Reporter's diary: Bush's tour

The BBC's Rob Watson, accompanying United States President George W Bush on his tour of six Asian nations, is filing a diary for BBC News Online.

En route to Hawaii :: 2018 GMT 23 October

By the time we landed in Australia I've got to say the White House Press Corps was so exhausted and travel weary that we had pretty much given up on any serious journalism or tourism.

Just as well really. I like to be a positive person, but to describe Canberra as sleepy is a bit like describing the Sahara desert as sandy.

Factually accurate, but not adequate to the scale of the situation. Canberra is a compromise city. As Australians couldn't agree on whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the capital, they decided to build a new one half between the two in the early part of the 20th century, so there you have it Canberra.

President Bush and the press corps will have travelled 23,500 miles

It's very clean, lots of space and surrounded by really beautiful countryside but just not much buzz.

So cue the entrance of President Bush. As with a lot of the countries visited on this tour it was intended as a thank you from President Bush.

In Australia's case a thank you for sending 2,000 or so troops to fight in Iraq. The problem was not everyone in Australia wanted to be thanked because they weren't that keen on being involved in the war.

So there were a 1,000-odd protestors outside the parliament building for the president's speech and one or two inside in the form of a couple of MPs.

They tried to interrupt the president's speech to point out that a) they wanted the two Australians held in Guantanamo Bay sent back to Australia and b) they didn't want to be America's sheriff in the Asia Pacific region as President Bush has described the country.

Fortunately there was an Australian working in the press filing centre who was able to help us understand the scale of the incident given the general boisterous nature of the Australian parliament.

Ah, he said, there have been much worse incidents, for instance the time when a former Australian prime minister referred to the Australian Senate as unrepresentative swill.

By those standards President Bush received a hero's welcome.

By and large it seemed that Australians were much more interested in the Rugby World Cup and who can blame them. When it comes to rugby Australia is a superpower.

As for the White House press corps the biggest excitement seemed to come from an American television network which had managed to film a kangaroo bouncing alongside the president's motorcade.

The network wasn't sure whether it was a pro- or anti-American marsupial.

So was the whole trip a success? Just as all the hacks were wondering about the answer to this question before leaving Canberra, who should appear but the White House director of communications, aka the chief surgeon of spin-doctoring, Dan Bartlett.

A very likeable man, Dan assured us that it was a success. After all Apec had tackled free trade and terrorism and the trip had provided a good opportunity to rally support for the latest initiative on North Korea.

But, Dan was asked, what was the most fun the president had? The answer, after much consideration, was meeting Muslim leaders in Bali and receiving the high tech toy dog given to him by his best friend Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi.

And here's something else that's very strange. As I'm writing this it's Thursday morning in Hawaii.

Very weird given that this is our second Thursday, having already spent the whole of Thursday in Australia. You figure it out. So we're almost at the end of our journey.

Anyway I'm writing this on the plane on the penultimate leg of our journey - a mere 5000 or so mile hop to Hawaii.

By the time we get back to Washington we will have travelled 23,500 miles and spent 48 hours flying. No wonder we're all going a little crazy. See you on the next trip.

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Australia :: 1100 GMT 22 October

For newcomers to this "travels with George" diary, I'd just arrived in Singapore on Air Force One the last time I sent word.

Sadly once in Singapore I was, as the phrase goes, "swapped out of" the inner pool of reporters covering the president. So I didn't get to ride into town in the presidential motorcade.

What a come down, what a slow down. Here's my tip for the people of Texas. Once Dubya stops being president I'd look out for his driving as he's sure going to be used to travelling at speed.

Anyway, like most of the countries on this tour, Singapore was a first for me. It's shockingly clean and fantastically fertile. One of my all time favourite BBC correspondents, Brian Barron, once described Singapore as "the world's first self-governing shopping mall".

