I don't really have a reason for going to Bangladesh, but an opportunity came up and I decided it would be fun and also a good way to add another string to my bow, journalism wise. All in all, I can't wait. I have absolutely no idea how it's going to go, but suffice to say, it will go somewhere, somehow.

Do you see anybody dancing?

Being the cheapskate I am and facing the prospect of a 6 am flight, I checked out of my hotel in favour of spending one night sleeping at the airport. For whatever reason, I arrived at the airport at about 6 pm and had something to eat and wondered around for a bit.

My first gripe was that to get into the airport, you have to show a ticket. Of course I knew this already, but I hadn’t been able to print a ticket. Given that most tickets are E-tickets, all of this makes no sense. To get into the airport, I therefore had to get out my computer, turn it on and find the PDF download. I ended up going in and out three times. Other travelers also had this problem.

Inside the airport, it got to about midnight and I decided to sleep on the sorry excuses for seats. Ten minutes later, half-a-dozen security guards came and kicked me out. I protested, but it was no use. Outside, I realized that all the large, wooden benches had been removed since the last time I slept at the airport. People would sleep on those benches, which seemed acceptable for folks with early flights.

I then went to the bathroom and it dawned on me that I was no longer wearing a belt. I’d forgotten to pick it up after passing through the metal detector on my way into the airport, of course. I couldn’t get back into the airport at this point, so I skulked around, beltless, and bought two cans of beer from the store.

Half a pack of cigarettes later, I curled up on the concrete floor next to a wall and tried to sleep. I woke up feeling as if I’d been hit with a spade. It was most unpleasant. Back in the airport, I explained to the security people that I had lost my belt, much to their amusement. It then took them an hour to locate the missing belt, which had apparently made its way to the other side of the airport.

All in all, I have no positive feelings left for Bali airport.

If I’m honest, I’m over Bali. I’ve been all over the island, from north to south, and the last time I was there – a week ago – I wasn’t overly excited about the whole prospect. Traffic is continuously getting worse and the main hotspots around Kuta are all seemingly being demolished and rebuilt at the same time.

You also come across far too many idiots in Bali’s busiest areas, especially from July when the high season kicks in and the price hikes come into effect. Drunk, shirtless, shouting tourists love Bali, and they skulk around Kuta like there’s no tomorrow.

That being said, Kuta and the surrounding parts are my favourite places for people-watching. There’s always a fight or someone running a motorbike into a lamppost. Hilarity often ensues.

I am a pure cheapskate when it comes to hotel accommodation. I hate spending money on hotels. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been like this. I spend the absolute minimum, no matter where I go. The cheapest place I’ve found in Bali is about $8 a night.

There are plenty of places like this in Kuta in the area fanning out fro the Sky Garden nightclub. Last time in Bali I had to pay $20 to stay somewhere, which I grumbled about somewhere. Most places around Kuta and Legian were full to the brim. Usually, if I can, I try and find a “penginapan”. These places aren’t hotels, per se. They’re more like guesthouses in compound format, but they do the job.

For all my moaning about Bali, it is easy enough to escape the crowds most of the time, but even during high season, places like Ubud are still relatively busy. I’ve been all over Bali on a motorbike. It’s the best way to get around and you can hire bikes for as little as $2 a day. I never pay more than $3, but I’ve seen people in Kuta paying upwards of $7.

As for Phuket, I love the island as I used to live there, but I would never, ever live there again, if only because it can be such a bitchy, backstabbing place where everybody knows your business and everyone pretends to be best friends with each other while secretly harbouring bad feelings.

If you’re travelling to Phuket and you are looking for somewhere to stay, you could book with Agoda, Hotels Combined, Hotel Travel or one of the many other hotel-booking sites, or you could do like I do and stay in a serviced apartment.

The rates are usually cheaper than hotels — from 500 baht a day – and you get an apartment, which is always a winner in my eyes. It beats a sweaty backpacker guesthouse any day of the week. The last place I stayed was Baan Fuang Fah near Phuket Rajabhat University (086-9410008, 076-525684-87).

As for getting around Phuket, a motorbike is still the best way. The going rate is 200 baht a day, which works out at about $6.

If I had to choose between Bali and Phuket, a year ago I’d have said Bali, but now, I’d recommend people go to Phuket instead. Or better still, just go somewhere else, like Koh Lanta.

