Articles from this Category
11 May 2009
Today was the first of three days diving we had booked online with Sipadan Scuba. We left Semporna about 0830 towards Sibuan Island on a narrow locally-built speedboard … it started off somewhat as a race between us and this 10 year old girl who was in sole charge of a motorised sampan carrying her […]
10 May 2009
Travelling to Semporna, the diving Gateway We took a short flight from KK to Tawau this morning and were transferred by van to Semporna (which means perfect or complete) in Malay. It poured down for part of the way on the road … things have changed since I started taking an interest in travelling … […]
9 May 2009
When we visited in 2001 we visited the neighbouring islands, the foothills and villages. Kota Kinabalu seems to have it all. It is a city by the sea next to South-East Asia’s tallest mountain. So this time, we treated this visit more of a stopover. So it was the usual food and mall stuff. As […]
8 May 2009
Interstate travel woes We switched allegiances from “World’s Best Cabin Crew” (Malaysia Airlines) to “World’s Best Low Cost Airline” (Air Asia) when we flew from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu (which everyone calls “KK” …. err … nearly everyone … the exception was the now defunct Australian Airlines which called it “Sabah”. That’s like calling Melbourne […]
4 May 2009
I rang my blind masseur Mr Stewart to arrange an appointment. He advised that he had moved and gave me an inspecific address (as people do here). Even with the aid of Google Maps, the place was nowhere to be found. Phoning for directions didn’t help … Me: I’m at the technical college; is it […]
2 May 2009
I have a week with family in my hometown Kuching. There’s nothing much to report but the eating seems to be the thing to do. We also took a look around the city and noticed some new buildings in addition to the familiar.
24 September 2008
Not a bed of roses Today, Mike and I travelled from Bukittinggi to Padang together and stayed at the same hotel. Text continues after this gallery. While looking for lunch we met Ricky (a Chinese Indonesian who works for the maker of the famous Kopiko sweet found around the world). He was absolutely […]
23 September 2008
Above: Today’s ride was about 32km in each direction and included 44 Hairpin turns each way! 44 Hairpins Down and 44 Hairpins Up Today Mike and I with our drivers headed to Lake Maninjau about 32km away. It is a volcanic crater lake and from the top of the rim looking down, we had to […]
22 September 2008
Above: Approximate route for the day. Highland on two wheels I hired a motorcycle and driver for the day to take me around to various Minangkabau cultural sights, especially the beautiful architecture set amongst the green countryside. Travelling with me was a 21 year old English student Mike and his driver. Strangely he’s studying English […]
21 September 2008
“Maiden” flight I woke at 0430 in order to make my 0750 flight to Padang comfortably. While checking-in, I checked out my fellow passengers. It was largely a a maid-and-worker flight. There were a few couples helping their maids with the process eg. making sure they weren’t pinged with baggage charges unnecessarily. It felt good […]