Liquid memories
Liquid memories I put up a shelf in the garage/workshop to store water bottles (bidons) I’ve inadvertently collected over the years. It’s quite cool to have these up as they represent memories of people, places, our travels. Look forward to inadvertently collecting some more!
The Carolinas
The Carolinas is somewhere we’ve wanted to visit for a while. Early in 2014 we floated the idea to some good mates from our time in Malaysia (who now reside in Straya) and they accepted. In fact, one of them was speaking at a conference in Philadelphia later in the year. As it turns out, The Carolinas are beautiful in September. * Side note, If “The Carolinas” sounds familiar, it may be due to the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (or the movie).
Florida
Over the Christmas/New Year’s break, we left New York City and headed south to Florida — the idea being we’d freeze a little in NYC then thaw out in sunny Florida. We had perfect weather in Florida. The locals remarked on the unusual slice of summer in the middle of winter. Not that it gets cold in Florida, but while we were there it was particularly warm. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really like Florida. I didn’t dislike it, but I probably wouldn’t go back without a specific reason like a music or tennis event, or a wedding perhaps.
Vietnam
Well, we finally made it. Waiting at Saigon domestic airport, 333 beer in-belly, for our flight to Hue. Updates may be sparse for the next week[1. I think I’ve scheduled a post tomorrow… no, wait. It was the previous post. About Gmail. ], but I know you can wait it out. I’ll allow you to stray if need be — 50km rule and all that — but I’ll expect your attention again starting next week. Speak ‘ron Barto Day 1, Getting to Hué Paperwork Car, plane, wait, plane, car The Shining Tea which tastes of the milk after you’ve eaten all the Froot Loops Cyclo x2 Rice crepes, spring rolls, pizza, 333 Followed by cyclo x2 Thwarted shakedown attempt Refuse to go down for international power adapter Sleep Day 2, Hué Tennis Swim Poached egg, toast, bacon, fruit, yoghurt, coco pops!
Open letter to AirAsia X
Dear AirAsia X, Someone should go to the Service Desk next to the check-in counters at Melbourne Airport, grab Michael “I refuse to give out my surname because it’s a privacy issue” the Service Desk guys’s ego, and kick the fucking shit out of it. ===== INTERLUDE ===== As Kelly and I packed to come home to KL, we realised we would be over our pre-paid 15kg each allotment of luggage. So, we jumped onto AirAsia.com.au to upgrade our total to 40kg from 30kg.
Shooting stars
On my last trip to Australia, while flying overnight, I woke and looked out the window. For me the ordeal of flying is increasingly distressing. 1-hour taxi to the airport’s LCCT (low cost carrier terminal), standing in line to check-in (Air Asia does not allow online check-in to Melbourne for some reason), waiting for the gate to open in predictably busy surroundings: screaming kids, footy teams on their way back from a week of celebrations/drowning sorrows, all during late, late hours.
Five reasons to travel
Since I’ve met Kelly, I’ve been travelling. Before I met Kelly, I had no interest in seeing the world. Well, it’s not that I had no interest; I’d always wanted to see Japan and Iceland, but there never seemed any urgency. Friends would go off on their obligatory world travel trip before (or during, or after) Uni, but not me. In hindsight it’s funny because one of the few things that’s stuck in my mind from my TAFE days was a lecturer telling me “there is no money better spent than on travel.” And she really meant it.
Mint Museum of Toys, Singapore
Last Thursday and Friday I accompanied Kelly on a business trip to Singapore. I’d never been before so it was an opportune time to go (with company-paid accommodation) but also because three of my former clients were now working in Singapore, and I managed to organise a lunch for us all while there. I spent my time taking wandering around and taking photographs at various locations along or near Orchard Road, but a particularly cool location I stumbled across was the Mint Toy Museum.
Notes from the road river
It appears that WiFi is common this side of the Mekong, so this is a short post to say wassup?!, and tell mum we’re alive and well in Louang Phabang, Laos. We arrived yesterday after a two day boat cruise down the Mekong river from Thailand. Thoughts? How can I relieve the sunburn. We spend four nights in this small but well prepared village. Imagine the best bits of Bali, without the footy yobbos (and the beach). Coming up: 60km ride to Kouang Si waterfalls and back, some Lao Ballet, an all-day cooking class, and a 8 hour bus trip to Vientiane.