Author archive
13 December 2005
The four of us landed in Auckland at 1130. On one hand, I was looking forward to summer and showing Mum around. But I was starting at new job. Jobs are hard to find at this time of year, just before Christmas and if one doesn’t take it, not much will come up until February. […]
12 December 2005
We flew back to Auckland, departing at 2025, with Mum and step-dad, who are coming to Auckland and Christchurch for a summer stay of nearly two months. We all managed to be upgraded into Business Class for this flight. It meant a lot for the comfort of them who are about 80 years of age. […]
11 December 2005
Above: Room service breakfast. After a room service breakfast of nasi lemak, corned beef hash and poached eggs, we got ready for our journey to Singapore. Flights from Bandar Seri Begawan to Singapore are pricey so we are doing it the cheap and hard way. We took a taxi back to Miri airport, a journey […]
10 December 2005
The Empire is located in Jerudong, outside the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. We took a visit into the capital today, a place we had visited before in 2001. We walked around the shops, visited the Royal Regalia museum, and from the waterfront took a water taxi to explore Kampong Ayer, the village on stilts. Brunei […]
9 December 2005
Today we largely relaxed and enjoyed the facilities of the hotel. In the evening, we went to Jerudong Park. This is an amusement park built by the Sultan in 1994 as a birthday for his subjects on his fiftieth birthday. Admission is free of charge. Not only that, the Sultan invited Michael Jackson to give […]
8 December 2005
It was five hectic days of admin (setting up electronic billing and automatic payments) and purchasing (furnishing and decoration). We were pleased with what we had achieved before leaving for our short holiday in Brunei. But we had one last important thing to do. I’ve been approached for a contract role at Vodafone, a company […]
2 December 2005
Above: Big plantain banana and a tiny banana, at a friend’s house. To get from Singapore to my hometown in Kuching, there are daily direct flights. But with high departure taxes from Singapore’s Changi Airport and a high fare, it was much cheaper to cross the border to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, and then fly […]
29 November 2005
It seems silly that we’re travelling again only more than a month after returning from Easter Island. But we have just bought an apartment in my hometown Kuching and wanted to check it out. Yeah, it also seems silly to have bought an apartment so far away but it was a good deal and I’d […]
29 November 2005
We arrived into Singapore, the Lion City, at 1830 for a three night stay, which is really only two full days. We stayed with Mum and step-dad, and did what we normally do in Singapore, which are eating and looking for bargains on items which are normally over-priced in New Zealand.
25 October 2005
We landed in Auckland around 1215 and picked up our Avis rental car to take us home. This was the cheapest way of getting home. The car cost us NZD19 including surcharges (so the actual rental would have been a negative amount). It’s sold as a relocation from the airport branch to the city branch […]