nomad4ever

Stalking The Flying Kangaroo – Texan tycoon seeks Qantas takeover; what’s in it for SIA?

by Tor Ching Li (chingli@mediacorp.com.sg)

QANTAS Airways – which proudly touts itself as “the Spirit of Australia” – said yesterday that it could be bought over by a private consortium, including a Texan maverick who specialises in Extreme Makeover-style takeovers of the companies he buys.

Analysts are divided over whether the largest takeover bid in aviation history, pegged at some A$11 billion, makes the lucrative Kangaroo route – from Sydney to Los Angeles – more attainable for Singapore Airlines (SIA), the Australian carrier’s long-time rival and failed merger partner.

written by Chris

Bali is a rich island – and rich in natural wonders that is! You have volcanoes, resulting in black sandy beaches at the coasts, large green fields and valleys, jungle hills with deep rivers, cool water falls, hot springs and mysterious lakes in mountains of mist.

To visit those lakes, you have to travel north from the main tourist areas. A good way to do that (in case you don’t have any detailed map; there are not many around anyway) is to follow the road signs to Singaraya (the biggest town at the north coast).

written by Chris

Found some food for thought recently. I didn’t know that there is even a word for self-sustainability, independence and ‘live and let live’ philosophy:

Libertarianism is a political philosophy advocating that individuals should be free to do whatever they wish with their person or property, as long as they do not infringe on the same liberty of others.

There are two types of libertarians. One type holds as a fundamental maxim that all human interaction should be voluntary and consensual. They maintain that the initiation of force against another person or his property, with “force” meaning the use of physical force, the threat of it, or the commission of fraud against someone who has not initiated physical force, threat, or fraud, is a violation of that principle (many of these are individualist anarchists or anarcho-capitalists).

written by Chris

After shopping in HongKong, Thaksin jets off for 5- to 7-day vacation

DENPASAR – Deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday arrived on the Indonesian resort island of Bali for a holiday. Mr Thaksin, who was shopping in Hong Kong with his wife on Tuesday, was whisked into a limousine at the airport and left without speaking to reporters.

The convoy headed for the luxury Sheraton resort in the tourist enclave of Nusa Dua, south of the airport.

His plans were not immediately confirmed, although his lawyer said that he was on holiday. “He will be there on vacation for about five or even seven days,” Mr Noppadol Pattama said.

written by Chris

It’s funny to watch and compare the two genders dance around each other in Thailand and Bali. While in Thailand, mainly in Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket; most of the sex tourists are usually the old, saggy type of men in their late 50s up, it’s almost unheard of that women travel to Thailand for Sex.

Right?

The show is completely different in Bali: Here you usually see a younger crowd of men, but most of them bring ‘beer to Munich’ or ‘owls to Athens’, as they travel with girlfriend or wife. Rarely you see typical male sex tourists (in the classical sense) flock to Indonesia.

written by Chris

That is probably a question everyone of us was asking him/herself already. When walking around in Jalan Doublesix a few days back, I passed a stall of used books and this one literally just “jumped into my eye”.

So I had to buy it for Rp 30.000, which was well worth it. Reading through it I was amazed over the similarities of what people struggle with and how and if they overcome their fears and doubts. Most people don’t get it written down on paper, what is their goal in life and how they can achieve a fulfilled time on earth. There is no difference if old or young, open-minded, well-educated or easy-going.

written by Chris

Dreams, symbols, signs, and adventure follow the reader like echoes of ancient wise voices in “The Alchemist”, a novel that combines an atmosphere of Medieval mysticism with the song of the desert.

With this symbolic masterpiece Coelho states that we should not avoid our destinies, and urges people to follow their dreams, because to find our “Personal Myth” and our mission on Earth is the way to find “God”, meaning happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose of creation.

written by Chris

After 8 months Thailand, mainly around Phuket, but with short visits to Koh Phi Phi, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we are restless again.

Nomads have to travel, so we decided to move on -> direction Indonesia.

This sunday evening we will depart, with a 1-week stopover at our old home turf Singapore, to secure my Social Budaya Visa for Indonesia – thus avoiding having to leave the country every month.

The good thing about Bali is, besides being a (mainly) peaceful Hindu island, that it’s in the middle of Indonesia’s 17.000 islands, with Lombok, Komodo, Flores and Java in its closest proximity.

written by Chris