I’d left the best until last for the final leg of my Far East tour – celebrating the New Year on the island paradise of Bali. I was flying in from Jakarta. While they’re technically part of the same country, the contrast between them couldn’t be greater. The island didn’t give me the best first impression, however. On exiting the…
Leave a CommentAfter spending Christmas in Singapore, the next leg of my Far East tour was a visit to Indonesian capital, Jakarta…. I honestly couldn’t wait to leave. The air smells foul, there are flying insects all over the place and trying to get anywhere by road is a nightmare. I pre-paid for my taxi from the airport to the hotel. Which…
Leave a CommentA few days before Christmas 2010, I took a flight from Kuala Lumpur airport – which may not look like much, but is now one of my favourites – over to Changi airport in Singapore – which is definitely the world’s number one! Tripadviser had confidently confirmed to me that the “Pan Pacific” was the best hotel in Singapore and,…
Leave a CommentAs far as my parents are concerned, there’s only one acceptable holiday destination on the planet: Pakistan. That’s why, every few years, our whole family would pack several massive suitcases full of presents for faraway relatives and board a PIA flight to Islamabad, and we’d be there for at least a month. All other countries and cultures were inferior in…
Leave a CommentIn October 2010 I moved to New York City for work, and over the next six months got to know the area reasonably well. I also got to experience one of the most amazing snowstorms in living memory, which left me trapped in my Queens hotel for almost a week! The experience left me shocked at just how empty and…
Leave a CommentIn September 2010 I went on a brief “Business Development” jaunt to Washington, DC – capital of the USA. Basically, I was there to negotiate contracts with some big media organisations. I only had my crappy old Nokia phone with me, so apologies for the poor quality photos. Inbetween meetings, I did manage to snap quite a few pictures of…
Leave a CommentSo I spent more than six months in 2010 living and working in Istanbul. Click here for more on that story. I used what little free time I had to enjoy as much of the city as I could. However, I rarely took photos as I was too busy working or enjoying myself! Formerly known as Byzantium, and then Constantinople,…
1 CommentI’m always searching for travel bargains. Browsing ebay late one night, I saw someone selling four nights hotel accommodation in central Manhattan for £150!! Turns out it was a British guy who’d bought timeshare in a hotel just south of Central Park, for one week every year. Something he undoubtedly regretted since you pay more in annual fees for those…
Leave a CommentIt’s summer 2007 and into my inbox popped a (relatively) cheap lastminute all-inclusive deal to The Maldives. I couldn’t say no to that and booked it without hesitation. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life as a world traveller. I’d heard so many people mention that The Maldives was the luxury paradise holiday destination…
Leave a CommentFrom the age of 11, I was forced to learn French in school. Our teacher was a gruff rugby-loving Welshman, built like a bulldozer, who bellowed Gallic phrases at us for 45 minutes every week. All of us were convinced his pronunciation was closer to Carmarthen than Calais. Unsurprisingly, that experience never left me keen to hop over The Channel…
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