itravelnet.com Travel Blog

Travel Blog Friday - 09 May 2008

2008-05-09T09:58:00.002+10:00

Here are this weeks travel blogs that have been added to the directory.

flyingcritic.com
A frequently updated blog about airline and travel news, travel tips and tricks, reviews, daily travel photos, and more.
The Flying Critic

vietnamtravelnotes.com
Vietnam travel information, articles, tours, resources and travel tips. Vietnam Travel Notes - Let the journey begin.
Vietnam Travel Notes

tour-dubai.blogspot.com
Read about the best hotels in Dubai, cheap airfares and about the best places to dine and stay in Dubai.
Dubai Travel Guide

soekershofwalkabout.blogspot.com
Developments in and around and the latest news about Soekershof; Private Mazes & Botanical Gardens in South Africa.
Soekershof: The Blog

karansguesthouse.wordpress.com
Some details about jaipur of interest to a tourist.
A few details about Jaipur

interknitional.blogspot.com
I love to knit and travel and have been an exPat overseas for 20 years, so my blog combines all of these. I talk about trips we've taken and yarn stores I find in those places and the knitting I'm doing.
InterKNITional

carefreetrip.com
Get the latest destination information, travel news, advise, specials, deals and last minute ideas.
Carefreetrip.com :: Travel Blog

tunafishicecream.blogspot.com
One man's vaguely humorous account of how he went from a fat, lazy, wiseass couch potato to Thai Jungle Guide.
Taste the Tuna Fish Ice Cream

backpackerben.co.uk
Backpacking and independent travel blog on Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia & South America including photos, things to do and places to stay.
Backpacking Travel Blog

blog.oyvind.info
A travel blog about me (Øyvind), my girlfriend and our backpacker tour around the world. Including backpacker packing and planning tips.
World tour 2009

If you have a travel blog and would like to be in the directory and featured in this weekly post then follow the details here: submit travel blog

Open Skies for Australia

2008-05-08T12:39:00.006+10:00

Australia and US

Airfares to London and L.A

When booking international flights from Australia it is not uncommon to see the ridiculous situation of flights to London being cheaper than flights to Los Angeles.

This currently stands because only two airlines, Qantas and United, are allowed to operate direct flights between the US and Australia.

This is set to change with the Open Skies Accord that was agreed between Australia and the US. V Australia will commence flights between the two nations in December, which has already prompted fare reductions from Qantas.

Australia and Europe

The next frontier is for an open skies agreement between Australia and the EU. Talks have already begun for an Open-sky pact with the EU.

There are currently no European airlines operating flights to Australia. No Continental European I should say. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic still fly to Sydney. The obvious cultural ties keeping British long haul services active. Austrian Airlines was the last Continental European airline to fly to Australia, ceasing operations in 2007.

Further reading on the Flight of the European airlines.

I recently saw a reminder of European airline presence in Australia with a JAT Yugoslav model aeroplane, like you used to see in travel agents, at a second hand shop.

JAT Yugoslav. Seen at tarlo & graham, 60 Chapel St Windsor, Vic

An open skies agreement may not bring back the European airlines to Australian skies anyway. The big Asian and Middle Eastern airlines are better suited to operating between the two lands, and the European airlines only need to fly to an Asian hub and partner with an alliance airline from there.

An open skies agreement between Australia and the EU would benefit Qantas, who plan to operate Jetstar services to Athens and Rome.

European City Names

2008-05-05T15:24:00.002+10:00

Many cities in Europe are spelt differently in English to how they are actually spelt. For example Firenze in Italian is Florence in English.

First time visitors to Europe may not be aware of different spellings for city names. Some name changes are obvious enough as only a small change is made. Roma becomes Rome for example, or an umlaut or accent is dropped, so Zürich becomes Zurich.

Some aren't so obvious though. You might be Eurailing through Germany on your way to Cologne, not realising that you should have got off at Köln.

