Articles from this Category
26 March 2015
We managed to get our last-minute paid upgrade to Business Class for the flight to Singapore departing at 0115. Despite the ungodly timing, I stayed up for the supper service before sleeping, because I was hungry. I had expected to skip it in favour of a longer downtime but my tummy rules. I did have […]
1 January 2015
I had called the state forestry office yesterday to enquire whether any rafflesias (world’s largest flower) were in bloom. Rather unexpectedly, they said “Yes, there is one on its last day” and encouraged me to go. So, it was a disappointment for me to wake up to a wet day. While the rain wasn’t torrential, […]
27 December 2014
It has been about 18 years since I had been to Sibu, where my mother hails from. As a child we had gone there to see grandma frequently. I thought I was long overdue for a visit there and had bought the air-tickets cheaply and impulsively some 10 months (sounds contradictory but it was impulse […]
13 July 2014
An old classmate runs a farm outside of Kuching, near the Wind Cave and Fairy Cave. He had organised a gathering of old friends so that us city folks could enjoy a touch of the Borneo outdoors. We had a picnic by the stream and some of us finished the day with dinner at Siniawan […]
4 July 2014
Last little bit of sightseeing in Makassar With the 1h time difference between Ambon/Papua and Makassar, I woke up early. With two half-days in Makassar, I wanted to make the most of my sightseeing opportunities to catch sights that I didn’t get to do few years back.I was out the door soon after 0700 to […]
3 July 2014
The hotel doorman knocked on my door at 0545 to wake me up even though I hadn’t organised a wake-up call. He knew my car had been organised for 0615 so did me a courtesy. Then he dragged me into the dining room for breakfast which wasn’t meant to be ready till 0700 but had […]
2 July 2014
This morning I explored one of the cafes which make up Ambon’s cafe scene that’s not seen elsewhere in the country. At the Sibu Sibu cafe, I downed a delicious milky ginger coffee with some local cakes. Ambon is famous for having a disproportionate share of good singers in the Indonesian music scene, and their […]
1 July 2014
Leaving Papua Today I’m leaving Papua after 21 days, going to Ambon. It was a relaxed morning before checking out at 1200 and going to the airport for a departure at 1405. I spent most of the morning in the room of the Rumberpon Hotel till checkout and went to the airport nearby. I was […]
30 June 2014
There are two ferries from Waisai to Sorong today, at 0900 (Mon and Wed) and also 1400 (daily). I woke up and went to the ferry at 0800 and was amongst the first to get the ticket. We left about 0930 with lots of empty seats unlike the outbound journey. I took an ojek to […]
29 June 2014
Leaving Pulau Kri for Waisai After breakfast, I went back to Yenkoranu to pay for yesterday’s trip on credit card. I had tried yesterday but the data connection on the island is very intermittent and often best in the wee hours of the night and first thing in the morning. So, the connection worked fine […]