Author archive
28 December 2012
My travel (pronounced truffle) picked me up at 1300 for the 3 hour (USD7) journey north to Singkawang. With a lunch stop and traffic, it took 4 hours. The scenery comprised forests, rice paddies, coconut groves, Kerala-like canals, homes surrounded by black water canals with people swimming and washing in them, and the brown sea […]
28 December 2012
I woke at 0400; the result of retiring too early last night and the early wakeup yesterday. I popped half a sleeping pill and that took me back into dreamland till 0700. I enquired with the hotel about onward travel to Singkawang. As the bus station here is out-of-town (which requires a separate bus or […]
27 December 2012
With a 0715 bus departure, I had to wake early to catch a taxi to the bus station called Kuching Sentral which is on the outskirts of town, next to the airport. I hopped into the taxi five minutes before 0600 not knowing that it was only five minutes till the 50% night surcharge was […]
24 December 2012
Above: Christmas programmes on TV on the life of Jesus carry this warning. Jesus is also a prophet in Islam – which means he should not be depicted and the storyline may differ from that in the Quran. Two days after the second treatment I felt that my middle back wasn’t too good. The benefits […]
22 December 2012
Above: Second blood-letting treatment, this time on my lower back. I opted to return to the Chinese physician today for a second treatment, this time it is for my back. This had seized up during my 11h of airborne hell from Auckland to Hong Kong. It had been overshadowed by the butt issues so I […]
20 December 2012
In February this year, I had a fall which saw me use crutches for 6 weeks. While my knee injury healed nicely, a complication left me with recurring pain in my left butt, glute, piriformis, whatever. And it radiates down my left leg some times. Despite visits to the physiotherapist, acupuncturist and osteopaths, it seemed […]
19 December 2012
My 1050 flight to Kuala Lumpur was perfectly timed. I woke at 0700 and grabbed a quick shower and caught the bus to the airport from across the road. It got me to the terminal some 2h20 minutes prior to departure which meant that I didn’t stress out at check-in and was able to enjoy […]
18 December 2012
It was a 0600 arrival into Hong Kong and that saw me reach downtown Nathan Road by around 0730. I’ve been let into hotels at this time before but luck wasn’t with me today. For a start, the hotel reception didn’t open till 0900 which meant that I had to go sit at McDonald’s with […]
17 December 2012
I checked in for my flight to Hong Kong with an ETD of 2359. As I’m travelling on standby, I had checked the loads for this flight several times in the lead-up. The flight had been quite full but seemed to have cleared a little. So I was surprised that I could not be issued […]