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
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:
World Time Clock
Exchange Rates
Journalism:
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
Thailand Info
thailand.com
learningthai.com
sawadee.com
bangkok a-z
Back in the UK:
Newton Ferrers
Government:
The
"new" White House
And for fun:
Lin Ping live panda tv
EarthCam
The opinions expressed on these pages are entirely personal unless they are credited; you may not agree with all, or anything, that I write. So please use the feedback page to respond, comment or berate me.
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An Occasional Blog
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Thailand Blogs Bangkok Pundit - politics Bangkok Metblogs - city life Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
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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
Al - Emarati - English language
UAE blog In China Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghai
Diaries - self explanatory 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 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
Sharjah - 1937 News The Guardian - UK
Arabian
Business China sites Bangkok info sites Worthy Sites Niall Ferguson - my favorite modern historian
Rconversation - from Rebecca
MacKinnon, ex-TV reporter-turned-blogger. Fun Sites
Penguin baseball 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.
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31 December 2009 Curiosity. The Blue Moon has risen over Dubai in clear skies. Two full moons in a month, 2nd one called blue; this can only occur 19 months apart. 30 December 2009 Not sure why but Tai and I have had a tough day today. Not on the same wavelength. And now she has been called from standby to go to Beijing - so her off day on 1 January is now a work day. And that means she wont be here for New Year's Eve. So just Alex and me for the next two days. And Tai wont see Alex again before he leaves to go back to HKG. I hope this is not an omen for the new year. 29 December 2009 Now I know why there are so many strands of hair littering my bathroom:
This just in from topnews.ae - Guess the price - AED2,750 per person. Ouch. 27 December 2009 Alex arrived in Dubai this morning; I was up at 5am after less than four hours sleep and with a mild hangover. After a late night and our annual 2906 Millennium Christmas Dinner - a day late - but worth waiting for. That is four years now. It will be sad when we are not all together to continue something that is almost an annual (and fun) ritual. 24 December 2009 And while I am on a flying theme - this tribute to NW 188 (remember the A320 lost over the USA) is clever ! ********************************
23 December 2009 Emirates, the biggest Arab airline, will start daily flights to the Czech capital Prague beginning July 1 from its hub in Dubai. EK 139 will leave Dubai at 1030hrs and arrive in Prague at 1450hrs with a flight time of around six hours. The return flight, EK 140, departs Prague at 1620hrs and gets into Dubai at 0015hrs the following day. A 278-seat Airbus A330, offering 27 seats in Business Class and 251 in Economy will serve the route. 21 December 2009 Politically correct greeting card in the northern hemisphere - winter greetings......who cares! Winter exists to be endured not enjoyed. Silly card! 19 December 2009 The website of the Daily Star (a UK newspaper) is blocked in the UAE. But you can still access The Sun's website - is there really any difference between the two? Both are trashy ! 18 December 2009 The Eurostar was a casualty of the winter weather today - but bizarrely four trains got stuck in the channel tunnel because they did not like the transition from the freezing air of northern france to the warm air of the tunnel. And a 2 hour journey became a 15 hour nightmare with power and light failures and without water, food or decent washroom facilities. *************************** Just drizzle for the first seven holes and then the rains came - as wet as I have ever seen it in the UAE. Pity - as I was playing well from tee to green - still cant really putt or chip but my irons for a while were good enough to avoid having to chip! 17 December 2009 Coming to a dvd near you (except in Dubai) in January - a movie of Tiger Wood’s X-rated escapades will be released in January, heaping yet more embarrassment on the golf superstar....introducing Tiger's Wood! Now a month ago that was never going to happen !
