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”…
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
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…
The tale of the Convenience Store
I am going to share a series of my adventures on this mideast trip. Its been warm in Amman Jordan today. I have a favourite drink that I have been buying all over the city in the little stores that are ubiquitous here. It is bottled guava juice and it typically costs .4 of a Jordanian Dinar (55 of my cents). I stopped at the little store nearest to the hotel (160 metres away to be exact), grabbed a bottle of Guava juice from the fridge and greeted the shop keeper. He said “3 diners”…
NEVER, NEVER trust a Beirut Taxi Driver
I have shared my peeves about taxi rides from Hell before. Nothing prepared me for the taxis of Beirut. When I arrived at Lebanon’s Beirut airport, my pre arranged transport did not show (I found out later that someone forgot to book it!). My cell phone did not work and I could not find a working pay phone in the airport. So I stupidly headed to the door of the airport hall following a sign which said “taxis”! (Any other city, this would be logical). There appeared to be no order or logic to the line up of…
Trip Report: Royal Jordanian
Royal Jordanian are the Flag Carrier for the Kingdom of Jordan, a country between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Founded by the Jordanian king in 1963, it is now a privatised company. Royal Jordanian is the first (and only) Arab airline to join a major airline alliance being part of One World. I have now flown eight of the 12 airlines in One World (although one of them, Mexicana Airlines has suspended its operations and I wonder how long One World can keep saying they are a One World member). Finnair, JAL and S7 remain for me to…
Images of Beirut March 2011
Some pictures of Beirut. Building shelled in the civil war towards the Mediterranean I assume new tower because of war damage Display in shop made out of soap glassware I have no idea why these boys were dancing on the Corniche In downtown Beirut fountain where i was told not to take more pics Woman feeding cats on the Corniche costumed waiter Roman ruins near Martyr Square
I have just flown ONE MILLION MILES
Dawn in the air In the film: Up in the Air, George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a guy with the goal of earning one million miles with the one airline. Today, I reached the milestone of one million miles in the air (1.6 million kilometres). My life does not completely rsemble Clooney’s movie character, however. Unlike him, I actually love being home and I like people. I now have elite statuses with the following carriers: United Airlines Gold Virgin Blue Gold Qantas Platinum I measure my air life at a great flight tracking tool called FlightMemory. My…
My 717th flight!
Yesterday, I flew my 717th plane flight from Houston, Texas to Columbus, Ohio. I had hoped for a 717 but I got a beautiful 737. I am such a geek!Continental upgraded me to First Class which included amazing service and a very edible meal.
Fellow Passenger destroys my bag
I don’t check my luggage in for a number of reasons- one of which is avoiding having it damaged by the airlines. Yesterday, a gentleman was trying to get what looked like a very heavy and large bag into the aeroplane locker near me. It went in with a very loud bang. When I was getting off the plane, I discovered that he must have been shoving his bag in on top of mine. It was so heavy it distorted my bag and broke the handle off. I never could have imagined it. Thank you fellow…
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