Sam I Am's Blog

London TP meetup

2009-10-27T18:01:18Z

Last Saturday there was a small gathering of Travellerspointers in London that I was able to attend. Originally planned by Hien to coincide with Holly's (soupatrvlr) stay, I got to meet a few members that I've only ever virtually chatted with before (soupatrvlr, 3L, magykal1 and t_maia), as well as say hi again to a couple that I had at some stage had the honour of meeting somewhere across the globe (GregW, Hien)

A big thanks to Greg and Hien for the planning. Tattershall's was a good place to start it off, and the sausages and mash (with red onion, yum) there really hit the spot! We then took in the big black box and other assorted artwork at the Tate, before stopping at a pub that apparently featured in Bridget Jones', Lock Stock and a Harry Potter movie, on the way to All Bar One (yes, another pub). Topping it off was dinner at a souk. By the end of that my 4.30 wake up call that morning had me pretty nackered, and the thought of another 4.30 wake up call on Sunday left the smart side of my brain saying goodbye to the others.

Here's two pics I took (yes, I should have taken more!)

TP gang

St. Paul's

Hien deserves extra thanks for letting me crash at his place because I was too cheap to even spend the 7 pounds that would have gotten me into one of Travellerspoint's dirt cheap London hostels

London TP meetup remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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What a pic...

2009-09-21T19:04:06Z

I was kicking back this evening with a good cup of tea (did you know even tea can be bought online these days!?!) and sorting through photos when this beaut came up. For the uninitiated, the sturdy little fellow is me, hehe. The elderly woman lived in the village we lived in on Rennell in the Solomons. Poor woman; looks like I might be slightly weighing her down here

For those of you that want a few more pics like this, there's an 'unofficial history of Travellerspoint' that I wrote up a few years ago which includes a few hilarious shots!

What a pic... remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Rainy rainbow

2009-09-21T07:39:10Z

Rainy rainbow remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Little dancer

2009-08-07T17:07:40Z

Picture from our trip to Malaysia a few months ago. Guess who was the star of this show.... the girl loves to dance!

Little dancer

ps. sorry for the quality; taken on a phone at night

Little dancer remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Summertime

2009-08-06T10:00:15Z

You can almost hear the slurping on this shot of Malia having an ice cream in the park!

Summertime remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sofie's hage

2009-05-31T13:15:15Z

Took Malia to see a dance act in a big tent in the park. Act was called "Sofie's garden" and was what they called "modern dance". Malia loved it in any case, so a successful afternoon

Sofie's hage remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Vigelands park entrance

2009-05-30T10:45:16Z

Vigelands park entrance remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Vigelands park flowers

2009-05-30T10:30:18Z

Late spring and the tulips are in full bloom. We're off to the playground whilst the tourists make their way to the famous statues.

Vigelands park flowers remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Beach at Berjaya resort, Redang island, Malaysia

2009-11-01T12:34:34Z

This entry is in part to showcase the beach at Redang's Berjaya resort, but in part to also test something that I'm PM'ing a member about with regards to photos

Berjaya Resort Beach

It's a great beach, and would highly recommend this place for anyone looking to get away from it all for a few days. There's a small 48 seater Dash 7 plane onto the island if you want to save time, or alternatively a boat goes from Merang on the mainland. Berjaya is the more luxurious of the resorts on the island, on the other side of the island there's a long beach (called 'Long Beach' ) with lots of different choices in terms of accommodation. The Redang.org site was quite useful for figuring out what was where. And yes, I'll be writing a wiki guide for Redang shortly!!

Beach at Berjaya resort, Redang island, Malaysia remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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TP office wall

2009-10-07T22:41:50Z

Winning photos from the competitions run on TP adorn the wall of the Travellerspoint office in Melbourne.

Just browsing the budget hotels in Melbourne on TP and realized the Kingsgate hotel might have to be my place of residence on the next trip over. Nice and close by the office!!

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Off to Australia and Malaysia

2009-04-26T23:03:45Z

About 1 am here in Oslo now and I've just uploaded some changes to our blog commenting system. I needed a post that was less than 30 days old to test the system, so here it is. Isn't it great when you have a deadline like a trip to the other side of the world to really get things done you've been meaning to do for 4 or 5 months?!

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More snow in Oslo ...

2009-03-02T10:53:22Z

This has got to be one of the whitest winters in a long time in Oslo. Just as everyone thought it was starting to thaw a bit, today sees a whole new pile of fresh snow and it's still snowing outside as I type this. Two quick photos taken on my way to work. The first is the library and the second is just some trees. I love how fresh snow sits on the branches like this.

Deichmans library in Grünerløkka

Trees and some garbage bins

More snow in Oslo ... remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Winter play time

2009-03-02T10:52:46Z

One of the things I like best about winter in Oslo is the opportunities it gives for playing. At the moment there is so much snow in Oslo for example that there's not enough space to dump it, so the snow scooters end up making big heaps of snow in parks or just by the side of the road all over the place. Of course for a 3 year old, and her parents , this amounts to quite the interesting landscape to explore.

Some pics from yesterday's trip into Sofienberg park.

Climbing one of these mountains is tough work.

Balancing precariously at the top.

Getting into position

Ready to go (she wasn't as scared as she looks!)

Weeeee!!!

And another shot, now without dad's finger in front of the lens

All in all, good times. Especially when you can walk home in 5 minutes and treat yourself to hot cocoa for all the 'hard work' done!

