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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Back downunder

Flying to Kuala Lumpur I had tracked my inbound aircraft and knew that it would arrive 30 minutes early.  I headed from the lounge to the gate soon after midnight.  We boarded early and left Kolkata for Kuala Lumpur 30 minutes early as well.  Very AirAsia … you don’t want to go the gate late! […]

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Leaving India

With a 1520 flight from Imphal to Kolkata and then onward to Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne, the 1200 check-out was near perfect.  I delayed breakfast till around 0900; the hefty buffet at the hotel would mean that I can skip lunch. I lazed till checkout and killed 30 minutes in the lobby before taking a […]

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Sightseeing partial fail

I woke around 0300, which was a couple of hours earlier than I would have expected. Fortunately, after a snack, I managed to sleep again till around 0730.  Maintaining that first wake-up time would have been good adjustment for Melbourne coming up, but not very good for my night flight departing Kolkata at 0105 on […]

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Long squashy ride

Getting the ticket (or not) Today I travel by bus from Kohima to Imphal.  This had been a concern because there was rumour of road blocks by insurgents. With the bus departing at 0730, I had been told to get the tickets around 0600 to 0630.  It seemed like an overkill to be there 1h30 […]

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Hornbill Festival again

Mr Gugu was the bearer of bad news this morning.  He had been to the bus station to enquire about bus tickets to Imphal.  There he got wind of a 48h road blockage by Manipuri insurgents.  That would be a real problem for me as I had a hotel booked in Imphal and also my […]

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Hornbill Festival

I woke around 0430 and lay in bed till 0630.  Perils of going to bed too early.  I had thought of getting going early but Mr Gugu said the programme at the Hornbill Festival today starts at 1000. Since the Israelis had been yesterday, I tagged along with them and walked downhill at 0830 and […]

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