Taking the step into the unknown

Such a sad yet real story about people taking the step out of their comfort zone. The last statement was especially powerful;

...It comes down to deciding what horrifies you more: the possibility of waking up one day and realizing you never took a shot at your dream or the possibility of losing your house...

Breakdown of iPhone plans in Singapore

Received notification today from SingTel about its impending launch of the latest iPhone 3GS in Singapore. For someone who had been so used to the unlimited data plans from O2 in London, the local standards doesn't seem like a very good deal. Thought I will share a quick tabulation of the overall costs of ownership of the 3 different models on offer.

SingTel's subscription plans: (click on figure for full size image)


With this, you will be paying the following over the course of your 24 month contract, including price of handset if any.


This does not take into consideration of other potential discounts if you trade in, upgrade from current plan or sign up to Mio broadband. On first look it might seem that the cheapest plan is the best in terms of costs, but it is important to look at what that plan offers and whether it fits your mobile habits, including data usage before deciding.

After 4 months without one, I think I am quite desperately in need of a proper phone.

A TED for your weekend

Another excellent TED talk by Capt Charles Moore, the man who discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, twice the size of Texas.

Where is the action?

More reports coming from the International Whaling Commission meeting in Madeira, Portugal seem to indicate the countries at large are more keen to not upset each other rather than to solve the whaling problem on hand. This also include further studies of declining sharks and porpoises population at large where one research reveals that more than a third of the open ocean shark population are on the verge of extinction. Guardian website also has an interesting photo gallery highlighting the plight of these giants, where most of them ended up as "supposing delicacies" on Asia's dinning tables.

Iran has showed the world the immerse power welded by normal people like you and me, maybe it is about time we do the same?

Another great rail journey...oops, not quite!

It's been 3 weeks since I got back and have been spending some time sorting my life back to "normal", i.e. clearing out my boxes shipped from London, buying some new furniture, sorting out Internet, etc. Missing the European lifestyle meant that I have been scouring around the island for nice cafes serving a decent cup of coffee, which sadly, besides a handful, are pretty pathetic.

I suspect I am "suffering" from travel withdrawal symptoms as my restlessness is beginning to grow in me especially in the past week. Had been planning to post another entry to summarising my trip but been in procrastinating mode at many a time.

Anyway, my last post ended with one of the more eventful journeys and I basically ended up arriving later than expected in Bangkok to miss both the train and coach down south to Malaysia. As I had a friend who was arriving the following day, as well as the outbreak of H1N1 in Penang, I decided to chill out in the capital instead for 3 days, relax under a touch of luxury in a very nice service apartment (compared to my hostel stays) and tucking into the glorious thai food. Finally arrived into Singapore via Changi Airport on 21 May, just in time for my cousin's wedding the following day. It's amazing how much time you can save by taking a flight (2 hours compared to 2 days on train from Bangkok to SG) but given a choice, I will do the latter anytime, the option to interact with the locals, experience the local culture and just seeing the world pass you by in the cabin is just too great to miss, although I have to admit to some slight hangover from train rides from the tens of thousands of miles starting from Copenhagen to the Artic Circle, through Russia, Mongolia, China and South East Asia, 25 cities/towns in all and most importantly, fulfilling my dream of getting on the Trans Siberian rail journey, even though the trip was bundled with "interesting encounters".

Got a few mails from friends and strangers asking me on advice for their travels (do continue to send me your questions and I will be more than happy to help where I can), which was really nice and it gave the opportunity for me to relive the best days of my trip whilst jotting the email reply. If I were to choose the most memorable place(s), it will have to be Norway and Mongolia. China should probably be one of them as well but due to my time constraint, I will definitely spend some time in the country to explore it proper to give it the due credit.

Note:
The map trail is extracted from my dopplr updates in the various cities/countries on Mapme.at but there are some bugs with the application as it always screws up the order if you travel to more than one city in a day, which kinda explains why I was always traveling from Oslo in Norway.