Read this blog: The one where it wasn’t Robert farting for comedic effect this time Saturday 15th March 2025 We had designated Saturday as the day we would go out to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. This was set up in 1975 as a sanctuary for wild animals that had been previously kept illegally as pets, orphaned or found injured in the rainforest. Semenggoh is well-known as a refuge for orang utans. The word “orang utan” comes from the Malay words “orang” [meaning “person”] and “hutan” [meaning “forest”], so literally “person of the forest. We saw it written as one word, two words and with a hyphen so there did not seem to be any consistency or a consensus. Unusually – when it comes to words and spellings – Matilda agreed to acquiesce to Robert: we will be using two words here to reflect the Malay origins of the name. We had noticed that many of the photographs in the exhibition at Fort Margherita were captioned with the word orang before the names of Malay people which we thought might have been a form of address or title, but actually simply designated they were a person. Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is one […]
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Read this blog: The one where we reach our fifth country in South East Asia Saturday 6th to Monday 8th April 2024 We had one more full morning in Bangkok and as it was a Saturday we went to look at the Weekend Market, also known as Chatuchak Market. This is a vast retail space with over 8,000 market stalls spread over more than 14 hectares. You can buy almost anything here. There were plenty of shops selling vintage pre-owned clothing and Robert bought several more Hawaiian shirts [one actually made in Hawaii] to add to his collection. With temperatures well into the thirties, and the sweat free flowing, he did not want to try them on. [Once we got these purchases back to our room, Matilda felt that at least one of them was rather snug for Robert and so it might become a hand-me-down to her.] From here we went to Chinatown which is one of the largest in the world. It is also home to the oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand which dates from 1658. Chinatown was founded in 1782 when Bangkok became the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The immigrant Chinese who settled here were mostly Teochew […]
Wednesday 1st June 2022 We set off for the Free Library of Philadelphia to join the 10:00 tour where there seemed to have been some confusion over timings – we were the only ones there and it later transpired that the guide was expecting it to take place in the afternoon. When our guide, who was described as a ‘very friendly’ man, had not appeared by 10:00 two very helpful ladies in the lobby went in search of him. Curtis first introduced himself and then went to check the sign outside advertising the times of the tours. He disappeared again to get his presentation aids, and took this opportunity to grab a little snack to keep him going as he had clearly not been expecting to run a tour that morning. It was well worth the wait. Some of the rooms are spacious and grand and the original furniture and display cabinets were made of steel and glass so that they would not provide any additional combustible material in the event of a fire. The Free Library of Philadelphia is organised by subject and in the Music Department you can borrow a wide range of instruments as well as books. […]
Wednesday 3rd April 2019 With an early train to catch, we had to leave before breakfast and found ourselves in a carriage with a party of British tourists we had previously seen on the train down from Shimla, although they had disembarked the Himalayan Queen part way down the hill. We sat with a Welsh couple and Robert was able to while away the four and a half hour journey discussing rugby, politics, holiday destinations and more rugby. As our train from Chandigarh to Amritsar travels at an average speed in excess of 34mph it is classified as a “Super Fast” express. When we found ourselves waiting just a short way outside Amritsar Station for about half an hour, we felt the average speed had to have been affected and we should be due a refund. However, when Robert looked this up, the average speed excludes stops. Having checked in to our room, Robert was shocked to discover that he had booked a four star hotel where there was no bar. The bell boy told us as we were going up in the lift that we were within 200 metres of the Golden Temple complex and apparently alcohol and meat […]
Friday, 31st August 2018 The Pöstlingberg hill in Linz is 539 metres high and is served by the Pöstlingbergbahn, one of the steepest railways in the world. This takes you up to the top of the hill where there is a pilgrimage basilica, panoramic views and the Grottenbahn – a fantasy ride through the kingdom of dwarves. We enjoyed the panoramic views and had a coffee at altitude. A family in the basilica, possibly there on a pilgrimage, treated us to some beautiful a cappella singing, reminiscent of the Von Trapp family, filling the small church with harmonies. How appropriate since the phrase is Italian for “in the manner of the chapel”. Some members of the Herd, however, were disappointed not to ride on the Grottenbahn. The Mariendom [New Cathedral] has the largest seating capacity of any church in Austria and as the name suggests .. … and has an open and modern interior. The Lentos Kunstmuseum is a striking building and as there was an art and culture festival on in the town we were granted free entrance. This was probably just a well as none of us were captivated by the art on display. The art and culture festival also extended […]