Read this blog: The one where we have to drink beer served in coffee mugs Sunday 16th to Tuesday 18th March 2025 Our flight from Kuching to Jakarta was delayed by four hours and as a gesture of good will as we were waiting in the airport we were offered an extra meal [see Dish of the day]. As Robert had booked our luggage into the hold we also qualified for a free meal on board so we had two airplane meals in one day which Matilda did not feel made much of a contribution to a healthy diet. Jakarta and Dili in East Timor are the only two Asian capital cities located in the southern hemisphere. This is the first time either Matilda or Robert have crossed the equator and we were both excited to tick this off our travel bucket list. The following morning we set off on our usual orientation walk round Jakarta. This first took us to Arjuna Wijaya, a vast copper statue which is 23 metres long and 5 meters tall. It was installed above a fountain in 1987 and depicts characters from an epic Hindu tale as a reminder of Indonesia’s struggle for independence. […]
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Read this blog: The one where we travel on the steepest tunnel train track in the world Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th April 2024 Using a combination of the Penang tourist map from the hotel and GPSmyCity, Robert worked out a route taking in some of the major sights. First we walked to the Church of the Assumption, the third oldest Catholic church in Malaysia. In front stands a small, open, domed Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima with vibrant blue stained glass which is reserved for private prayer. A church was originally established here in 1786, but the population of George Town increased steadily and in 1860 work started on the current cruciform church with two bell towers. It opened the following year in 1861. Next we passed St George’s Church. Built in 1816, this is the oldest purpose-built Anglican Church in South East Asia. A sign outside told us that it was closed for the public holiday. Since Ramadan 2024 began late on March 11 with the first fasting day being March 12, in most countries the three days of Eid al-Fitr were due to start on April 10th 2024. There were therefore quite a lot of businesses […]
Thursday 2nd June 2022 A short Amtrak ride from Philadelphia brought us back to our starting point in New York. Although we could not do so in Chicago because of the cloud cover, we continue to try and take Ruth Jewell’s advice and start our sightseeing by going up the city’s best observation point. So New York starts with the Empire State Building. Having checked into our hotel, we found we could book tickets for half an hour hence and Matilda decreed we should go for the full experience and pay the extra to go up to the 102nd floor. Meandering barriers have been laid out to maximise the space marking out the queue to the lifts, presumably from a time, pre-Covid, when more people visited. Along the route, there is quite an extensive display about the construction of the building and its use as a filming location. King Kong obviously makes a regular appearance. . . . . . providing photo- and video-opportunities. But Matilda is unlikely to win any acting awards. Once up there, the views are obviously impressive looking down Manhattan towards Wall Street. . . . . . and north towards the iconic Chrysler Building. Our […]
Thursday 4th April 2019 – Morning We had secured a guide the day before to show us round the Golden Temple and the very knowledgeable, polite and solicitous Mr Singh met us in the hotel lobby at 10:00. Turning left out of the hotel we soon saw a different side to Amritsar. The streets opened out and we passed the statue of last king of Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh, also known as the Lion of Punjab who provided the gold to bedeck the Golden Temple. We also passed the Partition Museum, housed in part of the imposing red-brick Town Hall building, and originally the headquarters of General Dyer [more about him in the next post]. Other parts of the Town Hall are being renovated in an on-going programme of restoration. The museum was opened in August 2017 and is intended to document the post-partition riots following the British withdrawal and the creation of Pakistan and India. On our way to the Golden Temple, Mr Singh pointed out a vegetarian McDonalds which, situated in close proximity to this holiest of shrines for Sikhs, does not serve any meat. It is in fact, the first ever vegetarian McDonalds in the world. Before […]