Winter play time remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Snow at Gardemoen

2009-02-21T09:15:16Z

Snow at Gardemoen remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Dagbladet liker å provosere

2009-02-04T13:39:06Z

Pretty grainy pictures throughout the site right now with only one intent, to really get as much juice flowing as possible on an already hot issue. Serves as a great test article for their new commenting system though, that's for sure.

Dagbladet liker å provosere remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Beautiful snowy morning

2009-01-25T20:26:02Z

Morgedal as it's best!

Beautiful snowy morning remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Winter landscape in Oslo

2009-01-22T08:50:22Z

Winter landscape in Oslo remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Tigress

2009-01-12T12:00:18Z

I love this photo...

Tigress remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Malia's first skiing trip

2008-12-29T12:35:50Z

Considering her father, Malia was surprisingly good on skis her first time! We were in the mountains right behind Morgedal and had a little fire going on a bit of land nestled between two lakes. Temperature around -10 celcius and plenty of snow as you can see After skiing and something to drink, it was time to try out the little sledding track that we created. Perfect for the three kids that were along (ages 2-5).

And here's some videos too.

Malia's first skiing trip remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Skiing in Rauland

2008-12-26T11:30:13Z

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Indigo Pearl in Phuket

2008-12-15T12:19:19Z

Was reading an article in Norwegian on Dagbladet on what looks like an absolutely fantastic hotel in Phuket. Of course it's not a budget place (plenty of those here on TP), but it looks fantastic nonetheless. This article is in part to test if our twingly pinging is now working Sorry my dedicated readers!

Indigo Pearl in Phuket remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Play airplane at Oslo airport

2008-12-08T22:40:27Z

When I see things like this I just wish I was a kid again. Or was travelling with a kid on this particular trip so I'd have an excuse to climb into the cabin of this beauty. What a great piece of entertainment for those travelling with kids! If you happen to be flying out of Oslo, it's around gate 40.

Play airplane at Oslo airport remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Toilet stop; guess which way?

2008-12-05T05:31:48Z

At Oslo Airport i stumbled on this sign.

While taking the photo a guy and girl walked into the right (which was a ladies rr). Do the people putting up signs actually ever look at them?! FAIL!

Toilet stop; guess which way? remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Air New Zealand "In Flight" Entertainment

2008-11-25T13:36:11Z

Please have a look at this photo and tell me what is wrong with it?

That's right; "In Flight" entertainment while the plane is on the ground!

Air New Zealand, you have made me a happy man; a very very happy man! On my flight last week to Phocuswright in LA (more on that later), I had the extreme pleasure of flying economy class with Air New Zealand. I've always been happy with Air New Zealand actually, but having the stewardess announce that the entertainment system was fully operational from the moment you got on board just blew me away! That now is what all airlines will have to measure themselves with going forward. Hats off to Air New Zealand for doing something which doesn't seem difficult but is so brilliant that it boggles my mind no one else has come up with this.

This to me is probably the biggest innovation in the economy class of the airline industry since they started serving meals in flight. A flight for me usually comes down to the entertainment on board. Sure, I want the flight to arrive at the other end more than I want my entertainment to be good, but assuming the first is going to happen the second is by far my biggest joy (or grievance) with any carrier! I have penned 4 page complaint letters on flights started off because the entertainment wasn't working and in my experience the flight quickly goes downhill from there (that was Air France by the way, an airline I vowed to avoid at all costs going forward). I've banged my hand at the screen in frustration with flickering movies and don't even get me started on planes that just have one big screen at the front that you're supposed to follow. Yet along comes an airline from a land where they have more sheep than human beings and they come up with what is truly the biggest innovation for the mass airline industry in a very long time. Can you tell how much I love this?

The whole experience was made so much more meaningful after hearing Tim Simonds, the Managing Director for Customer Strategy and Metrics of United Airlines present at Phocuswright in a session called (please swallow coffee before continuing your read) "Customer Experience and Flying: Not an Oxymoron". Yes, that's UNITED AIRLINES presenting that session!! The entire session was on the business end of the plane and specifically the new bed which will lie down flat. Forget the 95% of travellers that is stuck in the back of the plane; not once were they mentioned! As you can read over at Crankyflier (great site by the way) Tim rightfully got some feedback on this in the Talkback time after he was done presenting. In my humble opinion, Phocuswright made a big mistake here inviting an airline like United over for example Air NZ which actually does seem to be doing something about customer experience. Now I'm not sure if they only allowed paid speakers here because quite a few of the presentations felt like sales pitches, but it surely doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out United is not the best airline to be speaking here.

Other little details I enjoyed about the flight:

They apologized in advance if your dish of choice wasn't available but assured us that they would start serving from the other end next meal so it wouldn't happen twice. These small details matter, even though I got what I wanted both times.
Great food; Great entertainment: Great wine;Great service.
I had tons of space. Here's a shot showing I can put a full flat hand in between my knee and the seat in front of me.

I haven't been paid by Air NZ, yes, I actually paid for the flight. I wasn't upgraded by them and yet here I am taking several minutes out of a busy day to point out that I really enjoyed flying with them. Other airlines should take some serious note.

For my trip to Australia next June the other airlines will be starting off at a serious disadvantage when I start looking at carriers. I'd gladly pay a little extra to experience this again. Thanks Air New Zealand!

Air New Zealand "In Flight" Entertainment remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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OWMF

2008-11-09T13:45:20Z

Oslo World Music Festival. Malia decides she has to stand and dance right up front. Not something she learned from me

OWMF remains copyright of the author Sam I Am, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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