MB departed flight QR 838 from Doha into Incheon airport concourse, the international airport of Seoul, capital of S Korea. MB was traveling light, just a carry-on bag for his mini-Korea trip to visit daughter MB2. MB walked immediately into the arrivals hall. “Hello Sir. Taxi?” said a local gentleman with an aging face and greying hair, eyeballing MB. “Yes, thanks”, replied MB, and soon a deal was struck between MB and taxi driver/owner Mr Kim. Mr Kim suggested avoiding Seoul central train station, as murderous traffic would be encountered during the rush hour that was now upon them. Like MB2 ..read more

In July 2023, only a few months back, the US military announced they had moved a nuclear submarine to Busan in the south east tip of South Korea. Days later, North Korean President Kim Jong Un (& sister & daughter) announced the North would nuke Busan. As it so happens, when all the above shannigans were taking place, MB2, daughter of MB, was in the throes of planning her University erasmus year trip to south Korea, more specifically, to the city of Busan. MB (wisely!) allowed the political heat to dissipate over a few days before contacting Kim JU through some back channels, explainin ..read more

It’s been quite a while, more than two years in fact, since MB updated followers about young Lebanese girls Sofia & Maria and their Qatar-based Middle East (ME) lives. MB bumped into S&F’s mom RBF a few days back and she reminded MB of his many promises over the last year or two to make some new posts. So having received a good kick up the rump from RBF, MB has finally sat down to do so. MB is actually composing this post in the Silver Lounge at Doha Airport on his way back to his Irish homeland, so needs to keep his eye on the Departures screen lest he get carried away with this post ..read more

Bahrain is only a stone’s throw from Qatar. In days past, it was a twenty-five-minute flight away, but due to certain political shenanigans in 2017, it’s now a circuitous two-flight journey, which consumes a goodly part of the travel days to and from. So an initial flight from Doha to Dubai, and an onward flight to Manama, the capital city, was how MB ended up in Bahrain in mid-February. Bahrain is politically interesting. It has a Shia Muslim majority population but a Sunni Muslim ruling family which leads to certain tensions on occasion. Bahrain is an island nation, linked to Saudia Arabi by ..read more

The football (real football!) World Cup kicked off on 20 November last and the final was played on Qatar National Day Public Holiday, 18 December 2022. Qatar came in for some ferocious criticism in the international media in the lead-up, mostly from Western Europe and from the UK in particular. From someone who has lived in Qatar for almost nine years, MB can say that the vast majority of the criticisms were inaccurate and grossly exaggerated. Much of the stuff MB read online might have had some relevance in 2010 when Qatar was awarded the tournament but since that date, the governing authorit ..read more

Patti has set this weeks challenge and her post can be viewed HERE MB found himself in recent days in The Kingdom of Bahrain, an island state in the Arabian Gulf, a mere stones throw from Qatar. It’s linked to Saudi Arabia by a long bridge/causway. In days past, there were direct flights between MB’s home base of Qatar and Bahrain, being only a short 25-minute flight away. However, there are currently no direct flights, which necessitates a flight from Doha to nearby Dubai and then an onwards flight to Manama, the capital city of Bahrain. There are a number of tourist attractions in Bahrain, o ..read more

In case anyone thinks MB is some kind of gun nut, he’s not. He would be very much on the side of strict gun control and bans on military-type weaponry if he lived in countries where such debates rage. MB appreciates that others have opposing views. And certain arguments they espouse have merit. But coming from a country that put away the guns in recent years after 800 years of it, MB can see the benefits of gunless society, more or less. But MB digresses………………………. Apart from the occasional usage of an old single-barrel shotgun growing up on a farm, MB was not familiar with any sort of firearms ..read more

Thanks to Donna for this week’s post whose blog site can be accessed HERE. MB harks (or harps!) back to an old post to take up this week’s photo challenge – Over The Hill, and he includes a link to that post below for those interested in reading the full story/post. In St. John’s Church graveyard in the village of Knockainey, mere spitting distance from MB’s HX locality back home, lies a most intriguing gravestone. The gravestone inscription tells the tale of one John Murphy, who was well over the hill – more than 100 years before he actually died! MB kids you not dear followers. John Murphy d ..read more

Thanks to Tina for this week’s challenge. Tina’s great post (and pics) are available HERE. In September 2017, MB attended the wedding of a Lebanese friend in one of the oldest towns in the region, Byblos, on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast. The wedding venue was the Saint Jean-Marc Cathedral, built by the Crusaders in 1,115 AD, a few hundred meters from the Crusader Castle of the same era. i The church was originally built in honour of St John the Baptist, but a name change followed in later years to honour the Saint who introduced Christianity to the Byblos/Jbail region.MB made a post of that w ..read more

Thanks to John for this week’s challenge. His post is available HERE. MB also recommends a look at Tina’s great TRAVELS & TRIFLES blog post HERE. MB’s tongue is always hanging out when he views Tina’s travel posts & pics! MB returns to Korea and the DMZ for this week’s challenge, the location of a recent MB trip with daughter MB2. When MB & MB2 visited the Imjingak Park at the De-militarised Zone (DMZ) between north and South Korea their eyes and interest were grabbed by the sight of a rusty old steam engine, long long past its sell-by date. The engine was bullet-riddled. Very. If ..read more