51. From Boston to D.C.

My son Don arranged a weekend trip to Washington together with some of his colleagues and went in two cars. It was to be an 8 hour drive south and we left at around midnight so that we could have a whole day on Saturday to do sight-seeing. I love long drives and took turns to drive with my son. We drove through Connecticut and took the coastal road and into Manhattan NY going past Harlem and got to see NY city at night. It was awesome. From there, we took the GeoWashington tunnel into New Jersey and onward to Washington DC. We arrived at around 8am to take in the sights.
                                                                                   

My sons Don and Jay (JD).

At the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument at the far end of the Reflecting Pool.

A view of the Washington Memorial.

With my son Don, in front of the White House. We could only take a pic from outside the building.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln

Visitors at the Lincoln Memorial.

Standing next to Thomas Jefferson.









These are some of the pics I took on the first day in Washington. It was quite tiring after the long drive and walking about in this vast area with all the famous buildings. The weather was rather hot that day thats why we only wore light clothing.  Felt a bit like our Malaysian weather. After having taken in the sights, we returned to our hotel looking forward to another day of sight-seeing.

50. In and around Boston

I spent my time in Boston, Massachusetts with my family and especially with my elder son Don, who was based there. I would drive him to work in the mornings, and use his car to go sight-seeing and then pick him up after work. He stayed in Marlborough, a suburb of Boston and sometimes we would take a train ride (an internal rail transit like our LRT) into Boston to do a walking tour. I love trains so I enjoyed it very much. What we enjoyed most was the beautiful weather and the scenery.

Taking a break outside Fanuil Hall

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral.

One of their Independence memorials

Outside Bull & Finch Pub

Checking out Quincy Market with my son JD

Taking a break and enjoying the scenery

Around Boston.









These are also some pics of Boston and its suburbs. Next to come will be more pics of my trip down south in Washington DC. Look out for more pics.

49. Boston and its suburbs

Continuing with my post on Boston, I spent some time with Thomas, had lunch with him at his wife's restaurant and hanging out at the Guitar store near the Berkeley College of Music. Thomas lives just round the corner of Berkeley.
My son left his car for me to use so being the adventurous me, I drove around sight-seeing and even went to attend a Native American Pow-Wow in a place near Hudson and also to Salem, known for its scandalous witch trials, and to Old Sturbridge Village, just off Route 20 in Connecticut.

Looking at awesome guitars with Thomas and my son JD.

With my wife and JD in front of the original 'CHEERS'

A visit to an apple orchard

Massachusetts has plenty of beautiful lakes so I couldn't resist taking a pic.

Stayed at my son's apartment in Applebriar, Marlborough.

The neighbour's cat Harry, who is also my alarm clock. He comes over in the early mornings and wakes me.

At Wrentham Outlet Mall where you can get good bargains and choices.

Posing with a modern day Native American at the Pow-Wow.

With some older Native Americans. Not sure which tribe they were.








These are some of the pics I took in Boston and its suburbs. Look out for more to come.

48. My Holiday in Boston and meeting Thomas

After I retired from playing music at the club scene, I took a well deserved holiday with my family. My elder son was based in Boston, Mass. and it would be perfect to spend some time with him there and have a holiday too. We went in Spring and the weather was perfect for us. I also managed to catch with Thomas Ham, my old bandmate from The Fabulous Falcons. It turned out to be a good reunion with him and he showed us around Boston and Cambridge.  I've got some pics of my stay there in Boston and the other places I visited so I'll be posting my travel pics in part.

Together with Thomas Ham and my younger son JD

Taking a break in Old Sturbridge Village. 

Me and my wife in Old Sturbridge Village.

Me and my wife in Marlboro, a suburb of Boston

In front of Walgreens in Marlboro

Quincy Market in Boston

Watching an open air performance in front of Quincy Market

Part of Quincy Market

A street in downtown Boston

The view from the balcony of my son's apartment in Applebriar.









These are some of my travel pics of Boston and I will be posting more pics soon.

47. Some old pics of us in Thailand

Here again I managed to look up some old photographs (black n white) of us during our stint in Thailand a few decades ago.  We had a friend who was a local of Bangkok to show us around.

    

     Me and Christopher (13) beside a boulevard.

Chilling out under some trees. Those guys bought some local fruits.

 'Try some of these fruits' said Peter. He's Tommy Ong;s brother who joined us for a holiday there.

Me and Kai Leong, our sound tech.  He's fondly called 'Technician' by us until this day.

Our local friend brought us to this beautiful lake where we met some rural girls selling handicraft.








Looking at these old pics bring back fond memories of our stay there and the friends we met. 

46. Connie Francis of Malaysia

I'm sure that many of you were fans of the beautiful voice of Connie Francis with hits such as 'Stupid Cupid', 'Frankie', Everybody's Somebody's Fool' and many others. Back in the 60's, we all fell in love with that beautiful voice and even danced to her songs.

We had our own Connie Francis of Malaysia during that time. Many girls sang her songs and some were even said to have the voice of the Icon but most famous of all here in Malaysia in the 60's was a girl named Rubiah Lubis.  She had a beautiful voice and sang all the Connie Francis hits with such similarity that she was named the 'Connie Francis of Malaysia'.. She appeared on RTM and also toured the country with The Fabulous Falcons.

   











I'm sure that many of you will remember 'Rubiah Lubis'  and watched her perform at shows throughout the country. We had the pleasure of having her on together with us during our tour. The above pic. shows Rubiah with me and The Fab. Falcons at St. John's Ambulance Hall, Ipoh.

45. Joe playing Dance On using an Ibanez Jem

Here's another video clip of me playing 'Dance On'. This is also one of my favourite songs by The Shadows.
Thanks for watching, guys.