Tag ArchivesFor the word: travel
Cool Christchurch
Despite all my travels around this little blue-green planet, I have to confess that I’ve never been to the South Island of New Zealand.
+25Bangkok revisited (part 1)
My second trip to Bangkok was undertaken with some degree of trepidation.
Shortly after I booked my tickets in early March, large numbers of supporters of the ousted president Thaksin Shinawatra started to congregate around the business and government districts of Bangkok. Similar protests had occurred during my previous visit just under a year ago but I had narrowly missed the worst of them; they were reported by the international press around the time I was gratefully dropping my bags on the floor of my parents’ place in New Zealand and I was a little stunned to see TV images of the police clashing with red-shirted protesters outside what appeared to be the hotel I had stayed in less than 24 hours previously!
+27Back in Blighty
Two weeks ago today, in the wee hours of Wednesday the 13th of May, my plane touched down in Heathrow and I set foot back on the soil of Blighty for the first time in almost 6 weeks.
It’s interesting watching how news and current affairs play out around the world. In Bangkok, the news was all about the political unrest and the riots (it’s rather disconcerting to catch a glimpse of the hotel you have just left, between rioters on one side throwing Molotov cocktails and armed soldiers on the other firing rubber bullets.
+15Hong Kong 2009 (Part 2)
Another day comes to an end.
Hong Kong 2009 Photos now available.
Last night’s visit to the Temple St Night Market was a good one. After leaving the Pacific Coffee House, I wandered down to the Market’s edge and found a good seat at my favourite roadside restaurant. The place doesn’t look like much and the cheap plastic tables and stools don’t necessarily get your taste buds into overtime, but the owners cook the best sliced beef and vegetable satay, this side of the Pacific.
I sat in the warm humid afterglow of the afternoon, happily munching on this spicy dish and washing it down with a large chilled bottle of the local Tsing Tsao beer, watching life go by and the stall owners finish setting up for the evening. An hour later I was strolling through the markets, haggling for all I was worth with the stallholders and having a great time into the bargain (no pun intended). 
At the end of Temple St, I watched the many fortune tellers plying their trade and as always, it was interesting to see the range of clientele; from wizened little old Haklo boat ladies to young business executives in their tailor-made silk suits, everyone wanted to know what the future held in store for them. Just around the bend is a place I affectionately refer to as: Karaoke corner/
+22Hong Kong 2009 (Part 1)
Hong Kong 2009 Photos now available.
Anyone who reads this blog (or the Bandanna Club website) – even occasionally – will know that I’ve made a number of visits to Hong Kong. Certainly it’s my favourite stopover whenever I head back down under and I don’t generally miss the chance to stroll down it’s streets and sample the wares of it’s markets
+26Two Nights in Bangkok
Well here I am, sitting in a Bangkok internet cafe, on the last morning of a flying visit to Thailand, sipping a freshly brewed cup of Jasmine tea and collecting my thoughts…
I arrived yesterday afternoon into a typical late Thai summer day of 40°C with 99% humidity. The roads from Suvarnabhumi Airport to my hotel (the Royal Princess Larn Luang in the old part of the city) were choked with traffic (thank all the Gods for airport limos with air conditioning) and it took about an hour and a half to get to the hotel.
+24