Author archive
5 May 2005
Getting going We woke around 0500 but lay till 0600 before slowly getting ready for breakfast downstairs at 0700. At 0700 the concertina doors folded back to reveal the coffee and drinks machines, sushi, bakery items, ovens, salad, fruit and cereal. There was also a fridge with milk and what I thought was the world’s […]
4 May 2005
Above: Osaka’s Dotonbori area. Arriving in Osaka We arrived at Osaka for our four night stopover. Osaka’s Kansai airport was impressive in terms of the technology to build it on an artificial island, and to keep it above water as it gradually subsides. But it is very drab inside, with unimpressive materials such as lino […]
4 May 2005
Today we embarked on our Trans-Mongolian journey, but not yet in earnest. We start off with a flight to Osaka where we’ll stay a four nights before going to Beijing where we’ll board the train. Coming with us to Osaka are Kim’s best mate Rodger and his fiancée of many many years, Liisa. They came […]
9 November 2004
I dozed for four hours inflight, making the overnight flight quite bearable. Soon enough, breakfast came and I landed in Auckland around 1130. It had been an awesome adventure for ourselves and for Kim’s parents. Travelling with the elderly, in intrepid destinations has its challenges but I think we deserve nearly full marks for making […]
8 November 2004
With family in Singapore Yesterday was spent with family, including my aunt. And I didn’t hear from Pat and Fiona, meaning that they must have got on their standby flight to Auckland. As for me, I fly out tonight. I had the day to kill. Mum and step-dad took me to East Coast beach for […]
6 November 2004
Pat and Fiona were meant to try to get back to Auckland on standby tonight but they changed their mind. They decided they would try to get on tomorrow night, whereas I’d try get on the night after that. So, we had time to just chill today. I went to Hougang Mall for shopping with […]
5 November 2004
Kim and I managed to wake up at 0900 despite the unfavourable time change. We spent the day shopping at a couple of IT malls in Singapore and managed to get ourselves a Palm Pilot each. Normally, tech products in Singapore are cheaper than in New Zealand but with the exchange rate at present, it […]
4 November 2004
Boarding the Malaysia Airlines B777 was very quick. There were only 65 passengers on board, leaving from Cairo for Kuala Lumpur at 0150. Despite that we left 15 mins late. Onboard, I recognised a number of the crew. I had seen them at the pyramids , and immediately thought “They must be Malaysia Airlines crew […]
3 November 2004
Egyptian Museum We took breakfast at the hotel’s Ibis Café courtesy of Pat and Fiona. We had a fantastic early-bird room rate which excluded breakfast and didn’t see the need to pay for a breakfast buffet. The selection was excellent but not quite as good as that at the Concorde in Sharm. We walked to […]
2 November 2004
Pyramids Pat and Fiona had a buffet breakfast included in their much-higher hotel room rate while we ate lightly in our room. That allowed us to have a sleep-in till about 0800. We left about 0900 for the Pyramids at Giza on the western edge of Cairo city. We found the official entrance (as opposed […]