Author archive
9 December 2023
Choosing a dive centre While in Koh Lipe, I did two dives with Forra Diving, located at the beach end of the Walking Street. I chose to dive with them for a few reasons: Azri (Malaysian) whom I had enquired with, was super helpful in explaining the various sites, in particular that much of diving […]
8 December 2023
Above: A couple of PromptPay QR codes. International QR Pay Travel in Thailand has become so much easier money-wise now that the Malaysian Duitnow (QR Scan and Pay) has been expanded internationally to neighbouring countries. In the case of Thailand, it is particularly godsent because: Banks here charge a hefty THB200 (NZD9) per cash withdrawal […]
6 December 2023
Leaving Langkawi I’m feeling more myself after a day spent largely indoors yesterday in Cenang Beach to attend to “to-do” lists. My afternoon swim yesterday, planned to coincide with the tide unfortunately coincided with rain and was therefore shortlived. My room had come with two breakfasts per day, available from 0700 to 1100. My idea […]
4 December 2023
Leaving Penang Penang was the perfect recovery for me from the hectic days in Japan. As an introvert, I also needed some “me time” to attend to online and around-town chores. One day, however, didn’t seem enough to recharge. Today I move on to Langkawi where I will try do chill some more. I checked-out […]
2 December 2023
Friends and family in Singapore After spending yesterday with old uni friends from New Zealand, I spent today with my 94 old aunt. I visited her straight after the hotel’s 1100 check-out, sat with her for a while before having a late lunch. To my surprise, she fed herself quite well today, whereas mid-year, she […]
30 November 2023
Above: It was hard to believe that the sunny scene was a -1 degC. Leaving Fukuoka Today I fly to Singapore on standby, via Seoul Incheon, as I was not eligible on any direct flights on staff tickets. I left my hotel at 0745 for the Fukuoka airport’s international terminal. I had last night confirmed that […]
29 November 2023
Today was our last day in Japan. We both felt that we had done and seen so much that it wasn’t necessary to go exploring. We would go for wanders before and after lunch and dinner, and let serendipity take its course. We lazed in our rooms after our 0830 udon and rice triangle breakfast, […]
28 November 2023
Aso Nakadake Crater The hotel room came with an awesome buffet breakfast of hot and cold items. Of particular note was the tempura beef slices and a yuzu jelly. I had planned for a departure at 0900 but we managed to push off at 0830 driving to Aso Nakadake Crater as our first stop. The […]
27 November 2023
Moving to Kyushu Today we make an interisland rail trip from Hiroshima to Fukuokka (or strictly speaking Hakata) to begin our Kyushu road trip. We left the hotel around 0820 for our 0905 train. The interisland crossing by tunnel was so short, I must have blinked and missed it completely. Arriving at 1011 at Hakata, […]
26 November 2023
We had opted for an early start in the hope of catching Miyajima Island’s iconic torii at full tide. We left our rooms at 0730 and got to the boat at the Atomic Bomb Dome by bus in time for the 0815 departure. Our arrival at Miyajima at 0900 was perfectly timed for the high […]