Anti-Bush protesters await the president's arrival in Australia

I know what you mean Brian, spot on as ever. The guide we're given by the US Government to all the countries we're visiting pointed out such useful facts as that it's illegal to spit or chew gum. Now you know why it's so clean.

The treat of the day was visiting the famous Raffles hotel. Step inside this beautiful old place with its wonderfully uniformed staff and it's as if the Empire, British that is, was still in its prime.

I was told they invented the cocktail known as the Singapore Sling in Raffles, so I gave it a try. Very refreshing it was too.

At this point I want to re-introduce the producer travelling with me, Mark Orchard. He noticed that many of the streets and shops in Singapore seemed to be called Orchard.

Did he perhaps have some distant relative who'd struck it rich in the Far East and was now living the good life?

Now I have to introduce one of the world's greatest taxi drivers. As we drove back in a taxi from Raffles to the press filing centre, Mark asked our taxi driver why everything was called Orchard.

That's because this place used to be an orchard, the driver cackled. There was no stopping him once we'd engaged him in conversation.

First you've got to try to imagine his wonderful accent, English spoken with the great verve used by Singapore's ethnic Chinese.

Here are my favourites that are printable. He said Singapore had nothing, no resources, just women and men making babies.

As for its healthcare system it was cheaper to die than be sick. And as for the great density of shops, he advised not to give too much plastic to the wife.

Rarely have I met a man with more opinions more colourfully expressed. Perhaps the president should have had dinner with him and not Singapore's prime minister.

Well we're now in Australia, of which more later. Sadly most of us in the press corps were not able to stop off with the president in Bali.

But as we flew over Indonesia we saw an eruption from a very large volcano. A presidential news conference just can't compete with that.

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Bangkok, Thailand :: 1700 GMT 21 October

Today I was on pool duty. First time for me.

No, pool duty does not have anything to do with those things that you swim in.

The pool is a small group within the giant horde of journalists covering the president's visit who are actually supposed to be in the same place as he is.

The other 100 or so remain at wherever the main press centre is.

It is not easy to get close to President Bush

So today was my turn and as I mentioned my first ever.

The pool's assignment on this occasion was to follow the president to the final Apec session at some gorgeous government building.

It started out very promisingly as we prepared to leave the president's hotel.

First I saw the president's car pass right in front of my nose and even caught a glimpse of the man himself - a rare event indeed.

Then I got my first taste of what it is like to travel in a presidential motorcade.

OK, so the press bus was way near the back of the enormous convoy, but it was still great.

A presidential motorcade is the only way to travel.

The normally teeming streets of Bangkok emptied as if by an act of God.

It is easy to understand why presidents, prime ministers, kings, etc hate losing their jobs.

The event itself was a bit of let down, in the sense that we did not get to see it.

Sure we drove up to the government building with the president, but then it was bye bye.

While the president was inside chatting with other presidents and prime ministers, we were escorted to some delightful but baking hot outbuildings to await the outcome.

The other pool members were all veterans of this kind of affair and probably wondered at my stupid disappointment.

One of them said it was really a "bodywatch", which means you are nearby just in case the president has some horrible accident, natural or otherwise.

Anyway he didn't and so off we went by motorcade again to the airport.

And then it was time for my real treat.

My first ever flight on Air Force One, surely the world's most recognisable aircraft.

It was great. I sat next to Mr Bush the whole way in his private office/living complex at the front of the plane and we chatted about everything under the sun; foreign policy, baseball, the works.

Just kidding. The truth is I spent the two hour flight at the back of the plane in the section reserved for journalists.

I'm not complaining. We had a visit from a "senior administration official" who gave us a briefing, and a visit from the president's spokesman Scott McClellan.

I waited and waited for the man himself - maybe next time.

I would love to tell you more, but I think it is a matter of national security.

But I have come away with a memento of my flight - a packet of M&Ms with the presidential seal on.

For those of you who do not know what M&Ms are; they are a chocolate covered snack food - no I have not eaten them yet, and no there are not any going.

