Author archive
29 March 2023
At the gate at Changi airport, I was a little apprehensive about having done a gate-to-gate self-connect, only possible because I didn’t have checked-in luggage. Information on Scoot’s website suggested that I should have cleared immigration, meaning that I would re-enter the airside. I was afraid the re-entry into airside might have been captured from […]
29 March 2023
Happy to leave! It is spring in New Zealand but I had been secretly counting down the days till I depart. The house is undergoing renovations and it has been disruptive, culminating with lots of white gib dust in the plastering process. On top of that, the month back in New Zealand hadn’t been the […]
20 February 2023
Above: My 377-seat A330-300 from Sydney to Auckland for AUD27 plus taxes. With the train to the airport back in operation, it was a swift and easy ride, arriving at the terminal at 0825. I expected a long wait for the AirAsia X counter to open but it opened at 0840, which was 3h30 prior […]
20 February 2023
Above: Downtown Sydney from the Harbour Bridge. Sightseeing With the afternoon blocked off for a social with friends, I got started before 0800 with a breakfast of Portuguese Egg Tarts from the supermarket and a coffee. I trammed to the Sydney Opera House where the cloudy weather didn’t help in terms of capturing some memories […]
18 February 2023
We landed in Sydney slightly ahead of the scheduled 1055 time. We were advised of a 15 min wait for a gate to become available but it turned out to be 40 mins. We disembarked around 1130. The immigration kiosks didn’t work for me so I had to join the long queue. I managed to […]
17 February 2023
Leaving hometown Today I leave hometown and head to Kuala Lumpur then Downunder to Sydney for a two night stay and then back home to Auckland. It’s a rainy day and I’m over the humidity in Kuching. I decided to head out to the airport early in case there’s a flight disruption and I’d try […]
13 February 2023
Above: The paler D24 and the more yellowish Musang King. Miserable Auckland summer I left Auckland two days after the first of three storms, the third being only yesterday. The latest one was Cyclone Gabrielle which resulted in all flights in Auckland and the northern part of the North Island being cancelled. This appears to […]
6 February 2023
Above: Itinerant fresh food vendor on motorcycle on our drive near Pemangkat. Our driver Jie To messaged me yesterday asking if we could “prepone” our departure to Kuching from 0700 to 0400, as he expected long queues at the border. We consulted the others and the response ranged from “No problem” to “No”. Other people […]
5 February 2023
The big procession Today is Capgomeh (the fifteenth or last day, but literally night of Chinese New Year), the big day that we have specially come for. I’m two years late for this event, originally due to come here in 2021, but delayed due to the pandemic. We headed to town at 0645 where it […]
4 February 2023
Above: Vihara Tri Dharma Bumi Raya or Tai Pak Kung Temple with the minarets of Masjid Raya Singkawang in the background. Breakfast Today is the eve of Capgomeh. With nothing officially on the published programmed, I didn’t set the alarm and woke around 0700 to find a message from Tim and Elena next door. They […]