There’s not much of a blog from me today as nearly the whole day’s been spent glued to a computer screen as I try and complete a photo editing marathon. I’ve broken the back of it now, having edited and filed 80% of the pictures I’ve taken so far this year, which cover five countries (if you include the UK). I did get diverted into an archive search too, which took up some time, but I’m pleased with what I’ve got done as one more day should leave me free to get on with other projects.
There’s far too many galleries that have been updated to add individual links on my Zenfolio website, but if you click on this link it’ll take you to the ‘recent’ section, which shows you (by date) all the galleries that have had pictures added to them.
The weather’s not been up to much here in the Pennines so it’s hardly been an ideal day to be going out with the camera. It’s made looking at pictures of sultry climates and the streetlife they enable rather frustrating! Still, there’s no doubt that spring’s is in the air here in the UK. The days are noticeably longer compared to when I left for Asia and our garden is on the cusp of breaking into life – which is a bit of a bugger as I’ve not had chance to move things around beforehand. Ah well, there’s still time…
Whilst I’ve been editing and captioning a lot of pictures there’s one thing I’ve struggled with. Ships? Easy. Planes? No problem. Trains? Simple. But, our feathered friends? I haven’t got a clue! So, today’s picture is of one of the critters I’m struggling to identify. Can anyone help? I saw this beautiful creature feeding off the plants around our swimming pool in Bali.
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I can’t quite believe we’re at the end February and on the cusp of March. Admittedly February is a bit od a woossy month as it doesn’t hang around for long – and it’s not a leap year – but even so. Today my times mostly been taken up by editing hundreds of pictures to get them onto my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest batch from Norway here. I’ve still a lot of stuff from the Siemens press event to sort out, then there’s all the stuff from Asia. I’m going to be busy or some time.
That said, I did take a break this afternoon in order to indulge in another passion. Cooking. I’ve not made anything for ages due to being away. This afternoon I made up for that by preparing a chicken bhuna.
The food was cooked early so that I could nip up to my local pub (the Big 6) in order to meet up with friends and do the Friday quiz. That was a very pleasant interlude until someone mentioned the televised car-crash in the White House. I had to have a look – and it was horrific. President Zelensky of Ukraine was ambushed and humiliated by Trump and his arrogant arsehole of a Vice-President (JD Vance) in front of the cameras, which carried the news around the world. Imagine, Trump – the ‘leader’ of the free world – who dodged the Vietnam war draft by getting a Doctor to sign him off with ‘bone spurs’ trying to lecture Zelensky, a man who refused to leave Kyiv when the Russians were at the gates of the city?
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin must be laughing his socks off. It’s the most shameful thing I’ve ever seen – but I can’t say I’m surprised by either Trump or Vance. What it does show is that the USA has been captured by apologists for dictators and can’t be relied on as a bastion of democracy or the free world. Europe (and the isolated UK – thanks to Brexit) needs to get its shit together. Oh, and we need to see the UKs Russia apologists (yes, you Farage and Reform) for what they really are.
I’m going to have to go right now as otherwise I’ll be spitting venom. The world’s entered a very uncertain phase. So, I’ll leave you with something less contentious. Food and beer…
It’s Friday, so as well as some excellent real ales there’s free pork pie available on the bar at the Big 6
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
My first full day back in the UK has been rather busy, although this morning was the opposite through catching up on my sleep whilst adjusting to a very different time zone. Thankfully, the day produced some sunshine which lifted the spirits after yesterday’s wall to wall gloom.
I did manage to some of the morning editing pictures from my travels. Right now I’ve been concentrating on railway images from Jakarta, which you can find here. Once those are finished I’ll be moving on to other images from Indonesia then gradually retracing my footsteps through Malaysia and Thailand – although that may take a while as there’s more travels in the offing.
This afternoon we had an appointment with Dawn’s parents in order to celebrate Norah’s 84th birthday. Dawn drove over to Huddersfield to pick them up and take the four of us to a pub restaurant I’ve not visited before in its new incarnation, the Dunkirk in Denby Dale.
We had a lovely afternoon with some excellent food off a menu that offered far more than standard pub grub. Oh, they also have 8 different real ales in the bar, which was a bonus! The food was both delicious and well presented. John and I had Ox cheek whilst the ladies had the fish and chips.
