Author archive
28 February 2014
I arrived at the Sudanese Embassy on-the-dot at 0930 and walked to the back of the building to find the door closed. The receptionist wasn’t in side; in fact there was no one in there. I waited for about 15 minutes before someone opened the door. After a brief wait, Mr Sabri turned up and […]
27 February 2014
With a 1430 departure from Kuching to KL, I had a leisurely morning getting ready and tidying up after myself at my apartment. My parents dropped me off at the airport and it was an uneventful trip to KL and then to the Tune Hotel in Downtown. I met up with an old school friend […]
20 February 2014
Today I fly off to Kuching for a week to spend time with family. It is a 1645 departure. With an 1100 check-out from the Tune hotel (most shops don’t open till then), there isn’t much time to do anything before heading out to the airport. Just laze around in bed and finish up my […]
19 February 2014
I had 4h30 minutes of solid sleep and woke up before 0700. Being at the tail end of the time zone, it was still pitch black outside. I made up some milk-and-muesli for breakfast before hopping on the train to Ampang for the Sudanese embassy. While I can get a visa-on-arrival at Khartoum, there is […]
18 February 2014
I arrived into Singapore with a headache just after 1700. I had nearly 4 hours to kill before my connecting flight to KL. Fortunately I had access to the SATS Premier Club (courtesy of a free old credit card). After some food, 30 minutes in a massage chair and being back at sea level, I […]
18 February 2014
Above: Jetstar’s Business Class offering from Auckland to Singapore. Sudan? Today I’m off on my Sudan trip. Sounds crazy? I’ve heard so much about Sudanese hospitality so I wanted to give it a try. I had to time this trip so as to avoid their harsh summers but also avoid the windy season on the […]
14 January 2014
As our departure to Auckland was 1920 in the evening, we didn’t need to leave the city till 1530. That meant we had time for picking up a few bargains from the shops around Wan Chai and having a long massage. We didn’t set out to buy anything but there are too many quality items […]
13 January 2014
Today, we leave wintry Harbin. But first, there’s more shopping to be done. Kim’s wheelie-pack is nearing its useful life. We had seen a suitable super-light suitcase in the indoor market yesterday where I had bought my phone. We walked over to get it for CNY250 and returned to the hotel to pack. The morning […]
12 January 2014
This morning, we had better luck with taxis getting the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base, which was in the south side of Harbin city. The ride took about 45 minutes and upon reaching there, we decided to get the taxi driver to wait and keep the meter running; it wasn’t the kind of place we […]