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Kung Fu: The Legend Continues |
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My flight was good, no problems. I left the rain behind, hopefully, for a few days. The walk from the gate to the main terminal was a long one. There were signs along the way that told you how much longer it would be to reach certain points along the way. Once in the main terminal, going through customs was easy. I had not done that since I had traveled to Curacao. Once my luggage was picked up, I headed to a place where I could exchange money then to a phone where I could call the hotel to have the shuttle pick me up. That did not take long at all, and the ride was just as short as well.
The hotel was in a very nice setting. There was a grocery store in walking distance, a good sign if I needed anything. I vowed to explore it later, if I had the opportunity.
Because I arrived in the morning, I thought I would have to wait to check into my room. That was not the case. I was able to check in right away. I left a message at the desk to let Sandra Batchford know that I had arrived, the went up to my room to begin unpacking. I even had an opportunity to take a nap if I wished. Even though I had breakfast at 6:00 a.m., I was getting hungry, so I headed down to the Terrace Café and ordered breakfast (for the second time). The breakfast that I had was a healthy serving of several kinds of fruit with a muffin. There was so much fruit that two people could have shared it. Lynne (my daughter) would have liked some of the fruit. The view from the Café was breathtaking. Here is one place I know I will explore later.
Terrace Café View
After I finished my breakfast, I thought I would go back to the room and take a nap. There was a cot waiting for me, and I was able to move it into the room and place it over by the heating and air conditioning unit for sleeping, That was the largest area in the room so we were able to have three sleeping places. Afterward, I lay down and it seemed that as soon as I fell asleep the phone rang. Sandra was waiting in the lobby and wanted to meet me. Though I should have said I would meet her later, I jumped at the chance and went down stairs. We were getting to know one another when two more people came in, Shannon (who acted as treasurer), and Barb who calls herself a Californian even though she is living in Oregon. While we were standing around chatting, I looked over and Helen comes in with her luggage.
After getting checked in, Helen and I went to her room to drop off her stuff. She brought quite a few items for the auction, a large Mickey Mouse and Pluto for Sandra, and a small Mickey Mouse for Lynne.
Once Helen was settled in her room, we went to my room so I could give her my gifts. We then went down for a bit of lunch and met up with some more of our fellow Fufest group. We then stopped in the gift shop because Helen needed a long sleeve shirt. It was cooler than it was in Florida, but that would not last long over the weekend.
While we were in the gift shop, I felt someone was watching us, and sure enough the two Marias, Maria Lynch (whom I will call Maria from Oz) and Maria Wiberg from Sweden were watching us. Maria from Oz had recognized me from the photos on my website. For just a moment I felt like a celebrity.
Earlier I made certain they had card keys for check in to make things easier. Helen and I helped to get their rented car unloaded of their luggage. It was quite a haul. Helen decided to get a nap in after we got both Marias up to the room. It was going to be quite a challenge to find space with the cot and all of our things. I was glad I only brought one big bag, though I thought I was bringing a lot.
Maria from Oz actually surprised me with a few little things for Lynne and something for me. Then Maria from Sweden showed me a clip from Scott Wenthworth, saying that he wished he could be there with us, but he wasn't able to because of obligations there in Stratford.
After getting somewhat settled, both Marias went to get something to eat while I went to try out the pool. It would be my only opportunity. The pool though was small and there was drop off that did not make me feel comfortable. There really was enough area where the pool could have been larger and more rectangular, that way there could have been a lap lane or two. The sauna of course was one of those ones where you had to heat it up. It wasn't worth someone's time. It would never get warm enough to be a proper sauna. I can understand why hotels that offer a sauna puts those in, they think they are saving money. Though it costs more to heat it up than it does to simply turn it on and leave it on throughout the day.
I was in the pool for an hour waiting for someone to come in, but I started to get cold, so I decided this was going to be a good time to make entries in my journal. As I was about to leave the pool, I saw Sandra leave the hotel to go pick up Kim Chan from the airport. I went upstairs and got changed then went back down to the lobby to write. It would be a good opportunity to watch for the Ancient while I wrote. Both Marias came back from lunch and Maria from Oz waited with me while Maria from Sweden went back up to the room. It was then that I also met Ilana, who was from the Netherlands. We started chatting and then I saw Him come in. He looked a little lost so Maria (from Oz), Ilana, and I went up to Kim to act as welcoming committee until Sandra came in from outside.
