Posts Tagged ‘ba’
Half way there…
Only people not living on a prayer? Bon Jovi's hair department (apologies, tenuous link to denote my being 'half way there' to Sydney...
Travelling is so tiring.
Don’t get me wrong, I know I am just sitting on my arse for hours on end, drinking gin, sleeping and watching movies (Terminator Salvation pap (but ultra fit terminator) and The Hangover funny, but definitely a DVD movie not a see at the cinema), but jeez, talk about drained!
The lounge at Heathrow Terminal four sucked. No ice (for what felt like an eternity), pretty poor food selection, and rancid bubbles. Not a great start. However, the lounge in Bangkok (where I have a two hour stop-over), is corking.
I showered for what felt like an eternity, and am supping a nice pineapple juice to accompany my light snack-ette before boarding for Sydney.
Fingers crossed BA don’t lose my bags. Made the fatal mistake of packing all chargers (Blackberry, personal phone and laptop), into my luggage, and the juice is almost gone from all three.
Seasoned traveller indeed…
Iain’s next stop. Sydney, 7am Monday morning. Just in time for the office at 9am…
Weekend highlight…
So many to choose from. Weather, curry, people. I can go on and on, but I won’t, I’m shattered. This is a quicky pre-bed, promise to stick up a few things from my time in Penang the camera caught tomorrow after work.
For now, two quick things. Firstly….
Stunning, rickety little houses out at sea...
Clan jetty. Some amazing, tiny little wooden houses on stilts, that run some 100 feet out into the water. Am not so good with water, and they felt a little rickety.
Nearly shat myself when some cocky fucker sped past me on his bike to the end of it and parked up outside his house!
The locals just couldn’t fathom my interest.
But they were beautiful. Big and cool inside, and they went back quite far. Only a matter of time before some enterprising sort starts renting it out to rich Western holiday makers looking for a ‘unique’ experience…
Oh, and in case you think I am mental, this was the view from the house at the end.
This photo does not do the view justice. So go to Penang and see it for yourself!
The real highlight, well, this is an odd one. I am a total pussy (nothing to do with preference), when it comes to flying.
I’ve gotten much better over the years, but the inbuilt fraidy cat in me still likes to sit on the aisle. Well, this time, I didn’t ask, check in man stuck me at a window, and the plane was pretty full. (Jet star, budget airline, very good. Outfits look a bit star trekky, and all of the steward/esses were do-able).
So, I spot an aisle seat a few mins before we take off, and I am going to make a bolt for it, but thought no. Get over it, sit it out and deal with it.
So we pelt down the runway, and I’m just behind the wing doing the ‘I’m sure the engine isn’t meant to wobble this much’ style of thinking, and I start meditating to chill out.
We go up, I relax and I can’t peel my face from the window. Blue sky, green to blue sea, Penang island in it’s glory. 90% of it covered in lush green, with tiny little built up enclaves.
Stunning tiny islands off it, one size-able which was lush. Nothing on it but trees, a beach and a massive Branson-esque villa. We sail onwards, and for a moment, I almost think the shitty BA ad that had clouds made up of dolphins had a point.
Realising I’ve gone too far in the moment and the ad really is still a big pile of (sorry BBH), I chuckle and look down. And there it was.
A huge rainbow stretching out beneath me, literally as far as I could see.
I’ve never seen one from above before, but I saw it arch across a huge slice of stunning blue ocean. If I were a religious man (instead of hindu-ish), I’d have been thanking god for being alive at that moment. As it was, I thanked him when we landed after some more brutal turbulence…
That’s it for tonight, am pooped, and off to bed before an early start tomorrow. Have some old HTW special guests coming in to work with me.
The old HTW gang on tour in Singapore? How decadent…
Iain is home in Singapore, and will regale more of his personal Penang pleasures tomorrow…
P.S. for anyone that is wondering about my toes, thanks to the mini-first aid kit I packed (and some advice from the good doctor), they are mending nicely!
Day one in Singapore…
Wouldn't wash on the London Underground...
Premium economy? 12 hour flight? I wasn’t amused, but thankfully slept for most of it.
Roberta (my delightful Scottish hostess) kept me furnished with at least 5 or 6 large G&T’s. Got to the stage where I’d buzz (was a night flight), and she wouldn’t even come see what I wanted.
She just brought gin. What a legend. British Airways would do well to promote her…
Got in about 5.30pm, unpacked, ate, and passed out with a gin headache. Oops…
Woke at 3am for the obligatory hour of hoping I’d sleep before dawn, then woke again at 10am just in time for breakfast. Which was immense, the Gallery hotel is way better than the Tripadvisor reviews I read…
Went for a mooch down Orchard Road, shopping, coffee, people watching, luncheon and back to the hotel for some gym time, a disco nap, a little nibble before going out disco dancing tonight. (I hear there are some suitably racous places to get down in ChinaTown).
So what have I learned today?
- Singapore is still clean. Cleaner than when I was here last if that’s humanly possible!
- Manchester United seem to be the dominant British brand over here. I lost count after seeing about 843 tops…
- If it weren’t for aircon, I’d have died around 10.45am
- There are thousands of coffee shops that can help feed my habit
- I am irresistible*
Time to hit the gym. I will get that bikini body for summer (2012 at this rate, but the heat does suppress the appetite!).
Day one of Iain on his tours. *And we’ll see if that’s true tonight!
