I first set my feet on asian soil in Hanoi. To this day I am in love with that mess of a city and I am unsure if it is seriously as wonderful as I remember or simply my "first love".
my memories of first time aAsia collide with a first in Myanmar in january 94. it's the country i continue to love over all the others. my memories from that first have become very misty though. probabely because they have been overwritten with newer ones. but you're right. certain frozen moments are indelibly written in my memory. Mandalay early morning with a rickshaw guy taking us to see (i suppose) the teak monastery and pagoda's under Mandalay hill because we had no other choice but to climb that one back then. there are many firsts and unique moments you have tickled back to a tale of past joy in this last year with your Couchfish posts Stuart. thanks! 🙏 me too i have diaries. except for that first. but yes the slides help bring back memories too
When I read this great post I also got a notice from my library to pick up the book I had requested, "The Same River Twice"...coincidence? Thanks for all you do! I will never forget my first trip to Peru in 1968...getting off the plane on the tarmac...the distinct smell of the Peruvian air
Very true and also factor in age. Impressionable events on a young and pliant mind sticks brighter than an ageing overloaded and much travelled brain. Novelty is also a factor. still, memories are memories and change on remembering. Ask any two people who experienced the same event and see how their recollections differs.
Very true, Stuart, and I think you're right about novelty driving memory. My first ever Asian trip started in Chiang Mai, in December 2010. I can still remember one particular, very simple breakfast, eating a fried egg on top of a bowl of rice. But it was my first experience of an Asian breakfast, and it blew my tiny mind.
I went back to Chiang Mai in September 2019, and don't have a clue what I ate for breakfast during the visit. (shrug)
I first set my feet on asian soil in Hanoi. To this day I am in love with that mess of a city and I am unsure if it is seriously as wonderful as I remember or simply my "first love".
my memories of first time aAsia collide with a first in Myanmar in january 94. it's the country i continue to love over all the others. my memories from that first have become very misty though. probabely because they have been overwritten with newer ones. but you're right. certain frozen moments are indelibly written in my memory. Mandalay early morning with a rickshaw guy taking us to see (i suppose) the teak monastery and pagoda's under Mandalay hill because we had no other choice but to climb that one back then. there are many firsts and unique moments you have tickled back to a tale of past joy in this last year with your Couchfish posts Stuart. thanks! 🙏 me too i have diaries. except for that first. but yes the slides help bring back memories too
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-bird-that-barks/
Thanx for all. Love your stories. Actually memory or compilation. I feel the ambience.
When I read this great post I also got a notice from my library to pick up the book I had requested, "The Same River Twice"...coincidence? Thanks for all you do! I will never forget my first trip to Peru in 1968...getting off the plane on the tarmac...the distinct smell of the Peruvian air
Very true and also factor in age. Impressionable events on a young and pliant mind sticks brighter than an ageing overloaded and much travelled brain. Novelty is also a factor. still, memories are memories and change on remembering. Ask any two people who experienced the same event and see how their recollections differs.
Very true, Stuart, and I think you're right about novelty driving memory. My first ever Asian trip started in Chiang Mai, in December 2010. I can still remember one particular, very simple breakfast, eating a fried egg on top of a bowl of rice. But it was my first experience of an Asian breakfast, and it blew my tiny mind.
I went back to Chiang Mai in September 2019, and don't have a clue what I ate for breakfast during the visit. (shrug)