The Travel Bug: Where to go? (Part 2)

The perennial question for us: Where to go next?

A fellow well-travelled friend referred me to this list some time ago: Hillman Wonders, which she has been slowly moving down from #1. I don't really agree with all the choices, because some questionable places are on it, and there are quite a few missing ones that I think are more deserving. Still, its an excellent list to use as a guide and to pick out a shortlist of places to go.

When I was bored one day, I couldn't resist doing some analysis on it. Findings:

1. Of the 100 Wonders, there are 35 in Europe, 25 in Asia, 17 in Africa & Middle East, 11 in North America, 8 in South America, and 4 in the rest of the world.

2. I have been to only 28 of the Wonders, and most of these are either in Europe or Asia. I'm really tempted to redo the Europe ones though, because I visited those at a time when digital cameras were rare... and anyway, I love Europe!

3. I may never see all the Wonders. Especially since many of them are linked to nature-related events/items or in a category I deem as "more difficult" to accomplish.

4. I should be ashamed that I have not been to China at all for leisure, what with 7 of the Wonders located there and especially given its proximity to Singapore.

5. A 10 day trip to Egypt can cover 6 of the Wonders (including the #1 spot), and increase my "been to" percentage to 34%.

Conclusion on where to go: Isnt it obvious?

The Travel Bug: Business trips... Fun or Not?

People seem to think that travelling for work is equivalent to an all-expenses-paid semi-holiday...

But next time, ask these questions first:
(+1 for "Good", 0 for "Neutral", -1 for "Bad")

1. Where is the trip to?
- Developed country -> Good
- Undeveloped country -> Bad

2. Are you flying business class or economy? How long is the flight?
- Business class -> Good
- Economy class but short -> Neutral
- Economy class and long -> Bad.. very bad

3. How many places in how many days?
- One place -> Good
- Many places in few days -> Bad

4. Who is going along?
- Colleagues you like -> Good
- Boss you hate -> Bad

5. Are you buy-side or sell-side?
- Buy-side with bankers helping with logistics -> Good
- Sell-side with self-arranged logistics -> Bad

6. Is there a lot of pre-trip / follow-up work?
- A little or None -> Good
- Yes, a lot -> Bad

7. Possibility of going up earlier or extending the trip?
- Yes -> Good
- No and you want to -> Bad

8. Any free time to sight-see?
- Yes -> Good
- No -> Bad

So recently I was on a trip that managed to score a total of 4 points. Not too bad! Excluding the time where I went up earlier, we covered 6 cities in 7 days. Was super tiring, lugging my heavy bag up and down the trains and flights of stairs every day. Luckily the trip was in Europe and we usually had free time from the late afternoon onwards, which kind of made up for it.

The Travel Bug: Where to go? (Part 1)

So how do people decide where they want to go to for a holiday? Some of the common reasons include:

1. Visiting friends & family (free accommodation!)
2. Going for an event (eg wedding)
3. Watched a drama/movie/TV (eg LOTR -> NZ, Winter Sonata -> Korea)
4. Running away from the cold/hot climate in winter/summer
5. Activity based holiday (eg beach bumming, snorkeling, skiing, hiking)
6. Saw a friend's photos and was envious
7. Another friend wants to go there




Note: I am of course referring to holidays where only adults are involved. Having kids brings in a whole different dimension and people in that category are automatically excluded from the normal thought processes that singles / SINKs / DINKs have.

For *Shinta and I, other than trips we take for reasons #1 and #2 above, we usually waver between going to Japan (*Shinta's choice) or Europe (my choice). Usually Japan wins because i) I like going Japan as well, and ii) its just nice for a 9 day trip (the usual optimisation of leave days). Occasionally, we may be swayed by #6 and #7, resulting in our trips to places like Maldives and New Zealand.

However, having been to Japan about 5 times in the last 4 years, I have now put my foot down and will be objecting to any Japan trips that are not made for a specific purpose such as:
1) Skiing or snowboarding
2) Seeing the Sakura
3) Watching a concert of my fav Jap singer (probably impossible though...)

The above of course, still give us a lot of flexibility to go there as long as we can find a valid "excuse"... but at least it makes sure we take into consideration other destinations as well!

The Travel Bug & Food Bytes: Sorry! (+ Update 28 Jul)

Yes I know, one whole month without a blog entry is a really long time for me... Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it, nor have I given up on blogging. Just that I've been travelling a lot this past month and so I 1) have too many things to blog about and therefore am too lazy to start; and 2) am too busy having fun to blog about it.

Am in my favourite city currently (no prizes for guessing where), and I just had a really excellent day with one of my best friends, rounding off with dinner together with her hubbie. Before the meal started, he asked me whether I wanted to take photos of the dishes (which were really very pretty). I thought about it for 2 seconds, but finally said no, because I am really having too much fun here to want to think about interrupting it for photo taking or for thinking about blog entries.

Plus honestly there are really too many good restaurants here and way way way too little time for me to even begin writing about them. In fact, I don't think I will even be able to go through my usual "must eat" list on this trip, because I am only here for a few days before moving on to the rest of Europe for work... =(

Here's the status so far:
1) Salt beef sandwiches at Selfridges
Status: DONE!
Comment: Not just at Selfridges, but at Harrods too! The one at Selfridges is much more salty compared to Harrods, which is good if you like your salt beef with a bit of kick. Some may find the less salty one more palatable if they are not a fan of cured meats. Both are good though!

2) Roast duck from Goldmine
Status: DONE!
Comment: Just as good as always. Goldmine didn't exist when I was living here, but opened only "recently" when the chef from 4 Seasons left it and opened his own a few doors down the road...

3) Dim Sum / Scallops / Crispy seaweed / Lobster noodles from Royal China or Chinatown
Status: Pending DONE! All!
Comment: Might not have time to eat all these items unfortunately. What I crave the most surprisingly, is the "crispy seaweed"!!! That stuff just melts in your mouth. Am not sure why they don't sell it in Singapore. If I get a chance, will definitely take a photo of it for this blog.

4) High Tea at Covent Garden or somewhere similar
Status: Unlikely to complete Not done
Comment: All my days are already booked... Most definitely no time to do this =(

5) Mussels at Belgos
Status: Unlikely to complete Not done
Comment: Have not been able to do this on my past 3 visits!

6) Mr Burger at Trailer of Life
Status: Impossible to complete Not done
Comment: They only open around... 8pm was it? And I'm only doing a day trip there.

My usual "must do" list is an absolute nil for the Arts (no time), but faring much better in terms of the shopping (tail end of sales are on!). I've already visited 5 different Zaras cos the range at each is different. And today I just learnt that they update their stock every week!

Anyway, stayed tuned for August when I have more time and will update on the delights of Hokkaido in summer.