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Bangkok, Thailand :: 1300 GMT 20 October

As far as journalism is concerned, the easiest stuff is what I call the "what happened story".

In other words, stories where you can say such and such happened in a certain place at a certain time, this is what caused it and this was the result - you get the picture.

The Apec summit here doesn't do well on the "what happened" score approach to stories. And therefore it's far more difficult for journalists to cover.

And then we even had a travel tip from the President, via his spokesman, for how to beat the jetlag. The tip? You have to workout

But that's not to say it's not interesting. Part of the problem is that news organisations spend so much time and energy previewing these kinds of stories - the BBC included - and then lose interest once they're underway.

Understandable really, as it's much easier to say what a summit is likely to be about than to find out what actually happened.

So we get back to that what happened at APEC question?

And the honest answer is it's hard to say. After all, access to the participants is very limited and the briefings provided by their officials less than satisfying.

I will say no more on the issue other than that somehow we have to do better at covering these types of stories, if for no other reason than we owe it to the 2.5bn or so people who live in Apec's member countries and all those other people affected by the numerous diplomatic gatherings that now clog the global diary.

Anyway that's enough musings. Despite the above grumble today hasn't been too bad.

I got up early to have a swim before the smog closed in and I think I'm at last adjusting the massive time difference between here and where I live. And there's my cue for today's reflection on the star of the show, President Bush.

We had the good fortune to be visited in our filing centre today by his very affable spokesman and fellow Texan Scott McClellan. I asked Scott whether the President actually enjoyed these trips.

Scott's got quite a Texas twang, but I'm pretty sure he said yes.

"Does the President eat the local food while he's away," was another searching question from another hack.

Yes, came the reply, the President had tried some Thai cuisine. And then we even had a travel tip from the President, via his spokesman, for how to beat the jetlag. The tip? You have to workout. So there you have it, a free travel tip from the Leader of the Free World.

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Bangkok, Thailand :: 1700 GMT 19 October

There are two Marriott Hotels in Bangkok. Why, you're wondering, am I telling you this? Well, it might come in handy.

Today we left our hotel - a Marriott - to go to record what we call in the trade a "piece to camera" - the bit where the reporter tries to say something intelligent in vision in the piece.

He spent barely four hours in Manila

Our destination was a convention centre where there was a great view of the Bangkok skyline. Getting there was easy, some helpful person from the US embassy provided us a van and driver.

As the journey only took five minutes, we figured - my producer Mark Orchard and I, that is - that a taxi ride back would be fine.

So we waved down a car and off we went to the Marriott. About 20 minutes later, after crossing a very large river we hadn't seen before, we then figured something was wrong. And then it appeared - the second Marriott.

The taxi driver was very apologetic and cross with himself, though he didn't know much English he knew the F word and used it with feeling.

In the end it turned out rather well. After the best part of 50 minutes in his taxi I reckon we had a pretty good sense of Bangkok.

It is not a city for those who like things quiet, tranquil and clear. It's polluted, packed and noisy, but very exciting.

So in the evening when we had to do some more venturing outside the hotel we took the subway. Well I say subway, but it's above ground and very clean and efficient it is too.

So if you're going to Bangkok don't forget there are two Marriotts and use the subway/overway.

There was a bit of a treat for some members of the press corps today. In the cavernous room in the hotel we use for filing our stories some monks quietly appeared.

The next thing you knew they were unravelling some mats and offering free massages to all and sundry in the working press.

Due to the pressure of work I missed out on their nimble thumbs, but those who didn't looked very happy.

Talking of monks, it reminds me of the star of this show, George W Bush. As I may have mentioned before, the president is not much of a sightseer.

He doesn't appear that curious and never stays anywhere for long enough anyway to see anything.

But seeing as this was a state visit, on this occasion he did visit a magnificent Buddhist temple called the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

It looked fantastic - the president took off his shoes and had a look around. His verdict: "Inspiring". Quite!

