13 April 2014
Pondan Brand Bika Ambon
Bika Ambon is a honeycomb cake named after the island of Ambon in the Maluku area of the archipelago of Indonesia. It is… Posted by Alex Chan on Sunday, April 13, 2014
5 April 2014
Getting interrogated by the authorities
I arrived in Auckland. The immigration officer (actually it is now done by customs staff on immigration’s behalf), looked at my arrival form and noticed that I had been to Sudan. He wrote a capital “T” on it and circled it. After collecting my luggage, I was intercepted by another officer and sent to another […]
4 April 2014
More urban pleasures of Hong Kong
I had seen a phone that seemed perfect for me yesterday for HKD1300 (NZD200). I needed to do some research on it and it shows up as a pretty high spec quad core model. Instead of going all the way back into Hong Kong, we headed to Kwai Fong where we had made purchases before. […]
3 April 2014
Urban pleasures of Hong Kong
I had a short connection in Istanbul. The meals on the flight to Hong Kong were even better than the previous. I couldn’t believe Turkish Airlines had unlimited free wifi for all on board, except for the last couple of hours over Chinese airspace where it wasn’t permitted. We landed an hour earlier due to strong […]
3 April 2014
Eating in Egypt
After Sudan, I vowed not to have any fuul or taamiya in Egypt. I stayed true to this except when on a felucca where I… Posted by Alex Chan on Sunday, March 30, 2014
2 April 2014
Cairo’s Necropolis & leaving
Above: One can see the pyramids faintly through Cairo’s pollution. My departure for for Hong Kong via Istanbul tonight is 2025 which would require a departure from town about 1630. Last night, I had negotiated a late checkout of 1400 for free with the hotel. A standard checkout of 1200 doesn’t leave much time for […]
1 April 2014
Third time lucky with the Pyramids
At the pyramids This morning, I set out for the Great Pyramids at Giza. Hopefully, I’d be third time lucky aas the first and second times I didn’t get to go inside of the big pyramids. The hotel had offered a car for USD35 including waiting time and going to the Egyptian museum (10 minutes […]
31 March 2014
In the capital
There was no online availability for an earlier train to Cairo so I had booked for 1200 midday. I’m sure I could have booked at a station and got a ticket for an earlier one. But I enjoyed the relaxing morning until I had to leave the hotel at 1100. It was going to be […]
30 March 2014
Exploring Alexandria
After breakfast, I took the minivan public transport along the Corniche to the far end at the west. I got off near Fort Qaitbey which I had no intention of visiting. I walked around the area of the Eastern Harbour to have a better picture of the fort and rough waters of the Med. What […]
29 March 2014
The city they named after me
A man boards the train at one of the stops after midnight. He was unhappy to find that his seat was taken by someone else who wanted to be closer to his travelling party. There was lots of shouting. I dozed in and out. Towards the end there was a security guy with a rifle […]