*********************************** Was up at 6am - to leave Newton Ferrers at 7am and drive via Tescos - open 24 hours a day - to Birmingham Airport. Why Tesco? I hear you ask. Well - imagine you have a cake recipe and need 500 grams of glace cherries. Now imagine that you can only find packets that are 200gr in size. So how many do you need. 3 is a good answer. The the rental car runs out of windscreen cleaning fluid on the motorway. And the spray and dirt are getting worse. So I have to stop at the services and fill the washer tank. Then I cannot find a gas station at Birmingham Airport and have to drive around until I find one. Then I need to stand in the cold and do a quick bit of repacking. Then I forget to search for a VAT Tax office to reclaim the VAt on the one expensive item that I bought this week. Growl. It has been a very frustrating week. 16 December 2009 About 80% today - I am mending. And will head back to Dubai from Birmingham tomorrow. A bit sad at changes to our Christmas plans. Alex will now arrive in Dubai after Christmas. But he will have a good time in Macau before heading to the UAE. 15 December 2009 Tai has been called out to London - would be fun to go and see her there except it is a four hour drive each way - and I am tired after 30 minutes. I went into Plymouth today - was so tired even after a short walk! I guess that's how you feel after three days of some evil bug! 14 December 2009 If 20 million people were watching X factor last night how many people were watching the BBC sports personality of the year - about three people and a poodle ! ****************************** 13 December 2009 Accenture has dropped their Tiger Woods advertising - "We know what it takes to be a Tiger" was the slogan. Guess it is not so appropriate now! Still I think there are other promotional opportunities: Viagra probably needs a spokesman. And it would look good written on his golf bag - Viagra helps you go further; Viagra - brings out the Tiger in you. ******************************** 12 December 2009 Flew to Gatwick in the early hours of the morning - a 3am departure. ridiculous time to fly ! And drove down to Devon. But feel as sick as a dog. Cannot eat - stomach pains; temperature; aching body; shivering. Was in bed for the afternoon and it will be an early night. 10 December 2009 The Nation is quietly posing this of the wall theory: Michelle Wie was three under par after day 1. In joint 5th place. Two bogies and five birdies on her scorecard. Including a birdie on the par 5 18th which I assume she reaches easily in two. ********************************* ********************************** BKK has been OK - although the city is not as exotic as I once thought. Honestly, much of it is dirty, squalid in places and rather depressing. Traffic is horrible. The fumes are foul. The sidewalks are not made for walking; they are crumbling, dug up or impassable due to the collection of debris, carts and vendors; and sadly the number of beggars on the streets, especially Sukhumvit. It is sad to see. The gap in Thailand between the rich minority and the impoverished majority seems so much wider; that cannot be good. Sure the hotel was nice; very comfortable; but it makes it hard to leave the room. 7 December 2009
*************************************** 4 December 2009 World Cup watch: And here is the draw for the initial groups of the 2010 World Cup- Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France The opening match of the tournament will be between Mexico and South Africa on June 11 3 December 2009 I am on the way to Hong Kong for a couple of days and then onto Bangkok. Tai is on standby - a 6am airport standby this morning so we were up at 4.45am. And then she did not get called out. That is painful - to get up that early and not go anywhere. 1 December 2009 It is all a plot - the Dubai debt deferal is a wonderful way to improve the yield on Emirates flights and to improve hotel occupancy in the pre Christmas lull - the Guardian is reporting that "hordes of bankers, lawyers and accountants are arriving in Dubai mostly from London and the US, as the parties involved start complex negotiations that are likely to "take time."" ************************ ************************** *************************** ****************************** George Lopez on late night TV in the USA - "Let me put it in terms that golfers would understand. He played the wrong hole, had an errant drive and now he's got to get out of a bad lie." 30 November 2009 Was feeling so bad yesterday - just a nasty flu bug - and had a bad night. Have quarantined myself at home for two days. Tai is back from Seoul but is in Millennium. It feels strange. Almost as though she was still on a layover somewhere. But better that than catching a flu bug off me. **************************** Anyone want to speculate? Hanoi. 29 November 2009 Crew fatigue - Emirates now flies to Seoul with only two cockpit crew - 8 hours to get there and 10 hours to get back. Even the cabin crew get to rest in the bunks for an hour outbound and maybe a couple of hours on the return flight. ****************************** The local newspapers are in denial. One of the foreign newspapers has already been banned. When the markets open tomorrow it will be very interesting to see what happens and hear the authorities proposed next steps. 27 November 2009 Tai is off to Seoul tonight so here is a picture of five reasons why a trip to Seoul could be fun ! Wondergirls!