It is not just English that changes names to suit. Most languages will spell a city in their own way to make it sound phonetically correct to them. For example London can be spelt around Europe as:

Londen (Dutch)
Londra (Albanian, Italian, Maltese, Romanian, Romansh, Turkish)
Londres (Catalan, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Ladino)
Londona (Latvian)
Londonas (Lithuanian)
Londyn (Polish)
Londýn (Czech, Slovak)
Lontoo (Finnish)
Lundúnir (Icelandic)

Here is a list of some European cities in the original and English spelling.

Antwerpen
Baile Ath Cliath
Bâle
Béal Feirste
Beograd
Bruxelles
Bucuresti
Caerdydd
Casnewydd
Den Haag
Dunkerque
Firenze
Genève
Genova
Göteborg
Ieper
København
Köln
Lisboa
Luzern
Milano
München
Napoli
Nürnberg
Oporto
Oświeçim
Plzen
Praha
Roma
Sevilla
Torino
Venezia
Warszawa
Wien
Zürich

Antwerp
Dublin
Basel
Belfast
Belgrade
Brussels
Bucharest
Cardiff
Newport
The Hague
Dunkirk
Florence
Geneva
Genoa
Gothenburg
Ypres
Copenhagen
Cologne
Lisbon
Lucerne
Milan
Munich
Naples
Nuremberg
Porto
Auschwitz
Pilsen
Prague
Rome
Seville
Turin
Venice
Warsaw
Vienna
Zurich

Travel Blog Friday - 02 May 2008

2008-05-02T11:09:00.003+10:00

I'm starting a new feature where every friday I will list travel blogs that have been added to the travel blog directory.

Here are this weeks blogs, with a description from the author.

conradwoodring.com
This blog is a record of my life in Turkey as an American. I focus mostly on my interactions with Turkish culture and the divide between east and west.
An American Life in Istanbul

greatwall.se/blog/
The purpose of this blog is to describe my trips to the Great Wall and hopefully this can be an inspiration for other Great Wall enthusiasts and tourists with a general interest in the Great Wall.
Great Wall Blog

sah.i.ph
This site is about my travels and photographs I have taken. The journeys I have taken in my life and the lessons I have learned.
Photography, Travel and Life

homeexchangetravel.blogs.com
Covers all topics related to home exchange vacations - tips and advice, answers to common questions, stories by experienced home exchangers and special home swap offers.
Travel the Home Exchange Way

If you have a travel blog and would like to be in the directory and featured in this weekly post then follow the details here: submit travel blog.

What Is RSS?

2008-05-01T15:06:00.003+10:00

Anyone who reads blogs or news sites will have by now have seen this icon , but not everyone is aware of what it does. It means that the page you are reading has an RSS feed. So just what is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a convenient way to bookmark websites that has content updated regularly, such as blogs or news sites.

For example you will notice that this site has a feed option at the top of the page.

Subscribe in a Reader

When you click the text or icon you are taken to the feed page which shows the latest content, and you are given the option to subscribe to the page. You can unsubscribe at any time, and you can check for updates as often or as little as you like.

RSS is a great way to bookmark sites because you are alerted whenever there is new content. You can follow hundreds of websites, and only have to check sites that have been updated.

How to use RSS

Whenever you see this icon , it means that the page you are reading has an RSS feed. Sometimes you will see this icon or even this icon . Don't worry, they all do the same thing, though has become the accepted icon for RSS feeds.

There are different types of readers that you can use to subscribe to feeds.

- Online Readers -

There are plenty of online feedreaders out there, including Google Reader, My MSN, My Yahoo and Bloglines.

Online readers are good if you are on the road without your computer and you still want to be able access your favourites. You also have the option of sharing your favourites for public viewing, like here: bloglines.com/public/itravelnet.

- Desktop Readers -

Desktop readers were popular before feedreaders became built into web browsers. A popular desktop download is FeedDemon.

- Browser Reader -

If you are using a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, feedreaders are now built into the browser. If you are using an older version of IE or Firefox then you will need to download an updated version.

The browser will automatically detect if the page you are viewing has a feed and will show the icon.

Start Reading

So, now that you are versed in the ways of RSS, it's time to start subscribing to feeds. You can start by subscribing to this site .

