Author archive
15 October 2004
Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beirut We woke at the Kuala Lumpur airport’s Airside Transit Hotel at 0545 and walked down to the departure gate at 0630 for the 0720 departure to Beirut on Malaysia Airlines, via Dubai on the same aircraft. With about 20 passengers arriving late from Melbourne, we departed a little late. […]
14 October 2004
Tonight, we fly to Kuala Lumpur for an airside overnight transit, in preparation for an early flight to Beirut tomorrow morning. With our departure at 2110 tonight, we have the day to kill. We visited my aunt around 1100 who took us out to the Singapore Swimming Club for lunch. We had a delicious a […]
13 October 2004
Due to my body being on Auckland time, I woke at 0330, then 0430 and 0630. But I lazed till 0730. Kim’s mum, Fiona rang while we were having breakfast. Last night, their taxi driver had a little trouble finding their hotel. Then their aircon malfunctioned which necessitated a shift to a different room. Kim […]
12 October 2004
Arriving at Singapore, Kim helped his parents into a taxi to get to their hotel, Perak Lodge. We have a two night stopover in Singapore which Kim and I will spend at my step-dad’s place. Mum and step-dad had come to pick us up at the airport. But being a large airport, we had a […]
12 October 2004
Today we embark on a family adventure with Kim’s parents, starting in Beirut and finishing in Cairo. The largely-overland journey would take us through Syria and Jordan. We left home around 1015 for Auckland airport. After a slow check-in we boarded at a remote gate. A baggage container tipped over during the loading process and […]
24 June 2004
After crossing the International Date Line and skipping a day, we landed in Auckland after 0500 on 24 June 2004. We picked up a relocation vehicle from Avis to drive home. It was a very special deal for NZD19 including airport surcharge and we had to return it to the city office near our home […]
22 June 2004
Above: Probably the Grand Canyon before descending into Los Angeles. We landed in Los Angeles around 1930. Again, we had a 2h transit but this time we didn’t have to collect our bags, clear immigration and run upstairs to check-in. We only had to tolerate an immigration clearance in a makeshift transit area. A much […]
22 June 2004
Above: Dog walker on the streets of London. Morning in London Today we will hopefully fly to Los Angeles and then to Auckland. With departure at 1615, we had some time to spend in London. Breakfast at the hotel around 0830 was a pleasant continental but the star of the buffet for me was the […]
21 June 2004
Tourist trap Today we leave Krakow for London for a one-night stay. We have the morning to kill, so I took the tram to Old Town once again, for one last look. Kim opted to read and relax in the room. Text continues after this gallery. We checked out around 1220 and hopped […]
21 June 2004
We landed at Gatwick around 1700 and took the slow train into London for GBP8 instead of the Gatwick Express which cost about 50% more but only saved 3 minutes journey time. In London, we had booked to stay at the modest Stuart Hotel where we had stayed less than a year ago. But they […]