Author archive
14 September 2019
Exploring earthquake-stricken Palu I woke at 0330 and lay, not even dozed, till 0530. Subconsciously, I wanted to wake early to explore Palu before leaving. That combined with the fact that I retired 2100 last night. It was already light at 0550 when I left the hotel for a walk to explore Palu, to see […]
13 September 2019
Proboscis Monkeys Breakfast at the Gajah Mada was pretty good local food with two generous big fish (two share) and lots of meaty chicken curry. I left the hotel around 0800 for the Mangrove and Proboscis Conservation Area about 5+ minutes away by foot. The weather was still pleasant and not too hot. Speaking in […]
12 September 2019
Breakfast at the Lucky Hotel was simple with soup, fried small fish and rice. It’s not very often I get a smiley fish for breakfast with chilli. It was actually delicious and I had two, almost went for a third. As I relaxed in my room offered to take me out for coffee, to which […]
11 September 2019
Kuching to Tawau by flight I left home by Grab car at 0830. The driver took an unusually long route directed by Google Maps getting me to the airport around 15min later than I had expected at 0915. I had breakfast at the lounge before settling in to do some last minute work on the […]
1 September 2019
It had been kinda depressing being with aunt. Few years ago, she was still swimming 20 laps in an Olympic-sized pool but now she is barely walking. I try to put it into perspective with the fact that she is 90 years old. Fortunately, my uncle (and aunt) from Christchurch dropped in and we went […]
31 August 2019
The Auckland winter ends tonight officially and the weather hasn’t been too wet or windy lately. It isn’t really that cold by many standards in four-season countries. However, I know that the wet and windy misery can stretch on till November (or December) so hence I have another escape from Auckland … even if it’s […]
4 August 2019
Our flight to Auckland with ETA of 0030 on Saturday 03 August, closed up 20 minutes ahead of schedule but couldn’t push back till a few minutes ahead of scheduled time. Another aircraft next door beat us to the pushback and took up the available space. I was lucky to have received my paid upgrade […]
2 August 2019
Final exploration We we say goodbye to Brazil and fly out of Rio to Buenos Aires, to connect to our flight back to New Zealand. We didn’t want to fit too much into the morning and had decided we’d just go to the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian. But first up, I went to the […]
1 August 2019
Despite a bit tired, I forced myself to go to the hotel gym for a light workout before a small breakfast at McDonald’s nearby. We had a free walking tour of the historic centre and Lapa. Three Spanish-speaking people turned up and the both of us were the only English-speaking ones. So, our English-speaking guide […]