It’s our last full-day in Malaysia today and we’ve docked around the island of Langkawi (1 of 104 in this archipelago, north-west of Malaysia). We’re currently very close to the Thai border. We’ve not been to Langkawi before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Our original cable-car trip (that took in Machincang Mountain and …
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Category:Weather
Embarkation & Cruise Day 1: Arrival in Malaysia (Heading for Kuala Lumpur)
THURSDAY: Embarkation was mostly as smooth as it comes (apart form the queuing). After a S$10 Cab-ride to the Cruise Terminal, we were soon on-board (after only an hour of sitting around waiting to queue and then standing around enjoying the queuing). Did I mention queuing? It’s now just after 2pm, on Thursday and at …
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Day 3: Singapore – The Singapore Flyer and Lunch at The Sands SkyPark
Yes, another hot sticky one today – and our last full day here before joining the Ship tomorrow! We’re off to take a ride in The Singapore Flyer and then Lunch at the Sands SkyPark that takes in some spectacular views of the Bay. This is an interesting and newish attraction (opened in 2008), standing …
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Day 1: Singapore – Singapore Zoo
One of us slept well, the other is Mr Grumpy (because they didn’t!) It was either the time-zone change, the Kevlar-coated mattress, or a mixture of both! Back to the itinerary! Today, it’s Singapore Zoo for us – luckily, as visitors!! We haven’t been here since our first visit to Singapore, 32 years ago! and …
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Day 0: Arrival in Singapore
We left home just after 10.30 on Easter Saturday, courtesy of Philip, our Driver (all part of the Emirates service!). It’s been a while since we (well, Philip) tackled the M6, and given that it was a bank holiday weekend, the traffic, although busy, moved along at speed without any hitches. We therefore arrived at …
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Passport to SOMEWHERE
It was a day-out with a difference today, with our good friends, David and Valerie. The location was known only to them, and all we were told was: “Be ready for 8am, wear outdoor clothes and bring your Wellingtons. Oh.. and your passports”. The reason? To celebrate Ann’s Birthday and mine (well in advance). Lovely …
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Rail Watching
It’s been about two-and-a-half years since we last visited York – my Birthday weekend in 2015 – so it was good to visit this fine City again today. As an extra bonus, we met up with Dennis and Sandra who acted as our ‘tour guides’ for the day!We drove over to Peterborough Station to catch …
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George and the Flagon
We haven’t been here since we had lunch with Ian and Ann a couple of weeks ago and so It was a welcome return to The George in Stamford today. Today’s treat was lunch with another of our oldest friends – Mick and Jane. We set off just before 11.30 and into some atrocious driving …
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Christmas 2017
Christmas EveIt’s Christmas and we’ve got a busy (and very enjoyable) schedule. As normal, for us, it’s all about the ‘Four Fs of Christmas’ – Family, Friends, Food and Films! We set off for Denis’ just before 10am. Lee remained at ours (she’s not been so good travelling these days), and we arrived just after …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 6) – Around Málaga by Bus (Last Day)
Today is our last full day here as we’re flying home tomorrow. If the weather forecast is reliable, we plan to make it ‘a local day’ and see as much as we can, on our doorstep, here in Málaga. We decided that the most effective way to do it was using the hop-on/hop-off open-top Bus …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 5) – The Alhambra – Granada
Ouch! It’s not a great day weather-wise, but I’m sure we’ll make the most of it! Brollies are packed!! Oh, and gloves – after yesterday’s temperatures! Today, we’re off to Granada by local bus (90 minutes) to The Alhambra – it’s the most visited tourist attraction in Spain, so we just had to do it! …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 4) Our Anniversary – Córdoba
Non-Scorchio! Today is our 6th Wedding Anniversary – and 33 years to the day since we first met! We always do something special on this day, and being in Spain was no exception. We said goodbye to Seville and headed for Córdoba by train. We’ll finish our day by heading to Málaga and our final …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 3): The Train in Spain – Cádiz
Today’s adventure was visiting Cádiz by Train. We’re scheduled on the 9.47 from Seville that gets us to our destination by 11.26 – all for the measly sum of £24 each return (not bad for the distance travelled!). It’s our last day here today, before we head back to Málaga and our second hotel… for …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 2) – Shutters, Sausages and Seville
Today, it’s more of the same – taking in the local sights and sounds of Seville. Last night, having discovered the benefits of the electric window shutters in our room (they cut out all the light and sound), this morning we discovered the DISADVANTAGES. As we woke in complete darkness, a casual glance at my …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 1)
Not surprisingly, after yesterday’s adventure, we slept well. If anything, it was too warm here even with the AC on ‘min’ (never satisfied, that’s us!). Sleepy Seville A lazy breakfast in the Hotel just after 9 was the first order of the day. It was a good restaurant with a wide variety of brekky items …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Arrival)