None of us had much room for dessert but we did see one thing on the menu which intrigued us which was the rice pudding brulé served with home-made jam.
We ended up ordering one to share between us all. As it was a generous portion that was more than enough to give us a taste of an original dessert which was both unusual and very tasty. Whilst the others stuck to ginger beer my meal was washed down with some well kept pints of Abbeydale Deception, a NZ pale of 4.1% strength.
Now the pair of us are back at Bigland Towers having an evening to ourselves. I’ve managed to get a few more pictures edited, so all in all, it’s been a very good day. Tomorrow’s going to be more home-based as we’ve both got things to sort out, although hopefully we’ll get out for a walk although the weather forecast isn’t looking optimistic. If it’s as wet as is threatened I may just end up editing more pictures and pack ready for my return to Manchester Airport on Monday…
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This won’t be a long blog from me as I’m slowly adjusting to life back here in the UK generally and West Yorkshire specifically. Right now, it’s just past 21:00 but my body clock is still working on Jakarta time, so it’s set way past 04:00. Awkward.
After catching the train back to Halifax Dawn very kindly offered to pick me up from the station so I was home not long after 09:00 UK time. My first task was to unpack and get lots of clothes in the wash, then have a shower. Thus the smell of Asia (and me) has quickly faded into memory! I’d hoped to try and stay awake for as long as possible in order to reset the body-clock but I retired to bed just in case. As I’ve a huge backlog of pictures to edit I managed to keep busy and stay awake until 14:30, by which time my eyes were on fire and my eyelids felt like they were made out of lead, so I gave in and had a couple of hours peaceful sleep – where nothing was moving, there was no engine noise nor anyone sounding their horns. Bliss!
I woke up in time to venture out this evening It’s Friday, so the quiz in our local pub (The Big 6) was on the agenda – along with the chance to catch up with old friends. Dawn joined me and the pair of us spent a couple of hours answering questions and laughing, as the banter always flows between the quiz participants. It was almost like we’d never been away, leaving the past month feeling like a blur.
Now we’re back at Bigland Towers. Dee’s cooking some spicy prawns whilst I’ve retreated to bed to write this blog before curling up for the night. We have a social day planned for tomorrow and I need to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed!
In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from today.
I’ve not travelled on one of these for a while. In fact, it’s only the 2nd time this year! CAF built 195023 waits to lead a sister unit from Manchester Victoria as the 07:57 to Leeds. After drinking nothing but fizzy beer (aka lager) for the past month and a bit it was lovely to return to the ‘Big 6’ and have a range of beer styles to choose from. Then there’s the free pork pie…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Surprisingly, I had a really good night’s sleep on the train last night. It wasn’t that it was undisturbed as the track quality can make it a bit of a rocky ride sometimes. Plus, early in the morning, a large Chinese family got on somewhere to occupy the berths around me – but when I slept, it was deep. This is a very familiar journey to me in both directions, stretching back to 1998, so I feel very comfortable with it. It’s familiar.
Not long after 6 am, the train reaches Hat Yai, where it’s shunted and split. Our two sleeping cars plus a day coach are chopped off and parked in a platform awaiting a new SRT loco to take us forward (pics later). Meanwhile, morning ablutions take place in the toilets and washroom aboard, and the process of packing away beds begins.
10:50 (Malaysian time).
Well, that was painless! We arrived at the border crossing of Padang Besar on time and detrained straight into the queue for immigration. Both getting out of Thailand and into Malaysia was easy as you go through one set of controls after the other. There’s around 90 minutes to wait for the connection to Butterworth. Plenty of time to sort out an onward ticket. The KTMB office accepts Thai baht and there’s two ticket machines which take foreign credit cards to pay for the 11 ringgitt 40 sen ticket (around £2).
The 10:35 is worked by a 6-car, Chinese built SCS Electric unit so there’s normally no problem getting a seat – especially as most people crowd together at the entrance to the platform. Head to the rear of the incoming train and you’ll probably find it looks like this!
Don’t assume it’ll stay that way though, this is a local stopping train, and at Arau (the 2nd stop out of Padang Besar), it quickly fills up with people.
