Virginia

Goes To

CHINA

Hello everybody! Back when I used to edit this maga- zine there were quite a number of our readers who used to tell me that they like my travelogue articles as well as anything else in the magazine. So I have to be rather apologetic in that I have let

you down by not getting off a Virgin Views column to Carol in time for any of her last sev- eral issues. Its just the crush of everything else I'm into. But I have travelled in the past two years so I guess I'd better report in about it.

In the fall of 1981 I went to China but before taking off for it I went up to Oregon to attend DREAM' It was as usual a lot of fun seeing a lot of old friends and making a lot of new ones. I dodn't attend the classes much both because of having done them before and because over the years I have developed my own style and since it seems to work (inasmuch as I haven't been read on my various trips) I didn't think I wanted to go to them again. But they were good for the other girls who havent been as fortunate (or maybe as foolish) as I have been. I remember the night we all got into the bus at our condominium and drove down into Lincoln City to have our final "Pink" Banquet. Every-

one was in a long dress and with their best jewelry, heels etc. They were a beautiful bunch of ladies. And I remember com- menting to whoever it was I sat with that if the local ladies were to have a big bash at the local country club in put on all their finery, this bunch of DREAM GIRLS could certainly hold their own and even put a bunch of the locals in the shade. Too bad there is no way or occasion to expose a bunch of us when in our most feminine get ups to public scrutiny. They would certainly get a better impression than the usually held one derived from seeing some female impersonate mouthing a lip-sync song in some tawdry night club. So the DREAM experience

was a great fun as always.

Sell came Saturday noon and we drove from Lincoln City to the Portland airport where I arrived about 3 and waited till about 5 for the plane to San Francisco; stayed at the airport till about 6:30 for the plane to Honolulu where we arrived about 11 p.m. their time, laid over for 2 hours and took off for Guam; another 1 1/2 hours lay over and then off for Manila where we arrived about 7 a.m. After baggage claim, customs etc. I arrived at the hotel at 9 a.m. setting

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the clock for 1 p.m. expecting to wake and walk around the city a bit. When I finally came to it was already dark-about 6:30 so I lost that whole day. Next day took a trip around Manila and out to a resort in the mountains. The most memor- able thing about Manila is the "Jeepneys." These are regular jeeps which have been rebuilt with a stainless steel or aluminium body, painted with fancy designs and with a number of little silver horses about 8" on the hood. high mounted These vehicles are open in the back like a bus, carry about 8 people and travel specific routes around the city. The fancy horses and mirrors on the hood and fenders are a display of male chauvenism and machismo as the message is "ride with me, I've got the prettiest jeep and the most horsepower."

The next

day I took

a hovercraft ride over to Corre- gidor where we saw the ruins of the forts, wrecked guns and destroyed barracks. Also there is a big memorial there with maps of all the big Pacific battles on the walls and the names of all the men who died in the pacific campaigns. Very impressive. The following day, after a too short visit I took off for Hong Kong where I had arranged things to arrive about