So Much to Say, But Waiting For a Rainy Day

The weather in Cape Town has been quite nice since my arrival but the forecast is for rain beginning on Monday. So, I'm running around like crazy trying to see as much as possible and take photos while I can. When I get back at the end of the day I'm too tired for anything but sleeping. Will "catch you up" of this interesting city soon.

Counting My Lucky Stars

Sad sight to behold.

The engine failure on a Qantas Airbus 380 and subsequent landing in Singapore certainly made for some wild reporting in the media. Fortunately there were no injuries. Since this was the aircraft type I flew from SYD to SIN it did give me some pause. I was on flight QF 31 and the aircraft registration was VH-OQF (yes, I keep track of that sort of stuff in a log book; I am a pilot after all). The aircraft involved in the incident was registered VH-OQA operating as QF 32. Grounding the entire A380 fleet was certainly prudent on the part of the airline; there are currently only six in service with Qantas. Yes, I would have been disappointed had this happened prior to my flight on the aircraft so that's why I'm counting my lucky stars!

For the curious, Q A N T A S stands for Queensland And Northern Territories Aerial Services.

(Photo by Vivek Prakash/Reuters)

Arrival in South Africa

Arrival was on this lovely Cathay Pacific B-747-400 aircraft, seated on the forward upper deck.

Sitting in the British Airways lounge at Johannesburg at the moment, watching airplanes land, sipping a diet Coke and blogging. The Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong was long but after a drink and dinner I slept for nearly nine hours and woke up refreshed. It's a beautiful sunny day here, the sky is blue and the view at the airport is terrific. My flight to Cape Town departs in a couple of hours. More later once I'm settled in CPT.

Some Notes from the HKG Airport

Dear Blog Followers & Friends,

The internet access while in HKG has been hit and miss so I decided to head for the airport early this afternoon so I could hang out in the Cathay Pacific business class lounge and use their internet service. I arrived at 3:15 p.m. and my flight for Johannesburg doesn't leave until 11:45 p.m. I should be able to get caught up on a lot of things.

Thanks to those who have sent emails to indicate they're following the blog, offering support, saying that I'm missed, and such. Always nice to feel the connection with everyone back in the States.

I just happened to read the news today and get a glimpse of the changing political landscape that awaits me should I return (haha on the "should"). It has been refreshing not to have to hear about it all these past few weeks. Amazingly I've only had a few people ask me about American politics.

So far I've ranked my experience in Singapore as #1. It was exciting to visit a new city in depth (previous airport visits as a transit passenger only count for "been there" but certainly not the "done that." Accommodation-wise it was also the best and Daniel & Chin were really really super nice. I'll be interested to see how things turn out in South Africa at the Zebra Crossing Lodge! (Just as long as they're quiet while crossing).

I did purchase another small suitcase while in HKG. It makes things easier, although I'll have to switch more weight from the big one to the small one. The case only cost me US$14.00 which made me laugh at how cheap the cost. Hope it holds up for the remainder of the trip.

Today is day 16 with 18 remaining. The time is going by rather quickly. Living out of a suitcase isn't much fun, nor is having to be frugal ... it's so ... monastic ! Ha ha ha ha!

Will see how the internet access is in Cape Town but at least I think we're pretty well caught up for the present.

Thanks again for following me and again for your emails, sorry I'm not able to reply directly to everyone.

Final Few Days in Hong Kong

Among the interesting sights depicted here are: the clock tower down by the waterfront on the Kowloon side (pic 5), The Peninsula Hotel entrance with a nice Rolls Royce parked out front (pic 4). I went inside to see the ornate lobby but opted not to have afternoon tea. Some cute school children were visiting the aviary at the Kowloon Botanic Garden (pic 3) not to be confused with a different kind of "aviary" where I found cages of birds at the bird market (pic 2) which made me sad. One of the ferry boats all lit up upon arrival at HK Island (pic 1). The regular ferries crossing back & forth aren't all lit up like this.

My last night here found me heading across to HK Island in search of The Globe Bar & Cafe which Erica said is a favorite hang-out for expats. (If you check out the website you'll see a photo of the bar. I sat at the bar, third seat from the left). The hike meant using the Mid-levels escalators in the area called "Central" before heading over to "SoHo" where the bar is located. While at The Globe I had some delicious bar food and a beer. Then I started chatting with Kirsten who was sitting to my left typing wildly away at her laptop. Found out she's an assistant manager, born & raised in HK as wanted to make sure I was having a good stay. When I told her what I was doing (the RTW gig) she called over a bunch of other bar patrons saying, "you've got to meet Steve, he's traveling around the world!" She told the bar tender to get me another drink, this one "on the house." Too bad that I'd already paid my bill for the first one and the food. Anyway, I had a blast chatting away with some interesting people. I am happy to report that I could still navigate my way back to the ferry terminal, cross over to Kowloon and get on the number 7 bus back to Erica's. I was also happy that it dropped me off almost in front and that she was still out. I went straight to bed; sober, but tired.

Local Experience - More Photos

The building being built across the street from my bedroom window.
It was interesting to observe how they build things here!

View out my window to the left. Victory street is below.


View out the window to the right.

I should add that I decided to get some laundry done while here in HKG. Erica suggested I go to "Best Laundry" where she has her maid, Marietta, take her stuff. I did and it was in at 10:00 a.m. and ready by 3:00 p.m. washed, dried & folded for the equivalent of US$4.00! A ring that I'd left in a jeans pocket by accident was taped to the exterior of the package-wrap. Nice.

"Local Experience" in Hong Kong. Indeed.

The room I stayed in with pull-out sofa-bed.

The cute little dining room with living area behind me, tiny galley kitchen to the right as well as a little bathroom with shower and the master bedroom.

This is the exterior door of the apartment. Another wooden door is behind this. It took four keys to unlock three doors, the first one being down the main set of stairs.


This sort of stairway didn't make me feel confident about my coice. She lives on the fifth floor. There is no elevator. My legs were killing me at the beginning but complained less on the day I left.

Erica bills this place as the "local experience" and by that she means living like many of the local people live. Of course the locals have more than one person living in an apartment. Still, it's a building made out of concrete so it's solid. There is construction going on across the street and the noise from that is a nuisance but ear plugs helped a great deal. Public transportation can be found close-by and there are numerous places to eat. I felt safe here are she was a delightful host, though busy busy busy.

Her internet service was having problems, which for me was a royal pain since I was trying to stay connected and work on the blog. In the end, I had to visit a cafe across the street so I could get free wi-fi. I don't think I've ever drank so much coffee in my life.

Overall it was a good experience; certainly different from staying at the new Four Seasons on Hong Kong Island (I imagine, anyway).