24 January 2015
11 January 2015
Home Sweet Home
Despite being on standby, I got on the short flight to Auckland easily. I had accomplished what I had hoped to do for many years, ie. stopover in Norfolk Island en-route from Sydney to Auckland as the airfare was constructed as a single fare with a stopover (rather than two separate fares) and the hefty […]
10 January 2015
Exploring Norfolk Island
This morning, I got a rental car for AUD20 today from my hotel and drove to various points of interest on the island. There isn’t a ring road due to the topography so there was a little bit of backtracking. I soon noticed that everyone waves when you’re driving around! The scenery and buildings seemed […]
9 January 2015
Where newlyweds and nearly-deads come to play?
Above: First thing I noticed when I stepped out of the airport were the short double digit number plates on some cars. I also saw a single digit one. Most were four digit though. Gabriel dropped me off at the airport around 0730 for my 0935 departure to Norfolk Island from Sydney Airport’s international terminal. […]
7 January 2015
Back Downunder
I landed in Sydney feeling refreshed after an overnight flight because I managed to get decent sleep onboard. I had departed Kuching last night with a sobering start to the flight; we observed a 30 second silence before the safety demo in memory of those who perished in QZ8501. We arrived on a happier note […]
1 January 2015
World’s Largest Flower
I had called the state forestry office yesterday to enquire whether any rafflesias (world’s largest flower) were in bloom. Rather unexpectedly, they said “Yes, there is one on its last day” and encouraged me to go. So, it was a disappointment for me to wake up to a wet day. While the rain wasn’t torrential, […]
31 December 2014
Simple home-cooked meals 2014
A break from career and travelling life sees me making home-cooked food or a change rather than eating out most days…. Posted by Alex Chan on Thursday, May 15, 2014
31 December 2014
Eating in Sibu
What makes Sibu food interesting is the mix of jungle produce and Foochow (people from a very specific region of China who are reputed to be even more hardworking than other Chinese). Posted by Alex Chan on Tuesday, February 3, 2015
28 December 2014
Back to Kuching
I woke early to go out to the riverbank areas as the light was terrible yesterday for photos. The sun was in the wrong direction! I captured the scenes I wanted, got a breakfast of timingu (or tiamiso, or rice-flour batter cooked in a pan then pushed into soup, making it resemble freshly made noodles). […]
27 December 2014
Gateway to the Heart of Borneo
It has been about 18 years since I had been to Sibu, where my mother hails from. As a child we had gone there to see grandma frequently. I thought I was long overdue for a visit there and had bought the air-tickets cheaply and impulsively some 10 months (sounds contradictory but it was impulse […]