As if to underscore the sentiments I expressed in my previous post, I had the most God-awful morning yesterday.

BAD MALAYSIAN TRAFFIC
It all started when I thought that leaving my mum’s place at 9am for my temporary office in KL was going to be a good idea. I thought that I would be avoiding the morning rush-hour by leaving later and that it would take me about 20 minutes to drive to the office. I was wrong. I was ever so wrong because yesterday was the day that KL had one of its worst traffic snarls that went on for miles and miles and for hours and hours.

I noticed the unusually bad traffic just as I was coming out of the area where my mum lives and decided to take a detour and see if I might not drive into the city via a different route. Sadly, the alternative I had considered was equally bad. So, I thought I would run an errand instead.

Posted on December 12th, 2007 by jl
Filed under: Fieldwork | 3 Comments »

It has been 74 days since I left Australia on this fieldtrip and I’m actually glad to be in my office in a Malaysian think-tank that’s kindly agreed to “host” my research visit in Kuala Lumpur. If nothing else, being in the office lends some structure to my last days in the field and it provides me with reliable internet access without having to sit in a cafe where going to the toilet becomes an issue when you’re sitting alone!

This weekend has been particularly bad.

Posted on December 10th, 2007 by jl
Filed under: Fieldwork, Life! | 3 Comments »

I am washed over by a sense of relief, happiness and extreme gratefulness now that I have left Seoul/Korea after close to a seven-week stay. Aside from the trials and tribulations of the actual fieldwork, let me list some of things I am glad to see the back of:

Posted on November 18th, 2007 by jl
Filed under: Fieldwork | 2 Comments »

This is a quick update (to my previous post): MJT made it to Seoul as expected but just barely. His flight from Sydney arrived in Hong Kong 90 minutes late and he was left with 40 minutes to connect on to his flight to Seoul. Cathay Pacific deployed staff specially to round up the connecting passengers and herded them quickly onto the following flight. In the process of rushing, MJT lost his iPod…

The past couple of days have been super busy. In between spending time with MJT and some sightseeing, I’ve had one research-related meeting a day for which I also had to snatch time to prepare. I’m exhausted.

We’re both leaving Seoul on Thursday, 15 November. I’ve just spent a couple of hours sorting out my departure and now I really need some rest.

I’ll update again when I next find a moment of clarity.

Posted on November 14th, 2007 by jl
Filed under: Fieldwork, blah blah | No Comments »

When I travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul almost six weeks ago, I chose to fly with Cathay Pacific. Having previously travelled with Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, I wanted to experience the only other Asian airline that many rave about. Sadly, while it made an impression, it wasn’t a good one.

I wrote the following to Cathay Pacific - it should be self-explanatory. It has been over five weeks, and four submissions via their online contact-form, since I first contacted Cathay Pacific and they have still not given resolved my complain satisfactorily. In fact, I have not received any response, bar an automated one, to the following report which I lodged with Cathay Pacific over three weeks ago (on 17 October 2007).

Cathay Pacific’s markets itself with the tag “It’s the little things that move you“. Well… the little things have certainly moved me - in fact, they’ve aggravated me greatly - but Cathay Pacific does not seem to know how to move me back.

Not impressed. At all.

Posted on November 9th, 2007 by jl
Filed under: Fieldwork | 2 Comments »