June 4th, 2011 | by
admin | published in
latest posts, other stuff
My latest published article has just been released in the June 2011 issue of Qatar Airways inflight magazine – Oryx.
It is a short introduction to one of my favorite areas in Guangzhou.
To read the full piece, My Favourite Street, Guangzhou – click here.
March 23rd, 2011 | by
admin | published in
eating & drinking
Guangzhou has some fantastic food on offer and one of the best options to partake in is Yum Cha. Yum Cha itself actually only means to drink tea, which is generally accompanied by some small snacks – it is these small snacks which is the dim sum. While the thought of gnawing on a chicken’s [...]
May 25th, 2010 | by
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latest posts, on the road
Although this was my first visit to the Philippines I can confidently say it won’t be my last. A huge surprise was just how close it is to Hong Kong. (My flight from Shanghai to HK was longer than the HK to Manila section.)
Flights to Boracay, despite being an easy 1 hour or so on [...]
January 6th, 2010 | by
admin | published in
latest posts, places
Hoi An has not lost even one iota of its charm.
There have been many but few changes to this ancient World Heritage site over the past 10 years. I still found myself gasping at just how beautiful and appealing the architecture is in the old town. It also took me a day [...]
January 4th, 2010 | by
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latest posts, places
Stepping out of Hanoi’s old quarter onto the streets of Saigon is a bit of shock.
Saigon is alive with frantic activity. The streets buzz constantly with steady streams of motorbikes and with Sunday night being one of those “out cruising with the family evenings” you see many of the passers by smiling and [...]
January 1st, 2010 | by
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latest posts, places
It has been 10 years since I last visited Hanoi and I must say it was great to be back.
The city seems to retain a traditional vitality and wonderful atmosphere in the old quarter with so many street vendors carting colourful baskets of fruit and flowers amongst the rustic French colonial architecture lining the labyrinth [...]
November 14th, 2009 | by
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latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 4 – Butterfly Valley to Pingan (48 klms)
The hotel in Butterfly Valley is in a surprisingly beautiful location, next to a Yao minority village some 4 kilometres off the main highway in a gorge filled with luscious foliage and a gushing mountain stream.
For me, today was the big day. Would I make it up [...]
November 13th, 2009 | by
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latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 3 – Guilin to Butterfly Valley (82 klms)
An easy ride this morning out of Guilin, we make our way through some wonderful little villages and classic rural China countryside under chilly but glorious blue skies and sunshine. The karst scenery ended not far out of Guilin and for a short time as we cycled [...]
November 12th, 2009 | by
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latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
After yesterdays cold and wet weather we find things have deteriorated even further with a top forecast of only 8 degrees today. We decide to postpone our Guilin departure till tomorrow (Friday) and return to Yangshuo to pick up warmer clothes.
This turned out to be a fantastic decision, not only for the respite from [...]
November 11th, 2009 | by
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latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 2 – Xingping to Guilin (72 kilometres)
Just the slightest feeling of fatigue and a case of raging saddle soreness were dominating my mind for the first 20 minutes on the bike this morning. This all dissipated quite quickly as we emerged into a valley and cycled directly towards a row of mountains and karsts [...]