Author archive
15 June 2025
We have a big day with a night flight to Vienna at 2345. When I woke at 0500, I allowed ourselves to sleep a bit more till the alarm at 0715 and then somehow it was suddenly 0845. That’s nearly 10h sleep for me! I guess we’re on local time now, which is great preparation […]
14 June 2025
Yehliu Geopark Today we hired a car and driver to cover a few places that are part of a common tour itinerary. Two of three were places I had been to, but it’s a good way to spend the day with friends. The car was organised through the hotel rather than online as we had […]
13 June 2025
Dihua Street MH & WL had woken up at 0330 and been out for breakfast before sunrise whereas I had some muesli in the room. We took a taxi out around to Dihua Street. The street is lined with nice character buildings, some from the Japanese era, selling traditional dried foods. MH was looking for […]
12 June 2025
Above: My Indonesian lunch. The weather turned as I prepared to venture out today, with intermittent drizzle continuing through the day. It wasn’t forecast and even when it was raining, the forecast said it was currently cloudy! That’s so unusual as forecasts show a rainy icon with the slightest showers. I had thought of going […]
11 June 2025
Flying to Taipei I woke at 0330, way ahead of my alarm at 0500. That meant only 5h of sleep but that is somewhat enough for me. I lay in bed for quite a bit before preparing to head to the airport. Leaving the room at 0527, I called by reception to return my keycard […]
10 June 2025
After a relaxing day yesterday of just lunch with a friend from Melaka and a gym workout, I had my long-awaited big day today. It’s the day of my CT Calcium Score test to see the level of obstruction (if any) in my arteries, in case I can do without taking statins. I had recently […]
8 June 2025
Above: Tapas at the airport lounge upon arrival. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur I had about 4h sleep on board with the aid of 1.5 tablets of sleeping pills and a very good recline position on the slimline aircraft seats. That’s the highest dose I had ever taken. Nothing seemed to happen with the initial 1 […]
7 June 2025
Above: Malaysia Airlines A330neo interior. Trip Overview This trip started with an intention to go to Europe for summer, to escape New Zealand’s wet and windy winter. We managed to get confirmed tickets on points from Taipei to Vienna and later on added budget airline flights around to various sunny spots, and then it kept […]
30 April 2025
Despite the 90 min delay out of Singapore, we arrived in Auckland only 55 mins late. Despite all the food I was carrying, I was kerbside within 30 mins of landing. I credit this to having taken photos of my food haul, to show the quarantine staff that they are of low risk (eg. not […]
29 April 2025
Leaving Kuching It had been a productive six day stay in hometown. Apart from the optician, I had a good dental visit and for the first time in about 20 years, I managed to get all air-conditions in the apartment working properly. I had been having intermittent AC problems, a fix for which proved elusive […]