I arrived back in Singapore from Sydney last night, with only one more trip away to Phuket on the horizon, departing on Wednesday. By the time we get back early next week it will have been a busy month of travelling, so with no further trips planned the half marathon training and job hunting can resume in earnest.
The Australia trip was good, having spent a few days catching up with family who are now living on the South Coast, before making my way back to Sydney to stay in the city and catch up with some friends, before attending an amazing wedding on the Saturday. I really could have done without the flight back to Singapore yesterday, but it was more economical than spending another night in a hotel on account of a hangover. Here's George Street on a weekday evening as seen from one of many rooftop bars that seem to have popped up, this one at the Hilton Hotel:
While away I read about the British Pathe loading 85,000+ historic videos onto Youtube. I had a quick look through some and there is an astonishing selection there, more than enough to wipe out a few hours of even a weekend. The channel on Youtube lives here and is well worth a look.
Ho Chi Minh City had been on the to-do list for some time, so with my Dad in town for his retirement trip, and me having just finished my old role it seemed like as good a time as any to head up for a visit. I now wish I'd been there sooner, as its a great spot that ticks a lot of boxes for the long weekend visit:
Flight time Singapore to Ho Chi Minh is around one hour forty minutes, closer than Bangkok and Bali
The Airport is around twenty minutes away from the city, traffic permitting
There's a good selection of historic sights including those related to the Vietnman war, the food is outstanding and everywhere you look something's for sale, including the enormous historic market building
There's a wide selection of hotels, many of them with rooftop bars which are a great way to enjoy the developing skyline, while still being close enough to ground level to hear the buzz of traffic below
Ho Chi Minh City was my second trip to Vietnam, after visiting Hanoi and Ha Long Bay a couple of years back. To my mind the energy and vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City cannot be compared to up north. Drinking at the rooftop bars in Ho Chi Minh, watching the endless traffic and admiring the fast-developing skyline, I couldn't help but think the city is going places fast. Get in now, as with the pace of change I got the feeling in ten or even five years large parts of the city will be unrecognisable.
Firstly, no visit would be complete without a visit to the War Remnants Museum. Hardware out the front, including several tanks, helecopters and jets. There's also a vivid display of methods used to torture PoW's, told from the Vietcong perspective. The upper two levels of the museum contain a great selection of other artifacts and photography, and detail the ongoing cost of the war on both sides:
Walking around town is easy as its very flat and nothing seemed too far away, it just helps to close your eyes when crossing the road. This is the City Hall Building along one of the main avenues:
Further around is the beautiful French Colonial Post Office Building, which in true Vietnam fashion still operates as a functioning Post Office
Walking around town and the skyline really beginning to take shape:
This is the Bitexo Financial Tower. Not sure who Bitexo are, but their building sure looks nice. The thing sticking out of it is a helicopter landing pad, must take a brave pilot to try and land on that thing:
And lastly from the viewing platform up the top (where the windows could use a good wash), the view to the south including the Saigon River and another massive building under construction:
Doing the rounds over the internet last week, and care of my friend Len, here's an absolute stinker of an ad that's recently been pulled by the Singapore Tourism Board on account of it being so bad. As in really, really bad. Be careful, as once seen it cannot be unseen. See if you can guess in advance what's in the gift box presented to the guy on the cable car.
In true Singapore fashion, my best guess is that it was put together by a gods-gift to mankind intern while the senior staff took long lunches, before being given the green light to hit the airwaves. It has most certainly gone viral (even the SMH picked it up last week), but against the mantra that any publicity is good publicity, all this ad has achieved is to make Singapore look really, really lame. And then when the proverbial hit the fan, rather than admitting 'yes, its a bad ad, we made a mistake ever even thinking about it', the second error of judgement was to go on the offensive and say it was generally well received in the Philippines.
The remaining advertising slots have been burned, having being paid for upfront. Someone should be flipping burgers.
Let me start by saying I can't believe I have to put this in black and white, but having already done a fair bit of travel this month and with a lot more in store, one of my greatest pet hates of all time is now really starting to get on my tits, so I think its time for some pointers for the mong population that seems uninitiated to the modern art of jet travel (or anything else for that matter). How to catch a plane.
