Tropical Winter, Mon, 28 Aug 17
Simon
in Asia, Malaysia
People are generally wonderful, really helpful and lovely. And in a genuine kind of way, not the ‘customer service’ kind of way. It’s also amazing how well pretty much everybody knows English. This, plus what I heard from various backpackers, …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 24 Aug 17
Simon
at a Jungle, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
We got up early again and left Camp 5 by 6:40. On the way to the boat we found an otter on the riverbank – it was checking out something that died there recently but was mostly eaten by now, …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 23 Aug 17
Simon
at a Jungle, Mountain, River, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
5:30 – we wake up and get ready for the trek. 6:40 – we set off to the Pinnacles. 7:10 – we have made 500 metres, I’m swimming in sweat, wondering if I had enough for breakfast. Judith and Eugenia …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 22 Aug 17
Simon
at a Cave, Jungle, River, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
Good night again, despite the fact that many more people checked in to the dorm yesterday! Thank you, gecko night watch! I got up reasonably early to pack before leaving for the three day trek to the Pinnacles. I left …
Tropical Winter, Mon, 21 Aug 17
Simon
at a Cave, Jungle, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
Surprisingly good sleep for a dorm room! Nobody snored, the fans kept us cool, and the earplugs did their job. Maybe it’s the friendly geckos, at night they did get off the walls and were roaming everywhere, keeping peace and …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 20 Aug 17
Simon
at a Transit
in Asia, Malaysia
I managed to catch a couple of hours sleep at the Denpasar airport, lying at a vaguely comfortable cafe sofa. Around 5am I got up, all loopy, got through the check-in, managed to catch some internet to discuss some AirBnB …
Conference Trips, Sun, 22 Feb 15
Simon
with Vera
at a City, Graveyard, Ruins/Excavation, Temple, UNESCO site
in Asia, Israel
Old City Mount of Olives Monastery of the Cross
Conference Trips, Sat, 21 Feb 15
Simon
with Mark
at a City, UNESCO site
in Asia, Israel
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Fri, 08 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a Transit
in Asia, Japan
Today it all ends. We thanked Toshiko and went to the airport quite early. Thanks to that Eva is less stressed about the flight. I could do with more sleep. Our flight is delayed by 1.5h, so more waiting. I …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Fri, 08 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Temple, UNESCO site
in Asia, Japan
Today we decided to see Buddha again. A big one. We took a train to Nara, another ancient temple town and a former capital (7-9th Century), like Kamakura. Instead of temple complexes lost in mountain valleys, here they were mostly …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Fri, 08 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a Castle, City
in Asia, Japan
Osaka turns out to be only marginally less culturally boring than Sapporo. The history museum was closed, so we were left with Osaka Castle and… Osaka Castle. We went there in the morning and it was definitely time well spent. …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Fri, 08 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a Castle, City, Temple, UNESCO site
in Asia, Japan
Last night we arrived to Osaka very tired, went right to the hostel (couldn’t find any couchsurfers for the first couple nights) and collapsed. Despite the tiredness, I couldn’t fall asleep. Well, the guy on the next bed snoring might …
Conference Trips, Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Tue, 05 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City
in Asia, Japan
This was the first conference I’ve been to where everything started and ended on time. Every single talk. Wow. There were a few interesting talks, a few that would be interesting if they weren’t delivered in the most sleep-inducing manner, …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Tue, 05 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Park
in Asia, Japan
A bit disappointing. There is hardly anything here. Sapporo is a rather boring city of wide streets, high buildings, more wide streets, perfect 180x480m grid and little spirit. All built after 1850. It feels boring, and as it turns out, …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Tue, 05 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Park
in Asia, Japan
Trees and skyscrapers, my favourite combination Today morning we packed, left Guillaume’s keys in his mailbox and, having several hours left until our flight to Sapporo, we went to the imperial gardens. This time – success, it’s open! Nice park, …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Sat, 02 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Park, Temple
in Asia, Japan
Look what we found! Our plan for today has been carried out despite the weather’s insistence to prove to us that Scotland isn’t as bad as we thought. We went to Shinjuku and Shibuya – the alternative districts. And guess …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Sat, 02 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Sea, Temple, UNESCO site
in Asia, Japan
