Last of the Kiwi summer

While in the lounge, I had cleverly gone online to reselect my seat so that I had a spare seat next to me (two people in a row of three).  I shared the row with a young lady who came on with four cabin bags, comprising of a wheelie, a 20 litre backpack, a large […]

Read more

Eating on Emirates Airlines

  My need to fly Emirates came to an end in 2012 after nine years of loyalty. While I’ve never been particularly… Posted by Alex Chan on Friday, April 12, 2013

Read more

Homeward bound

My little holiday After four nights but three full days, I’m homeward bound.  But because I use to word “home” to both mean Kuching and Auckland, I’d better clarify!  Today I leave Bali to fly back to New Zealand.  It had been a nice stopover while being the most economical way of getting from Kuching […]

Read more

Eating in Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands

  A selection of the interesting food that I tried (or avoided) during my travels in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara. Posted by Alex Chan on Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Read more

Little holiday

Having seen what airports can be like after the festive season, I headed to the airport around 0800 for my 1125 departure for Kuala Lumpur and onwards to Bali.  This was the most economical way for me to get from Kuching to Auckland in the post Chinese New Year period. It’s a bonus that I […]

Read more

Back to Kuching briefly

After a good breakfast at the Kingwood Hotel in  Sibu, I used Grab to get to the airport.  I could see a long queue for the kiosk and it looked like bedlam in the bag-drop area.  With no luggage and a moble boarding pass, I went airside and waited over an hour till the scheduled […]

Read more

Gateway to the heart of Borneo

Flying to Sibu My cousin in Christchurch was going to be in Sibu for part of Chinese New Year and was hosting a large dinner for my cousins (whom I haven’t seen for a while) and their families.  Flying around the festive season doesn’t come cheap but his kind invitation to me was too good […]

Read more

Mile-high army rations

Despite having three seats from Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur, and a sleeping pill, I didn’t sleep the entire flight as I have in the past.  I woke up about three hours before landing and felt peckish.  I settled for a meal that I hadn’t tried before and a visit to the galley revealed that it […]

Read more

Going home for Chinese New Year

Today I fly back to my hometown in Borneo to celebrate Chinese New Year with family.  It was a stinking hot day in Auckland but not as hot as other parts of the county.  New Zealand was catching the tail-end of the Australian heatwave. Having readied myself with a shower, it was better to set […]

Read more

Home sweet home

I hadn’t suffered any jetlag at all despite flying Kolkata to Melbourne.  I had kept local time and slept soundly!  So, it wasn’t a biggie to wake up naturally before my alarm sounded at 0715.  Today I fly the last leg of my trip from Melbourne to Auckland at 1210. The Skybus 0817 connecting shuttle […]

Read more
Go top