Remember right back at the start of the year we published that list of activities our family and friends sponsored for our time away? Well it occurred to us recently that there have been a few experiences (for whatever reason) we haven't done. Whoops! Nevertheless, many of the experiences have been similar to something we did do, and therefore we'd like to thank the people who have contributed and we've yet to acknowledge. - Aside from the bagels in NYC and ta...

It's cold! That may not seem like it deserves an exclamation mark, but after sweating our butts off since mid-September, the change is obvious. Cold is probably an exaggeration anyway; fresh might be better. Sort of like leaving Brisbane in the middle of Summer to arrive in a Toowoomba Spring. So welcome to the Cameron Highlands: a mountainous region pretty much in the centre of peninsular Malaysia. I think the "Cameron" comes from a British explorer who decide...

Newsflash! We did something interesting! I mean aside from swim, nap and wander Ko Lipe's numerous beaches. We went snorkelling. Now that probably doesn't sound very interesting, but I promise it was. The Thai islands in this far-flung corner of the country are fringed with coral reefs brimming with sea life. Having never really snorkelled or dove (dived? diven? What's the past tense of dive? Ah, who cares) I was astounded at what I encountered only metres of...

How do you write about hours lazing about on a beach and make it sound interesting? To readers trudging through the last vestiges of the year's working weeks no less. I don't know. So instead I'll just give you some tidbits about the last few weeks and hope it's adequate. Can you tell my blog writing has gone terribly downhill? I maintain that this has coincided with a mutual decision between Sjane and I to change what we've been doing. One look at the bank acco...

Initial impressions of Singapore are very good. Some might say it's a utopia. The first thing I'm struck by is the cleanliness. Steep fines for littering ensure the streets are probably the cleanest we've encountered anywhere in the world, and the rapid development of the city has resulted in a sleek, futuristic skyline of highrises. The Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel), Marina Bay Sands (fish slapped atop three towers) and the Merlion (lion's head attached to a fi...