My friend Bert and I visited Myanmar some months ago and our first stop was the northern city of Mandalay. From there we travelled to Bagan, Lake Inle and Yangon, the capital. Welcome to Myanmar! While some may refer to it as Burma, the official name is The Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Thai Air…
Category: Asia
Happy New Year 2017 – Where are you travelling to?
2016 was a good year but I didn’t get to travel as much as I would have liked. Buenos Aires and Montevideo were great, as was a brief trip to Melbourne. I have, however already booked my big trip for 2017. One way ticket around the world! First stop, Singapore, then Penang, Phuket, Chiang Mai…
Air Bagan, Heho (Lake Inle) to Yangon, Myanmar. ATR72-500
“Should we stop and get something to eat before the flight?” I asked my travel companion Bert. It had been a long journey from the Novotel Myat Min in Lake Inle to Heho Airport in Myanmar for our flight to Yangon. We did enjoy a delicious a-la-carte breakfast rather early at the hotel, eggs, bacon,…
Flying Air KBZ – Mandalay to Nyaung U in The Republic of the Union of Myanmar
“You may sit wherever you like on the plane sir” “Wherever?” “Yes sir, no seating assignments on the flight” After a long hot day seeing some of the amazing sights of Mandalay, the 2nd largest city in Myanmar, our driver took my friend Bert and I to the airport at 3:00 pm for our 4:45 pm flight…
Pay As You Use At The Tune Hotel – Downtown Kuala Lumpur
“Charge ’em for the lice, extra for the mice Two percent for looking in the mirror twice Here a little slice, there a little cut Three percent for sleeping with the window shut When it comes to fixing prices There are a lot of tricks I knows How it all increases, all them bits and…
Air Asia RED HOT PARTY – Launch of Air Asia’s new Taylor Swift Aircraft livery & the Taylor Swift Tour
“Hello, my name is Alfred, what is your name and where have you come from for this party?” “Hi. Matthew. I’ve flown in from Sydney” “From Sydney! You must really like Taylor Swift!” “Yeah, she’s great, and I also love Air Asia, this is so exciting!” Spoken to first person I met at the launch of…
The Freaky Heights of the Petronas Twin Towers – Kuala Lumpur
Question: Whats the smallest room in the world? Answer: A Mushroom! Ba doom ching! Man I”m funny! I’ll tell you what isn’t funny though, Acrophobia – the fear of heights, sometimes incorrectly referred to as vertigo. Vertigo, however, is actually when a person feels they are spinning, the room is spinning, or their head is…
Wandering through Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea
I can be a bit of a dreamer. I’m fascinated by Royal History and when I visit places like this, I like to dream and wonder what would it have been like to be in a palace in times gone by, a member of the royal family, a member of staff, or simply a visitor to…
Where South Meets North. A Day Tour To The Korean DMZ and Panmunjom: Part 3 – Panmunjom & The Joint Security Area
“The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action.” “Det är så roligt!” (That is so funny!) Laughed the blonde long-bearded-Swede. “Så mycket roligt!” (So very funny!) Giggled his blonde friend. The people I am talking about…
Where South Meets North. A Day Tour To The Korean DMZ and Panmunjom: Part 2 – Seeing the North
OUCH! %&*# that hurt!… So, what I didn’t finish telling you in part one of my day tour to the DMZ, while I was at Imjingak Park at the lookout, I tripped and fell head over turkey and injured my foot. Hobbling back to the car park, I finally found my coach but I was…
Where South Meets North.. A Day Tour To The Korean DMZ and Panmunjom: Part 1 – Imjingak
“Why would you want to go there? Stay in Seoul…..go shopping!” That was what my Korean born work colleague said to me, with a look of disgust on her face, when I mentioned that during my trip to South Korea I was taking a day tour to the DMZ and Panmunjom – the Demilitarised Zone and Joint…
The Worlds Largest & Most Extensive Subway System
Am I in New York? Am I about to board the Paris Metro? Perhaps I am in Metropolitan Tokyo waiting for a chikatetsu? – one thing I can say is that we’re not in Sydney!…I am in Seoul, South Korea home to the worlds largest subway system in terms of station and passengers. With 19 lines…
The Changing of the Guard, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea
When I mentioned to fellow Australians I was going to see the Changing of the Guard on my trip to South Korea, I could see the confusion in their faces as I’m sure they were picturing Beefeaters with large cylindrical black fur hats, gallantly dressed horses and all that pomp and pageantry that comes with…
Lounge Review: HUB LOUNGE, Incheon International Airport, Seoul South Korea
You don’t have to be flying First or Business Class to enjoy a few hours of drinks, food and relaxation in the luxury of an airport lounge before departure or during a transit. In most civilised airports, including Seoul’s Incheon Airport, there are pay per use lounges open to all travelling regardless of travel class – (unfortunately this…
Jalan Alor (eat street) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
“Is that all you do on holidays just fly from here to there then every few days take other flight somewhere?” a friend said to me the other day with a grin. “No……., I eat as well” I replied with a cheekier grin. Jalan Alor, or as I’ve heard it called eat street, is one of my…
Review: Air Asia X – Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur – Economy Class
The Frugal Flyer – How little can I spend to get from Australia to Asia without going hungry? To celebrate low cost carrier Air Asia X announcing new services between Adelaide and Kuala Lumpur, they released a limited number of introductory fares between the two cities from AUD$99. I managed to purchase one of these…
Review: Jetstar Asia Singapore to Bangkok
There are many choices to fly direct between Singapore and Bangkok – low cost carriers such as Air Asia, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Air, full service airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Silk Air and Thai Airways, then theres airlines with one stop such as Malaysia Airlines, via Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok Airways via Koh Samui. While planning my recent…
Air India returns to Sydney with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
After years of speculation, the return of Air India after a 16 year hiatus AND the first scheduled, commercial service of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner happened recently. I’d only ever seen the Boeing 787 Dreamliner once, that was in 2009 at the Boeing factory near Seattle when the first few had just rolled off the…
Review: Air Asia – Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
Having never flown Air Asia before and the fares being so ridiculously cheap – I paid a total AUD$41.37 including 20kgs of baggage, seat selection and a meal – I was slightly suspicious of what I was in for – was there going to be more to pay for along the way? So I made…
Review: Lufthansa German Airlines – Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur Business Class
Fifth Freedom rights – where an airline travels from its own country to another and onto a third having the right to sell tickets and transport passengers between the latter two ports. In this case Lufthansa flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Bangkok, Thailand, where I boarded, and onto Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – two countries completely…
Review: KLIA LCCT – Kuala Lumpur International Airport Low Cost Carrier Terminal & Plaza Premium Lounge
I’d planned to catch the KLIA Ekpres fast train (taking 28 minutes) to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and make my way over to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal – KLIA LCCT. However, KLIA LCCT is located around 20kms from the main airport terminal and my taxi driver, taking me to Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station,…
Matty Somewhere 