14:30.
By the time the train had got to Butterworth it was packed – but fine. People are well-behaved here. Well, unless you count mobile phone etiquette but the UK’s just as bad nowadays only with added levels of stroppy entitlement.
The new passenger ferries have started running since I was last here (2023). I’ll post pictures and an initial verdict later. The bizarre thing is they no longer take cash, but the kiosk at Butterworth accepts Mastercard or Visa. All for a fare of 2 Ringgit (less than 40p).
Thankfully, the buses do still take cash, so my RM1:40 trip to Lebuh Chulia was paid for in ‘slummy’ from my last trip here!
I’m now having a breather before it’s time to check into my hotel in Jalan Muntri. Cheers!
17:20.
Having had a break at the room to download the camera I’m adding a few more pictures from the trip before venturing out now the day is cooling down. It ‘only’ got up to 32 degrees today with Humidity of 64%. I’ll add captions later…
Our train from Bangkok was split at Hat Yai where the last 3 coaches were taken forward to Padang Besar in Malaysia. 5226 backs onto the train to do the honours. Checking tickets in the 3rd class coach from Hat Yai to Padang Besar.One of the new ferries that ply between Butterworth on the mainland and Georgetown on Penang. Call me a nostalgic if you will, but I prefer the old ones.
23:20.
Time to wrap things up. Georgetown is one of my happy places in the world, and I can’t believe I’ve been mad enough to only give myself less than 24 hours here. Plus, I was gutted to find that the really good travellers bar is closed for a holiday. When I say bar, it’s really a shop that spills out every evening, taking over the backstreet outside with tables and chairs. I’ve met some really interesting people there in the past.
Instead, today I stopped to buy a beer from a local shop on Lebuh Chulia (and that shop has a history!) where I met a local who was missing the same place. We ended up chatting for ages.
Meet Eric. A local chap born and bred here but with an international interest. One of those really nice people whom you bump into by chance and one of the reasons that I love travelling. Here’s where we should have been sat outside
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This will be a a short blog as the pair of us have got to be up at silly o’ clock to get a taxi to Manchester in order to catch our early morning flight to Jakarta. Thankfully, the snow which has blanketed West Yorkshire for the past week is finally melting so we shouldn’t have any problems getting to the airport. We’ve had a busy day packing and arranging all sorts of last minute stuff before we leave (in my case, that involved filing a tax return!).
Now we’re packed, everything’s ticked off the list and we can relax for a few hours before beginning the trip. I’ll do as much of a rolling blog as I can, but that will be reliant on airport, hotel and other wifi as international roaming charges cost an arm and a leg out in that neck of the woods nowadays. Still, I’m sure I’ll find time to post pictures and other stuff of interest over the next few weeks. We’ll be on the move a lot for the first week but when we get settled in Bali there’ll be more time to write. In the meantime, here’s a taster of life in Jakarta.
Indonesians are a friendly bunch, including those in uniform. In 2017, a couple of railway level crossing keepers at Tanah Abang in Jakarta were very happy to have their picture taken as a train they were protecting crossed the road behind them. You can find more of my pictures from Jakarta here.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s a short report from Bigland Towers today as I’m in ‘getting away from it all’ mode – although that means life is rather frenetic as I clear the decks before travelling on Tuesday. There’s not a huge amount to report from this part of the world. The snow’s still here. It’s far too easy to break your neck (or extremities) on pavements that have become skating rinks, but the landscape from afar does look lovely, buried as it is under inches of snow (metric measurements are available).
Today was the first day I ventured out of the Calder valley this year as Dawn and I joined her parents for lunch over in Huddersfield. I’d have got some pictures but we were pressed for time and when we returned the the glorious sunshine had been snuffed out by low cloud. Ah well…
Now we’re back at home and I’ve begun the process of packing. I’m determined to travel as light as possible (says a man carrying a weighty camera bag) as I want room in my suitcase for bringing back some shopping from various destinations. Besides, textiles are cheap in the neck of the woods we’re heading to and I’ll be putting money into the local economy.