****************************** ****************************** 24 November 2009 An Emirates A380 will now fly to Paris from December 29
- one month earlier than planned, the airline announced on Tuesday. The A380 will initially fly three times weekly on the morning departure from Dubai, becoming daily from January 17, the company said in a statement. **************************** flydubai's growing network also includes Beirut-Lebanon, Amman-Jordan, Damascus and Aleppo-Syria, Alexandria-Egypt, Djibouti-Africa, Doha-Qatar, Khartoum – Sudan, Baku-Azerbaijan and soon to launch flights to Bahrain. 23 November 2009 I am bored - I really should have gone away this week. ***************************** One of Britain's best lived comedians he is an unlikely tragic actor - but by all accounts he is very good indeed. |
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22 November 2009 The final of the FIFA Beach soccer world cup takes place in Dubai tonite between Switzerland and Brazil. One country that is completely land locked and has no ocean beaches against one country that is legend for its beaches. Strange. ******************************* The event was held at the Radisson Blu hotel in Deira. The ticket for entrane was AED 200, not cheap - about US$60. However my source was knew other thai guys who offered
to discount the fee to 100 dhs, and with some persuasive talking she was
able to attend for free. Being female and attractive surely helped in a
room of dour Thai business folks. However to quote my source "most of big leader of Thai red shirt were there." She met "so many interesting people and lots of businessmen." There were between 400-500 people at the event includiing some arabic and western foreigners. The fee included a "wonderful Thai buffet." It sounds like there was a lot of planning for the 28 November rally. ***************************** ************************************ 20 November 2009 An early morning trip to the golf today - to follow Ernie Els at 8.10am. Only a small crowd following him so it was good to see one of the greats close up. He does make the game look so easy. But he is not going to win this tournament and to be honest he looks like he would like a weekend off to go and do something fun. He really does not need the US20,000 that he will win if he does not improve upon his last place which is where he is after two rounds. ************************************ The view as we drove last night was of one of the Empower labourers with his dick hanging out pissing in the sand. At least find a wall or be a bit discreet - but do you really need to piss in open view? And thanks for adding to the sewage stench that we so enjoy. 19 November 2009 Sorry I have been ignoring the blog. Plenty of updates on the today page and pictures in Picasa. Three days at the airshow and no a day at the world golf (well european golf) championships here in Dubai. Followed Thongchai Jaidee for all 18 holes today and it was a pleasure to watch him. He was striking the ball beautifully from tee to green - a few missed putts - but still a very solid two under. The course is an oasis of green - stuck in the middle of a massive building site. But the course is in decent condition - maybe a bit too easy for a major title - there is no rough to speak of. But the finish of 16/17/18 is a good series of closing holes. This is the 17th - an island green par 3.
******************************** And who scored the goal - Aleksander Duric - sounds very Singaporean. Presumably there will be some sort of inquest in Thailand - there must be a conspiracy. Is Thaksin to blame? ************************************** 15 November 2009 I do wish that Dubai could just be a little more honest and less prone to hyperbole - take the Dubai World Championship - the golf tournament at the end of this week - the pr people say that "The Race to Dubai showcases the best golfers from around the world." No it does not. It is the year ending event for the European Tour. The best golfers in the world are not all here. The Americans are not here. No Woods. No Mickelson. No Cink - the British Open champion. The only American who did qualify was Anthony Kim - and he showed what he thinks of the tournament. He is off home for a rest! ************************************ Plenty to see and a three hour flying display - bookended by displays by first the French and finally the Italian display teams. The Italians have ten planes flying - and it is a spectacular display. The US airforce was there in large numbers - and were making lots of friends. My hat is off to the very impressive lady captain of a B1 bomber out of Ellsworth in South Dakota - the B1 is a supersonic bomber that can carry a nuclear warhead. 14 November 2009 True or not I dont know - but I like the logic: Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles
in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted
that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. ********************************* England: Foster, Brown, Upson, Lescott, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Barry, Jenas, Milner, Rooney, Bent. Subs: Green, Cahill, Warnock, Huddlestone, Crouch, Defoe, Young, Hart. Most of this lot cannot get into the first teams at their Premier League clubs. I doubt this team would even survive in the Premiership - which just shows how strong the foreign influence is. **************************** I miss him. 13 November 2009 Airliner World this month:
12 November 2009 There is something very life affirming about Thailand's Panda TV - such simple, straightforward, uncomplicated love between mother and baby. ***************************** According to Arabian Business, Dubai World Central, a multi-phase development which will include the world’s biggest airport, was “almost complete” and on track to be operational next year, the project’s chairman confirmed on Wednesday. He must be joking; barely started is more accurate that
