As we wander, we wonder
Paradise on Earth I never really paid attention to the different qualities of beaches until we went to Maldives in 2014. I didn’t do that much research before I came, our key words were mainly private beach villas, and put a financial cap on it as it soon became obvious that the prices for their […]
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Ho Chi Minh Thoughts HCM was the last city we visited in Vietnam. After having first arrived into the unique atmosphere of Hanoi, then moved south to the melancholia of Lang Co and the ubiquitous Hoi An, HCM felt somehow closer in temperature and feel to other capital cities of South East Asia with mushrooming […]
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1.) ALEENTA HUA HIN This was located in Pranburi and not Hua Hin as named. Aleenta is approximately 3 hours drive away from central Bangkok and if you leave at about 8 or 9 am on Saturday, you will be there by 11am/12pm to enjoy the property without being too tired. Well starting with the […]
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The Accidental Tourist For various reasons, we landed up in Prague at the eleventh hour. While the week was dedicated to a work meeting elsewhere, the meeting dates shifted and after weighing up a few pros and cons, we decided to spend the week in Prague. Less than 2 hours from London, with Easyjet offering […]
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Bygone Years From the mid 1990’s till 2003, this was my ‘hood’. In fact, there was a time when I didn’t quite get that London didn’t begin at the Baker Street tube station and end at the Bond Street tube station. Back then, even Queensway and Tottenham Court Road were hovering at the edges of […]
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Foodie Friends I have a pretty undeveloped palate – my cooking expeditions are usually strictly regulated by the precise instructions of a cook book and not by my own intuition of say which herbs and type of cheese complements which type of poultry. I am further confounded by what would be the right amount of […]
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10 Days in Paris’s 20th Arrondissement This autumn I found myself ‘stuck’ in Paris for more than a week and what can I say, there are worse things in the world than finding yourself ambling around this captivating haven of chic. As you know, I’ve always been infatuated by this city and country and even […]
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5 General Discoveries on the Maple Tree Country The first thing that hit me about Canada is how supernaturally friendly people were. In a month, I can’t count how many random conversations total strangers have initiated with me in lifts, shopping malls, supermarkets (mainly in Toronto). I naturally compare this to 8 years in London […]
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No Swiss Neutrality I confess – upon arrival to Zurich this autumn, I had no real passion, impression or interest in Zurich. As far as I was concerned, I was there to see a good friend and the city was an irrelevant backdrop. I was sadly still a little underwhelmed with my year in Geneva […]
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Because Bangkok is a city of so much diversity, describing her food scene is probably best done in two themes – trendy dining catered for the urbane crowd and just good wholesome local fare for everyone. The first post will start with her trendy dining outlets. These are 5 of my best experiences. The Blue […]
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Hanoi was the first city we visited in our 1 week trip to Vietnam. It was my second Indochina experience and I initially thought it would be somewhat similar to the cool, relaxed vibe of Siem Reap. Obviously I soon realised that Hanoi and Siem Reap could not be more different. In general, I found […]
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Seminyak is not one of my ultimate favourite spots in Bali but it’s a semi rites-of-passage visit that I somehow feel compelled to arrange for newcomers to Bali. I lump it in the ‘party heaven’ category, beloved by tribes from the Southern Hemisphere and if that is your type of adventure then by all means, […]
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Throwaway descriptions of Cambodia often include ‘Angkor Wat’ ‘Genocide Museum’ and ‘Beautiful People’ and I am no exception. We went there for an extended weekend and were told that we would be mystified by the people and the ambiance. Sure enough once I got into a taxi to head for the hotel, I felt pushed […]
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French Summer, 2017 For us, Cote d’Azur was ravishing in every way. I had always, always wanted to go but never wanted to attempt it as a student because well… it’s the kind of place you want to stroll around romantically with your life partner, no? When you feel more of a grown up, […]
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The Lanna Kingdom is our favourite place in Thailand. It’s what I would describe a Thai version of Ubud + Luang Prabang – an artisan temple town, set on a hilly terrain with much to see and do as you stroll around an old town and within a serene atmosphere. As is always the case […]
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Shanghai was the first city I visited in the mainland of People’s Republic of China and I was completely disarmed by her. Many have told me that Shanghai isn’t perhaps the most accurate reflection of China so I guess I will need to explore other parts of this vast country to understand her better. For […]
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Montparnasse When trying to figure out where to stay, I initially really wanted to stay at the 1st, 7th, 8th or 16th arrondissement (Champs Elysee, St. Honore, St. Dominique, Trocadero or St Germain). Yes, I am a super conventional traveler and definitely less of an alternative off-the-beaten path wanderlust. But it was hard to find a […]
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It’s trite to love this UNESCO heritage town so much but I guess cliches come from some kernel of truth or at least a repeated sentiment by a collection of observers. For me, it’s definitely my favourite town in the Indo-China strip. It doesn’t have the breathtaking silhouette of Siem Reap’s Angkor Wat or the […]
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My friend A. was thrilled by some of the virginal beaches of the Philippines she had recently visited, so she asked me if we could replicate that experience in Bali. Well I didn’t want to disappoint her as I knew that this was probably not going to happen to the places that we were going […]
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This post will be about the villa we selected in Jimbaran. This was for a ladies holiday between myself and my good friend A. and we stayed here a few months ago, so it’s all fresh in my mind. So this time our route was Ubud – Seminyak – Jimbaran. The Bali trend for me […]
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I was first introduced to the Angsana brand in the Maldives and was really impressed. It’s the younger sister to Banyan Tree so think what Miu Miu is to Prada or what DKNY is to Donna Karan – affordable luxe. When we were planning to go for our end of year retreat to Vietnam in […]
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My friends from London and I landed up in Mougins last summer somewhat by accident. We had planned a reunion in the South of France a full one year before it actually happened and the outcome is a perfect example of the old saying ‘humans plan, but God decides’. By January 2017, we booked a […]
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Candidasa is about 1 1/2 drive from Denpasar airport (though this is on a good, traffic less day – please plan for a buffer time if you need to be punctual). It is a seaside town which sits on the East of the island and was apparently one of the initial resort areas of the […]
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I’m starting this category with Bali although I know it’s a place that is totally overdone in every possible way. Most visited, most blogged, most reviewed, most exploited, most — fill in the blank. The thing is, it’s one of those places that I have the most record of in my laptop as […]
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Looking for The Higher Self 