Articles from this Category
15 April 2006
The language is written using a consonant script, like some other languages such as Hebrew. This means that it is written somewhat like SMS (TXT messages) … quite confusing as “bnk” could mean bank, bunk, bink, binak, banik etc. Additional vowel signs are shown by marks above and below the proper script to assist students […]
14 April 2006
Confusion I woke at 0630 for the 0730 pickup outside the school. After yesterday’s adventure, it’s hard to believe I have another one today. Yesterday with Americans and today with Europeans. The destination of our day out hadn’t been confirmed. I was told now that it wasn’t going to be Shihara but to the Haraz mountains, […]
13 April 2006
A Slow start Being Thursday, it is the weekend. I had arranged with British Tom and American Tom to join them on their day trip. At 1030, we walked to Medah Tahrir with the intention of catching a bus or shared taxi to Shibam (not the one in the east of the country but a […]
11 April 2006
Yemen? Yes, Yemen … in the corner of the Arabian peninsula next to the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia) … one of few countries on the New Zealand’s government’s “no go” list, ranking up there with Iraq. Makes the previous trips to Beirut and Tehran seem tame right? The ranking ascribed to Yemen is […]
10 April 2006
Onward to Dubai and Sana’a With an 0210 departure from Singapore to Dubai, I was sleepy even before the flight departed. The Emirates flight was full. Fortunately I was comfortable enough to get a little sleep. Connecting in Dubai upon arrival at 0510 was slow. Transit security comprised of one x-ray station which meant […]
2 April 2006
I try to combine my world adventures with a visit to see family in Kuching. It was cheaper to fly from Johor Bahru across the border on a domestic flight to Kuching, rather than from Singapore’s Changi airport. Step-bro and his partner Josephine took me out for a very good dimsum breakfast at Lau Pa […]
10 December 2005
The Empire is located in Jerudong, outside the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. We took a visit into the capital today, a place we had visited before in 2001. We walked around the shops, visited the Royal Regalia museum, and from the waterfront took a water taxi to explore Kampong Ayer, the village on stilts. Brunei […]
9 December 2005
Today we largely relaxed and enjoyed the facilities of the hotel. In the evening, we went to Jerudong Park. This is an amusement park built by the Sultan in 1994 as a birthday for his subjects on his fiftieth birthday. Admission is free of charge. Not only that, the Sultan invited Michael Jackson to give […]
8 December 2005
It was five hectic days of admin (setting up electronic billing and automatic payments) and purchasing (furnishing and decoration). We were pleased with what we had achieved before leaving for our short holiday in Brunei. But we had one last important thing to do. I’ve been approached for a contract role at Vodafone, a company […]
2 December 2005
Above: Big plantain banana and a tiny banana, at a friend’s house. To get from Singapore to my hometown in Kuching, there are daily direct flights. But with high departure taxes from Singapore’s Changi Airport and a high fare, it was much cheaper to cross the border to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, and then fly […]