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My photographs have been moved off this site and are now stored on Picasa. They
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Please use
this link to see my list of photo albums.
Airliners- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive A
Captain's Blog - the routine of a California based 767
captain FA Uniforms
- interesting collection of the old and new
************************ Scoot - the daftly named Singapore LCC - has moved forward its launch
date from June 26 to June 4 when it will now operate its inaugural flight
between Singapore Changi International (SIN) and Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD).
27 April 2012
Gamblers spent $33.5 billion in Macau
last year; by comparison, Las Vegas took in $6 billion. Wow.
New York Times report.
Presumably the only threat to Macau's
gambling growth is that China can turn off the tap at any
time.....unlikely now - too much invested.
*************************
Wide awake by 2.30am - jet lag is really thumping me after this trip - am
sure I will be sleeping at lunchtime again!
*************************
As the Leveson enquiry meanders on this line in a Guardian commentary by
Martina Hyde sums up everything rather nicely "Blaming
Murdoch for attempting to influence policy in his commercial favour is
like disagreeing with gravity."
25 April 2012
Hallo folks. I am back in Dubai and
have not been deliberately ignoring this page. But it is hard to spend
much time on the web site while driving 2,000 miles across the USA.
I did manage to keep a diary of our
travels. And that is here at
Tales from the Road.
16 April 2012
Alain de Botton: "Rather than 'love at
first sight', one should say, They look promising and I'll know properly
in about 20 years time..."
Romance in a single tweet !
14 April 2012
We should be on our way to Houston as I
type this - but the new Emirates slogan - hello tomorrow - appears to mean
that we also have to fly tomorrow.
********************************
So Liverpool make it to the FA Cup semi final - 2-1 over Everton. And this
is just one comment from the Guardian's readers which summarises things
rather well:
"This is a sad day for football. I
think we've all seen and heard way too much about Liverpool already this
season, and now they have another chance at 'success', yet more press
coverage and potentially further reward for what has been at times a
disgraceful season for them. This only fuels the sense of entitlement and
bragging (where there should be none) of a particularly blinkered set of
fans (on the whole - apologies to the non-blinkered), and serves to
distort the true level of the club and the way it has both played and
behaved this season. I feel for Evertonians whose club operates in the
right spirit and deserved much better than this very cruel result, and I
very much hope either Spurs or Chelsea have the legs left by the final to
absolutely crush Liverpool."
13 April 2012
American Idol update time with a show
that is proving that Asian American's still do not compete on an equal
footing and cannot win the competition.
Mind you Ms Sanchez's song choices have
been terrible - she sings for the judges not for the voters - big
mistake....
The judges got a bit wound up over this
one - and used their one save on her. Made for a bit of drama.
Jessica Sanchez can sing - but someone
needs to work on her image and her song choices.....
Am sure the other six that are left in
the competition would have been very happy to see her leave.
*************************
Weird Dubai weather - sandstorms continuing - and watch out for
Thunderstorms / Rain Saturday Eve and Sunday in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other
parts of UAE. Prediction is 40-50%
**************************
It only took 2 years for Dubai's RTA to do the blindingly obvious: Now you
can carry up to 2suitcases with you on Dubai Metro.You can keep them in
the dedicated luggage area which can be found in every cabin.
The metro line stops at both terminals
1 and 3. But previously you could not take luggage on the train!
12 April 2012
Qantas’ final repair bill for the
Airbus A380 damaged in Singapore in 2010 will be A$139 million ($143.3
million), more than one-third the list price for a new aircraft.
The aircraft, VH-OQA is set to fly from Singapore to Sydney on April 21,
with revenue service resuming later in the month, says the Australian
operator. The repaired aircraft currently is undergoing final tests.
VH-OQA suffered an uncontained engine failure after takeoff from Singapore
on Nov. 4, 2010, resulting in major damage. The A380 made an emergency
landing and has been grounded for repair ever since.
*************************
Angela Merkel arrives at passport control
at Athens Airport.
"Nationality?" asks the Immigration officer.
"German," she replies.
"Occupation?" he asks.
"No, just visiting for a few days."
*************************
First game of golf for about a month yesterday - Al Hamra is in lovely
condition (except for baked hard bunkers) - my game is not in such a good
condition....
10 April 2012
Talksport tweet : "Martin Atkinson saw
the Ballotelli foul on Song and gave nothing, so no retrospective action
can be taken. Atkinson should never ref again."
Exactly - incompetent referees are
tolerated far too easily.
***********************
From Business Traveller in the UK there are reports that Emirates wants to
fly its A380s in and out of Heathrow during current 1am-4am curfew. No
word as yet from airline.
