ONZE: Atlantique Sunset

I had to wait a couple of hours for the sun to set in order to get my atlantic sunset picture. I drove south to Anglet Plage de La Barre. I expected big waves and strong wind, having watched countless documentaries about rogue waves in the atlantic ocean. Perhaps it was due to the high pressure over the whole of Aquitaine, for the sea was extremely calm, unlike the rough coastal conditions off Perth Western Australia or the windier conditions off the coast of San Francisco. Anyway, sunset was spot on at 2125h, as my GPS said it would be. Enjoy this sunset.

I also discovered that I did not need to drive the 297km from toulouse to see the sunset off anglet, but I like driving and I wanted to test out my new SLR. OK for those armchair explorers, see the link below:
http://www.anglet-tourisme.com/webcams/webcam_plage_barre.htm

Cheers
TO

DIX: Fêtes de Bayonne

I wanted to see the french atlantic coast and decided to head west from AUCH via the RN. Big mistake! While I managed to get to Auch without problems, the route to PAU-DAX and Bayonne was more difficult and I had to get assistance from 2 Gendarmerie on bikes who were kind enough to escort me to the correct turn off and pointed me to Mont-de-Marsan which then led me to PAU and onto A63.

I arrived in Bayonne which was in a bit of a mess, with thousands of people dressed up in white and wearing red scarfs on their necks, drinking heavily and engaged in merry making. The streets reeked of stale urine as many of the participants needed to relief their bladders after all that partying. Even Sponge Bob was there.

See the link for live webcam of bayonne.
http://www.ville-bayonne.fr/index.php?id=130

Cheers
TO

NEUF: French Kiss

Saw this sign at Carcassonne Airport.

Bon Voyage, XXX
TO

HUIT: McDonald's in France and the Conspiracy!

Is it a figment of my imagination or are burgers getting smaller? Since my first "plain" Fillet -O- Fish in 1980 at McDonalds in Shenton Way, I've noticed that:

1) the burger bun is smaller

2) the pattys are smaller

3) the slice of cheese is smaller and tartare sauce is getting less (I started eating the normal fillet-o-fish slightly later in life after my taste buds changed.)

People have told me that it's just a perception based on the fact that I was only 7 at that time and the burger would have be "relatively" big in my young hands... which in theory could be true. However, this perception is not just based on my childhood era alone, I've noticed that the KFC Zinger burger has also shrunk.

As the only NSF MT Spec for 20 SA for about a year, I was constantly on Stand-By, not allowed to "book out" for 2-3 week stretches. Geoffrey, my bunk mate would buy me a Zinger when he booked in and I can say this for a fact, the Zinger in those days were the best! The chicken fillet used to be thick, juicy and crunchy, but theses days the Zinger is a very pale shadow of what I considered the best chicken burger ever.

I believe there is a conspiracy by these fast food corporations, who probably change the specifications of the buns, meat pattys every year. Each year trimming the size by a millimeter, a gram or so, (changes small enough to be not very perceptable) until we have the situation today, where the prices keep going up and the sizes keep shrinking. I think the only thing at McDonalds that has stayed the same would be the quarter pounder, where it is based on weight of the patty. (McDs must be cursing themselves for that).

It was at Paris CDG that I encountered the most pathetic Fillet-O-Fish ever! The slice of cheese covered less than half the bun, and they are also rationing the tartar sauce. Check out the picture above. 2 mouthful later, it was gone!

Having said that, it seems that McDs has entrenched themselves very deeply in France. So much so that everywhere I looked, there was a McDs in the corner. Same cannot be said for KFC though, the nearest KFC to toulouse is in Andorra.

Bon apetit!
TO

SEPT: Special Delivery from Broughton

Special delivery from Broughton via the Garonne! Caught this during a visit to Bordeaux.

Cheers

TO

SIX: Flight Test Humor

This sign is posted next to the entrance to the flightdeck of MSN001. Flight test humour indeed!

Cheers

TO

CINQ: Bless this Van!

This is probably the most indestructible vehicle on earth. I saw this van whilst driving in Singapore (Oct 2006). If you check out the stickers on his rear window, you'd probably say this guy has taken kiasuism to extremes!

Happy Driving!
TO

QUATRE: Maggi Goes Upmarket!

For those of you who come from my part of the world, MAGGI is synonymous with instant noodles! MAGGI MEE is used interchangeably with instant noodles in singapore and malaysia. Very popular amongst singapore students studying overseas are the maggi flavouring sauce, stock cubes and chilli and tomato sauces. We get these either from CARE packages from home or from the usual chinatown provision shop which sell the stuff at 2-3 times the price back home.

So imagine my surprise when I chanced upon Maggi Kochstudio in Frankfurt (May 2007). Clearly this is incongruent with the brand status/image that Maggi has in singapore and malaysia. Come to think of it, the situation is almost the same as that of BATA! BATA had, in my school days, the monopoly on white canvas shoes, with the Badminton Master and the BM2000 models being the mainstay of school uniforms. As a result many people grew up with the impression that BATA (which originated from what is now the Czech Republic) was a local brand!

Cheers
TO

TROIS: So Frickin Fast!

Was in Toulouse (Mar 2007) when I chanced upon a regional fair. One of the exhibits, among the various booths offering smelly cheese and various duck/goose products from sud-ouest France, was a snail race. Talk about speed! I reckoned the exhibitor could leave this for the whole week and it would not have ended. I think the set up of the race is flawed; the wooden lane markers would do diddly to prevent any cheating little slimers from crossing the lanes and impeding its fellow racers. As such, it think salt, yes, good old sodium chloride (NaCl) should be coated along the lanes. Furthermore, to prevent the odd lackadaisical slimer from holding everyone up at the finish line, a timer controlled salt dispenser should also be utilised to "encourage" speedier passage to the end. All you animal do-gooders should refrain from chastising me, but see the merits of my suggestion for a good clean race. Besides, the little bastards are destined to end up as someone's escagot entree anyway.

Bon apetit!
TO

DEUX: Spits or Swallows?

In the lavatory of Al's Diner at fisherman's wharf in Macau (May 2007), I had to take a piss in someone's mouth! The urinal was shaped in an open mouth with bright red "collagen injected" lips. The red plastic strainer in the bottom of the urinal made it appear like the tongue. Swallowing seems to be the order of the day.

If this type of thing is your thing, try the following url: www.urinal.net


Cheers
TO

UN

Hi all

this is the inaugural post on the travelling observations blog. Like the flu bug ,which as been making its rounds in the office, the procrastination bug is another lethal disease which affects a large section of the population. I admit I'm a chronic procrastinator and this bug has caused, inter alia, late trip reports, late travel claims submittals and also this post, which incidentally was delayed by 2 months.

The intent of this blog is to document what I observed whilst roaming the earth, capture images of strange or weird stuff, from the perspective of an Engineer, and also from the perspective of a Singaporean. Other times there may just be commentary from me, usually after close encounters of the illogical kind.

So I hope you enjoy the blog and that it provides you with greater insights of how different things can be, in other parts of the world.

Cheers
TO