I have stayed twice at the New York Hilton Midtown. The largest hotel in the city, it occupies almost an entire city block on Sixth Avenue, between West 53rd and West 54th streets. It has almost 2,000 rooms. From August, 2013 there will be no room service. Instead it will open a cafeteria-style restaurant called Herb n’ Kitchen which will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. This follows other Hiltons that have done the same thing. Not that I would notice, having never ordered room service at any NYC hotel! With a whole city of amazing late night food…
My Musings (Sundays)
Category Archives for My Musings (Sundays).
Picturing Air Routes
58,000 air routes cross the globe. Michael Markieta from Arup has developed a visualization of them. The result are beautiful images that look more images of galaxies.
Tomorrow I am heading to Bangkok on my 950th flight!
Tomorrow will be my 950th flight ever! I am zipping up from Sydney to Bangkok with Qantas on one of their A330s. Although to be honest, the 330 is one of my least favourite of the Airbus family (along with the 320). This will be my 17th time at Bangkok airport. My Bangkok plans include the Amphawa Floating market, south of Bangkok. Thailand’s rivers and canals were used by farmers to transporting their produce by boat to the cities where they traded. Today’s floating markets are not quite the same but still a vibrant fun experience. Also off…
The 28 airlines I have flown- that have gone
I was shocked to discover that of the 82 airlines I have flown, 28 are no longer in business! Who are they and what happened? Air Australia (2012) undercapitalised and badly planned, meant this carrier flew for only 3 months Aloha Airlines (2008) September 11, a contracting Japanese economy, intense competition between four airlines across Hawaii all impacted on Aloha Ansett (2001) I flew this airline 50 times before their Air New Zealand owners shut them down Australian Airlines (1993 and 2006) merged into Qantas, revived as a leisure brand and then scrapped in favour of…
Moving
I am moving cities today from Melbourne, Australia to Canberra, Australia. Any general interstate moving tips and any Canberra specific tips? Thank you
A wish for 2013 – an end to Bleugh Forms
Anyone get as tired as I do, of filling out their passport details on immigration forms and websites? It was only like 50 times last year! Then I have to stand in a line of sometimes thousands to be glanced at by a human being or questioned intently by them. London Heathrow, LAX and Sydney drive me crazy with the amount of time I spend standing in line. How much business and leisure time is wasted for millions of global travellers by these processes. I estimate I lost 36 hours in immigration form filling and line standing. And I am very efficient…
My Bucket List
I am moving to a new job in 2013 which will require me to travel less! Nonetheless, my bucket list for my life is: Visit 99 countries (currently 57) Visit (not transit through) all 50 US states (currently 46) Alaskan Cruise Walk across Hadrian’s Wall in England Yellowstone National Park Five major New Zealand hikes (currently 2: Milford and Queen Charlotte) Camino de Santiago Walk Hadrian’s Wall walk, UK Iguazu Falls ( have been to Victoria and Niagara Falls) Berlin Marathon (if I am going to run that far, I am going to do it…
The Mayans were wrong and we have had no End of the World!
Despite the fear mongering of some doomsdayers, the Mayan calendar date of 21 December 2012, did not mark the end of the world. Seems safe to say the world has not ended? Glad you are still with me! I am stunned to see Skyscanner saw a dramatic rise in one-way bookings to “safe” havens. Why do people get sucked in by this stuff?
Qantas ditches Wifi???
Qantas latest decision has been to ditch on board wifi after a six month trial period. In the period March through November, Qantas installed wifi on some of their A380s. The service was was offered for a fee on flights between Australia and London/Los Angeles. The response rate from passengers was just five per cent and Qantas is pulling the pin. Qantas did not say what percentage of passengers would need to use wifi to make it viable. The Wall Street Journal calculated last December that only three per cent of passengers on commercial flights with WiFi actually opt to pay…
12:12:12:12:12
Its 12: 12 on 12:12:12. A once in a lifetime date. What are 12 things you want to accomplish in life?
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