Archive for April, 2014
East Timor is a relatively new country and backpacking location. I toured there recently as part of my quest to have visited every country in South East Asia. I found that the country itself has a lot to offer travellers and to use a cliched term, it’s slightly off the beaten path. Here are five sights for sure you must tick off when you’re there. 1. The Jesus Statue, Cape Fatucama East Timor is a Catholic country and one of their key points of interest is the massive Jesus Statue at Cape Fatucama. It’s only 7 kilometres east of Dili and sits high and proud […]
Despite the fact that their new manager Moyes has never won a trophy in his managerial career (OK some count the “Charity Shield”), Manchester United are still regarded somehow as one of the best teams in Europe. After their defeat against Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the Champions League, the show must go on. The Red devils will meet Everton next week. It’s David Moyes against his old club!! I’ll give a rundown of some bars in and around Manchester that are a decent spot for a pre match drink. It’s easy enough to get Manchester United tickets online these days and flying to Manchester can be […]
Years ago me and my mates used to do pub crawls in London. It’s a great spot for it. Basically London has pubs on every corner. We worked our way through all the cool pubs crawls over the years: – the Monopoly Pub Crawl (pint in a bar on every Monopoly Street) – the London Football Grounds Pub Crawl (pint by every London football stadium) – the Circle Line Pub Crawl (start at Embankment and do a full circle, stopping at each station for a pint). What always amuses me are the wacky place names in London. I picked out these five tube stations to […]
Wales is a great country for the outdoors – lengthy strolls, hikes and fishing are some typical activities for travellers to the Welsh rivers and valleys. Fishermen or anglers tend to be very serious about their art, sport, or hobby of fishing depending on how you look at it. They spend hours dedicated to it, working, relaxing, or enjoying their craft. Newcomers are often fascinated by the details and the art of it. They are anxious to learn the finer aspects or details of angling that can take them to the next level. As a sport, it cannot be beat as anglers compete to be […]
Do you remember your first home team football shirt? Do you remember the colour, the design? What was it made from and did it have your name or number on it? Do you remember how you felt when you put your team colours on? I loved mine – being a Northern Irish lad I had my first NI shirt back in the 80s plus in the 90s I wore Glentoran shirts. To this day I still backpack the world wearing them! Not everybody has played a team sport, of course, or if they did, not everyone was picked for the team, but everyone understands the […]
I’ve been invited to 2 weddings this year, it was 2 last year and 2 in 2011. Due to logistics I couldn’t go to them all of course, but I thought it would be cool to write about a cheap guide to doing weddings and even organising weddings as some of my mates have been through the process. The backpacker’s guide to weddings! Here are a few steps… 1. Wedding Invitations Wedding Invitations need to be good. They need to look cool. They need to inspire. Last year…well we got a quirky silver envelope with an invitation written in Hebrew in it which was just […]
First of all, there are lots of different types of Chinese visas available if you are keen to travel and work in China, although they are all referred to by letters (Z, Y etc…) as well as having ordinary names too (the various types of visa are of course valid in different circumstances, which I will detail in this post). A good thing thing to note before getting to the Chinese visas is that Chinese bureaucracy is incredibly slow and you need to be extremely patient as the visa process can sometimes be very troublesome (even if you have all the required documents). There are […]
If you’re planning a European jaunt this summer, Italy should definitely be on the top of your to do list. Steeped in rich history and with stunning scenery, there is something for everyone in Italy. With warm summers and mild winters, Italy is an all round destination, depending on hot or cold you like your climate, particularly as it doesn’t suffer from extreme weather conditions. Tourism is big business in Italy, and understandably so. It is so beautifully diverse and truly has everything to offer – from fine cuisine revered the world over, the home of beautiful arts and treasures as well as having one […]
Sydney is a gorgeous city, with amazing architecture, scenery, lifestyle and food. I spent about 2 years living there and loved it. There are a load of cool reasons to visit this beautiful city because it is the perfect getaway with family, friends and even alone if you enjoy your own company or need some time off from everything. And one of the most amazing aspects and highlights of Sydney is perhaps the food. It is not surprising that many Michelin star chefs originate from Australia because people in Sydney know their food very well and accept nothing but the best, which works well for […]
It is common to expect that when you visit another country, one thing that you will find unique to that country is the style of the homes. Everything from the doors to the floors and the roof may differ from what you are used to back home. In Japan, the homes enjoy unique architecture that can run from historic to very modern. While many people might think of tatami floors and sliding doors when imagining a home in Japan, the Japanese enjoy many different types of housing. Some common houses that you are likely to run into include single-family homes, multiple unit housing, boarding homes, […]
