Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Blog Index

Welcome to my personal bloog space! Below you can read blogs I wrote in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Philippines, China and UK. They go back as far as 1998. Enjoy!

UK

Just how many weapons can you stomach in one day? (Feb 2014)
How On Earth Does BA Stay in Business? (Aug 2013)
Did Black Adder really go to Hogwarts? (Aug 2013)
Do Roses And Beautiful Women Float Your Boat? (July 2013)
Steaming into York for a Unique Celebration (July 2013)
Grotesque Behaviour in the Yorkshire Dales (July 2013)
The Arrogance of Serenata Flowers (Jan 2013)
Kate & Wills - A Proud Day for Britain??? (April 2011)
Giving Away The Bride - No Refunds Permitted! (Sept 2010)

China

A lesson in good food and marketing (June 2013)
The Way of Tea - How can I ever look a tea bag in the face again? (June 2013)
Congratulations! Ignore your waistline and be happy! (May 2013)
A Feast for the Eyes as well as the Stomach (April 2013)
Want a prescription? Try the Dentist! (April 2013)
Why Bother with the National Museum? (March 2013)
BJ’s Metro Improves in Leaps and Bounds (Jan 2013)
Strutting the flesh on a cold winter’s day (Dec 2012)
Travelling Through Shanghai's Time Tunnel (Oct 2012)
A Visit to Jing’an – a Mecca for Leophiles? (Oct 2012)
Searching for Peace in Shanghai And Eating Lunch Through A Straw (Oct 2012)
First Visit to Shanghai – But mind what you drink! (Oct 2012)
Return to Tianjin (Sept 2012)
Is This What Chinese Heaven Is Like? (Sept 2012)
Chinese Exercise: The best way to get over a trauma is to meet it head on (Aug 2012)
Liaoning Cookery: Part 2 (June 2012)
Spare a thought for Beijing’s millions of homeless flies (May 2012)
So Who Needs Disney? (May 2012)
Cooking Liaoning Dumplings - Beijing Style (April 2012)
Time for Another Comeuppance (Apr 2012)
Who turned the heating off? (March 2012)
A new marketing ploy for KFC? (Feb 2012)
Hitting back at BJ's bus whingers (Feb 2012)
Enter the Dragon Part 2 (Jan 2012)
Enter the Dragon (Jan 2012)
Santa Jostles with the Dragon (Jan 2012)
Toasting the Dragon (Jan 2012)
Xmas in Beijing (Dec 2011)
Gobbing for China (Dec 2011)
Juggling with destiny … or crashing the diplomats' party (Dec 2011)
“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.” (Oscar Wilde) (Nov 2011)
Being single on 11.11.11 is not all it's cracked up to be (Nov 2011)
Judge Not Others Lest Ye Be Judged Yourself! (Nov 2011)
天鹅湖 Makes a Splash in BJ (Oct 2011)
Special Me Is a Suave Dude (Sept 2011)
Searching for the Moon Rabbit on Mid Autumn Festival (Sept 2011)
Patience has its rewards (Sept 2011)
Overcoming the Pain Barrier - submitting to Chinese tortures (Aug 2011)
Following in Nixon's Footsteps (Aug 2011)
A Transport of Delight (July 2011)
Window on the World (July 2011)
An Amazing Day Out in Tianjin (July 2011)
Start of a new chapter in Brian’s autobiography (July 2011)
China Visa Red Tape - Coping with Officialdom (July 2011)
Beijing Tarts: Over the Hill at 30 (June 2011)
Flying HMMOG Airways - and living to tell the tale (June 2011)

Hong Kong

God Bless the Man who Invented Nature (Oct 2013)
Can One Ever Get Fed Up With Gold? (Oct 2013)
Of Tigers, Hearts and Little Red Lai Sees (Feb 2010)

UAE

I Hate to Say Goodbye - Time to leave the Middle East (June 2011)
Dance Bars in DXB - BS catches up on his education (June 2011)
Dubai’s RTA site needs a good kick up the *%^$#@*!, if you ask me (June 2011)
Selling my baby - Dubai-style (May 2011)
It's ATM time ... yet again again again (May 2011)
Emirates Airline - now I am beginning to understand why they are so expensive (May 2011)
Bangladopian Maid Arrested for Doing a 'Bobbitt' (April 2011)
Emirates NBD - A case of Incompetence, Stupidity or what, pray tell? (April 2011)
Change is Needed (April 2011)
Spamming the Spammers (Feb 2011)
It's that time of the month... (Dec 2010)
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Caribou! (Nov 2010)
Callserve – No calls and No serve! (Oct 2010)
Now this is what I call service! (Sept 2010)
Should we pass around the begging bowl for Géant? (Sept 2010)
It's not easy being a dad (August 2010)
Screwed again! (August 2010)
Lowlife in the UAE (August 2010)
Dubai's Metro-Madness (July 2010)
ATM Time Again (May 2010)
Murdering the English Language (April 2010)
Moving house is no Fun in the UAE (Feb 2010)
Immigration Officers (June 2009)
Alex Beckons (June 2009)
For the love of a Kia (June 2009)
Delhi Diary (May 2009)
The sad tale of trying to get an Indian visa… (April 2009)
Concerto for Nokia and Orchestra (April 2009)
Middle East International Film Festival (Nov 2008)

Saudi Arabia

The Joys of Saudi Television (May 2009)
Driving in the Gulf (March 2009)
Immorality in Riyadh (May 2007)
A Survivor’s Guide to Driving in Saudi Arabia (Jan 2007)
Selfish Parking (Nov 2006)
Hummer Day Out (June 2006)
The Day You Hoped Would Never Happen (Sept 2005)
Trip to Wahba Crater (Feb 2005)
Bukhra Dunes (Oct 2004)
eMail from the edge (Nov 1998)

Qatar

Karwa Taxis: Qatar’s National Disgrace (Nov 2013)
How Come Qatar Airways is Still in Business? (March 2012)
Falling out of love with Qatar Airways (Jan 2011)
Desert Roses in Qatar (March 2007)

Philippines

Strolling Between the Walls in Downtown Manila (Jan 2015)
Manila’s National Museum of the Philippines (Dec 2013)
Coron: A Phoenix Rising (Nov 2013)
Elections peaceful – only 30 killed (Oct 013)
Where Chanticleer Meets his Match (or his Maker) (Oct 2013)
Fighting for your meal and watching soldiers dance? Welcome to Baguio! (Sept 2013)
Bureaucrats! Puh… Who Needs Them! (sept 2013)
Inspecting the Bells in Parañaque (Sept 2013)
Anyone for a duck foetus? Fried or boiled? (Aug 2013)
To Cruise, Perchance to Dream... (Jan 2013)
Did GBS Ever Visit the Philippines? (Jan 2013)
Time for Philippine air companies to pull their socks up?  (Jan 2013)
Chatting up a Filipina (June 2010)
The State of Democracy (May 2010)
Floods in the Philippines (Nov 2009)
Wake Up and Look Around! (Sept 2009)
Manila Sauce (August 2009)