Welcome to rascott.com.
This is a
personal site that reflects my interests in news,
current affairs, aviation and travel.
email me at robert@rascott.com
Now In Dubai:
Photo Albums
My photographs have been moved off this site and are now stored on Picasa. They
were simply taking up too much space on my web host.
Please use this link to see my list of photo albums.
Some
Useful links:
Information:
Met Office Volcano watch
World Time
Clock
Exchange Rates
Journalism:
ForeignPolicy
Nationsonline.org
Project Syndicate
Amnesty International
Reporters w/o borders
The Guardian - UK
BBC World News
CNN Asia
Bangkok Post
Daylife.com - news
Gulf News
Arabian Business
Good causes:
Sister
Joan - Bangkok
Regional Info:
BKK Magazine
HK Magazine
In
Singapore Magazine
TimeOut Dubai
Travel:
Circle of Asia
Tales of Asia
Smart Travel Asia
Finance:
FinanceAsia
Aviation:
Amadeus (airline
schedules)
Airliners
- aviation forum
Flight Aware
Thailand Info
thailand.com
learningthai.com
sawadee.com
bangkok a-z
Back in the UK:
Newton Ferrers
Government:
The "new" White
House
Photography
Denis Olivier - black and white
And for fun:
Lin Ping live panda tv
EarthCam
History
BBC Archive
National Media
Museum
The British Library
Imperial War Museum
|
|
An Occasional Blog
|
|||
|
Thailand Blogs Bangkok Pundit - politics Bangkok Metblogs - city life Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
- not really a blog but always
up to date on Bangkok news
BKKOK.com
Thai Girl The exotic
adventures of a literary sexagenarian.
Thai Films
Dubai Blogs A Big White Guy in Hong Kong - self explanatory Ordinary Gweilo Hemlock's Diary. And people think I am opinionated - try this! SimonWorld - Hong Kong commentary and great links to other Asian blogs EastSouthWestNorth - commentary Glutter.org - Greater China democracy news and many great links Hong Kong Hustle In China Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghai Diaries - self
explanatory
In Macau My Olive Tree - Macau blog
In Singapore: Xiaxue - self-confessed mean, bitchy, sex goddess who says "wah" a lot! Mr Brown - colourful commentary from Singapore
Asia Travel Circle of Asia a useful commercial site Tales of Asia perspective and commentary on Cambodia and Thailand and other Asian travels Visit Laos a useful guide on getting to and traveling in Laos. Smart Travel Asia useful tips and destination guides. Maybe too up market.
Aviation Amadeus (airline schedules) Airline meals - see it b4 you eat it !
Airliners
- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive Planenation - commercial aviation news Airchive - a web museum of commercial aviation.
CrankyFlier - mainly US
commentary
News The Guardian - UK
China sites
Bangkok info sites
Worthy Sites
Rconversation - from Rebecca MacKinnon, ex-TV
reporter-turned-blogger.
Fun Sites
Useful Sites
Technology Ideas
Stuff -
gadgets
Author
Robert Scott lives and works in Dubai; born in England I have since lived in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. I am very happily married to Tai.
If you want to know more you only need to ask! ask.
|
30 April 2009 Twitter fatique - A study by Nielsen Online states that more than 60 percent of new Twitter users give up on the service a month after signing up. No surprise really. Twitter was a
short lived craze but it isn't for everyone. Why? Because most people
really don't care what you're doing. And you don't care what they're
doing, either. ******************************** The national news agency is reporting that: "The Constitution of the United Arab Emirates guarantees a number of
fundamental rights including those set forth in Article 25 providing that
all persons are equal before the law, without distinction in regard to
race, nationality, religious belief and social status. Good to know that this matter is not being ignored by the authorities. The video really is unpleasant. 29 April 2009 Emirates will introduce daily nonstop service on routes from Dubai to
Los Angeles and San Francisco starting Friday, May 1, 2009. Having
operated thrice-weekly service in both markets since late 2008 (Los
Angeles commenced Oct. 26; San Francisco, Dec. 15), Emirates has taken
additional delivery of the technologically advanced Boeing 777-200LR
aircraft and will now operate daily service to both cities from the
airline's new Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport. 28 April 2009 Back in Dubai after an overnight from Toronto. Only 12 hours from Toronto to Dubai. When there are good BKK and SIN connections it will be the fastest way from Toronto to BKK and to Singapore. This will need a number of evening departures from Dubai. A third wave? ************************** ************************** "Laithonglian Meephan, who runs an elephant park hurting from a lack of
tourists and foreign volunteers, is hoping Thailand's revered 81-year-old
monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej can intervene to end the four-year stalemate. There is a good backgrounder on Thailand's political crisis here. The article gives a fairly complete analysis of the players and the issues. *************************** **************************** ***************************** ***************************** ***************************** **************************** 25 April 2009 I am enjoying being back in Toronto. More on that later. The jet lag means I am a bit tired. ****************************** The UAE may need to do a better job of managing its international response to the story.
