Author archive
1 November 2024
Colourful old town Kuching by night Tonight, I hit old-town with some friends for dinner. I was hit with parking hell when I got there with three events on: the river regatta, a craft fair and a drumming festival. But it was worthwhile as the place was alive with lots of food trucks. It was […]
29 October 2024
Visiting my old aunt Today I fly from Singapore to my hometown in Kuching in the evening on Scoot. This gave me time to visit my 95 year old aunt who had moved to a super-flash apartment near Parkway Parade shopping mall. I joined aunt and her two helpers for lunch and stayed for a […]
28 October 2024
Today Endy picked me up around 0800 for a bicycle ride around the Marina Bay area. We parked underground at the Gardens by the Bay before cycling west or inland towards the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Merlion. We finished by crossing the barrage to the Bay East Garden where a memorial to the […]
28 October 2024
With my body clock on New Zealand time, I woke up early and my host, Wen took me out for a little exploration. The southern tip of Singapore is all new to me. First up, we drove up to Kent Ridge Park for a view of the port area. While the port looked busy and […]
26 October 2024
We landed in Singapore nearly an hour later than the scheduled time of 1650. With the aircraft parked really close to the arrival hall, we had to wait for our luggage, something that rarely happens at Changi. Wen kindly picked me up and took me to his place in the south of the island before […]
26 October 2024
Leaving Auckland I had missed the email that arrived after midnight advising that my 1105 flight to Singapore had been delayed by under an hour. I could have had a bit more sleep instead of waking at 0700. Kim dropped me at the airport around 0900 and due to the kindness of a friend, I […]
13 August 2024
The 787 Dreamliner departed on time at 0100. The crew on board were most obliging, especially with the lady across the aisle from me: The lady across the aisle asked to check that her checked-in baggage had been loaded due to having been rebooked. Even just before doors closed, the crew took her boarding pass […]
12 August 2024
Above: Air China’s First Class lounge in Terminal 3E of Capital Airport. Flying to Bejing I woke up to an email advising of a one-hour reschedule to my flight from Urumqi to Bejing from 1440 to 1540. I had purposely chosen a 6h30 connection to Auckland at 0100 rather one 2h shorter or 4h shorter. […]
11 August 2024
Train to Urumqi I walked to Hami’s railway station around 0900 after breakfast in my room. I didn’t have to wait long before the queues formed for boarding the train to Urumqi. Departing at 1010, time went quickly as I attended to online chores on my phone. I chose to arrive at Urumqi South where […]
10 August 2024
Hami’s sights are concentrated all in one place in the south-west of the city which I reached by taxi. Kings’ Mansion I lined up to buy the ticket for the Mansion (or palace) of the Hami Kings just before it opened at 1000. Like my old guidebook said, it is a bad recreation of the […]