Lost in Penang

We flew into Penang at just after midday today. The airport has been upgraded since I was last there; now it's shiny and new and there are no signs anywhere, which means you get off the plane, into the terminal and then have no clues about where to go for immigration or to find your luggage. I'm sure when it's finished it will be lovely.

Allergic reaction

I'm feeling quite sorry for myself. We visited my wife's cousin today, who lives in a house with three cats, two dogs (one small, the other a pony-sized Great Dane), three children, and thus a cloud of hair, dust and dander that could block out the moon. We stayed for two hours, of which I spent one hour and fifty-nine minutes sneezing, my eyes streaming, my throat burning, until finally everyone had enough of laughing at my reaction and we drove back to Halifax. My eyes are still red raw now and I'm draining through my nose, which suggests whatever I'm reacting to is going to take as long to get back out as it took to go in.

Lost in Nova Scotia

Today I went for a run in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Unlike my runs in Quebec, I'd remembered to remember what street I needed to get back to, and I didn't have to worry about nobody speaking my language. (I did have to worry that Canadians wouldn't be able to understand my accent, but that's a whole other story.)

Lost in Quebec

Following the day of the wedding, I woke up the next day to slightly grey skies, and then wasted several hours reading a Tom Clancy, before putting on my running kit and heading off for a run.

I'd done the same route yesterday - down the road, into the forest, out into the middle of a new housing development of identikit houses, and then back to the cottage - and my initial success had bred contempt at the task. This second time round, instead of running in random directions and swiftly finding myself just down the road from where I'd started, I found mself ... nowhere.

A good walk, spoiled

I got up at 6:15 today, despite being out drinking gin last night, and went off for my morning constitutional. For the last week or so, I've been running round to Marina Bay, which doesn't involve any inclines apart from the occasional escalator. So today I thought I'd go to Fort Canning, run up the hill, run down again, and go home. I had an 8am phone call, which gave me plenty of time for a run, some cooldown time and a shower before heading to the office.

Dim sum

This lunchtime we went for dim sum in Windsor Plaza, a shopping centre on the edge of Causeway Bay. I'm not keen on Chinese food, because at dim sum all there seems to eat is things made from bits of pig, and broccoli.

Smashed, Singapore

There are advantages to getting hammered in Singapore. Like not caring about where your hotel room is. Unfortunately, that's only an advantage when you don't know where your hotel room is.

Wetlands again

With an old friend in town, and recovering from the glory of yesterday's birthday dinner (crowned with an enormous apple pie with my name on it) I planned to revisit the Wetlands Park today.

Meeting up in Osaka

Because I know absolutely nobody in Osaka, I went on to meetup.com and looked there for people, and arranged to have dinner at a Canadian pizza restaurant north of the main station. Because I enjoy partaking of local customs, and when in Osaka, what could be more culturally appropriate than Canadian pizza?