Malcolm Gladwell supposedly said “We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility.” I’ve been struggling with Tokyo - mostly because so many other travellers have rated it their fav city in the world and I feel like I took a u-turn somewhere else. But already (having revisited this draft blog multiple times over numerous days), my impressions are changing. It’s not just that I don’t know where to start, I don’t even know what to say. See if you can stay with me. Here’s the first of three distinct, definitely conflicting, impressions that hit me clear as day. Have you ever seen the movie Zootopia? Disney. Animated. The sloths are my favourite characters, though not related to this line of thinking. Our hero, ... read more

Japan has been the highlight destination of this trip - the piece de resistance before heading home at the end of April. But yikes. Reading about it beforehand took the anticipation I was feeling, slapped it around and dosed it with an almost scaredy-cat tinge. Perhaps not the best country to wing it. Perhaps early in the year to arrive with tans, shorts and cotton short-sleeves. From Bali to Tokyo is a climatic shock.....from 35C to 15C kind of shock. Some heads up bits: . Stating the obvious, Japanese was based centuries ago on the characters in the Chinese language. As their independent culture developed, so did the Japanese written language. Some areas, like Tokyo, will have English on some signs, many others will have none. . Addresses are not precise, mostly because buildings are numbered ... read more

Bali. Palms and beaches. Warm-skinned people. Polynesian-flavoured music perhaps. Batik sarongs. Somehow Bali surprised me. I must have been expecting a Waikiki or Miami kind of frenetic beachfront, peppered with high rises and more tourists than locals. Instead, we found a gentle-paced, low-rise, well thatched, kind of summer-camp-feel place. We stayed in the town of Sanur, with one main street that connects it to the towns before and after without break. The road is lined with clothing shops, restaurants of every kind , spas and massage parlours (the legit kind). Taxis toot as they pass hoping for a fare. No one uses their horns otherwise and everyone seems to make space for bicycles, scooters, cars and vans. The party towns are elsewhere; we chose Sanur as it was described as laid back, which I now read ... read more

The use of superlatives in travel diaries can be a hazard. Striking a balance between the glories along with the wrinkles of travel is not what optimistically-minded people want to do. Like those wide-smiled selfies, everyone should be having a great time all day, every day. Our Penang stay had a wrinkle. But first for Penang. Penang is an area of 1.2 million, most on the island of Penang but some also on a strip on the mainland. Penang is the childhood home of our good friends and fishing buddies, Soh and Catherine and they are a big reason why we planned a stop here. The ferry between Langkawi and Penang sounded ideal - on the ocean, a change in transport and chance to be outdoors. People in Langkawi set us straight - the ferry is ... read more

Our best efforts to remember the little details of our last Asian trip had us turning to our travel diaries to answer some of the basic questions we had forgotten. And so little were these details, I didn’t record them. Getting cash, easiest modes of transport, foods we enjoyed, whether we need our own towels, and did we eat lettuce or take ice cubes at restaurants. It all blurs after a little time has passed. Our trip to Malaysia started with an overnight in Kuala Lumpur, and the airport itself made us stand up and take notice. Well, look at you! The whole thing has a modern, almost hip vibe. Every rise in the place is a wide ramp - no stairs. Why doesn’t every airport do this? Each departure gate is in separate glassed room, ... read more