally, sea turtles. Thuan tried scuba diving and
according to him, it was a unique experience to be down 30 feet under
water with all the sea creatures surrounding him. We also took the cable
cars for highland scenery. We visited Crocodile Farm for crocodile
viewing and shows. For dinner, we tried different food. Among them, the
Greek Restaurant was probably the best. The food was good and the
entertainment was great. Thuan, Kim and I took turn dancing with the
dancer for that evening.
We left Cairns for Sydney on Thursday July 31st.
During our 4-day 3-night stay in Sydney,
we chose to stay at a 3-bedroom 2.5-bath apartment 30-minute drive from
Downtown Sydney.
We figure it is more fun to stay in an apartment with kitchen than
staying in hotel rooms. We had dinner in Vietnamese
Town on our first night at Sydney. After eating
all western food in Cairns,
we all missed Vietnamese and Chinese food. We spent our time in Sydney exploring Vietnamese Town,
China Town and Sydney Harbor. We visited the Opera
House, a Sydney landmark, at Sydney Harbor and took the ferry across
the harbor. The weather was surprisingly nice for the whole trip.
On Monday August 4th, we left Sydney
for Melbourne
driving our rental car. It is about 9 hours drive from Sydney
to Melbourne
along Highway 31. Since it was a relatively long drive, we took turn
driving the car. It was weird at first driving on the left side of the
road but I got used to it after a while.
When we arrived at Downtown Melbourne,
we went directly to the hotel where Nga was staying to pick her up. I
recognized Nga right away when I first saw her waiting for us outside of
her hotel. However, it took Nga a while to recognize some of us. It was,
after all, a long 36 years since Nga left Viet
Nam for Australia in 1972. After
having dinner in Richmond Melbourne,
we picked up Nghia who had arrived at Melbourne 2 days earlier. It was dark
when Nghia got out of his relative’s house to meet us but it did not stop
him from recognizing all of us except Nga. I don’t blame him. Nghia and
Nga did not attend class together in the 1969/1970 school year. Nga was
in 5A class and Nghia was in 5B class.
In our next 2 full days in Melbourne,
we basically stayed local. We had fun chatting with each other and
singing Karaoke. Our Chinese was still sharp enough so we could read the
Chinese characters on the TV screen. We all realized our time together
was too short and we wanted to make the most of it. Sleeping was a luxury
and we could not afford to take it. I remember I slept, on the average, 3
to 4 hours per night the entire trip.
During the trip, we were together for about 2 weeks. We lived under
the same roof and ate at the same table for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We were the classmates of Doan Ket class again after more than 30 years.
I remember when I was attending 6A class in 1970/1971 school year; Mr. Ta
Lap Thanh was our homeroom teacher. He told us to treasure our time
together because in the future, it will be almost impossible for us to
sit down together in the same classroom the way we were doing daily in
school. I did not understand what he said then. I deeply appreciate what
he meant now.
The Australia
trip was a fun trip full of laughter and sweet memories. I like to
express my sincere thanks to all of my KM classmates, Australians and
Americans alike, for making this trip possible. I am looking forward to see
you all in our next class reunion trip.
So long Australia.
This trip will stay in my memory for years to come.
VIVA
DOAN KET CLASS!
Dennis
Phan 潘家墉
Class of
1971/1974
Los Angeles, California,
U.S.A., 28 August
2008
|
