Articles from this Category
13 September 2018
Crossing the border I woke around 0700 for breakfast at 0730. My hosts suggested that time despite a departure at 0900 (subject to weather) across to the Indonesian weather. With weather looking favourable, Badau and I walked into town around 0915 where he had his bike parked. The dogs cleverly didn’t come along (whereas they […]
21 May 2018
With no hotel breakfast today, I went down to McDonald’s located within my hotel building. I ordered their Nasi Uduk which came with a piece of fried chicken (spicy option), egg, sambal and crispy shallots. It was yummy. Even the rice, by itself tasted good. It was compressed into a cube-like lump but very moist, […]
20 May 2018
I was surprised to be issued breakfast vouchers (but realised they were given by mistake and there would be none for subsequent days). It was a simple buffet of rice, chilli fish, veges and a few other things. Despite Ramadhan, I did see some Muslims eating. It appears that Indonesia is more relaxed than Malaysia […]
19 May 2018
We landed about 10 minutes late into Singapore but it didn’t bother me as I had a scheduled 4h40 self-connect to Jetstar to Palembang (a flight that was nearly free apart from Singapore airport’s ever-increasing taxes). As with my last trip, we were parked at the far end of T3 at Changi which required a […]
7 February 2017
Above: Last glimpse of Natuna, near Ranai after take-off. With a mid-morning departure from Natuna back to Batam I neither had plenty of time nor had to rush. I had a breakfast of soto next door before being taken to the airport by Yuli. It wasn’t a long drive but speed was restricted in the […]
6 February 2017
Meng couldn’t take me out today but Bey had offered. As she was busy in the morning, it would be a 1230 start with her.Yuli brought nasi dagang with a choice of egg or tuna, and mini bread balls filled with tuna. I was told I couldn’t have just one so walked away rather full. […]
5 February 2017
I grabbed a breakfast of gado-gado and very sweet milk coffee next door. I had brought milk and muesli but got tempted into this. Yesterday I had finally agreed to go with the pricey car excursion. That’s what I thought but at 1000 Meng turned up on his motorbike (called “Honda” in Natuna regardless of […]
4 February 2017
My destination today is Ranai on the island of Natuna Besar in the Natuna Archipelago, which is part of the Riau Islands of Indonesia. It is not well known so I guess I’d better give it an intro. Background & History of Natuna Natuna consists of 272 islands in the South China Sea that is […]
3 February 2017
Flying to Singapore Today I fly to the tiny Republic of Singapore to transit to Batam in the other Republic … the big one, Republic of Indonesia. The head of the big republic once jokingly called the smaller one “Little Red Dot”. A good friend Boo happened to book on the same flight to just […]
23 July 2016
Above: The 30 min flight is a good alternative to the 2h speedboat to Nunukan, then a 2h speed boat from Nunukan to Tawau. Flying to Tawau This was my latest wake-up since leaving Auckland over three weeks ago. I woke at 0700 after retiring after midnight. Quite a change from the 2030 bedtime and […]