Then we get to this:

Despite this fact the former Falintil Chief of Staff continues to be the target of all sorts of accusations including of acting discriminatorily, being an assassin (ed: as in 2006) and lately of wanting to undertake a coup, as can be seen in an email by Dr. Emilia Pires, the current Finance Minister in the Fourth Constitutional Government, as well as by Ms. Ines Almeida who alleged that Taur Matan Ruak would act undemocratically and carry out a coup against his former Commander in Chief. “ I feel that some people are preparing the land in ET to follow the same steps…..,” (referring to the military coup in Fiji in 2006), wrote Dr Emilia in an email to 13 of her friends on 5 December 2006.

An email sent to 13 of her friends in 2006? Four years ago? This is yet another time private emails of the finance minister have trickled into the public eye.

This newspaper tried unsuccessfully to obtain clarification from the Finance Minister, Dr. Emilia Pires.

So in other words, there is no news, other than an attempt to do a spot of PR for Ruak while venting frustration at Pires for — rightly so — not having anything to say about this non-story.

I don’t know if she was expecting to know my name, but she didn’t, which was understandable. Her face looked blank, so I panicked and said she should Google me, which I thought was quite funny, but she looked a little taken aback by my comment. With hindsight, it was quite a weird thing to say, but I always say odd things when talking about my work.

Being a freelance journalist is great, but I often get the impression people don’t think it’s a real job. It is literally all I’ve done for the past year and half. I’ve made enough money to support myself and throw a little wedge into my savings account. That’s all a job is for, right?

But still, when people ask what I do, I usually say something quickly before having to expand a little. Yes, my name is Matt Crook, I haven’t held down a regular job in more than a year, and I can be found in Google.

It’s ridiculous. There’s even a sign on arrival that points to the transit desk. There are doors that could have let me into the international departures lounge, but they were locked, and nobody was manning the desk. Would it be that hard to put someone on the desk?

The reason I complain is because you have to spend $25 to enter the country and then $15 to leave it. You essentially spend $40 for the privilege of waiting in a queue for ages and then walking around.

I hate Bali airport. It’s the worst. The queues at immigration are usually horrendous. One time I bought a visa in advance and actually had to queue for longer than if I’d got a visa on arrival. Indonesia has also stopped doing the $10, one-week visas, which is fair enough, I suppose, but come on, at least let people transit at Bali.

I was working on the news desk for IRIN, the UN’s humanitarian news agency. Even if you work for the UN you may not have heard of IRIN, but it’s a real news agency and there are some great stories from the region up on the website.

It was rather odd being back in an office working 40-plus hours a week, wearing a shirt every day and eating at a canteen. I actually really enjoyed it though. Although I am a freelance journalist and I love the freedom it gives me, I’m not opposed to working a regular job if the opportunity arises. The security of having a decent wage is definitely something to consider.

The month is over and I have a few days in Bali to work out what to do next. I may return to Dili, or I might go to Penang for the Georgetown festival, and I’m also considering heading back to Bangkok. But then I also have vague plans to do a month in Dhaka or West Timor, or both.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

An earthquake of 7.5 magnitude has hit near India's Nicobar Islands, in the Indian Ocean.

The US Geological Survey said it occurred about 150km (95 miles) west of the Nicobar Islands and 440km from Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a warning for the entire Indian Ocean region.

The agency later downgraded the warning to India only, before cancelling the alert altogether.

Earlier, Kongpop U-yen, a Thai engineer who works at the US National Aeronatics and Space Administration (Nasa), said the alignment of the planets today could cause natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

National Disaster Warning Centre chief Smith Dharmasarojana agreed with the forecast, saying it was backed by scientific data.

The forecast, however, met with criticism from the scientific community as authorities did not clarify the prediction.

Mr Smith recently said during a TV interview that a solar eclipse was due to occur on June 12 as a result of the alignment of the Earth, the moon and the sun.

He said the alignment would release considerable cumulative energy, which could affect the Earth. Mr Smith, quoting Mr Kongpop, said the phenomenon would have a direct impact on the Earth in the forms of climate disruption, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Mr Smith said that Southeast Asia could be the first region to be affected if the planetary alignment, due to occur at 6.30pm local time, triggers natural disasters.

A 7.0-8.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale could occur, possibly causing a tsunami.

