Author: Flo

Two very different sides of the Maldives – the capital

After spending a few nights in a great resort, it was time for the second part of our Maldives trip – a one night visit to the country’s capital, Malé. The capital island of Male with a population of around 100’000 is about a 10 minutes ferry ride away from the...

Two very different sides of the Maldives – the postcard resort

I spent the long weekend over Chinese New Year in the Maldives. As I had written previously, not everything in the island nation is as sunny and peaceful as we associated with from the postcards we receive from friends. I got the chance to see the other side as well,...

Singapore: tailor made clothes – level II

One of the more visited post on this blog is the one of Lai En Shirts Manufacturer. I’ve gone back multiple times for pants (so far not for shirts) and have always been happy with price and product. However their fabric selection for casual pants is rather limited. So recently...

Today’s tourist density is comfortable

Seen recently on my trip to Hangzhou at the Leifeng Pagoda. Luckily, the tourist density was comfortable on the day we were there. I don’t want to know what the other levels are.

Malaysian Airlines First Class London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur

So far I have not posted reviews of flights on this blog, I think there are others out there that can do this way better. However over the past Christmas holiday I redeemed my last US Airways (now American Airlines) miles for a first class round-trip journey that ended up...

Where do you draw the line to not visit a country?

A beautiful thing about traveling is that no matter where you go, there is always something to explore (ok, there may be some exceptions…) – be it landscape, structures or culture. And when you travel, you are bound to spend money, no matter small or big. In many cases, this...

Impressions from the Thaipusam procession in Singapore

This past weekend the Hindu festival of Thaipusam was celebrated in Singapore (as a matter of fact, everywhere with a sizable Tamil population). I had missed it last year and wanted to make sure to get a glimpse at it this time. I won’t go into much detail regarding the...

Travel pr0 tip #3: leaving touts elegantly behind you

Who doesn’t know this feeling: you’re exploring a place on the (very much) beaten path and every ten metres you are approached by a tout. Now, the five second pick up line varies by country but usually starts with “hello friend / brother” (my favorite being in the Philippines “Hello...

Hangzhou: the food did not disappoint

I was looking forward to the food in Hangzhou and sure was not disappointed. Over the two days we did not have a single meal that wasn’t tasty. But then again, we did not go too experimental as one could and you will see below. Another night we had dinner...

Hangzhou: a walk around West Lake and Hefang Street

In late November two friends asked whether I was interested in a weekend in China before year end. I really liked my time in Qingdao a few months ago  and quickly agreed. It was a very spontaneous idea and the initial plan was to go to Shanghai. However when we started...