Dutch Orange Day in New Holland

2008-04-27T19:11:00.004+10:00

April 30 in the Netherlands is known as Queen's Day (Koninginnedag in Dutch). The day is a public holiday to celebrate the Queens birthday. It's actually the birthday of the last queen (Juliana), but it is said that the current Queen (Beatrix) kept it in honour of her mother, and also because her birthday is in January, too chilly to be celebrating outdoors.

Queen's Day is the biggest party of the year in the Netherlands, and on the day the streets resemble a huge market (vrijmarkt, or freemarket) as anyone can sell anything in the streets. Further info at Queen's Day: The World's Biggest Street Party.

Today I stumbled upon Dutch Orange Day, a little celebration the local Dutch community put on to celebrate Queen's Day in Melbourne.

Clogmaker - Queen's Day in Melbourne

Dutch Poffertjes - Queen's Day in Melbourne

Seeing the Dutch celebrating in Melbourne got me thinking what might have been. Not many people outside of Australia know that this continent was once known as New Holland (in fact probably not many Australians know that either).

New Holland Map - 1659 (from National Library of Australia)

When New York was still New Amsterdam (in 1644) the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman christened the continent Nova Hollandia. It wasn't until 1824 that New Holland officially became Australia.

The first recorded European sighting of the Great Southern Land was by the Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog, who landed at what is now known as Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island, on 26 October 1616.

Probably the most famous contact the Dutch had with Western Australia was when the Batavia struck a reef off the coast. It is a classic story of mutiny and survival, which can be read in detail at the Batavia Story.

British ships also sighted the coast but as the Western Australian coast is a vast waterless expanse it was never colonised.

Promote your travel blog

2008-04-27T13:43:00.004+10:00

If you have a travel blog you would like to promote then add your blog to the itravelnet.com travel blog link exchange.

Your link will be placed in the travel blog directory and once a week I will list approved submitted sites on this blog.

If you would like to do an RSS feed exchange as well subscribe to this feed and let me know.

Subscribe in a Reader or Subscribe by Email, and I will add your feed to my public feed reader at bloglines.com/public/itravelnet.

If you would like to add a blog please submit your travel blog here rather than leaving a message on this post. Usual conditions apply for adding a link: English language only blogs, no dodgy stuff, made for adsense sites, or blogs with less than 5 posts.

Anzac Day

2008-04-25T20:27:00.002+10:00

Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 25 April 2008

April 25 in Australia and New Zealand is Anzac Day. The day commemorates Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey on April 25 1915 during World War I.

Anzac Day - Melbourne

The day is a public holiday and it has since come to represent a memorial day for all war veterans.

Shrine of Remembrance - Anzac Day

City of Melbourne Liberators

HQ3 Aust. Div

RAAF Lancaster Squardrons

22 RSU RAAF

Air Command South East Asia

Ceylon Ex Servicemen

Tunnel Rats Vietnam

Catalina Flying Boat Units

The Rats of Tobruk Memorial

State Library of Victoria

2008-04-22T19:04:00.003+10:00

The State Library of Victoria on Swanston Street in Melbourne and its Domed Reading Room.

Behind the library is an apartment block and the headquarters of BHP-Billiton, world's largest mining company.

Saint George and the Dragon at the Library Forecourt

The Domed La Trobe Reading Room

La Trobe Reading Room Desks

La Trobe Reading Room Dome

The library was renovated between 1999 and 2003. Before then the skylights were covered up as the roof was leaking. Without the Australian sun pouring in through the skylights the library had a more Gothic Northern European feel to it. Or maybe that's just my memory of it when studying the in my school years.

La Trobe Reading Book Shelves

La Trobe Reading Room Study Desks

Redmond Barry Reading Room

Medieval Melbourne

2008-04-21T14:51:00.004+10:00

On display at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne is The Medieval Imagination - Illuminated manuscripts from Cambridge, Australia and New Zealand.

There are over 90 manuscripts are on display, dating from the 8th to the 16th centuries.

It's an amazing collection of work, and to top it off, it is free. I have found myself wandering into the library whenever I am in the city to have another look.

It's worth a visit to the State Library just to see the Domed Reading Room. It was opened in 1913 and it was the largest of its type in the world on completion. The reading room was built to hold over a million books and up to 500 readers.

