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…
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…
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