The Guardian It is not easy for the west to be judgemental here after the endless waterboarding, rendition and Abu Ghraib revelations. But in any form and in any society this looks pretty bad. 24 April 2009 Outbound on EK201 to New York this morning; about 80 minutes late leaving Dubai after early morning fog - so I am not sure that I will make my connection up to Toronto. It will be very tight - and depends on whether immigration is rapid or not as I have to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 8. The flight is fine except for a bad smell. Actually it may be from the sandwiches that some people have been given mid flight! ******************************** The company even sends someone to the airport to make sure that I really am catching the flight and leaving the country. I guess they were helping me with what appears to be a bureaucratic process. But it does feel as though they were making sure that I leave. There are still some amounts due from the company which I hope I do not have to chase for. ********************************** *********************************** 23 April 2009 Hard to imagine that the UAE is seriously committing to banning Thaksin from re-entering the country. As he has a diplomatic passport I am not sure they can ban him. ********************************* The usual smoke and mirrors in the Thai press. The PM can call a state of emergency and it gives him huge power; but the constitution clearly requires the cabinet to confirm the state of emergency within three days. Instead they took about 11 days. Careless - or simply an indication of a government that will invoke the law only when it suits them. ************************************ 21 April 2009 Tai is still at home in Thailand. It is very quiet here in Dubai. Wish there was more to write about here. I am happy that we are going to Toronto at the weekend. I have not been there since 2006 and it was always a fun city to visit. There is a lot to see and do in 2 and 1/2 days so we will be busy. The jet lag will hurt! I have to fly via New York as the Toronto flight is full. ********************************* 19 April 2009 I think the following notes are best in the blog only - rather than in the news section. This is an update on rumours and speculation on recent events at Emirates. Apparently the VP Flight Safety has resigned over the 'mis-management' treatment of the Melbourne 407 pilots. It may be that EK management is suddenly aware of low pilot morale and a significant credibility gap between pilots and management. Apparently the 407 voice recorder revealed some blunt front line feelings about management that have surprised investigators. There have also been other recent incidents that suggest that the overall image is slipping and needs to be addressed. So a series of meetings are being held by EK management with its cockpit captains. This follows from business briefings held recently for all cabin crew. EK management will meet all Captains in groups over the next 6 weeks to address the implications of a number of incidents over the past few months. including the MEL tailscrape / recent 777 go around in MAN / Crew behaviour in KUL/ BKK Alcohol test failure. A draft of the ATSB report on the Melbourne incident has been provided to Emirates and there will be a news conference in Melbourne this weekend. I suspect these sessions become very interactive. The pilots I have met have all been the most articulate of people and generally have the strongest views on safety and behaviour. It does look rather like the MEL incident has been something of a wake up call. ****************************** I flew back from BKK on Etihad today using a standby ticket. The BKK to UAE routes are very full at the moment so standby is quite stressful - will I or wont I be on the flight !? 17 April 2009 An assassination attempt on Sondhi Limthongkul this morning in Bangkok could be an alarming change in tactics. Asia Times Online says that "the fear now is that Friday's assassination attempt could indicate that the UDD and Thaksin's supporters aim to bypass the courts and mete out justice as they see fit on Thailand's increasingly mean streets." ****************************** ******************************* 14 April 2009 We did go out to Sukhumvit 33 last night for pizza. It was quiet on the streets and on soi 33. Limoncello on soi 11 is closed for renovations. **************************** I do hate so much of Songkran. Yes I know I should be in a happy tolerant songkran mood. So the best way to get my revenge - rent a car somewhere else.... 13 April 2009