The exhibition is on from 28 March to 15 June 2008.

The Medieval Imagination at State Library of Victoria

Multi leg flights and low cost airlines

2008-04-18T14:05:00.003+10:00

The typical low cost airline operates on a point-to-point basis. Costs are kept down as there are no bags to check through to another flight, and no waiting for connections due to delayed flights.

Some of the low cost airline networks have become so big though that passengers independently book multi leg flights to get to where they want to go as it still works out cheaper than booking through a scheduled airline.

There is the risk that if your first flight is delayed and you miss the connection you will lose your second flight, but if you are savings hundreds of £/€/$'s, it is a gamble I know many take.

Tigers Airways offers the ability to booking two flights in the one booking session with their Flight Combo service. This is a great idea as it saves you having to work out if both flights you need are available and you save an extra booking fee.

Tiger Airways Destination Map

On the Tiger Airways network possible combination examples include:

Melbourne - Darwin - Singapore
Darwin - Singapore - Chennai
Perth - Singapore - Ho Chi Minh City

Passengers need to be aware that this is still a point-to-point service so connections are not guaranteed. Tiger Airways conditions of carriage state:

We are strictly a point-to-point carrier and shall not be responsible to you for any connecting flights.

A European airline that offers multi leg bookings is Air Berlin. Their destination map show where you can fly to (although it doesn't indicate that it is a connecting flight until you are at the booking stage).

Air Berlin - London Connections

Air Berlin Multi Leg Booking

I would like to see such booking facilities on other low cost airlines with large networks, like Ryanair and easyJet in Europe. Low cost airline flyers are savvy enough to know that you must reclaim baggage and check in again on the next flight.

With oil prices going through the roof and airlines feeling the pressure of fuel prices, connecting flights through hubs may become more viable for low cost airlines rather than operating so many point-to-point services.

Airbus thinking outside the cubicle

2008-04-17T13:50:00.003+10:00

The Airbus A380 could soon have the option of being fitted out with male urinals. On long haul 747 flights there is always a long queue down the aisle at breakfast time, so this is a good idea for A380's that will eventually be carrying over 600 passengers.

With the space they save by using urinals they can then the water savings for showers.

Male Urinal for A380. Photo from DASELL Cabin Interior

Air Asia Sale - Gold Coast to KL

2008-04-15T16:04:00.005+10:00

Oasis Hong Kong may have gone under last week but there is still a budget long haul airline making a go of it in Asia. Malaysian airline Air Asia have released a sale fare for its Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur route for 169 Aussie dollars, including taxes.

Air Asia Sale - April 2008

Air Asia are awaiting delivery of more aircraft so they expand their network. They propose to expand in Australia to Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Melbourne (Avalon). To Europe possible destinations include London (Stansted), Manchester, Prague and Moscow. This could mean sale fares that sees $1000 AUD return flights from Australia to Europe.

Manhattan in Melbourne

2008-04-13T19:21:00.003+10:00

Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 13 April 2008

A large film set was on location in Collins St Melbourne today. While filming on location in the city on the weekend is nothing unusual, the shoot was for a film set in New York. The plaza in front of the AXA building was transformed into Lafayette St New York.

Lafayette St Film Shoot

The shoot involved subway passengers emerging from a smoking Lafayette St subway station. There were so many little details attended to, from a US and New York flag hanging in the plaza to US mail boxes as well as renamed street signs.

US Flag at AXA Australia

Collins Street becomes Lafayette St

Tiger Airways Terminal - Melbourne Airport

2008-04-11T14:11:00.005+10:00

Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 28 Feb 2008

Tiger Airways Australia has its home base at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. A budget airline like Tiger would seemingly be more suitable for Melbourne's other airport, Avalon, which is operating as a secondary low cost airport on the European model. Tiger have their own budget terminal at Tullamarine (terminal 4), separate from the main 3 terminals.

Tiger Airways Arrivals - Melbourne Airport

The Tiger terminal is set up to save costs rather than to pamper flyers. An airport spokesperson described the terminal as more like a railway station.

