No update yet
Laptop battery died, I'll need to charge it overnight and go through today's photos in the morning. Check back this afternoon Aus Eastern time (maybe around 5pm depending on what time I wake up and how long it takes me to write the post).
Day 2: Zurich
I'm not sure if it's a thing, but Zurich feels like it should be one of those arrangements where cities form "Sister City" partnerships because Zurich has quite a lot in common with Melbourne. Right down to the interchangeable weather at the near drop of a hat. To say that the day has been long is an understatement. Realistically the 8th of May for me has been around 36 hours long. As I flew out of Singapore just after midnight and was chasing the timezones backwards on the very long flight. I...
Day 1: Singapore
Hello from Singapore! It has been a mammoth day that is drawing to a close as I await my flight from Singapore to Zurich. It is 11:21PM as I write this and my flight is due to depart at 1:45AM, it is approximately 28 degrees outside, and I'd say very high humidity. My humidity sensors are tingling. I've taken a bit of a walk around the airport to scout some things to do but honestly this place is massive. All four terminals of Melbourne could fit into one terminal here. Being a hub airport...
The Final Countdown
It seems fitting to use the title of a song by a band name with my destination. The bags are packed, the batteries are charged, and the book is ready to go. I'm now writing part of this post while waiting for the time to head to the airport. Melbourne has decided to give me a taste of what's to come with the forecast for Switzerland looking like rain for the entire time I'm going to be there. My final luggage weight came in at 18.7kg, well below the 30kg limit so I've got weight to spare for...
7 days to go
Time to start thinking about packing. My dry run a couple of weeks ago resulted in me using about 10kg of my 30kg allocation from Singapore Airlines. Plenty of space for taking a few more items of clothing and leave room to bring souvenirs back. I've been starting to look at some of the forecasts for places I'm going to be in Switzerland for the first few days. So far it is going to be incredibly close to the temperatures I am leaving. Lows of 8-10 and highs of 16-22 for areas I'll be in for...
10 days to go
It's been a long road getting to this point. For most people it would be a six-to-nine month process planning an international venture. This trip was supposed to happen in 2020 so I've had a bit of time to plan it... I've had four different plans, two that were in place for 2020 revolving around a little thing called Coronavirus ID 19 that had me plan one trip in two directions (just reversing the trip if border closures meant I couldn't move between countries in Europe, I would just do the...
China Study Tour: The Way Home
I've just now (In November) realised that I don't have a log for the journey home so I'm basing all of this on a bit of memory so I may miss a couple of minor things. We were up and moving early, we had to be on the road in time to make it to the airport for our flight back to Hong Kong, even though it was late in the afternoon. As we left we thanked the staff in the dorms for their generous hospitality (and leniency on the curfew with us). Before loading up into the bus for the ride back to...
China 2017: Day Eight
Got up early despite the overly comfortable bed inviting me to stay a while longer. Had to get downstairs for the buffet breakfast though so up and moving it was. The buffet was amazing. First opportunity for some western food in a while. I ended up with a bowl of rice krispies and cacao nibs (rice bubbles and coco pops) to start with, then proceeded to a plate of bacon and eggs with a slice of toast. Didn't even think how my body would react to suddenly getting the food it was more used to...
China 2017: Day Seven
Today was a bit of a quiet one compared to the rest of the week. We started with a trip back to Muslin Market as a few people (myself included) needed to pick up a few more souvenirs. Mine were mostly things I'd planned to get for others. We were only given around an hour in the end to find and buy the last of our souvenirs so I got a little frustrated with Michael when he started pointing out the purchases I was making were bad deals. I could have haggled more but didn't want to waste too...
China 2017: Day Six
Started the day with a tour of the historical museum, learned about some of the artistic and cultural history of China as well as the evolution of the written Chinese language. We also had a calligraphy session where we learned to draw some Chinese symbols. One that was the basis of all symbols, and one really bloody complex one. From there we made the one and a half hour journey to (I believe) Yuanjia. A supposedly contemporary Chinese village where we were going to experience traditional...