One of the things I’ve managed to do is clear the hard-drive on my laptop and add a lot more pictures to my Zenfolio website. You can find pictures in these galleries.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Bugger. Another day when things didn’t quite go to plan so I ended up trapped at home. The moral of the story? When you get a new phone, don’t forget the new password you entered for getting into the bloody thing! I did, which set me back as I ended up having to do a factory reset after wasting several hours trying a combination of passwords, all to no avail. These new phones drag out the agony too. Every time to enter a wrong ‘un they extend the time you’ve go to wait before you can try again. My wife, on hearing what I’d done, summed it up thus – “you dipstick!”. Who am I to argue?
Now everything’s sorted and my time wasn’t entirely wasted as I’ve cleared the decks of more old photos which have now appeared on my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest gallery update by following this link.
I did manage to get out for a little while in the evening whilst Dawn was working late in order to wrap up her work before going away. I popped up to our local pub (The Big 6) to join friends for the Friday quiz. It’s an informal gathering where Mel reads out the two quizzes published every week in our local ‘Pub paper’. It’s neither serious, nor competitive – just fun. Oh, and there’s plenty of beer – and free pork pie.
Now I’m back at home, compiling a list of more stuff to sort out before going away. I’m looking forward to being back in the sun and balmy weather rather than the barmy weather we’ve still got here. The snow’s never gone away in many places. Instead, it’s turned to sheet ice thanks to the sub-zero temperature of the past few days. Minor roads and pavements resemble skating rinks. I’ve never known the snow stick around for so long in the 15 years I’ve lived up here so I’ll be more than happy to see the back of it on Tuesday. Today’s picture shows how the Calder valley looks today. This is a view taken with my new Nikon Z series 100-400mm lens, looking out across the Calder valley to Sowerby. As you can see, the snow’s certainly sticking around.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s been another one of those days that’s not quite gone to plan due to a combination of weather, technology and impending travel plans. I’ve spent a large chunk of time waiting in for a number of parcels to arrive as I’ve been shopping for various new bits of kit in readiness for heading back to Asia next week. Most have been pretty straightforward. There’s not much you can learn about a new camera bag after all – although my new 100-400mm Nikon Z lens is proving to be rather tasty, I’m looking forward to having some fun with that documenting street life in places like Jakarta. The frustrating thing has been getting a new phone and getting the damned thing to sync with my laptop and with all my different websites, apps and general electronic clutter of 21st century life. I *think* I’m pretty much there. To be fair to Samsung, their phones copy over data and apps very well. The issue is me trying to sync them with a myriad of forgotten passwords! I may have sworn a little tonight…
On the bright side (with fingers crossed) everything seems to be working OK now. Well, all the important stuff anyway. Other bits I can discover later. At least I know have a fully functional smartphone to travel with as my old one was on its last legs. We’ve only a few days left before we travel and there’s still plenty of stuff to sort out in order that we can breeze into a holiday (did I mention a tax return to fill in?). But, come Monday everything in the UK takes a backseat.
One of the other little jobs I’ve been doing is adding more pictures to my Zenfolio website in order to clear space on my laptop. So, today’s picture is one of them.
Here’s the inside of St Mary’s shed at Newton Heath depot in Manchester with 195128 undergoing a bogie and wheel swap. You’ll be able to read more about the past, present and future of the depot in a future edition of RAIL magazine.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s a short blog from me tonight. Today was another one that didn’t quite go to plan – but in a good way! I’d intended to get out with the camera, despite the sub-zero temperatures but an email and a phone-call soon put paid to that. The email was from an old client, a railway magazine which was after a selection of archive pictures. Whilst I was sorting and sifting through those I received a phone call from a company in the rail industry whom I’ve never worked for before. They were anxious to source pictures – and more. So, I ended up dealing with a long-term work proposal and yet more urgent picture requests. On top of which I’ve been busy sorting out more of the logistics for next week’s trip which has involved a fair bit of research and purchases which will (snow permitting) arrive before we leave.
Next thing I knew it was nearly dusk. The quality of the light at the back of the house made me look out of the bedroom window, which is when I saw this rather amazing and colourful sky as the sun set over the Calder valley.
I have to go out tomorrow to pick up some of the stuff we’ve ordered so maybe there will be the chance to get a final few snow pictures…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 