**************************** Poor old Emirates - there is no business from New York so they pull the A380 to send it to Bangkok from June 1st. And now after another round of protests in Bangkok there will be many cancellations..... ***************************** **************************** The red shorts have gone to far; but precedent suggests that they think this is worthwhile. **************************** ***************************** We went as far as Emporium which was open; but many shops remain closed and shuttered. I have never really liked Songkran - it is an excuse for people to behave badly. Worse hundreds of people are killed - in traffic accidents. What sort of holiday is that? 12 April 2009 As night falls on troubled Bangkok there are reports that back-up from special warfare command in Lopburi are on their way to Bangkok (they are normally involved in coups although not exclusively - they were part of the 1992 crackdown). I feel that something will happen tonight - one huge push against the red shirts. It will end in violence and death if it happens. It is just a matter of time before the army tries to end this - unless the UDD - red shirts - back down. ************************** Siam Paragon !! This is Bangkok's newest, finest, biggest, shopping centre. And it has APVs being taken over by red shirts right in front of the building. Truly bizarre. This is after declaring a state of emergency. Excise me officer - we are hijacking your APV, but you can have a red scarf and join us. ************************** *************************** Not clear what this means - it should mean no gathering of more than 5 people. It did not stop a very large number of people having fun at the Chatujak market today ! It is the beginning of Songkran. This should be a fun festival - but it is also an excuse for too many people to behave badly. This is not helped by the people at BKK Magazine. Their feature this week is on 50 tips and tricks to help you survive Songkran. Number 22 reads " Fondle white people. Those big breasted Swedish backpackers are in Khoa San. Go get 'em, boys." Disgraceful. Assault is still assault. And using Songkran as an excuse to legitimise sexual assault is disgraceful. But that is the attitude of so many people in Thailand. The fact that it is condoned by a decent listing magazine is shocking. 11 April 2009 It was chaos in Pattaya today; all the news is on the today page. But Bangkok is calm. 9 April 2009 Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced that Friday will be an extra holiday to pave way for the authorities to take action against wrongdoers in the Bangkok street blockades. *************************** The red shirts in their taxis have blockaded the major intersection at Victory monument. It would not be hard for them to blockade many other major traffic routes including the airport and the road to Pattaya - before the ASEAN meeting to be held this weekend. **************************** 8 April 2009 Red shirt variation: from The Nation.
7 April 2009 Did you know that MacDonalds owns a large stake in the UK sandwich chain - Pret a Manger? *************************** The BBC Panorama piece which can be found on my Today page is a sad story of Dubai's immigrant labour force. You can see it all around you every day. Some of the other articles and stories are less well researched. Maybe even written by people who have not been here, or who are seeking the worst of everything. But
this is an article that hits hard - so hard I actually don't want to
republish it - the Independent is a credible newspaper. ******************************* Oh dear. I did not get a second interview with the local media company. No feedback which is a shame. As always it may be for the best. The business is in trouble. And my suspicion is that I was too expensive. Even the cut price version of me. ********************************* Sir Michael Parkinson will get abused for his commentary in the Radio Times (UK) today - but his commentary on Jade Goody says everything that many people dared not say: Jade Goody died on Mother's Day aged 27 after battling cervical cancer. Parkinson wrote - "Her death is as sad as the death of any young person but it's not the passing of a martyr or a saint or, God help us, Princess Di." "When we clear the media smokescreen from around her death, what we're left with is a woman who came to represent all that's paltry and wretched about Britain today. "She was brought up on a sink estate, as a child came to know both drugs and crime, was barely educated, ignorant and puerile. "Then she was projected to celebrity by "Big Brother" and, from that point on, became a media chattel to be manipulated and exploited till the day she died," he said. The broadcaster added it was not the fact that Goody became famous in the first place that bothered him: "What bothers me is that the media first of all recommended we hate Jade Goody. "'A slapper with a face like a pig'; 'the most hated woman in Britain', remember? And shortly thereafter tried to persuade us to celebrate her." He said Goody was "the perfect victim of our times...brought up in a cesspit of poverty and died to an orchestrated chorus of exploitation". "All that is to be wished of such a troubled soul is: rest in peace," he concluded. 