Author archive
31 May 2024
Leaving early I try not to escape from New Zealand so early in the year as the cold and wet doesn’t normally set in till later. But this year, I couldn’t wait to get away as it has been horribly wet in late May. My early departure was prompted by Air New Zealand suspending flights […]
27 March 2024
I slept around 5h30 or maybe even 6h on the flight. It was nearly empty midship and I had moved up from the aft zone to grab an entire row there. Dennis had fallen asleep upright next to me, upon take-off so I couldn’t get him to move up with me. Despite wobbles due to […]
26 March 2024
Internet connection; the enabler As my previous trip to China was 9 years ago, this is my first visit since the country went largely cashless. I came prepared and everything worked like a dream. I didn’t use any cash or my credit/debit cards for any travel-related expenses during my whole stay! An internet connection is […]
26 March 2024
Above: At the next massage table. My turn next. Massage and cupping Our flight back to New Zealand leaves at 0230 “tonight” (technically tomorrow morning) from Haikou. We have the day to kill before taking the train from Sanya to Haikou airport before killing more time there. I opted to skip breakfast and take brunch […]
25 March 2024
Today we had agreed on an excursion to Binglanggu (Betel nut valley) Li & Miao Cultural Heritage Park, about an hour out of town. It is somewhat of a tourist trap but how bad can it be after yesterday? At least here, we will get to learn about the native people of Hainan. I opted […]
24 March 2024
Visiting Nanshan I woke at 0600 today and fell asleep till 0750. I quickly messaged Swee and Chen to make arrangements for breakfast a few doors away, where I had a lean pork and century egg congee. Apart from the beaches, there’s not much to do in Sanya. Many of the attractions are out of […]
23 March 2024
Train to Sanya With an early afternoon train soon after check-out, I decided to skip breakfast and have some pastries instead. The idea was to have brunch around 1045 then checkout and get a taxi to the railway station. All went according to plan and we got to Haikou East high-speed rail station around […]
22 March 2024
Morning wander Having decided not to go the volcanic geopark outside of town, we spent the day largely exploring the old town. We started breakfast at a cheap eatery that sold steamed and baked dimsum items. They sold coffee, possibly Vietnamese style, very strong and sweet. Once we had slightly over-eaten, we repeated the walk […]
21 March 2024
Flying to Haikou Today we return to Haikou to begin our stay in Hainan Island. There’s a gap in the airline’s schedule with either somewhat early morning flights or one mid-afternoon. We had chosen an 0840 departure and had to wake at 0500. The Didi driver ordered by the hotel for 0600 was super-friendly. He […]
20 March 2024
Guangzhou Metro Today, we explored the sights of Guangzhou that were further afield, requiring some form of transport. I had set up my WeChat to include Guangzhou metro and to my great surprise, it worked perfectly! I only had to scan the metro sub-app barcode at the turnstile and I was let in (and out). […]