Bombed building from civil war Whats the first thing you think of when you think Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon? Chances are: “war zone”, “Destroyed”, “unsafe”, “terrorist”. A website called Lebanon News: Under the Rug Swept features the Looks Like Beirut Certificate which notes the times “people compare Beirut to destruction”. For the world forgets that the Lebanese Civil War ended. It was a horrific war which claimed too many lives and did indeed destroy swathes of Beirut. But the war stopped over 20 years ago. Today, Beirut is becoming the place to visit. Lonely Planet…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2011.
2300 hours
A recent flight tipped me over into 2300 hours of flying since I was born. This is equivalent to over 95 days inside a metal tube. Over 3 months of my life! More Trivia (some of which can be found at my flightmemory page) 75 airlines (my favourites of course Emirates, Air New Zealand and Qantas) 48 types of plane (the 3 most common being B737, B747 and B767 and the most exotic a Zepplin airship) 180 airports (the 3 most common Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles) 36 countries on 5 continents flown to (out of the…
Korean A380—launch delayed again
The Korean Air 380 launch has been delayed from 10 June, 2011 to 17 June, 2011 (perhaps to put in the duty free stores I mentioned yesterday?)In the meantime, here is an advertisement for the Korean A380…..I wrote a post on the layout of the Korean A380 and another comparing my Emirates A380 experience with that on Qantas and Singapore.
Riding the Seattle Monorail
Next year, the Seattle Monorail will be 50. Opened March 24, 1962 for the Seattle World Fair. The line runs at a top speed of 72km/h for just over 1.5 kilometres. The train pictured here is one of the two original Alweg trains built in 1961. The monorail trains and their tracks were given historical landmark status by the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board April 16, 2003. About 2.5 million people annually pay the $2 fare for the two minute trip. In the late 90s, there was a plan to put five monorail lines across Seattle. Called the Seattle…
Back to the 80s with Air NZ’s newest safety video
Same words…very different costumes…in the last Air New Zealand air safety video, the crew were nude- in this one, they go”funky”. Led by flamboyant American fitness personality Richard Simmons, the briefing introduces all of the usual safety features on a plane (ie no smoking, fasten seatbelts, brace positions, life jacket, luggage etc) as a series of “exercises” to be completed before flying. The instructions are delivered with lots of crazy costumes, boppy music and humourous gags. The video available for viewing here. What do you think of it? Some thoughts from me: I noticed a couple of the crew…
A380 Bang
Here’s a great reason to ALWAYS wear a seat belt on a plane even when its stationery on the ground. I cant believe how many seat belts I hear being opened seconds after a plane lands. Have you seen the video where the Air France A380 jet at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport hits the tail section of a Bombardier CRJ 700 Regional Jet? The smaller plane spins a quarter turn on the taxiway! The A380 was operating Air France Flight 7 to Paris and was taxing to take off. It had 495 passengers and 25 crew members…
The longest delay of my flying life: 12 hours in Brisbane
Had the longest delay of my life today. 11 hours! (compared to some people’s woes-nothing!) The delay is out of Brisbane heading to LAX (Flight 007). The airline is V Australia, the overseas arm of Virgin Blue. They have an “unserviceable” aircraft! Ironically, my previous longest delay was also with Virgin Blue out of Brisbane- destination: Sydney in 2000. That was an 8-hour delay. I was so unimpressed with Virgin Blue’s handling of that delay, that I did not fly them for years! A recent convert back to the Virgin Blue family, this incident has me bemused.…
Man treads on my foot in Bizarre air incident
This has to be a first for me. As I snoozed comfortably in my British Airways BA 9 window seat from Bangkok to Sydney, a fellow passenger from behind me took a convoluted “short cut” through my seat area to get to the lavatory. In doing so, trod heavily on my foot. I woke up swearing to excruciating pain. The angle that my passenger must have stood on my foot caused it to bleed and on going pain! Worst is, I am a runner. BA staff very helpful. Why would you take a “short cut”…
What is your country’s “Brand” worth – basically what does the world think of your country?
There are two rankings of countries by the world based on how that country is perceived by others. 1. The 2010 Country Brand Index- was developed by FutureBrand in partnership with BBC World News and appears to focus more on the country’s tourist brand 2. The 2010 Nation Brands Index was developed by Anholt-GMI The Rankings for 2010: Country Brand Nation Brands Index 01 Canada 1. United States 02 Australia 2. Germany 03 New Zealand 3. France 04 United States 4. United Kingdom 05 Switzerland 5. Japan 06 Japan 6. Canada 07 France 7. Italy 08 Finland…
The tale of the Falafel stand
It was lunchtime in Amma and the little food shop I passed was flat out. The guy behind the till was taking orders, answering the phone and frying flafel simultanesously. There was a long line of men waiting to buy. I asked for a falafel wahad (one falafel). He smiled and said “here you are” as he handed me a plate. “Sit down, welcome, enjoy.” I got my wallet and he waved me away. “sit down, welcome and enjoy“. I enjoyed it. The fresh falafel melted in my mouth. The salads were fresh and the…
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