There are no aerobridges at this terminal so pasengers have to walk across the tarmac to and from the plane. When my flight landed the plane went to the end of the building then turned around so as the nose was pointing away from the terminal building. I presume they did this to save the cost of having the aircraft towed out from the terminal.

Tiger Airways Tullamarine

The arrivals hall is basically a shed built in a carpark and most of the walls are wire fencing. I don't have a problem with that if it's saving costs, but it does have an air of temporariness about it, which is not the message to be sending when trying to establish a new airline.

The most peculiar feature of the arrivals hall is the baggage carousel. The wall between the carousel and where the bags are unloaded is a wire fence, so you get to see the bags being unloaded from the trolley. There are some things in life you should never see, and seeing your bags being unloaded by baggage handlers is one of them. I prefer the mystery of waiting at the baggage belt, looking at each bag coming out of the hole. Instead here we get to see a couple of guys chucking the bags onto the belt. It is worse if you can actually see that your bag is on the bottom of the pile. I don't mind the budget hall, just please brick up or put a tarpaulin up to cover the baggage unloading.

Tiger Airways Baggage Carousel

Melbourne Airport was recently voted in the world's top five best airports for its size. This voted would not have included the new budget terminal. Other than the baggage carousel, I'm all for this terminal. It is good for Australia to at last have more than two domestic airlines operating on the continent (counting Jetstar and Qantas as one and the same).

Budget Airline Oasis Hong Kong in liquidation

2008-04-10T13:22:00.004+10:00

Hong Kong budget airline Oasis abruptly stopped flying Wednesday, leaving passengers stranded in Hong Kong, London and Vancouver. Passengers who have been caught out have been forced to make their own arrangements home. What a hassle that would be. They have been given phone numbers of other airlines to arrange return flights.

Oasis Hong Kong at Gatwick

I took an Oasis flight last year from London to Hong Kong. It was their price that got me to fly with them. It seems now though that the long haul low cost airline concept might be doomed with spiralling fuel prices. Jet fuel prices nearly doubled in the 18 months that Oasis was operating. Such increases are proving difficult enough for established airlines, let alone newly started airlines.

Tiger Airways Flight Review - Singapore to Melbourne

2008-04-08T13:29:00.002+10:00

Flight: Tiger Airways TR 702 Date: 27 Feb 2008
Flight: Tiger Airways TT 7567 Date: 28 Feb 2008

Tiger Airways is a low cost airline based in Singapore, with its primary hub at Singapore Changi Airport. Tiger Airways began operations in 2004 and has since set up Tiger Airways Australia in Melbourne and plan to launch Incheon Tiger Airways based in Seoul in 2009.

Tiger Airways at Singapore Airport

Tiger Airways fly from Singapore to Melbourne via Darwin. The flight is with Tiger Airways and Tiger Airways Australia on separate aircraft. Unlike other low cost airlines Tiger facilitate the booking of these separate flight segments in the one booking.

Go to Flight Combo on the Tiger Airways website and you can book two segments in one go. It is important to note that this is two separate flights so your bags are not checked through to the final destination.

Another good feature of the Tiger Airways booking procedure is that you can pick your seat when you book your flight. Oh how I loath the mad scramble for a seat that occurs on low cost airline flights with unallocated seats.

Singapore to Darwin

The entire Tiger Airways fleet consists of Airbus A320 aircraft, thus Tiger only fly within a five-hour radius around Singapore. The flight time from Singapore to Darwin is approximately 4 hours 20 minutes.

As Tiger Airways is a bare minimum no frills airline the onus is on you to keep yourself entertained. There is no TV entertainment and no complimentary meal and drink service.

Tiger Airways Uniform

Darwin Airport

In Darwin you must claim your bags and clear Australian customs. Then you must check in again for the Tiger Airways Australia flight from Darwin to Melbourne. Darwin Airport is small enough to make this a simple transfer and there is about 2 hours between the Singapore arrival and the Melbourne departure.

With a population of just over 110,000 people Darwin is a small capital city, even by Australian standards. When you look at a map though of Australia and Southeast Asia Darwin is well situated to be a major hub of air traffic between Australia and Asia. Jetstar have floated this idea recently with a plan to make Darwin a springboard into Asia, and I will revisit this idea in another post.