After Kim checked in, we walked down the hall together toward the elevator tower. Ilana and I decided to check out the room that would be our conference room for most of the weekend. There were several people waiting outside with photo albums. Helen was also waiting. Once the room had been opened, I decided to go and get my notebook to add to the bunch. Mine would really be the only notebook primarily devoted to David Carradine while most were showing Chris Potter or Scott Wenthworth.
The Gathering
It was about an hour later when that Kim walked in. I happen to have my photo album open to the Shanghai Knights photos that were given to me through the Kim Chan Fan Club. He commented on one of them and then shared some stories from that movie, one story being his death scene. He joked about doing the scene where as he was supposed to be dying he said, "Rosebud."
He then shared another story of another death scene where he had to shoot himself. In that scene he had to come back and redo the scene because the person who did the actual stunt portion did not splatter the fake blood in the right direction.
Kim with Sandra
I took a photo of Kim and Sandra together, and Kim offered to take everyone out to dinner. Sandra at first was trying to persuade him that it was our job to host him, but she gave in and we all went down to the Nordic Lounge for dinner.
Dinner Gathering
I got to sit on Kim's lefts and boy did he make me laugh throughout dinner. And Helen sat across from him.
Helen Listening to Kim's Story
The funniest moment was when Kim had ordered onion soup. It turned into a running gag throughout the night. He tried to eat the soup, but to his surprise there appeared to be none. He kept asking, "Where's my soup?" The onion soup was made with bread and three cheeses. The bread that had been added to the soup absorbed most of it. He jokingly said that he would have to eat it with chop sticks.
Well the laughs didn't stop there because Barb (who calls herself a Californian), had ordered a stir fry, and they had given her a pair of chop sticks with her meal. Well, she handed Kim her chop sticks, and he lifted up the cheese with them. It was so funny to see that everyone stopped with what they were doing and and were taking pictures.
Kim with Chop Sticks
The maitre d’ came over and asked if he wanted another bowl of soup, and Kim ordered it without cheese, just the broth.
Kim waiting for his soup
While he was waiting for his soup to come, dinner of course had been served and Kim just did not seem to take a bite. He was enjoying sitting and talking with everyone around him. Helen was sitting across from him and he joked with her about smoking and drinking. He was a little surprised that not everyone was ordering drinks. He had ordered a martini. I continued to order hot tea. My cold was starting to get worse, so I thought the hot herbal tea would help to keep the fluids going. He turned to me at one point and asked me if I had been to the previous FuFests. I told him that this was my first and that I wished I had been able to go to the others, but I had learned about them only after they had been gone.
Mean while, the maitre d’ finally brought Kim's soup, but when he tasted it, he said it was "Lousy." He then turned to me and said that it was too sweet, that it was supposed to taste like onions. He would not even allow me to taste it. He ordered a club sandwich to go, so he could have something to eat in his room. He said that it was difficult for him to eat with so many people staring at him.
The evening progressed with Kim sharing more stories and everyone laughing up a storm. He punched me in the arm a couple of times. I think because he was enjoying the fact that I was laughing so hard. He had mentioned that if you are going to laugh, laugh with gusto, not one of those fake laughs. He also dispensed his brand of wisdom, sounding much like the Ancient would. He would always state that you should go into the bathroom and look at yourself. Make faces; talk to yourself. You are your best friend. And he is right in that respect. Being a friend to ones self is very important, we must love ourselves first before we can love others.
The whole dinner was "Bloody Marvelous," to borrow a phrase. As we were beginning to break up, the maitre d’ brought his take-out order and Kim jokingly carried it as if he was the waiter. He had mentioned earlier that his sister owned a restaurant. She was quite a humorous person. He shared two stories about his sister that left everyone in stitches.
Kim and his take-out
One of the last things Kim said to me, after I thanked him for making me laugh, was that he would make me laugh again tomorrow. Such a wonderful and generous man. He paid for dinner, for at least 20 people (not all of us were there). And he was enjoying every minute. He did say candidly that he missed David and that he was going to give him a call. He mentioned that David wasn't a very happy person at times, and I can believe that. David's life has often been filled with a great deal of pain. Then Kim mentioned that he should be here (at FuFest). He was going to give him a call, and that David would listen to him. I got the impression that he and David were still close friends and had remain so after the show. I am so glad for that. Their relationship on the show had to have been so special. I was thinking that David could just show up sometime this weekend. We shall see. This first night was absolutely wonderful. Tomorrow, the Tour!
Continues with Episode 2 - Location Tour.
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2004.
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