Specifically when saying a few trips have pushed my patience, for the month of April I mean:
Singapore - Sydney (wedding)
Sydney - Singapore
Singapore - Ho Chi Minh (top spot - post to follow)
Ho Chi Minh - Singapore
Singapore - Sydney (another wedding)
Sydney - Singapore
Singapore - Phuket (holiday)
Phuket - Chiang Mai (leave pass permitting)
Chiang Mai - Singapore
And that should just about do it. And as much as I'd love to offset my carbon credits, in the spirit of Hour of Power the truth is I really do prefer to fly on gas guzzling DC9's, or half full 747's when available. OK so maybe not entirely the case, in fact I try and fly with SQ and Tiger Airways who do like flying mainly fuel efficient 777's and a320's respectively, which respectfully makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing. So to offset the remaining carbon credits I've been trying to eat a lot less curry, which results in a lot less methane (you get the idea). Job done.
Anyhow, back to my main point about how flying really pisses me off sometimes. A few hints, or 'life hacks' as the young folk intern folk at my old work like to call these things these days (be sure to click the link for seven 'secret' Starbucks items, which are somehow already on the menu... genius), before the rest of us had what we like to call good old common sense:
How to Use a Plane
Pre-Passport Control
It should go without saying, but make sure your passport is ready and you don't have to fumble around for it for five minutes once you arrive at the counter
Likewise six months validity on your passport, at least two empty pages is very useful, and if entering Vietnam as we tried to last week, a pre-approval letter also helps (guilty as charged last week)
Pre-Security Clearance
Take anything metallic including your phone, watch, wallet and keys out of your pocket, also take you belt off, and put them in your bag that will go through the x-ray machine
Any liquids smaller than 100ml should have been checked in, pre-consumed, or left in the hotel room
Likewise take your laptop or iPad out of its case before you get to the x-ray belt as it can mean you hold a lot less people up, which may include the person sitting next to you on the plane
All being well, and unless you hold a prosthetic leg or other solid body part, you should get through the scanner without any issues. I wear glasses which rarely raise any alarms. It helps to give the security person on the other side of the scanner a smile, especially if they do decide to start frisking you, along a wink when the reach the nether regions if it comes to that
Once through the x-ray machine and any (hopefully non-required) rubber-gloving, collect your articles off the belt, and re-pack them away from the crowds. This means putting your belt and watch back on, checking you have your wallet and phone and at this opportune moment also check you still have your passport and boarding pass
Also re-pack your laptop and / or iPad, and carry on in an orderly fashion (see point below on pre-packing for boarding)
Common articles easily go missing at security - I once had to check via general announcement at the Air New Zealand Lounge at Christchurch Airport for an iPhone, which the passenger in front of me had over-enthusiastically collected, by honest mistake before making its way to Auckland, whilst I was about to head to Sydney
Post-Customs
All being well, you will have arrived at the airport with sufficient time to check in and get through customs and security screening before last call. If things have gone really well you may even have time to check out the overpriced duty free shops and find something to eat. Pat on the back time
Before planning any shopping or eating however, check the boarding pass again to scope out your departure gate, particularly how far away it might be or any late changes, and factor at least 30 minutes in before the scheduled departure time
Planes can and will leave early to improve metrics if only a couple of passengers are running even slightly late, especially at busy airports if there's an available take-off slot and none of the 'missing' passengers bags are checked in
Check in advance to download useful iPhone and Android Apps, Singapore Airport for example has the very handy iChangi App which allows users to save a flight to 'My Flight' which will send alerts as status changes from gate open, gate closing and final call (or for the unorganised, 'gate closed - better luck next time')
Final Call
You know things are going well when airlines have time to board the plane from back to front. This is done to help the plane leave on time, so play your part by sticking to your check-in row when called. Without naming names, my general observation after years of travelling around Asia is that some nationalities are worse than others when pushing forward to board out of sequence, which can turn the whole thing into a zoo
To do your bit, I also find it useful to pack anything I need for the plane - as in what I'll need when sitting in my seat - into a small plastic bag before boarding commences
This includes any headphones, book, magazine, iPad, landing card and pen, and means when you're on the plane and arrive at your seat row, you throw your 'seat bag' straight onto the seat, carry-on up into the overhead compartment, and can then immediately sit down so people in rows behind can move through. A good way to indicate you're organised is to then start flicking through the in-flight magazine
You then get to sit and watch in bewilderment at the number of people that only seem to remember what they need out of their bag when there are fifty people lined up behind them waiting to get past. If you have blood pressure pills, now is a good time to use them
More small bags fit in into overhead compartments than standard in-flight suitcases. Wide bodied planes are generally OK, but A320's simply do not have room for every passenger to bring a small suitcase. Mongs, this means you. Blocking the aisle for fifteen minutes trying to fit a round peg into a square hole is not ok. Check it in. Ok?
