blogs about omg

Wahhabalinese Adventures: Jeddah

jani — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:33:44 -0700

Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport has a bad rep, and on landing I could see why. We were bused into the terminal and let loose in the baggage claim area, which is split in two and entirely devoid of signage of any sort (except to note that porters are SR 10 and luggage carts are free), but the solitary moving belt drew the crowd and soon enough bags from RUH, mine among the first, started plopping onto it.

Wahhabalinese Adventures: Abu Dhabi

jani — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:35:11 -0800

Abu Dhabi is not one of the world's great airports by any measure, but its quirky terminal seemed downright snazzy after the swirling chaos of DEL. Midnight is rush hour at AUH, but I had no problems snagging a seat from where I could contemplate the utterly bizarre mushroom-shaped spout of lime green and blue tiling that dominates the terminal, although any notions of Zen serenity were blasted out of the water by the endless loop of really, really loud trilingual announcements about vol eh-ygrec trois-trois-cinq a Casablanca or whereever.

Reviews of a Gourmet Snob: Kafe Warisan, Seminyak, Bali

jani — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:41:34 -0800

When I booked Kafe Warisan for a friend's birthday dinner, I couldn't help but snigger at their slogan of "World Famous French Mediterranean Cuisine in a Classic Rice Terrace Setting" -- surely a little pretentious for a small restaurant in a podunk town in rural Bali, no? And thus I was expecting mediocre, somewhat overpriced food in a cheesy Balinese setting... only to get way more than I expected. This was easily among the best Western meals I've had in Asia, or anywhere else for that matter.

Wahhabalinese Adventures: Riyadh

jani — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:24:20 -0800

CO-ORDINATES: (0,1) ALLEGIANCE: Independent TYPE: Isolationist Religious Enclave GOVERNMENT: Religious Dictatorship MAJOR IMPORTS: None MAJOR EXPORTS: None ILLEGAL GOODS: Animal Meat, Liquor, Narcotics, Animal Skins, Live Animals, Slaves, Luxury Goods, Hand Weapons, Battle Weapons, Nerve Gas, Robots, Radioactives

[fi] Jakarrrrrrta

jani — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 06:31:45 -0800

Naputeltu jo jokunen vuosi sitten suomalaista lehteä varten, muttei koskaan julkaistu, joten laitetaan sitten tänne.

"Welcome to Jakarrrrrrta", hehkuttaa singaporelaisen lentoyhtiön nukenkasvoiseksi meikattu ja kehoa hyväilevään kebayaan valettu lentoemo. Koneen ovella ilma iskee kasvoihin kuin märkä rätti: kuumaa kosteutta, neilikkatupakkaa, palavia riisipeltoja, avoviemäreitä. Harpon kireäkasvoisten salkkumiesten kanssa kohti Imigrasin tiskejä, sillä ehtimällä perille ennen muita voi leikata odotusajastaan tunnin ellei kaksikin.

Unexpectedly Arabic: al-Episode ﺏ

jani — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 07:58:40 -0700

This was my first trip to the Gulf in living memory, and Abu Dhabi turned out to be even weirder than I expected.

Hotel review: Thulhagiri Resort, Kaafu (North Male)

jani — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:50:14 -0700

Sometimes four sentences just isn't enough, so here's a full-length review of Thulhagiri Resort, my most expensive vacation evah.

Intro

Book review: Shinya tokkyu (Midnight Express) by Kotaro Sawaki

jani — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:44:39 -0700

Suddenly I thought: wasn't coming to this place the reason I had continued on my journey for so long? I was brought here by a countless series of coincidences. Those coincidences did not need a word like "god" to explain them; no, it was just the wind, the water, the light, and yes, the buses. Thanks to public buses I was brought here...

Soi Ari -- A Visit to Millionaire's Lane

jani — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:14:28 -0700

Most Bangkok visitors heading north on the Skytrain make a beeline for the Weekend Market at the end of the line, but next time, stop two stations before at Ari. Also known by the Thais as "Millionaire's Lane", the sois of this quiet residential district hide some of the most opulent mansions in the capital -- and some of the quirkiest hotels, restaurants and boutiques in town.

RTW2007: Barcelona

jani — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:25:43 -0700

I'll start with a confession: before this trip, I had never visited Barcelona before, and in fact the entirety of my Spanish experience was limited to a visit to Madrid almost 20 years ago. Plan A was Dubai, cancelled on account of intolerably hot weather this time of year, but despite everybody I talked to urging me to visit Barcelona my impression prior to visiting had, somehow, been largely negative: dirty, crumbling, expensive, full of scams and ripoffs, and above all filled with ravenous pickpockets.