Author archive
15 June 2024
Hwaseong Fortress I woke after 9 hours of sleep, having missed a night’s sleep airborne. Venturing out after some muesli and milk, I was pleased that it wasn’t stinking hot today, with substantial cloud cover. The plan for the morning was to explore Hwaseong Fortress or rather its walls and gates which are dotted around […]
14 June 2024
Above: Pedestrian mall in Suwon, near my hotel. Arriving at Seoul Incheon airport at 0630, I wasn’t as lucky as previous visits. It took an hour to get through immigration and exit without a bag. I’m booked to stay in Suwon, which Google Maps says is 2h away by bus. The hotel’s check-in time is […]
13 June 2024
Taking ten years off my age About 10 days short of six months, I stopped shaving just before going on my three-week trip to Saudi Arabia. Today, I had planned to have the beard taken off at the Indian barber in KL Sentral / Brickfields where I was overnighting. When I had a haircut there, […]
12 June 2024
For this visit to Kuala Lumpur, I had it on my list to visit the Islamic Arts Museum. This had come highly recommended by E, with whom I travelled around Saudi Arabia about half a year ago. I arrived at the site by train and foot, getting there a few minutes before their 0930 opening. […]
11 June 2024
My sis and bro-in-law were still in Kuching when I left today, and they kindly ran me to the airport. Actually, I drove but they drove back. Traffic was unusually heavy and the journey took an hour. Just as well we allowed plenty of time. I flew Malaysia Airlines’ 1335 flight to Kuala Lumpur with […]
4 June 2024
We arrived into Singapore around 0300, ahead of schedule. It had been an excellent flight but it got so cold that I had to put on my puffer jacket. I had taken two sleeping pills and slept most of the way, having found that one didn’t quite work. The variety that I’ve been given is […]
3 June 2024
After two days catching up with my aunt, three cousins and a friend from Yemen days separately, it was time to fly back to my hometown. I had secured a Scoot ticket for AUD200 from Melbourne to Kuching via Singapore with a 3h connection. About half of that was taxes. I had paid for a […]
31 May 2024
Arrival into Melbourne was as good as it can get. We had probably the nearest gate to the immigration hall. All formalities were so fast that I was kerbside waiting for the Skybus within 20 mins of arrival. With the 2245 scheduled arrival, I couldn’t afford any delay of more than an hour as I […]
31 May 2024
Leaving early I try not to escape from New Zealand so early in the year as the cold and wet doesn’t normally set in till later. But this year, I couldn’t wait to get away as it has been horribly wet in late May. My early departure was prompted by Air New Zealand suspending flights […]
