All posts tagged: travel the world

Cape Town III –Quirky & trendy Observatory

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I moved to Observatory for the next couple of weeks. Named so because the South African Astronomical Observatory is here. Known as Obs to the folks here. Also known as a student neighbourhood because of the proximity to the University of Cape Town.  During the years of apartheid this was one of the few ”grey” suburbs where all races lived together. It still is a very multicultural area today, with a lively, quirky and bohemian feel to it. Though I can’t say I felt totally at ease when walking home at night here. Crime is a problem. Still there is an Observatory Neighbourhood Watch close by and they are working on making it a more safe area. Saying that nobody walks in general in Cape Town. Everyone takes their cars or Uber. Never taken so many Uber rides in my life as here. And due to that I had one of the most interesting conversations with a taxi driver ever! Who in the thirty minutes or so that it took to drive me to the airport …

Cape Town II – Green Point & other stories

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My first home was with Carin in Green Point. When I arrived from a hectic month in Asia, I had tons of photos I needed to take care of and blog posts to write. But none of that for Carin. – Come on, you have to see this…let’s go… And off we went. She went over and beyond to show me amazing places that I would never have found myself. So my first thanks is to you Carin. Thank you for showing me both hidden and not so hidden gems. And also for showing me some great contemporary African design. And of course for your lovely company! Carin’s home is itself wildly and wonderfully creative. It’s a veritable cascade of colours and made me feel that yes, I’m in Africa now. A small Victorian house, it has been opened up and felt spacious with it’s high ceiling, loft and large glass doors leading out to a very private courtyard, where the sound of water pouring in a small wall fountain was relaxing to listen to. …

Singapore III

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This year 2015 Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence. And it’s also been acclaimed as the world’s best country to visit due to it’s excellent shopping, rich cultural life and food culture. I skipped the shopping on Orchard road completely to focus on for me a much more important thing – the food, which was fantastic. Eating out is everyone’s favourite pastime here. Singapore is a hotpot of cuisines. Influences from the Chinese, Malayan and Indian cuisine of course as well as other Asian countries, the Middle East cuisine and pretty much from all over the world as a result from the country’s history with immigrants from many countries. There is an endless variety to choose from. From really good and affordable street food found in the hawker food stalls, food courts to high end restaurants. My first night I went to a hawker food court just up the road and sought out the stall which had the most customers and had a big bowl of tasty soup for nearly nothing. As I’m a soup …

Singapore part II

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Of course I had to visit Raffles Hotel. Not only to sample the obligatory Singapore Sling, which I did. But the building of this iconic hotel is truly beautiful. Now it’s surrounded on all sides by the modern life of high-rises and busy roads. But it also sits in a garden that somehow keeps the outside world at bay giving it a serene splendour. This however is slightly taken away by the fact that it’s also swarming with tourists, well that’s includes me too I guess. On a spur I felt like I wanted to have afternoon tea here but that was a no go as one has to book that one week in advance! You get the picture. Oh well there’s always a place in the bar so I went there and had a Singapore Sling instead. This classic cocktail was invented by the bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915. At this time women were not allowed to consume alcohol in public. But he cleverly thought out a way to create a cocktail that …

Singapore part I

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Singapore is a city, an island and a country. Small in size but with a population of 5 million people. I found Singapore very green, humid and…unfortunately very hazy. But also with striking architecture, old colonial houses and the sometimes surreal new buildings and stunning structures such as the Supertree Grove in the Gardens by the Bay. As the haze was so prominent during my visit I have to mention this issue. I stayed at first with Joe and his friends and his flat that has this amazing view over looking the Gardens by the Bay. This huge recreational park area created from a vision Singapore had, to transit from “A city with a garden” to become “A garden with a city” opened in 2011. I had envisioned sitting on the balcony looking out over all this splendour, but unfortunately the haze was so bad that most days we couldn’t even have the doors to the balcony open. The haze is seasonal apparently and is the smoke that drifts in from, mostly illegal, slash-and-burn fires …

Hong Kong part III

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Hong Kong is not only a city. It’s a archipelago too. One day I gave myself a mini break and decided to make a trip out to an island to find a beach. I went to the quay and found myself a ferry that would take me to the island of Lantau where I had read about a nice beach. It was so refreshing to be on the water and to see the city from this vantage point. And it was nice to leave the bustling and noisy masses of cars, buildings and people behind me for a while. On Lantau Island I found a bus that took me to the pristine beaches of Cheung Sha. It was quite amazing that only a short ferry and bus ride away was this beautiful beach nearly devoid of people. Only me, myself and the warm waves of the South China Sea. Pure bliss! Of course Hong Kong is about food!  One favourite restaurant was Crystal Jade. Oh the number of delicious dishes I had here! The Dim Sun was spectacularly good here and …

Hong Kong part II

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I moved to another part of Hong Kong, to a studio on the 31st floor of a high-rise with it’s own private rooftop terrace. I have always been interested small space living and this studio is a perfect example of this. The cleverly designed solutions worked very well and despite the limited floor space it didn’t feel cramped at all. I believe that the spectacular views on the three sides were a part of this but that the calm colour setting also contributed. Samuel who this home belongs to was currently working in Shanghai and therefore I could stay here. I really enjoyed living here. I liked the design and the views. And it’s location too. Not to mention the private roof terrace! How cool wasn’t that! I managed during the photo shoot on the rooftop, to crouch on the edge of the roof in order to take a shot downwards towards the street way below. It was seriously scary, as I have a fear of heights. Also as it was a seriously hot and humid day, working on the rooftop left me totally faint and drenched in sweat. But …

Hong Kong part I

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Arriving to Hong Kong straight from Shanghai, my first impression was – that it felt small! Who would have thought this? It’s also an extremely vertical city. Densely populated and confined in a relatively small area, makes this a necessity. It’s actually one of the world’s most densely populated metropolises. Also the fact that it’s surrounded by green hills and water makes it a very beautiful place. I also found Hong Kong very clean, orderly and well organised. Many pavements are raised above the streets, with roofs and glazed walls that provided both shade from the sun and shelter from the rain. Also they make a very efficient passage for the many business people who hurries through them morning, noon and night. Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading financial centres and many of the tallest skyscrapers are the homes of various banks and financial institutes. In Hong Kong rules the principle of ”one country, two systems”. Meaning that although a part of China since 1997 when it was returned to Chinese sovereignty, it retains it’s own capitalist economic and political systems. It was such a relief that the taxi drivers, at …

Hello travels!

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To kick-start my travels after months and months of unraveling my domestic life as a house owner and to get myself into travel mode again, I took a short trip to Palma de Mallorca around midsummer. If this is a mini version of what my trip around the world will be like – well I can’t wait! I stayed with Maryna and Mike in Santa Catalina. It was my first visit in this particular area and my first stay with them too and we had a great time together. Sharing a home with someone is an interesting way to travel. You get to know new people fast when meeting them in a informal and relaxed environment as a home is. I also very quickly got that feeling of truly being at home. Sharing a glas of wine and enjoying great conversations when my hosts came home after a day at work. Going out for a meal together. Saying hi to the neighbours when meeting them on the stairs. Buying food at the local market. Apart from that I just walked the streets, soaking in the ambience of …