Is it just anthropomorphism – the tendency of us humans to give human attributes to animals – or do they really have personalities and individual characteristics like humans? If you want to know the answer to that question, don’t go to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, an hour and a half drive outside of [...]
I just got home from Day 1 of the Basic Rider Course, the first stage in getting my motorcycle license. I’m taking the 3-day course that starts on Friday evening with a 3 hour classroom session. Not as boring as you might think…actually very interesting. It is a basic course for people who haven’t risen [...]
It’s official – approved by my management – my next big trip will be to Alaska’s North Slope some time in mid-July. That means it will probably be light 24 hours a day while I’m there or close to it and despite the date, it will be cold. Average temp for northern Alaska in July [...]
As soon as the taxi pulled away from the Shangi-La Hotel in KL, I sensed a problem. The loud clunk each time the driver shifted gears worried me…would we make it to the airport in time for my flight to Singapore? My answer came a few klicks down the road when the driver tries to [...]
Kuala Lumpur is a city of diversity. With a mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese calling the city home, it is a vibrant mix of similar, yet divergent cultures. Although Malaysia itself is a Muslim country, it boasts religious tolerance and cultural openness. From Little India and Chinatown to neighborhoods inhabited by expats from Australia, [...]
Like massive sandcastles rising out the sands of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, the towers of Dubai rise out of the sands on the southern edge of the Persian Gulf. But instead of plastic pails and shovels, water and sand, the builders of these massive edifices used steel and glass to create an architecturally unique city. [...]
There’s an old joke about the guy traveling in Business Class for the first time. He sits down and starts playing with all the buttons to raise the leg rest, lower the back, lay it out flat. As he’s shifting around in the seat, the flight attendant comes by to offer him a snack before [...]
Well, my flight to Singapore and on to Hong Kong was delayed by 24 hours, or rather postponed, so that I could interview a customer about our system here in Malaysia. I met with him over a very nice breakfast a local KL restaurant and now I’m back in my hotel getting things packed. The [...]
I nearly landed in the lap of the man sitting next to me on the 737 from Kuala Lumpur to Labuan when the pilot slammed the plane into the runway. Kenny, my local contact in Malaysia for the article I was working on, had warned me that, for some unknown reason, the pilots always made [...]
