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Day 6. Back to Jakarta and Swissotel PIK. Out to Taman Wisata and highlight were the White-headed munia, Golden-bellied Gerygone and the woodpeckers.

16:00 SIN > CGK. Stay at Swissotel PIK, driven by being near Taman Wisata Alam Kapuk Park. Good new hotel and area. It beats travelling further into Jakarta and spending hours in a car/taxi. Day 3,4, and 5. Work at Tegal, Central Java. The highlight was the large-tailed nightjars on the plant...

Trip 1. MEL > SYD > SIN: BA J SIN > CGK: KL J CGK > SIN: 3K Y SIN > KUL > SIN: MH Y SIN > SYD > MEL: BA/QF J Day 1. Wow, BA, surely there is better food available! Pretty poor effort for J lunch. Night at Grand Mercure Roxy as it is close to the MTR for Singapore Botanical Gardens. (I’m not...

Like many people whose travel ground to a halt and were locked away during those long dark days, there was a lot of reassessment of priorities. For me, it was to reflect on the travel I have done and what I have missed out on. Turning 60 during this period, coupled with a few other personal...

As like most of us over the past two years, we had a bit of spare time. From most of my friends, it seemed to be drinking (!!!), but I did a bit of playing around with Pt Lifetime status. I do a bit of simulating modelling in my job, on what furnaces do, but I wanted to see how much it would...

Like many, back on the road after the Covid hiatus and straight into the deep end with four trips in 4 months; 2 x Asia and 2 x Europe, next Europe in 3 weeks. But after a two year break my tolerance is even worse than before. Some of my classics over the past few trips; - Pax walking at a...

T5 9/7/22 for the 7:15am flight to Milan. Crowds were incredible as the baggage conveyor was down. Got down to First check-in, and they were spilling out of the door. After a few minutes a staff member came up and told us they had opened up a desk in business, so just go over and check in there...

Tourists!

I love to see new beers appear on the shelves and on tap, this is I think Renaissance No. 3 in craft beers in my "drinking lifetime". But I agree about the cost of the craft beers, as I just struggle to fork out $30 for 1/2 dozen of some over-hopped lager pretending to be an ale, with no...

I've brought a lot of "sharp things" via my checked baggage: axes, knives, blades and even a garden machete. One of my favourites is the axe from Skelleftea in Sweden. The only problem with the Customs Officer was the fur it is sitting on which is reindeer. I don't usually declare the tools, but...

What I have also noticed along with some bare shelves is there have been quite a hike in prices on a lot of the items I usually buy. And it's the same level of increase in both NSW and Victoria as I just returned home and checked my local shops. Yogurt $7 to $7.50, meat 19.50 to 21.5, moth traps...

I think some have forgotten about the OS supply chains drying up. Nothing better than shopping at Home Depot or Lowes just before you depart the US to "top the weight up". Years ago I was sick and tired of seeing the range and the prices in US stores so I converted half my workshop to 110-120v...

Mrs Leadman complained so often when I used to collect the PJ's, always asking why? With the lockdowns, I've all but lived in them and she certainly changed tune, estimating we have saved over $600 on jeans et al. But to rate them, EVA Air has been the far better quality and wear, especially in...

For many years I thought I had made the wrong decision of joining the Marriott programme over the others, but when they merged with Sheraton all my Christmases came all at once. On top of Ti life, it was one worry of not trying to retain status I didn't have during Covid. Now if QF gave us a bit...

I have monitored my two arrays for just on 6 1/2 years and as of last month I have "paid them off". But how I see it is I have just pre-paid my electricity bill over that period of time. My calculations are based on the $$$ I get going to the grid + the amount that has replaced what would have...

Very sad to see this feature go, as it was one of my drivers to be on this site. I was a frequent user looking at "leg timings" etc, helping with the long nights in hotel rooms, but like everything in these crazy times, we reaccess what we need. Sadly, will have to look hard at this year's...

I was in India when the currency conversion happened and it was an amazing time. I posted a few photos here when it was happening about the lines around the ATM's and Banks. I was able to change some as I went to a bank in Dehli just to see the line of people, and a guard took me inside the...

Thanks bpeteb. I find my work trips far more rewarding now and seeing a lot more "areas" i would never dream of. It also opens you up to see the world in a different light, from the negative of taking photos of birds and animals living and feeding around the rubbish we make, to the positive of...

Well with iso-boredom i thought i might add a few by country. These are from Sabah in Malaysia and my first Oriental Hornbill was, for me, one of the great highlights in life. He was actually feeding a chick with a lizard, which i also captured, just amazing. The second is a Tabon Scrubfowl when...

The lock-down has at last given me time to do a job i was putting off for a long time, de-dusting all my old die-cast aircraft collection. I told the kids it was a fog slowly building up but they didn't buy it. Took four hours but fun going through the old liveries, aircraft and long gone...