Growing up in Cambridge, England, I only knew about leeches from, I don’t know, probably Tintin or something? I thought they were big fat things that slimed all over you and you’d bleed to death in minutes with no hope of survival. Turns out, they’re actually kinda cute. Well, cute might be stretching it a…
I’ve stayed in some sketchy places in my time. Some places that, let’s just say, aren’t high on my list of destinations to return to. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. San Salvador, El Salvador. Queens, New York. (I jest, I jest, Haiti wasn’t that bad.) But where I’m staying as I write this might be the worst of…
“Even the smugglers don’t come here,” were the comforting words of the guide on our day trip to Khinaliq, one of the most remote villages in the Caucasus. “Hopefully we can get back okay…” It was winter. Azerbaijan. And for some reason we decided to abandon the cozy, deserted Baku old-town coffee shops and head…
Before any hardcore travelers start screaming about slow travel being the best, yes, I know a 6 day Laos itinerary isn’t enough. But we have jobs, we have cats, we have a bag of tomatoes in the fridge fast going soft, and we don’t have time for a three-month backpacking jaunt across Southeast Asia. So…
“Don’t book anything your mum won’t like,” was my dad’s only instruction when telling me to arrange some things we should do in Dubai. Fast forward three months and we’re doing dune bashing in Dubai as a family and my mother is standing outside the 4×4 puking her guts up in the middle of the…
There are some things in life that are universally liked by everyone. Sunsets, unconditional love, fart jokes. Those are the big three. And elephants. I had the extreme pleasure of visiting an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Here’s what happened. Preparing for the Visit If you’re planning a visit to Chiang Mai, you have…
France’s blue-white-red tricolour flag is iconic. Ask any adult or particularly-gifted toddler and they’ll be able to identify the French flag. Like the McDonald’s arches or long queues at post offices, it’s a universally-accepted thing that would be sacrilege to change in any way. So, mon dieu, why have they changed it?! Let’s examine the…
Today we’re continuing our journey across Singapore as part of the coast-to-coast trail. If you need to catch up, check out checkpoint 1 here (featuring Jurong Lake Gardens) and checkpoint 2 here (Bukit Batok Nature Park). But I’ll be honest with you, friend, checkpoint 3 is for the die-hard fans only. If you’re here looking…
Singapore’s coast-to-coast trail is a 36km route from (almost) one side of Singapore to another. Today we’re covering checkpoint 2, the 2km from Bukit Batok Nature Park to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. If you missed the start of the journey, catch up here! Bukit Batok Nature Park Checkpoint 2 of the coast-to-coast trail is right…
The most beautiful street in Singapore is Koon Seng Road. Beauty is subjective of course. One person’s Mona Lisa is another person’s steaming pile of hot garbage. One person’s steaming pile of hot garbage is another person’s Mona Lisa. But let’s be real here. The Peranakan shophouse above is beautiful. It’s colourful, it’s ornate, it…