Time to spare at a laptop bench - Darwin Airport

Darwin to Melbourne

The second leg of this flight is with Tiger Airways Australia. Flight time from Darwin to Melbourne is just over 4 hours, leaving Darwin at 2.20am and arriving at Melbourne Tullamarine at 8am. I always forget what a big and empty continent Australia is. Asia seems so far away and exotic to us Aussies. Exotic certainly, but Darwin is much closer to many Asian cities than most other Australian capitals.

Like the flight from Singapore this is a no frills service. Drinks and snacks are available to purchase. Here is a price sample (in Australian Dollars):

Muffins $3
Pot Noodles $4
Coke(250ml) $2.5
Coffee $3
Beer (VB/Hahn) $6

At the moment Tiger Airways Australia only operate in and out of their Melbourne base. They are scouting around for new Australian hubs which should be known sometime in 2008.

Tiger Airways - Proudly Calling Melbourne Home

Singapore Airport Budget Terminal

2008-04-05T13:16:00.002+11:00

Location: Singapore Airport - Singapore Date: 27 Feb 2008

Singapore Changi Airport is world renown for its award winning facilities. It is the home of Singapore Airlines and it is a major air travel hub of Asia.

Budget airlines though are not interested in such facilities that add to the cost of a cheap flight. To cater for the low cost airlines of Asia that might not otherwise consider Changi's gold plated airport, Singapore Airport opened a budget terminal in March 2006 to accommodate budget airlines.

The Budget Terminal is separate from the main terminals (1 to 3) and to get there you need to get a shuttle bus which departs from the basement of Terminal 2.

Singapore Budget Terminal Shuttle

A tip for budget travellers. There is a supermarket in the lower level of Terminal 2. This is the first time I have seen a supermarket at an airport, which is great if you just want to buy some fruits or a snack instead of buying a meal at an airport restaurant.

Singapore Airport Supermarket

Budget Terminal

The budget terminal looks exactly like what a budget terminal should look like - a great big tin shed with every unnecessary expense spared.

Singapore Airport Budget Terminal

The check-in area is simple and spacious and there is a cafe inside the departure hall as well. The Budget Terminal is currently being used by Tiger Airways and Cebu Pacific, and like other budget terminals around the world there is no transfer facility to other airlines.

Singapore Airport Budget Terminal - Departures

Budget Terminal - Airside

The facilities on the airside are surprisingly good considering how sparse the outside looks. There are the usual duty free shops as well as cafes and a 7Eleven. I needn't have worried about getting food at the supermarket as there is also a noodle shop selling cheap bowls of noodles. Cheap like normal prices and not ridiculous airport prices.

Singapore Airport Budget Terminal - Airside

Budget Terminal 7Eleven

For the smokers there is a boxed in outdoor section.

Singapore Budget Terminal - Outdoor Smoking

Internet

The Singapore Budget Terminal has internet facilities that puts most other airports to shame. There are computer terminals with free internet access as well as a workbench for laptop users.

Singapore Budget Terminal - Laptop Zone

Each workspace has its own power board with power sockets for most power plug types. There is no wireless but there is a cable provided to plug into your laptop for internet access.

Singapore Budget Terminal - Laptop Zone Powerboard

Pink Dolphins of Sentosa Island

2008-04-02T12:28:00.002+11:00

Location: Sentosa Island - Singapore Date: 26 Feb 2008

A popular attraction of Sentosa Island is the Dolphin Lagoon, home of Sentosa's Pink Dolphins. These dolphins start off life grey then become pink as they mature.

A Pink Dolphin becoming pink

At the lagoon the dolphin trainers show off the dolphins by getting them to do some amazing tricks. For an extra fee you can have your photo taken with them.

Entry to Dolphin Lagoon is 19.90 SGD, which also includes admission to Underwaterworld Singapore.

Pink Dolphin Showing Off

Sentosa Island - Singapore

2008-04-02T12:08:00.002+11:00

Location: Sentosa Island - Singapore Date: 26 Feb 2008

Sentosa Island is a leisure resort island off the city-state island of Singapore. It is regarded as the southern most point of continental Asia.

