If like me, sometimes when travelling in Asia, you may have a moment where you feel ‘templed out’, in other words, after looking at temple after temple, often in repressive heat, they start looking all the same, you have seen enough and can’t bare to see anymore! When I was in Bali, this didn’t actually happen…
Tag: travel
A Tale Of Two Lighthouses, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
I grew up in Wollongong and during the school holidays or on a long weekend, my dad would sometimes take my brother and I fishing, much to our delight, and I think my mum’s as she had a few hours respite from her noisy and sometimes over-energetic boys! The very first time, when we were…
Review: CountryLink Xplorer – Sydney to Bundanoon Economy Class
What: CountryLink Xplorer Where: Sydney – Bundanoon, NSW Southern Highlands Service: Southern Xplorer CLK635 A train with wine 🙂 . I was going away for the weekend to visit some good friends who live in Bundanoon, a few hours south of Sydney in the New South Wales Southern Highlands. Leaving after work on a Friday…
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China
What: Temple of Heaven Where: Beijing, PR China When: 15th – 20th Century One Christmas, when I was about seven or eight years of age, Santa Claus left my brother and I a board game called Chinese Checkers under the Christmas Tree. I don’t think my brother and I ever learnt how to correctly play…
Palaces, Queens, Dikes and Bikes – The Netherlands (Part 1)
What: Noordeinde Palace & Het Loo Palace and gardens Where: The Hague & Appledoorn, The Netherlands Other than my passion for commercial aviation and travelling (oh and cheese) I have a sincere interest in the Kings and Queens of Europe, the royal households and their history. I do, in fact, have a portrait of my…
Review: Vietnam Airlines Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City, Business Class
Flight date: 15 July 2012 Aircraft: Airbus a330-200 Flight Number:VN772 Flight Time: 9hrs Class: Business Class Seat: 4c For me, a big part of the excitement of long-haul travel is the unknown. I’m not talking about where I’m going and what cultures, foods and history I will encounter, that surely is an exciting part, but my experience of getting there….
Tanah Lot and the Balinese Festival of Buda Wage, Bali, Indonesia
What: Tanah Lot, A picturesque Hindu Temple built on a coastal rock formation Where: Bali, Indonesia, about 45 minutes drive from the tourist centre of Kuta When: 15th century, restored in the 1980’s I’m not one that enjoys large crowds, I avoid the hoards of people around Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve and the thought of shopping…
Hoi An, Vietnam
What: Hoi An Ancient town a UNESCO world heritage site. Where: Central coast of Vietnam, about half an hour drive from Da Nang International Airport. When: 2000 years of history as a trading port starting with the Cham people, the Chinese and lastly the Vietnamese. I love to see history. I love it even more…
Review: Lion Air – Yogyakarta to Denpasar Bali & Yogyakarta Soto Ayam
Flight date: 15 February 2012 Aircraft: Boeing 737-900 Flight Number: JT568 Flight Time: 1hr 10mins Class: Economy class Seat: 17C It was hot and I’d had a huge day in Yogyakarta, visiting Borobudur and Prambanan Temples and the Sultans Palace, so I was fine being dropped by my tour guide at Yogyakarta International Airport airport…
Review: Garuda Indonesia Airlines Denpasar (Bali) – Yogyakarta
Flight date: 14 February 2012 Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 Flight Number: GA251 Flight Time: 1hr 10mins Class: Economy Seat: 12A A 4.30am wake up call for a 5am pickup to Denpasar airport for a 7am flight. With very little traffic on the roads at this dark hour, I was at the airport by 5.20am for a…
Continental Airlines – “I’ll have a Scotch and Coke”…” Sorry sir…a whaaaat?”
Is it my Australian accent or the generic term I use when asking for something that confuses other users of the English language? On a Continental Airlines flight, the first couple of times I’d ask for a scotch and coke, I would be met with dismay and a shocked look as though I was speaking another language….
Matty Somewhere 