Jumping crocs & Litchfield National Park

I was collected from the hostel around 0730 for my excursion to feed crocs and thereafter to Litchfield National Park. First stop was a petrol station where they collected the cashed and vouchers, or had the credit card slips signed. There was also enough time for some smokes (yes, at a petrol station). Crocs on […]

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Around Darwin

Being Sunday, town was quiet. I decided to go to the Aviation Heritage Centre by bus. It was a nice surprise when I could take the free bus headed to the V8 races. The centre had one of two B52s on display outside of the USA. It was big and impressive. They tried to market […]

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Australia’s only tropical capital

Flying to Darwin I chose a good day to leave.  The weather had dropped to 6 degC overnight and rain was forecast.  I had been lucky with cool weather but scorching in the sun at times. I checked out from the hotel and waited for the complimentary airport shuttle. As it arrived, most people rushed […]

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To climb or not to climb

My dilemma Today’s arrangements had been a toss-up between walking the Valley of the Winds or climbing Uluru. The English doctor I met yesterday had been convincing me to do the latter as she is a mountain junkie. I’m far from being a mountain junkie and I feel that Kinabalu at 4095m is a big-enough […]

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Australia’s red centre isn’t red

As I retired at 9pm last night, I woke naturally at 0300 (six hours usually does it for me). I dozed till 0540 when I started to get ready for my 0615 departure to Uluru.I had a nice brekkie of a cheap clearance croissant (heated in a pan), muesli and three-in-one coffee from the supermarket. […]

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Jetting into Australia’s red centre

With the advantage of 2h time difference, I woke up easily at 0640 to train to Sydney’s domestic airport for my flight to Alice Springs, with a connection to Ayers Rock. It was meant to be a direct flight with Qantas but they had moved that route to subsidiary Jetstar which didn’t fly on a […]

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The stopover that wasn’t

Arrival formalities at Sydney were quick and in no time, I was at my hostel on George St dropping off my bag so I could head out to the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s Pylon Lookout. This had been something I had wanted to do on previous visits but had always been sidetracked. The Sydney stopover isn’t […]

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Leaving home

This trip was meant to be a third visit to hospitable Iran on AirAsia X’s ridiculously cheap fare.  But with the Iranian currency crisis, the flight got cancelled and I eventually settled on a trip to Kashmir (via Australia’s Red Centre and Timor), continuing to the Cacasus and Scotland (plus a few detours). I had […]

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Carrot cake, but not as you know it

  Tonight's dinner is a favourite on streets in Malaysia. It is called Chai Thau Kueh (Hokkien), Cha Kueh Kak (Penang… Posted by Alex Chan on Sunday, May 26, 2013

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Eating in Kota Bharu during Ramadhan

  Kota Bharu is famous for Kelantanese cuisine and we struck it lucky with the Ramadhan markets. Along with a few restaurant meals, it was a great showcase of the local delights. Posted by Alex Chan on Wednesday, April 10, 2013

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