5 April 2009 Tai and I will be in BKK at the end of the week; how bad is Thai tourism - one site is reporting that Bangkok hotels are running near 30% occupancy, Pattaya around 55-60%, similar for Phuket & Samui. The north and east are more like 30-35%…. and that’s now. May will see the numbers drop off dramatically as the low season starts. The Russians are not coming anymore - so Pattaya has problems - and they were the only buyers of Pattaya properties - a good reason never to buy there. ********************** ********************** The Japanese, South Koreans and Americans say that it never got into orbit and came down in the Pacific. The North Koreans raised two less than diplomatic fingers to UN resolution 1718 and went ahead and tested the missile. There will be lots of noise tonight at a meeting of the UN - but the Chinese will veto any useful resolution that reprimands the Koreans. 4 April 2009 Charlie Nicolas is on Showsports - looking old ! me too - I guess! ********************** I am sorry - but who was Jade Goody? I seem to have missed out on all the fuss. Her funeral is today - and it is the top story on Sky News. Meanwhile 15 people died in a shooting rampage in New York state; the Koreans are launching missiles. A young death is sad. And her cancer will have raised awareness among many young people. But she is being given Princess Diana status. It really is too much. 3 April 2009 If the North Koreans are going to launch this new missile could they please get on with it.....the brinkmanship is getting tedious. ***************************** But he needs to deliver on the dog promise. 2 April 2009 Met up with one of my old colleagues yesterday afternoon. A bright and very hard working guy - someone who has lots of ideas and wants to understand how things work and then to make them work better. Sadly the old company has let him go. He will be fine. Their loss. On another site someone describes the culture of their own company as follows: "It's a nasty corrosive culture we have here of sycophantic wannabie 'managers' enforcing the policies of control from above." Sounds familiar. ******************************* A couple of lovely moments from yesterday's G20 preliminaries: Mr Obama said: “I had breakfast with the Prime Minister, meetings with the Chinese, the Russians, David Cameron...” Prince Philip replied: “Can you tell the difference between them?” At 87 - yes he is 87 now. He still has his rather loutish humour! ******************************** ******************************** Obama quipped: "We talked about dinosaurs a little bit in between discussions about Afghanistan and Iraq.” 1 April 2009 Emirate to launch Angola service ! That caught me by surprise! As per 01APR09 Emirates inventory display, it'll be launching 3 weekly
service on the Dubai - Luanda service from 04AUG09. Service to the Angolan
capital is operated by A330-200 Makes more sense as you read more - Angola has significant links to both Houston in the USA and to Brazil. Delta is starting a flight from Houston in the summer. Since the end of the 1975 to 2002 civil war Angola has been undergoing a massive national reconstruction. It is forecast to be one the world's fastest growing economies. For crew on a two or three day layover here is what to do: Drive down the beautiful bay. Go to the Benfica market, which sells everything from perfume to ivory to animal skins and tourist guidebooks. Take the boat out to Mussulo, the best beach in town. Contact Eco Tur who run safaris there in specialist game viewing vehicles www.eco-tur.com Portugese is widely spoken. English is not. 31 March 2009 There is more than a little tension in many companies between management and its labour force - this is a comment from another site about a certain middle east airline - Any meeting of pilots more than the compliment of a ULR flight is considered mutiny. No smoke without fire. ****************************** Here is a new take on the Nigerian scam letters from my email today: Good Day Customer, Never, ever reply to one of these notes.