***********************
Kenny Dalglish will blame everyine but himself for Liverpool's problems
but like it or not the team is in a mess. And if his name was not Dalglish
he would have been fired long ago - actually if his name was not Dalglish
he would never have been appointed - Roy Hodgson had a short tortured time
on Merseyside but under him Liverpool did win six of their 10 matches at
Anfield. This season, Dalglish, a man who is idolised rather than treated
with indifferent contempt by the Kop – which was Hodgson's lot – has
overseen just five home victories in 16 attempts. That is not unlucky,
that is awful.
9 April 2012
Sony Corp. will cut its global
workforce by about 10,000, or 6 percent of its entire workforce, by as
early as the end of 2012. Ouch.
***********************
Hubba Bubba Watson wins the Masters in Augusta.
8 April 2012
Happy Easter to all who celebrate the
day with family and friends.
***********************
At HKG airport but may or may not get on the delayed CX731 to Dubai this
afternoon.
***********************
Two new films in HKG with interesting titles - love in the buff - love
actually....sucks !
Have to be careful with the first one -
with the font they used I was sure it said something else !
7 April 2012
This will be tough: Ramadan in 2012
will start on Friday, the 20th of July and will continue for 30 days until
Saturday, the 18th of August.
The hottest part of the year and almost
the longest days of the year. Have the greatest respect for those who fast
and show restraint during Ramadan.
One side note - that is about the same
time as Modesch appears for the Dubai Summer Surprises so I am sure that
will need to be retimed this year.
************************
Almost six hour rounds of golf at the Masters on Friday. Too long and too
slow. And these guys hit it straight and have caddies and markers to find
their balls.
No round of golf should ever take more
than 3 and 1/2 hours.
6 April 2012
In Hong Kong for the weekend. And it
has rained for 24 hours since I arrived.
***************************
Are you missing whacky Thailand? Try this Songkran Road Safety Music Video
of the Dancing Female Thai Traffic Cops:
3 April 2012
Many congratulations to Marko and
Sumittra - who delivered their first child, a son, Jake, yesterday.
Everyone is doing well and Jake is a very healthy baby!
****************************
Strawberry Frog calls itself the world's first Cultural Movement agency.
What in this world does that mean?
It is an advertising agency.
It is Emirates' advertising agency.
It dreamed up the Hello Tomorrow
campaign - and filled Emirates with meaningless corporate speak that is
arrogant and paints a target on Emirates' back.
31 March 2012
One letter removed from Emirates new
advertisng campaign and you have "Hell Tomorrow" - which sums up 3-4-3 in
economy !
****************************
From
PPT - and may as well quote it in full - as this was a farce - and
everyone connected with it - in particular Abhisit and Suthep should be
hugely embarrassed.
"The Nation reports that the Department
of Special Investigation is “expected to conclude before Songkran its
investigation of an alleged conspiracy to topple the monarchy, and
recommend that the case be dropped for lack of evidence.”
That there is a “lack of evidence” and “unclear evidence” should be a
damning criticism of Abhisit Vejjajiva, Suthep Thaugsuban, the Centre for
Resolution of the Emergency Situations, and the military brass who shouted
so loudly that there was a Thaksin Shinawatra-red shirt republican plot to
overthrow the monarchy (ล่มเจ้า).
The “evidence” submitted by these royalists, who seeking to destroy others
with rash and politically-charged accusations of “disloyalty,” was based
on little more than circulated yellow shirt conspiracy theories and
politically-motivated fabrications.
PPT has long pointed out that the Democrat Party-led coalition government,
put in place by the military and elite, traded in lies and fabrications."
fr
30 March 2012
Caught up with the first episode of the
new 5th series of Mad Men yesterday - trouble is that when a show has been
off air for 18 months it is hard to pick up your interest again.
The show has moved onto 1966 - and the
season appears to be developing into a battle between the old world and
the beatles generation - basics first - Don has married Megan, Joan
has had her baby, the civil rights movement is in full swing, Peggy can do
the twist and is dating, Harry Crane has lost a ton of weight.
But there was too much time on
characters that I really do not like: Roger Sterling is still a sleaze.
But the old world clients still like him. Peggy is still ambitious. So is
Pete. But he is a pain. Lane is a desperate husband and Joan is still
indispensable. I wonder when the truth will be told about the father of
her baby.
And Don? Well Don is calmer, nicer. His new wife is in his office and in
his bed. And she can sing - 'Zou Bisou Bisou.'
What is it with these French Canadian
actresses taking over the best roles in Hollywood TV?
But Don will blow everything. He has
to. It is his way.
But Megan is strong and modern. How she
manages Don will be one of the storylines this season
At the end of the episode the civil
rights movement had come to the company. There will be black secretaries
hired - and how the office reacts to these new characters will be one of
the stories of the season. An affair for Pete?