nearly complete. Why do they say these things; who are they trying to impress. The airport for instance may over next year with one of its five runways and primarily for cargo traffic connecting to the Jebel Ali docks. 11 November 2009 Emirates is talking about ordering additional airplanes: they appear to want airplanes now rather than at a future date. The A350 for instance has not even flown yet. Current fleet: How about some A321s or 739ERs for the regional lo-density stuff, and to open the thinner regional routes like Kabul, Sharm, Aqaba, Izmir, Tabriz, Tblisi, Baghdad, Dushanbe. Better than giving these routes to flyDubai as the latter uses terminal 2 and does not provide baggage connections. 10 November 2009 Today is the official release of Blue Rodeo's new double cd - The Things we Left Behind. And this is a good interview with Greg Keelor, co front man of the band. ******************************* Why is everyone so exercised by the interview - well Thaksin speaks of the monarchy - always a difficult issue for most Thais to dicuss openly - but the problem is that there is so little constructive debate within Thai society. There are simply polarised views, distrust and hatred. That hatred causes members of the government to say that parts of the interview warrant seven generations of beheading. There are also Thais flooding the website of The Times
with anti Thaksin vitriol. I did not know there were that many Times
readers in Bangkok - though it is likely that comment has been encouraged
by ASTV. The interview has been translated into Thai and will be read all over the kingdom and discussed oncommunity radio stations. That discussion is now more open perhaps than it has ever been. Attempts to ban access to the interview will just encourage more people to read it. Better an open engagement than a fear of discussion. ************************************ Is he; just maybe; running out of money - and running out of time and patience. It does remind me of Anwar Ibrahim's flawed and failed attempts to out Prime Minister Mahathir in Malaysia. All Ibrahim had to do was be patient. But he pushed too early and too hard and spent too many years imprisoned as a result. ****************************** 9 November 2009 The Thai authorities have found a good solution to the airport's problems - Airports of Thailand will move giant sculptures from Suvarnabhumit Airport's international arrival lounge to airline international check-in areas next month. Many believe the moving will make the airport have better feng shui. ****************************** ******************************* 8 November 2009 Am back in Dubai. Came back early this morning determined to be positive. But by lunchtime felt I was back here on my own. 6 November 2009 Eating street food in BKK is not glamourous. Too many cockroaches clambering over the tables. Especially at 2am. ***************************** But did my neighbour really need to take his shoes off and try and rest his bare foot on my knee. Yuck. No IFE on Thai; but nice to be back on a big solid 747-400. They give such a feeling of space and strength. The Christmas decorations are up at the Airport Express station in Hong Kong - too early by a month! 5 November 2009 It is nice to be back in Hong Kong. The weather is good. And I seem to have been busy ! Alex and I took an afternoon to visit Ocean Park yesterday. While Disneyland struggles in HKG Ocean Park continues to expand. Maybe too many loud mainland tourists. They do all shout at eachother! And they still spit. Although one of them hopefully wont do it again after I yelled at her as she spat on the path in front of us. 3 November 2009 "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I
was not a communist; Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) ************************************* 2 November 2009 I am very fond of Hong Kong - but the first impressions at the airport really are rather strange. As you leave the airbridge from the plane to the terminal each flight is met by at least half a dozen jeans wearing immigration officers. They all look 20 something; are dressed as street kids except for the immigration vest; and they appear to be checking the passport of anyone who might be from Africa or South Asia. There is also one guy holding up his video camera to film us all leaving the airplane. Who watches these videos. And why dont they just use security cameras in the airport. I really do think that the image of these people - and the inage they give for your first view of Hong Kong - would be improved by having them look a little more official and a little less like the local branch of the triads. *************************************** This is a city where street spitting is still common. It is one of the most polluted cities in the world with shocking levels of street pollution. It is a city where public washroom facilities remain largely in the stone ages. And yet this video is telling me to wash my hands after sneezing. ***************************************** ********************************* 31 October 2009 Lots of speculation continues on the Northwest Nap - and the crew who slept or got distracted over MXP. But the most sensible article on the subject comes from Patrick Smith's Ask the Pilot column for salon.com. His summary is exactly right : "There was no catastrophe. There was no near catastrophe. The plane was temporarily off-course during high-altitude cruise flight, under ATC watch above non-mountainous terrain. The crew made an embarrassing mistake, and will be punished accordingly, while the rest of us who fly for a living will draw important if obvious lessons. It was a comparatively minor event that has received far more attention than it deserves." ****************************** Tai is on her broomstick powered 777 heading back from Osaka. I have not moved from the apartment all day.
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