NZL and a visit to the Doctor

After visiting the port in Singapore we tried to find a nice place to eat, but by this time it was 3 pm and none of the restaurants he knew were open so we had to settle for snacks at a open air bar.  This fellow is a bit of a victim of the Spanish economic melt down.  He had an active construction company in Spain until the bust and after two years trying to survive he gave up and had to take a job abroad.  With four kids and a wife at home he was clearly missing his family, but he didn't see any other choice if he wanted to put bread on the table.

He dropped me off at the airport around 5pm and I had a 3hr wait for my British Airways flight to Sydney.  It was my first time flying on BA and I wasn't that impressed.  They provided economy class service with business class seats.  But there were lots of movies and the seat went flat so what more can one wish for.  It was a 8hr flight and I did get some sleep.  It landed at 10 am in the morning in Sydney on Sunday and I had only a 2 hr layover for the final leg to Christchurch.  It was 4 pm by the time I landed in NZL and my entire weekend was now gone.

In Christchurch I was lucky to be staying with a colleague at this home in the country.  Those Kiwi's are a friendly lot.  On my second day in ChCh I discovered that I had picked up a little friend in Java.  At midnight I woke with a start and flew to the bathroom.  Severe stomach pain followed and I didn't get much sleep that night.  In the morning I went to a doctor to get some antibiotics as I have had enough experience to know I had something particularly nasty.  I really felt bad.  But it is surprising how fast you recover after getting the right medicine.  That afternoon I went to bed at 4pm and didn't get up again until the next morning at 6am.  I was pleasantly surprised by the good treatment by the NZL medical system and relatively low price.  About 90 USD for the Dr and medicine.

Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy any good NZL lamb this time.  Hopefully next visit.

On Thursday it was a national holiday in NZL and I flew back to Sydney.  I was lucky that they had scheduled meetings downtown Sydney and I was staying at the Harbor Marriott.  At over 400 AUD a night it was far above what I would ever pay.  I couldn't believe that tourists would pay that much to stay there, but it was sold out.  They must have had their suitcases stuffed with cash to pay for the place.  I did get a somewhat okay view of the harbor bridge (but I had a better view of a crane and plain old office buildings) but not worth 400 bucks.

Thursday was filled with meetings, but Friday I had a couple of hours free before my flight and got to wander around the harbor area.

By 4pm I was back on a plane to Singapore and the start of a 24 hr flight(s) home.

the jungle scene greeting you as you leave the plane in ChCh

 View from hotel window

 some funny looking buildings

It seems Yoko had an art show in Sydney - I didn't go 

 cruise ship in the harbor

 a nice walk along the harbor

A poor memory (Jan 27 - Feb 8) Java, Singapore, NZL, Sydney

It was good to be traveling again after so many weeks in the office.  This trip I was able to combine four destinations into one trip; Java, Singapore, Christchurch & Sydney.  A good combination of developing and developed countries that give a good variety of culture and food.

The trip started off wrong however when I realized I forgot my passport while getting on the local bus.  A quick call to my support team and I was met at the train station with enough time to catch the train to the airport.  But it seems that my mind was not in gear as three days later after traveling 3hrs by car from Tuban to Surabaya I noticed while unpacking that I had forgotten my pants and shirts hanging in the closet at the previous hotel.  With a flight out the next morning, I tried to see if anyone could bring my clothes into the city.  A lot of the project team go into the "big city" for the weekend.  But I wasn't that concerned as I would get the clothes eventually and could survive with the clothes I did remember to pack.   With my mind free of worry I went to bed at 11pm that evening only to be awoken at 2 am by a call on my cell phone.  It seems a driver had been asked to take my clothes to me (a 3hrs drive) drop them off and then return to Tuban - a 6hrs drive in total.  I guess he felt he needed to personally deliver them, but at 2am I didn't want to meet him in the lobby and asked he give them to the front desk.  Unfortunately I never did get back to sleep.

My weekend started off catching a flight to Singapore (economy class - ugh!) and with a 10 hr layover in Singapore I took advantage of the time to visit a project there that was just wrapping up.  The  project manager met me at the airport and showed me around his project.  Which was very nice of him seeing as it was the weekend.  It was in the port of Singapore and I always enjoy visiting ports.  To enter the port you have to register in advance and get clearance.  It was a little odd however, that after getting the necessary paperwork they didn't even look at it at the security gate.  In fact the photo was so bad it could have been anyone.

At the project site I met this one fellow from Germany and was reminded that the expats you meet are often rather odd.  He had at most 3 teeth, all at unusual angles, with earrings and tattoos he reminded me of a short, fat pirate.  In Singapore he gets respect and is the boss of many, in Germany he would not be in charge of the toilets. (perhaps I am a little harsh, as I only spent 10 min with him)