Flying High
Little things matter. Try not to put your seat back too early on or while I'm eating and I'll try really hard not to knee you in the back of your seat for the remainder of the flight
Be respectful to flight attendants, for if anything does go horribly wrong mid flight they are the ones trained to deal with it, and you don't want to be on their bad side on the way down
Once the captain announces the final descent, grab the in-flight sales magazine. Every time a description for perfume, aftershave or whiskey mentions the words 'traveller', 'timeless' or 'sophisticated', count to ten. Before you know it, you'll be on the ground
Post-Landing
If you have any remaining blood sugar pills, down them
Similar to the point above, when you've been on the ground half an hour waiting for the people in business class to sort themselves out and the the curtain is finally opened to let the cattle class escape, nothing infuriates me more than seeing the folk in the first few rows in economy realise then might be a good time to organise themselves, remove their luggage from the overhead compartments and move forward, thus blocking everyone behind them
Then watching the same process repeat itself ad nauseum row after row until row 99A when the very last row on the plane can finally exit
For heavens sake people do what you can in readying yourself to get off the plane while the going is good and while business class are still downing their final glass of Moet Chandon, so once economy class does finally receive the green light we can all proceed down the aisle in lock step and in orderly fashion to the nearest taxi stand
Its not rocket science, and if every mong could contribute just a few of the steps above once a day to every plane trip, countless hours would be saved by the rest of us that just want to get on with our lives outside of a metallic tube environment. So please mongs, before you fly, ask yourself if you should really be leaving home in the first place (organised package tours do count), and if you are be sure to make sure its a team effort. And safe travels, Roger? Captain Over.
After very close to four years at the bank, my last day was several weeks ago and I've lined up a few trips away while the freedom of not working is on the table. Its a good feeling, to know that most of our adult lives until retirement we will generally be tied to our jobs, often even when on leave. At this stage at least the uncertainty of not knowing when the next pay cheque is coming in is far outweighed by the feeling of relaxation and adventure as to what comes next.
It has been a hectic few weeks, going through the motions of finishing up at work, an early flight to Sydney the following day and then spending time with family and friends in Australia. Back in Singapore now, this afernoon I'm off to Vietnam with my Dad for a few days to have a look around Ho Chi Minh City, before heading back to Singapore for Easter, then travelling to Sydney again for another wedding before a long weekend in Phuket. The job searching is obviously taking a bit of a backseat for now.
Not working also has the added benefit of allowing time to catch up on a few things, including watching Series One of House of Cards, which is absolutely magnificent.
While on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia we took a drive around Jervis Bay, home to Hyam's Beach and its white sand (see below), and found time for a 20km run to and from the nearest town down winding country roads, which was a real novelty having become so accustomed to Singapore conditions.
Back in Sydney we ventured out to Little Italy and discovered Felix restaurant in the city, which included some of the best food we've eaten in a modern French theme, and far detached from the standard deep fried nosh (schnitzels and fish and chips) on the menu in most RSL's, pubs and clubs in regional Australia. Also in Sydney we were transported back in time with the first glimpse of a double decker bus rolling down George Street in our lifetimes.
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