No sign of Betty yet - how will she fit
into the the brave new world?
Perhaps the real star is the 1960s look
and feel. Pete declares his office a no smoking zone. No line or passing
look in the office hasn't been thought through and considered. The music
fits; the costumes and props are all 60s perfect.
It was not a great first episode - but
it set up the series very neatly - and showed where power lies both in the
homes and in the offices.
******************************
The A380 repairs at Emirates are continuing - and continue to mess up the
airline's flying sechedules:
Dubai – Johannesburg EK761/762 till
15MAY12 Boeing 777-300ER replaces A380 (Previously planned until 30APR12)
Dubai – London Heathrow 4th Daily A380 service further postponed till
01JUN12 (previously planned until 30APR12)
EK029/030 A380 replaced by 777-300 until 24MAR12, 777-300ER from 25MAR12
to 31MAY12
*******************************
This is not going to be a recruiting campaign for US universities.....from
Rolling Stone magazine....
Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth's Hazing
Abuses - A Dartmouth degree is a ticket to the top - but first you may
have to get puked on by your drunken friends and wallow in human filth.
29 March 2012
EarthHour is a con. It is basically
excuse for big companies to send press releases about how eco-friendly
they are. ANd there are plenty such press releases across the UAE today.
Trouble is Saturday evening (31st) is also the Dubai World Cup horse
racing at Meydan - and they wont be racing that in the dark.
28 March 2012
Oh dear - a six-month prison sentence
for two men who kissed in the street was yesterday upheld by the Abu Dhabi
Appeals Court.
A lawyer for the two men - a German and an Indian - said the pair had
simply been saying goodbye to each other and that the gesture was purely
platonic.
Six months. Is that really necessary?
And who would go to the trouble of reporting them...
****************************
Emirates Airline’s (EK) dedicated Airbus A380 terminal at Dubai
International (DXB) will open Jan. 1, 2013, Executive VP-passenger sales
Thierry Antinori confirmed to ATW.
“At this new facility we can offer 20 A380 parking positions,” Antinori
said. Emirates will take delivery of 11 A380s and 20 Boeing 777-300ERs
this year.
25 March 2012
Mad Men is back tonight - with a two
hour episode to start Series 5. Goody !
****************************
Apparently Etihad went after the owners of PPrune demanding they release
the details of everyone who posted some comments about the airline's
"grooming guide" for the pilots. It was reported in another forum that
some pilots were fired and others threatened with prosecution....part of
the settlement must have been that there would be no further posts
concerning Etihad on the website.
24 March 2012
A6-EGO is flying now - the 1,000th 777
- it went to SIN and BNE on its first revenue flight at 02.45 on the 23rd
- back to Dubai at 13.00 today - and off to Milan at 15.50.
23 March 2012
On Sunday night in Thailand the
"Smiling Moon" is back. Venus & Jupiter with the crescent moon will make a
smiling face.
21 March 2012
The widespread storm, which has laid a
veil of fine dust across most of the GCC, will gradually clear off by
tomorrow and temperatures will start to climb again, weather forecasters
said yesterday.
It is pretty grim outside!
The first front that hit the area four days ago brought in sand and dust
from Iraq and Kuwait. A second front causing low pressure later moved
eastward, reaching south-eastern Iran and kicking up dust and sand on
Monday that engulfed the northern region of the UAE and parts of Oman. For
many it was the worst dust storm in recent years.
The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology explained that the high
amount of dust is a result of the nature of the land over which the wind
passes through.
The storm creates severe visibility problems across the country, blocking
sunlight and coating everything with a cover of orange-coloured fine dust.
***************************
First it was Emirates/NBD - and the next bank to slash jobs in the Middle
East is HSBC.
Staff at HSBC Middle East have received
an email today announcing immediate company plans to implement
redundancies, Arabian Business has learned.
Sources said the email did not specify the number of job cuts or in which
departments they would occur, but recipients of the email included
employees in wealth management.
****************************
Speaking at the AviationoutlookMENA conference today Nok Air CEO @Patee122
said that "Pretty female flight attendants allowed for 15% fare increase.”
Which explains the airline's
recruitment programmes on TV - more beauty and talent show than airline
safety awareness.
It is a very Thai approach to
recruitment and operating an airline.
It may be honest but it says a lot
about the role of women in Thailand.
***************************
The next ASEAN summit is to be held in Cambodia on April 3 and 4. Thaksin
was last heard of in Cambodia - coincidence?
20 March 2012
Earthquake in Mexico
tonight - magnitude 7.4; epicenter in Ometepec - between Acapulco and
Oaxaca big and shallow. Almost had my own earthquake in Oaxaca once - a
long story.
It is the strongest
earthquake to hit Mexico since a 7.8 magnitude quake in 1985, which killed
thousands.