I did a quick search and found some info about a similar rumour last year in Hong Kong that turned out to be a hoax. At that time, the Hong Kong Observatory released a statement:

A rumour recently circulated over the Internet, claiming that a tsunami would occur during the solar eclipse on 22nd July 2009 and asking recipients to stay away from beaches. There is no scientific evidence substantiating that solar eclipses would cause tsunamis.

With the current scientific and technological capability, there is no reliable method to predict the occurrence of an earthquake, nor the occurrence of a tsunami in the event of an earthquake. Please do not believe in such a rumour and make unnecessary speculations.

And this, from DailyNews:

While it is true that a solar eclipse will occur on July 22 [2009], experts said there is no connection between an eclipse and an earthquake. The e-mail reports that apart from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, the giant wave may also hit countries as far as Japan, Australia and India.

Further reading reveals there are theories that an eclipse can trigger earthquakes, but the evidence looks sketchy at best, which may explain why Bangkok Post is the only newspaper in the world running this story. There's even a whole moon-earthquake theory page on Wikipedia.

To further confuse the matter, I can't find any reference to a solar eclipse happening on June 12, 2010. It looks like the next solar eclipse won't happen until July 11, 2010.

June 12 is actually the day we get the new moon, which as far as I know, happens every month. How could the Bangkok Post have got so many things so wrong?

Phuket Gazette had a story yesterday, that obviously slipped by a lot of people.

The Meteorological Department (MET) has dismissed as groundless Internet reports that a celestial alignment will cause a tsunami-producing earthquake and solar flares tomorrow.

The rumor appears to have started in Thailand following a posting on a Thai-language website.

According to the post, a rare alignment of the Earth with Jupiter, Uranus, the Moon and the Sun will create strong gravity effects causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and solar flares starting at 6:30pm and persisting for a few days.

So it isn't even an eclipse and the Bangkok Post has completely bodged its reporting of a rumour, a day after the Gazette shot it down.

A commenter on the Bangkok Post website said this:

First of all, the moon and sun aren't planets.

Second, the sun isn't going to suddenly "unleash" its energy during the eclipse. It's unleashing energy constantly in many forms. The only additional energy the earth will notice during the eclipse is the combination of the sun's gravitational force with that of the moon, causing extra high and low tides, depending upon where on earth you are. These unusual tides aren't caused by the eclipse itself, but rather by the alignment of the three masses.

Thirdly, scientists know exactly how the earth will be aligned in terms of its rotation at the time of the eclipse, and exactly when and where the maximum gravitational pull will be experienced.

Are the scientist quoted in the article by any chance responsible for convincing the army to buy those magic wand bomb detectors?

Addendum: This story was covered by the Thai press and was apparently "all over" Thai TV, with "experts coming out to calm down the masses," says Terry Fredrickson from the Post, but that doesn't explain why the Post ran this story today about a solar eclipse that isn't happening. Surely the angle of the story at this point should have been the scientists shooting down the rumours and calming people down, which I didn't see much evidence of here.

What have I missed?

As part as the Timor-Leste Strategic Development Plan, the IV Constitutional Government acquired two Shanghai III Class patrol vessels from the Popular Republic of China. The Secretary of State of Defence explained some issues in relation to this purchase, in an interview to the radio Program “Goodbye Conflict, Welcome Development”.

That's not even a real radio programme, is it?

Did I mention I'm available for hire?

In grandiose platforming at the UBS Resources Conference, CEO of Woodside Don Voelte amusingly attempted to convince a crowd that the Greater Sunrise project was progressing.

"It’s time for this project’s day is in the sun," said Voelte in a meager attempt to provide folly to an untenable position while providing weak and misguided justification for a field that will not be developed under the auspices outlined in the fifteen page speech; a plan flatly rejected by Timorese regulators for non-compliance.

I don't think that's actually what Voelte said, not unless he was drunk, but you get the point. This is the most important bit, I think:

What Voelte failed to share with his audience: the commercial reality is if the development plan is not approved by 2013 or if Sunrise LNG production has not started by 2017, the CMATS treaty can be cancelled and Sunrise activity suspended until a new treaty can be negotiated between Australia and Timor-Leste.

The government is obviously in no rush to go ahead with Greater Sunrise. The comical events of the past few weeks only confirm this.