|
fr |
30 March 2009 So much fuss about Madonna adopting another Malawi child. Good luck to her. She is probably a great Mum and it is a great opportunity for the child. The 4 year old girl is an orphan; mother died; father unknown. AIDS and poverty have created a million orphans in Malawi. Madonna has invested in help projects and charities in the country. If she can give a great life to Mercy James then good luck to her. If fame and money expedites the process then so be it. ************************ ************************ Could it get bad? There are probably as many pollice and army as there are demonstrators. ********************************** Of course the Tory press in the UK is expressing moral outrage! Ridiculous really. The mistake is not about watching a porn film; find an adult that has not at some time; but claiming it on expenses was asking for trouble. I imagine the domestic discussions have been rather strained in the Smith household. 28 March 2009 It is Dubai World Cup day today. After last years' fiasco I have no wish to go anywhere near there today. Let's hope a few lessons have been learned from last year. Trouble is the place is a building site as the new Meydan race track and community is being built around the existing Nad Al Sheba track. ************************** Our captain is ex-Canada 3000 before moving to Dubai. I used to fly Canada 3000 many years ago when I was still in Toronto on their 757s. Did have a bit of a headache midway through the flight; but a little sleep helped ease that. *********************************
************************************* In other Asia reductions both Beijing and Shanghai will reduce to 11 a week by June 2009; one daily flight and the other 4x a week. The only good news is that some crew will now get 48 hour layovers in China. ***************************** There was a sadness already at the hotel and airport. The crew hotel gave small gifts and thank you notes to the crew and took pictures. And at Nagoya airport there were more pictures with the crew and ground staff. The Emirates business will be missed. ************************************ She really did not want me to take her picture !
26 March 2009 Back from a long, fun and cold day out in Kyoto. Pictures to follow soon. There is some cherry blossom out; but it is a bit early. Maybe one to two weeks before it is an its most spectacular. There are a lot of Japanese visitors in Kyoto. ******************************** Passengers were interviewed by police for some eight hours; they also had to complete forms, were videoed and and finger printed. Authorities apparently treated the passengers well, handing out food and water, but the main problem became the toilet facilities, as each passenger was required to be searched and escorted by police to the toilets. Yuck.
There is one other alarming report; the airport was put on full alert and all incoming and outgoing flights were stopped for 15 minutes as the plane came in to land at 7.05am. But when it did arrive safely, passengers said they were kept on board until almost 8.30am because no stairs were available. So, despite the bomb threat and the police surrounding the airplane passengers were forced to wait in their seats. Strange. If there is a bomb threat wouldn't you want all passengers and crew off the plane as soon as possible? 24 March 2009 Had a nice day in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday - we did plan on having lunch at the Emirates Palace hotel but a quick look at the menu and we had to leave quickly ! How much can you charge for a bowl of pasta or a little bit of salad and mozzarella. But we took some nice pictures. The building itself is austere. I am sure that the rooms are fabulous. But the whole atmosphere lacks warmth. There are large cavernous empty spaces. ******************************* ********************************* 20 March 2009 Oops - "It was like the Special Olympics or something." — President Barack Obama to "The Tonight Show" host Jay Leno on his score of 129 in bowling. A presidential spokesman said his offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at his bowling skills. I am surprised that this was not edited out - I though the Tonight show was taped rather than live. They could have saved the President some embarrassment. **************************** ***************************** ****************************** "Macho poker bets, summary sackings and an 'electric
chair.' Whistleblowers describe management excesses and a climate of
fear." How serious is Emirates withdrawal of the A380 from New York? Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, an aviation consultancy, said: “This is such a visible failure. You don't pull out of New York unless there is a real problem. The A380 is not a plane for recessions because you are just flying around too many empty seats.” ******************************* NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker fired back at comedian Jon Stewart on Wednesday, saying it was "unfair" and "absurd" for the funnyman to criticize CNBC and question its coverage of financial news. "Everybody wants to find a scapegoat. That's human nature," Zucker said during a keynote address at a media industry conference. "But to suggest that the business media or CNBC was responsible for what is going on now is absurd." This is one fight that NBC should not be continuing - let it go and Mr. Stewart will move in. Keep battling a lost cause and CNBC and anyone associated with them will look ever more foolish; and potentially ever more culpable. 