Author archive
18 February 2014
I arrived into Singapore with a headache just after 1700. I had nearly 4 hours to kill before my connecting flight to KL. Fortunately I had access to the SATS Premier Club (courtesy of a free old credit card). After some food, 30 minutes in a massage chair and being back at sea level, I […]
18 February 2014
Above: Jetstar’s Business Class offering from Auckland to Singapore. Sudan? Today I’m off on my Sudan trip. Sounds crazy? I’ve heard so much about Sudanese hospitality so I wanted to give it a try. I had to time this trip so as to avoid their harsh summers but also avoid the windy season on the […]
14 January 2014
As our departure to Auckland was 1920 in the evening, we didn’t need to leave the city till 1530. That meant we had time for picking up a few bargains from the shops around Wan Chai and having a long massage. We didn’t set out to buy anything but there are too many quality items […]
13 January 2014
Today, we leave wintry Harbin. But first, there’s more shopping to be done. Kim’s wheelie-pack is nearing its useful life. We had seen a suitable super-light suitcase in the indoor market yesterday where I had bought my phone. We walked over to get it for CNY250 and returned to the hotel to pack. The morning […]
12 January 2014
This morning, we had better luck with taxis getting the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base, which was in the south side of Harbin city. The ride took about 45 minutes and upon reaching there, we decided to get the taxi driver to wait and keep the meter running; it wasn’t the kind of place we […]
11 January 2014
Mark arrived from Beijing last night after a 2 hour delay. We only bad a brief chat then, so I had a better catch up with him over breakfast. We had planned on going to the Siberian Tiger Park and there was no reason to change the plan. The hotel taxi drivers were around and […]
10 January 2014
As if to repeat yesterday morning, we explored our neighbourhood to start off the day. We found the old Jewish area where Jews from Russia and Europe settled to escape persecution. We didn’t have many things we wanted to do today, as we planned on saving some activities for when Mark (a friend living in […]
9 January 2014
The sun rose around 0700 but we didn’t rush to get out of bed. After a simple hotel buffet breakfast, we wandered around the old part of Harbin a little. The weather was cold, clear and crisp. We found the walking street which was only 2 streets away. What we needed was a scarf and […]
8 January 2014
Kim, being on NZ time woke up about 0400. As we had retired about 2200 last night, I more-or-less had enough sleep too. We chatted and got ready around 0600 and left the hotel at 0645 to find the E21 bus just outside the hotel; perfect timing! We arrived at the airport just less than […]