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En route to Thailand :: 1300 GMT 18 October

I woke up very confused today. First of all I wasn't sure where I was and second I had no idea what time it was.

A quick glance at a very elegant high-tech clock on the wall of my hotel room revealed the ghastly truth - 0300.

And then the high-techness of the room reminded me I was in Tokyo.

Flights feature prominently on this six-day, six-nation trip

I don't want to dwell on this too long, but even the toilets in Japan are high-tech, I mean you can do such vital things as set the temperature of the toilet seat to hot or warm.

After a desperate attempt to get back to sleep I gave into jet lag and resigned myself to the idea that three hours would have to do.

It wasn't all bad news. If you ever need a good breakfast I can thoroughly recommend Tokyo. And then we were on the road again. So, some 11 hours after arriving in the city, we left.

In the daylight I got a better idea of just how vast a city it is and just how much sea there is everywhere. I hope I get a chance to go back one day.

At this point I want to let you into a little secret about one of the good things about travelling with the White House Press Corps. You don't have to fiddle about with things like customs and immigration.

Some kind folks from the US Government take care of all of that and keep your passports throughout the trip. So when the buses arrive at the airport they go straight up to the plane and off you go.

Well, that is until this very easy-going system allowed some total stranger onto to a flight during the president's trip to Africa earlier this year.

Woops. So now at the bottom of the steps to the plane there's a very high-tech system for checking who you are. It's still pretty quick, though.

Anyway by 0810 we were off to the Philippines - a mere four-hour flight from Japan. As it turns out, that's not that much shorter than the time we spent once we got there.

Regular readers of these and other presidential travel diaries will know the routine by now.

After another bus ride, our only glimpse of life in Manila, we found ourselves in a hotel from where we could file our stories.

I know there are plenty of good reasons for keeping these visits so short, such as security threats and the need for the president to spend some time running America.

But if he finds out as little about the places we visit as the press do we may all be in big trouble.

So as I write this it's about 2200 and I'm back on our press plane for the three-and-a-half hour flight to Thailand and the Apec summit.

If you'll excuse me now it's time for some plane food.

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Tokyo :: 1400 GMT 17 October

As I write this, I'm finding it decidedly difficult to keep my eyes open. So my apologies to those reading who feel very wide awake.

According to my watch it's 10:50 in the evening Tokyo time and I think it's Friday. But the strange thing is that when I left California it was Thursday and still the middle of the day.

Bush appears to be not much of a sightseer

So what did we do all day? Well it all got off to a good start in California with the meeting between Arnie and Dubya, the two undoubted stars of the Republican party.

The president cracked a joke about neither of them being able to speak English properly and somehow you got the feeling there could be a very strange new double act in the making.

The rest of that day was spent in the air. When you look at a map it's perhaps no surprise that it takes 12 hours to get from California to Tokyo. But the lack of surprise doesn't make it any more fun.

As usual I killed time by watching films and reading a very irreverential book about the president called Bushwhacked. Written by two Texan journalists, the book basically makes the argument that Dubya did a lousy job running Texas and that no-one should therefore be surprised that he's now ruining the country as a whole.

I was wondering if the White House press officials on the plane would hold my reading matter against me - so far no signs of that.

One matter I would like to take up with the White House is timing. My advice - don't in future schedule arrivals at Tokyo airport in the rush hour. It's hell.

In what I expect to be one of many long press bus journeys, it took us two hours to get from the plane to our hotel.

Shame really. It's not as if we had a lot of time here. Twelve hours to be precise. So no sushi bars for me and no karaoke. But from the little I've seen of Tokyo - that is the view from the bus - it definitely seems worth a return visit.

As for our quarry the president, he didn't do much sightseeing either. Just a quick visit to the US embassy and a dinner with the Japanese prime minister.

His only known public comments in Japan - that the noodles were excellent and relations between the two countries just as good. So there you have it.