South-East Asia

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Cruising down the Ayeyarwady

With a 0700 departure on the ferry, I got the hotel to order me a taxi for 0615. It turned up slightly late and there was a mild panic. To make matters worse, he took me to another deserted jetty which is used on some days of the week. Fortunately we made it to the […]

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Motorcycle Diary

Working half days I woke at 0700 after 11 hours sleep, to make up for the previous night’s interrupted sleep … when my body woke me up for the AirAsia sale which I had forgotten about. Also, sleep without pseudoephedrine is so much better! As Myanmar’s sights are largely temples and stupas, I had found […]

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Another unfinished beauty

Booking for next year Having retired too early last night, I woke around 1am. I realised that this was also the first day of AirAsia’s latest zero-fare sale (shortest fights are zero-fare but longer flights are at tiny prices). I managed to buy HKG-KUL-KCH-KUL-HKG for next Christmas for about NZD200 (11 hours flying) uninterrupted by […]

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Cruel joke?

Above:  The countryside between Heho and Mandalay is very red. Would you do this to a friend? I’m leaving my hotel in Yangon today where I have been chatting to an Israeli guy there too. He seems to be in Yangon indefinitely, waiting for his friend to come from Bangkok at a date that hasn’t […]

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Havana of South-East Asia

There was an early-morning feel when I stepped out of the hotel after breakfast at 0830. Businesses and stalls were just starting to open up and the air was still very cool in the shade. Walking to the Botataung Pagoda, it becomes apparent that Yangon is the Havana of SE Asia when it comes to […]

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Golden pagodas

Exploring & Airline Ticketing After breakfast, I took a walk around the Sule Pagoda neighbourhood. There were a few churches, mosques and a synagogue tucked between the many old concrete multi-storey blocks. More men wear pants now than during my previous visit, when the longyi (sarong). It is still common for women and children (and […]

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Beginning of an adventure in Myanmar

Above:  Dinner on kindy-chairs. Due to natural light in my room being obscured partially by an external wall (and thick curtains), I didn’t wake up till around 9am. I hadn’t slept well last few nights; I seemed to wake up a fair bit feeling sweaty. I put the disturbed sleep down to the pseudoephedrine which […]

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Stood up in KL

Above:  Hakka Noodles in Ipoh. I broke with tradition today. After two dimsum breakfasts in Ipoh, I opted for Hakka noodles washed down by the famous Ipoh white coffee. All two coffees I had in Ipoh were excellent and cheap. It’s not hard to be good when you roast the beans in butter (or margarine) […]

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Unfinished beauty

Today I wanted to go to Kellie’s Castle, an incomplete castle built by a Scottish businessman around 1915.  I did that after another dimsum breakfast as my first one didn’t disappoint in terms of the quality and quantity of fillings. The castle is about 30 minutes by car from Ipoh but took me 2 hours […]

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Geriatric doctor

A geriatric doctor, not a geriatrician I needed to see the doctor to check on my fluey ears and chest. There were plenty of choices around the hotel but upon enquiry some of them were “specialists” of various kinds. Strange that they’re not marked as such … perhaps the doctors have had experienced in various […]

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