Today turned into a very long day. At one point, we weren’t even certain that we were going to make it at all to Seville to celebrate our anniversary later this week – and that’s no exaggeration!! In the afternoon, due to the poor weather and the lack of anything happening at the airport, we …
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Côte Tales
Tonight was the annual Christmas get-together of ‘The 5ive’ – the group of us ex-self-employed Trainers who all worked together on a massive BA project back in 1999! We’ve managed to keep up these get-togethers for over 15 years now – and we haven’t changed a bit! We weren’t up to full strength tonight in …
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All Things Brighton Beautiful
Sorry! The title was Ann’s idea! I’ve clearly got competition!!! Another one of our long(ish) weekends! This time, it’s a return to Brighton, where we haven’t visited for over ten years! The plan is to do as much as possible over the next few days, taking in as many of the local attractions as our …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 3)
Today is a cultural marathon, where we’ve planned to take in the following locations. In fact, we squeezed in an extra one, so read on, loyal reader… Muchelney Abbey Somerton Lytes Cary The Royal Naval Fleet Air-Arm Museum They’re all fairly local to here, so we’re not planning to drive further than about half-an-hour from …
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Top Haturday & Sunday
Another family & friends get-together today as we headed for Kilworth Theatre and their final performance of Irving Berlin‘s Top Hat. It was obviously a popular choice, having run for a whole month – 16th August until 17th September. Roger, Jane and Oliver are with us for the weekend and joined us for the event, …
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Gambling on a Bank Holiday Weekend
Here we are then, all set to enjoy a Gambles Weekend… and then some… SaturdayThe extended weekend began with us travelling down to Stevenage Station for 11am to pick up Denis. Then it was off to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s for the Bank Holiday weekend. Bev was unable to join us because of her nursing …
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La Picnic
It was our annual trip to Lunaflix’s outdoor cinema presentation tonight – the Film? 2016’s La La Land; the venue? Boughton House. We’d been here last year to see Pretty Women and I immediately noticed this time, it was much better supported (with apparently, over 400 tickets sold – last year it was more like …
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Fireworks – in July!
Well, this was a treat! We just love firework displays and Rosi had told us about ‘Firework Champions’ a while ago. Tonight was our first opportunity to see one of their events live! In short, ‘Firework Champions’ is an outdoor event (really!?), where the best-of-the-best firework companies battle it out live to be err… fireworks …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 3, Day 5: Bye-bye Vancouver!
Weather permitting, it’s Queen Elizabeth Park (directions HERE) and Vancouver’s Botanical Gardens (directions HERE) before we close the suitcases on Canada for good this time round, and fly home. As things turned out the weather was much better than the forecast above showed – perfect for our last day here! It was a short SkyTrain …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 3, Day 4: Last Full Day in Vancouver
A lazy start to the day – we couldn’t even be bothered to walk downstairs for brekky! An excellent spread! Earl Grey Tea, Coffee, Waffles, Banana Pancakes – all with extra berries (and fat-free too!)…. Maybe!The weather looks a lot better today, so we’re off south to the town of Steveston using a mixture of …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 3, Day 3: Return to Vancouver
Well, the weather is certainly better than yesterday, but apparently nowhere near as hot as home – Kettering is up in the the high 20s/low 30s at the moment!!What to do? Fly home early? Maybe not!Actually, as things turned out, neither of us felt ‘100%’ today and we didn’t get much sleep. We therefore decided …
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24 hours in Anchorage
Well, not quite 24 hours, but almost! I wasn’t expecting to post again until we got to Whistler, but the weather and various locations along the way today made it a great opportunity for some extra photos. We got off the Ship in record time for exiting a Cruise and were soon sitting in the …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 2, Day 6: Skagway
Well, here we are, 100 miles north of yesterday’s soggy visit to Juneau, the capital – we’re now in Skagway, home to just 1000 locals. This town sees almost a million visitors a year and became the largest city in Alaska once gold had been discovered in the Yukon back in the 1890s. 7am: History …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 2, Day 5: Alaska’s Capital – Juneau
The short overnight sailing meant we were in Juneau in good time, docking by the time we woke up. Compared to yesterday’s ‘return to the wilderness’, this place is sophisticated – cars, buildings… and people! (and hopefully, no bears!) On the stroke of 7am, the captain announced we’d been ‘cleared’ – and by 7.01, hoards …
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Canada and Alaska – Part 2, Day 3: Ketchikan, Alaska
We arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska around 7a.m. – and a cool 10 degrees! There were two other Cruise Ships also moored alongside us – and the town was clearly ready for the expected increase in trade with their shop doors wide open and the vendors offering plenty of words of encouragement to sample their wares! …
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