Southern Most Point Of Continental Asia

Sentosa has a Disneyland fake village feel to it, but it is worth going to if you want a bit of a nature break while you are in Singapore. There is a great jungle walk and surprisingly nice beaches. It costs 3 Singapore Dollars to enter, which includes return skytrain ticket to get to the island.

Siloso Beach - Sentosa Island

Siloso Beach Trees - Sentosa Island

Umbrella Vending Machine

2008-04-02T11:57:00.002+11:00

Location: Singapore - Singapore Date: 25 Feb 2008

Umbrella Vending Machine - Singapore

V Australia announces SYD-LAX as launch route

2008-03-31T11:02:00.002+11:00

Good news for Australian travellers (and American travelers) looking for flights between the US and Australia.

Australia's newest international Airline, V Australia, has announced daily direct Sydney-Los Angeles flights as its inaugural trans-Pacific route when it takes to the skies from 15 December 2008.

Fares are on sale now from $999 AUD return, inclusive of taxes and charges of approximately $415 AUD.

The airline has also announced that Northwest Airlines will offer codeshare flights across the United States and Canada.

V Australia, part of the Virgin Group, will be the first Australian airline (subject to regulatory approval) to offer an alternative to Qantas on the trans-Pacific route, which is possible now after the Open Skies Accord between Australia and the US that was agreed to last month.

Bangkok Airways Flight Review - Samui to Singapore

2008-03-27T13:07:00.002+11:00

Flight: Bangkok Airways PG 961 Date: 24 Feb 2008

Bangkok Airways is a Thai airline based at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. Bangkok Airways operates flights in Thailand as well as to destinations in Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.

Bangkok Airways at Koh Samui

My flight was from Samui, Thailand to Singapore for a flight of just under two hours.

Bangkok Airways is not a low cost airline as they serve food, and they are not a full service airline as there is no inflight entertainment. They call themselves a boutique airline, which is probably a good way to split the difference.

Seating is assigned and Bangkok Airways serve meals on all flights.

Bangkok Airways Inflight Meal

Koh Samui Airport

2008-03-27T12:10:00.005+11:00

Location: Koh Samui - Thailand Date: 24 Feb 2008

Samui Airport (USM) is the airport of Koh Samui, serving domestic and international destinations. Samui Airport is a privately owned airport, built and owned by Bangkok Airways.

Samui Airport

Ticket Office

Bangkok Airways bills itself as a boutique airline and the airport feels more like a tropical hotel resort than an airport. Samui Airport was listed 4th Best Airport in the Smart Travel Asia 2006 online poll.

Departure Lounge

The airport has 2 terminals (Domestic and International) and is opened planned. There are no wall as such, so the tropical air circulates freely in the terminal and you can see the gardens and runway nearby.

The departure lounge features comforts that you would usually associate with alliance lounges at big airports. There is a Courtesy Corner with free coffee and snacks, and complimentary newspaper stand. There is also a free internet corner (but no wireless).

Courtesy Corner

Newspaper Rack

The toilets are great. You have to go in even if you don't need to just to see the tropical fish tanks.

Tropical Fish Tank - Mens Toilet

Boutique Toilet

When your flight is ready you are transferred to your plane via a tropical transfer bus.

Transfer Bus

Samui is a great airport if you have become too accustomed to the drudgery of low cost airline terminals, which are often not much more than a tin shed. It adds a touch of class to flying which was lost, well decades ago. The high landing costs for other airlines though is probably why there aren't as many airlines flying into Samui.

Samui Airport is currently used by Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways, Berjaya Air and Firefly.

English Footballs Cultural Hegemony

2008-03-27T11:46:00.002+11:00

Location: Thailand Date: 23 Feb 2008

Travel throughout Southeast Asia and you will soon notice that English Football shirts dominate over all other European leagues.

I don't know enough about the game to tell the difference between the quality of the national leagues of Europe, but whenever I meet a football purist they will you about how the Italian or Spanish league is better quality than the English league. This may or may not be so, but in terms of popularity English football is miles ahead.

Here is a good article about English Football at Time Magazine.

English Football Live

Knock-off Football Shirts - English Clubs Dominate.