"The News" a South Africa Travel Page by SharrieShaw

Jan. 16, 2005.

Newsflash! Newsflash! Newsflash!

Jan. 20, 2004: I made it to Antarctica! I've finally set foot on all the 7 continents!

Oct. 23, 2004: Atsuko & Dimitris to marry in Tokyo today. Both of them met through VT.
Congratulations to both of them!

Dec. 25, 2004: I did it - 7 continents in a single year! Landed in Australia, last continent of the year.

Dec. 26, 2004: Deadliest earthquake in the last 40 years! Epicenter off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Tsunami kills more than 100,000 in 8 countries, from Indonesia to India to Somalia!

Jan. 1, 2005: My first New Year countdown in broad daylight over Antarctica!

Jan. 14, 2005: Richie announced that he & Doreen tied the knot a week ago in Fort Lauderdale after 3 years of courtship. Both met through another VTer in 2001 in Germany.
Congratulations!!!

The News.
It was through the news & public media that we learned a lot about our world.
& hence, it was there I first learned about Nelson Mandela.
The name associated with South Africa. An icon of freedom, democracy & equality.

South Africa... a world so far away. Not so much by distance but by what we know about it.
Perhaps it's simply me. Or perhaps to most of us Asians, there's the East & the West.
But Africa, where does that lie?
What do we know other than the many who died of hunger there? & the many who are AIDS carrier & fighting for their survival?
The continent which once ruled the world in an ancient civilization like Egypt.
Yet, in the modern world... Africa is often forgotten by those from the East & from the West.
Sahara, Serengeti & the Sphinx... all world-renowed.
The people, the country, the culture? One hardly hears much about them.
It wasn't until I arrived that I found out about the many Asian descendents from Indonesia & Malaysia!
The cuisine very similar & yet different from those back home.
The similarities between us & them.
The world gets smaller everyday the more we see & travel.