The quake, which struck at noon (CST), was felt as far south as Chile.
So far the reports
indicate significant property damage but no fatalities.
*****************************
So I am walking back to the hotel on Ruam Rudee on Sunday night - I stop
at the 7-11 and a group of kids come in - American and Thai - Sir
can you do us a big favour they ask - we are in a race doing a series of
challenges - can you please stand there and hold this potato and let us
take your picture.....
OK - bizarre! So somewhere online there
is a picture of me in a 7-11 with a potato in my hand !
Amazing Thailand!
*******************************
Too hot though and far too humid. And I walked for miles on Saturday - and
then into air conditioning - so have come back with a crappy cold.
*******************************
Thai Airways back to Dubai - they are not the airline that they used to
be. Safety checks are especially weak.
********************************
What is it about Arab travellers that they have to shout at eachother
across the airline cabin - not just at the start of the flight but
throughout it....if you want to talk to someone walk around the cabin to
wear they are sitting and go and talk to them.
********************************
Films watched on TG this month:
Johnny English Reborn.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Ides of March
The Double
18 March 2012
Al Nasr boss Walter Zenga has had to
issue an apology for his remarks made after his side's 1-0 loss to Dubai
on Friday night.
Outspoken Italian coach Zenga claimed "everybody is crazy in this country"
in reference to the UAE after hitting out at the match officials following
his side's shock home defeat to relegation threatened Dubai.
Why apologise !? I was not offended !
14 March 2012
In one of the ultimate signs of the
times:
After 244 years reference book firm
Encyclopaedia Britannica has decided to stop publishing its famous and
weighty 32-volume print edition.
It will now focus on digital
expansion amid rising competition from websites such as Wikipedia.
The firm, which used to sell its
encyclopaedias door-to-door, now generates almost 85% its revenue from
online sales.
It recently launched a digital
version of its encyclopaedias for tablet PCs.
12 March 2012
Dubai is still not
out of its financial crisis: Bloomberg reports today that Dubai’s Emirates
NBD Said to Plan Cutting 15% of Workforce to Reduce Costs; The job cuts
will affect about 500 to 700 employees across all departments and are
likely to be carried out this month, said one of the people, declining to
be identified because the information is private.
***************************
Qatar's natural gas and oil reserves are apparently worth 'about $9.5
trillion' - which is why this small and rather self conscious nation will
be able to buy anything that it wants for a very very long time to come.
It is a strange quirk of history that
the first industrial nations built the very machinery that they lack the
fuel reserves to be able to operate cheaply in perpetuity; the very
machines that will make their nations poor.
***************************
Emirates will boost its operations in Italy this October as the airline
adds a third daily flight to Rome. This will take the total number of
flights offered to Italy to 56 weekly.
10 March 2012
Struggling
Kingfisher is cancelling its flights from Mumbai and Bangalore to London
Heathrow from April.
Assume the slots
will be sold. Emirates may want these - at least a sixth daily to London
is possible.
***************************
Speculation on Fleet St has reached fever pitch this week that Kate's done
her duty, and that a royal baby announcement isn't too far away.
9 March 2012
The Wall Street Journal noted today
that Qantas Airways Ltd.'s talks with Malaysian Airline System Bhd. to
establish a new premium carrier collapsed Friday, leaving the Flying
Kangaroo with the same old problem: an international business that's going
nowhere.....
6 March 2012
Tai and I watched "The Iron Lady"
tonight. Meryl Streep is uncanny as Margaret Thatcher. But the portrait is
way to sympathetic - the script feels like a Daily Telegraph editorial.
Streep's impersonation is remarkable -
she captures Thatcher in pathetically touching old age and Thatcher in her
political prime as party leader and world stateswoman.
There is too much time spent lingering
on the ageing Thatcher- battling with questionable memories and the onset
of dementia. These scenes are all fiction - we have no idea of how well or
unwell Baroness Thatcher is. Meanwhile the film stumbles through 11 and
1/2 years of Thatcher's premiership with hardly a note of regret.
I never liked her - I never will. And
this appears to be a film that has been financed by the Tory party with
the support of bankers' bonuses. But Streep is remarkable.
3 March 2012
Good game of golf
yesterday at Muang Kaew - but it was hot and humid and slow and
exhausting.
Big thank you to
Dennis - who I know enjoys it less than I do so I always appreciate his
patience and willingness to head out with me.
******************************
My old mobile phone was gone - together with the old BKK SIM number.
I would hate to say
that someone took it from my hotel room - but that was the last time I
remember seeing it or using it.
******************************
Why do Thais always pretend that they understand something and then by
their actions make it perfectly clear that they have no idea what you were
talking about. This is especially true of hotel staff - and at Centrepoint
they are no close to useless.