18 March 2009 Thai politics - succinctly summed up in an opinion piece in today's Bangkok Post by Prof. Dr Likhit Dhiravegin who is a Fellow of the Royal Institute. "Everybody knows what the political problems are. In a nutshell, the problems which inhibit the development of a sustainable democracy are vote-buying, corruption and abuse of power. The rule of law is constantly violated. The people are plagued with the twin evils of poverty and ignorance while many politicians are sly, crafty, bent only on power and economic gains, devoid of ethics and political etiquette. Political parties are just a gathering of individuals who have come together to set up a legal institution to register as a party in order to fulfil the requirements of office-seeking, as ordained by the Constitution. Under the situation in which an ideology to serve the country and democratic ethos is an exception, not the rule, elections are but a political ritual in which the people whose votes had been bought, just dropped the ballot card into the ballot box. There is as such no election in the true sense of the word. Political legitimacy claimed by those successful in getting enough votes to qualify as a member of the House of Representatives is nothing but a sham." ********************************** Strangely this is the flight that has the lowest load of the three daily Emirates flights - but is the only one that can be flown by a single A380. EK418 goes onto Sydney and Christchurch and EK 384 goes onto HKG. EK384 does not quite work on a daily roster - it leaves at 3.15am and returns at 5.00am. 17 March 2009 Tai's pictures have been updated with her Nagoya flight. Looks like a nice visit; three Thai crew in Biz class! 16 March 2009 As part of their continuing campaign to welcome tourists to Thailand the police have started late night raids on Pattaya nightclubs with both Insomnia and Mixx raided over the weekend. Nothing like giving a urine test to brighten up a vacation. Of course the police never come alone; TV and media crews are always in attendance to put their cameras in the faces of partygoers who will in some cases be intoxicated. It is a recipe for some very unpleasant scenes! As the Pattaya Daily News so beautifully states - the police "also checked that the opening and closing times were being adhered to, in accordance with the government stipulations, and to maintain Pattaya’s good image." Pattaya's good image !!!!! Too funny ! ****************************** The video is eight minutes long and should be enough to have CNBC tried for criminal negligence! How did we get into this mess. Incompetence. Self-delusion. CNBC's Rick Kramer did at least have the courage to make an appearance on "The Daily Show." "I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a [bleeping] game," Stewart told Cramer. Stewart accused the CNBC host and his network of being irresponsible cheerleaders in the lead-up to the stock market meltdown. And here is Kramer on the Daily Show: this is the unedited version. It is not comedy. It is at times quite painful to watch. There are three parts! How is it that it takes someone from Comedy Central to provide the most complete and hard hitting criticism of the people behind this mess? Plenty of people think that Stewart is out of his depth. But all he is really doing is asking the financial market commentators to be responsible. The implied suggestion of collusion between the mainstream networks and Wall Street/big business needs further investigation. Kramer gets some credit for facing up to this on behalf of CNBC. Of course this is also a major ratings winner for Stewart. 15 March 2009 Bored today - no one to talk to. ***************************** ****************************** My TV still has no sound - and they cannot collect it until tomorrow morning which means I wont have it back until Wednesday. Now I can live without TV but when I am home on my own I like having the news running in the background. Growl. I will never buy Nikai anything again. 14 March 2009 There is a good story in Golfweek magazine about Prayad Marksaeng, the 43year old Thai golfer in contention after two rounds of the World Golf Championship in Florida. Indeed he was joint leader after the first round. ****************************** Me - stuck in Dubai. We have had a slightly stressful couple of days; coming back to Dubai after almost a month of travelling is a little stressful. A reality check but I don't much like what I see or how I feel. We did have a Singaporean themed brunch yesterday with some friends at the Traders Hotel in Deira. Bit of a Singapore theme over the last week ! Food was ok; nothing special. While writing to day about some of the changes in Singapore I forgot to mention the changes at the city state's first condom shop - now not just focusing on condoms but on adult toys of every possible description and size. The city must have decided that a population boost may be created by putting some fun back into bedtime. Nothing to be shy about in this shop! Of course there is nothing there that could be safely or legally brought back to Dubai! 