View of Engakuji Today I finally slept well. At 8 am I still didn’t feel like crawling out of bed! Had to, though – Seiichi was due home at 9, and we had to clean up a bit before his return. …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Sat, 02 Nov 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Museum, Park
in Asia, Japan
Under the streets of Tokyo Although I couldn’t fall asleep the previous night, today I woke up at 5am and couldn’t fall asleep again. Ah well, at least I had some extra time to mark essays. Bicycle parkings in almost …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Thu, 31 Oct 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Museum, Temple
in Asia, Japan
We slept for over 13 hours and still woke up tired. Meanwhile I realized we lost Friday. Jetlag kills puppies. Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, main building Today it’s meant to be even more rainy. A typhoon hit the city, bringing a …
Memoirs from the Land of Suits and Ramen, Thu, 31 Oct 13
Simon
with Eva
at a City, Park
in Asia, Japan
And we’re off!. At the airport – tired but happy At the airport – tired but happy The journey to Japan starts with an early morning wake up and a slightly less than usual-stressed Eva. Mid landing in Paris: Charles …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 06 Apr 13
Simon
at a Castle, City, UNESCO site
in Asia, India
Meat… Food that doesn’t burn… Appetite… Please… Looking at the sky in Delhi isn’t easy It’s horrible, how stomach issues can make one’s life miserable. I spent the last day in Jodhpur on feeling crap and not moving too much …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 06 Apr 13
Simon
in Asia, India
Some of the many thoughts of the journey: What do I want Normally, humans want to be happy. At the same time, a great majority has only very vague clue what actually makes them happy, and an even more vague …
Great Eastern Journey, Tue, 02 Apr 13
Simon
at a Castle, City, Desert
in Asia, India
The driver’s sidekick The journey to Jodhpur took the whole day, and began rather amusingly. First, explanation. Every bus here has not only a driver, but also a sort of sidekick who sells tickets and stands in the door all …
Great Eastern Journey, Fri, 29 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Mountain, Temple
in Asia, India
Hippies pay for stay in paintings Pushkar is full of hippies. It wasn’t just yesterday’s party, the whole hostel is taken over by hippies, every hostel, the whole town is! Cool! My rooftop tent-shack I already met a few interesting …
Great Eastern Journey, Wed, 27 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Graveyard
in Asia, India
Damn you, mystery noodles! So this is what the cow dung was for! Or breakfast pakoras, or hell knows what else. After ten days in India with no gastric problems whatsoever, the legendary diarrhea of doom caught up with me. …
Great Eastern Journey, Mon, 25 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Temple, UNESCO site
in Asia, India
It’s becoming harder and harder to be a tolerant person and have understanding for cultural differences. It’s been a bit easier in Omkareshwar, but Khajuraho is a real challenge. I can get used to the filth and mess – I …
Great Eastern Journey, Sun, 24 Mar 13
Simon
at a Transit
in Asia, India
Q: What is the average ground speed velocity of a laden bus?Q: European or Indian bus? As it turns out, in India it’s about 30-35km/h (20mph). I just spent 25 hours on a bus to travel 730km from Omkareshwar to …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 23 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, River, Temple
in Asia, India
Bus driver’s flowers and trinketsAll busses and trucks are decorated like thatLooks like every second river is holy here… After some pretty spicy food (the waiter didn’t think it was spicy at all) I went to the train station. Despite …
Great Eastern Journey, Wed, 20 Mar 13
Simon
at a Cave, City, Museum, Sea, UNESCO site
in Asia, India
Tonight I couldn’t sleep for a new reason. You know how they say ‘don’t let the bed bugs bite’? Well, it’s not like you have a choice sometimes. I’m changing beds today. The clean waters of Mumbai In the morning I …
Great Eastern Journey, Tue, 19 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Museum, UNESCO site
in Asia, India
OK, things are picking up a little. I guess the first shock has passed. I still think Mumbai is a horrible place and want to get out asap, but at least I saw a couple interesting things today. I guess …
Great Eastern Journey, Mon, 18 Mar 13
Simon
at a City
in Asia, India
How is India? It’s fucking disgusting, I want to go home. Airport staircase, mid level I felt bad taking pics of the homeless, so just some rubbish OK, OK, I’m not giving up just yet. But really. My current experience …
Great Eastern Journey, Mon, 18 Mar 13
Simon
in Asia, Singapore
Today is another transit day. I left Singapore with a delayed flight to Dubai (incidentally, it’s the same connection from Brisbane that was delayed ten days before when I got to Singapore, though this time the delay was only 1.5h), …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 16 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Museum
in Asia, Singapore
Ha, updates day after day! You can really tell I’m back to civilisation! Back in the land of tall buildings Actually, there couldn’t be a starker contrast than between what I saw in Sumatra and in Singapore. Beautiful, wild nature, …