12 March 2009 Vacations are good. They feel busy. Plenty to do. Lots to see. Back in Dubai I seem to be sitting around waiting. Sandstorms expected today. North-westerly shamal winds are expected to push dust into the atmosphere on Thursday, but the sandstorm will be less severe than the one that affected Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries on Tuesday. Be safe. 11 March 2009 My TV has no sound again - it has been back to the manufacturer twice already - it is under warranty but that appears to be an excuse just to keep it for a couple of days - not to fix the problem. I will never buy Nikai again ! ************************ Our holiday over the last two and a half weeks has been a very good time for us; being back here is depressing me already. *************************** It was a short drive today - just to the Madinat Jumeirah - but we had the guy doing 120kph while holding his phone with both hands as he hammered out a text message; the guy who missed his exit and started to reverse into traffic so that he could exit from the highway; the I don't know where I am going guy who simply stops in the middle of the road to make up his mind whether he needs to exit or not; the I don't know where I am going guy who sits in the middle lane and crawls along til he makes his mind up; the lane-changers without indicators and the racing locals are not even worth a mention! 10 March 2009 A big thank you this morning to the crew of EK405 for a genuinely enjoyable flight back to Dubai last night. *************************** He is certainly keeping himslef in the news - Time magazine and now the FEER ! ***************************** 9 March 2009 Tai is back in Singapore after a 36 hour stay in Melbourne. I think this is a tough trip for the crew with three overnight trips in five days. It is a lot of night flying. *************************** 7 March 2009 It is hard to have any sympathy for groups like Plane Stupid (in this case the so called activist Leila Dean) when they resort to feeble pranks such a throwing green custard over Lord Mandelson, the British Business Minister. But where was his security; and what if this had been acid and not custard. I do think this goes beyond the tradition of non-violent protest in Britain. It should not be acceptable. And this woman walks away claiming that it is her democratic right to make this physical attack; which of course was deliberately done in front of TV cameras. She should have been charged for assualt. ******************************** ******************************** ********************************  This new Broadway play with Jeremy Irons and
Joan Allen, has pushed back its opening night by about two weeks to Tues,
March 24. Critics were supposed to start attending the show for review
from tonight. The play's web site is here - http://www.impressionismtheplay.com/ 6 March 2008 Emirates Airline is to launch Airbus A380 flights between Dubai and
Singapore in December 2009. The initial schedule will run four times
weekly, it will be Emirates’ first A380 service to Southeast Asia. 5 March 2009 For a wired country internet charges in Singapore are criminal. Ludicrous. Laughable. Shameful. How do you encourage a business traveller to work out of Singapore. At the Novotel the charges are S$15++ for 30 minutes; S$24++ for 1 hour of S$30++ for a whole day. After free internet access in hotels across the USA the prices here are prohibitive. ****************************** Nice flight over here yesterday; I finished Janice Lee's book - The Piano Teacher - set in Hong Kong during and after World War two. Very enjoyable. We had a quick late dinner at Clark Quay last night. It is busy there now; lots of new bars and nightclubs. And a good thunderstorm as well. 4 March 2009 With a tailwind of 200kms a hour we are rocketing along; but it also makes the flight very bumpy ! **************************** 3 March 2009 We are out of freezing (23F was today's high) New York and on our way to Dubai. The flight is 7 hours late after the snow storm. And there are about 65 people on board a 400 seat Boeing 777. People are not flying internationally from New York. This route must be hurting Emirates at the moment. **************************** 2 March 2009 More doom and gloom in financial markets today: Global stocks plumbed new multi-year lows on Monday after AIG's record $61.7 billion quarterly loss and an $18.1 billion capital request by HSBC slammed financial markets, sending the dollar to near three-year highs and government debt up as investors sought safe havens. Oil prices plunged 10 percent as the deteriorating world economy threatened to cut further into fuel consumption. Insurer American International Group's quarterly loss, the largest in U.S. corporate history, heightened worries about the health of the global financial system and boosted the appeal of government debt and the dollar as low-risk havens. ***************************** ***************************** Jeremy Irons is such a good actor but seems to be just going through the motions in this rather leaden show. 1 March 2009 American Airlines from SFO to New York; it is a five hour flight without even a bag of peanuts. Makes you appreciate just how hard working the Asian and Middle East crews are compared to their US counterparts. In the US they are now mainly clearing the coffee cups and food that everyone brings on board. Sad. Not a glamorous profession any more. ********************************** The wine tour around Napa Valley yesterday was informative; as we were driving north the guide gave a history of San Francisco and its suburbs and that was interesting. We also learned how to toast eachother properly with wine glasses !! It is not how you think ! And we know how to smell and taste wine; its not the first taste that counts. It is the second! Your nose needs to get into the glass like this:
|
|
