あばよ Business Travel (Part 3)

Last entry on my business trip excursions... not so much to show for 3 years right? Well - what do you expect? - these are working assignments. Company policy doesn't allow for much free time or trip extentions over the weekend (not that it's any good if Veria can't join me) so the only time I have to look around a bit is when customers cancel appointments at the last minute, which, fortunately/unfortunately does happen from time to time. That's all of now, goodbye business travel, hope to meet your acquaintance some time again in the future...

Sydney Tower overlooking some heritage buildings

Well, it is the most famous landmark in Australia...

One ot the many splendid old Cathedrals in Melbourne City

Dinner cruise along Dubai Creek

Admiring the splendid night scenery

あばよ Business Travel (Part 2)

Incredible India! The one country that I visited the most throughout my 3 years. (Darn one page Indian visas took up so many pages of my passport) Hot Curries, unbelievable(-y bad) traffic, opulent hotels beside sprawling slums, overloaded trains, beggers vs super-rich people etc. etc. - Achar! I have a pretty good idea of what it's all about now. Can't say whether I love it or hate it though, I can only say it like the tourism propaganda does - It's Incredible! Be prepared for a sensory overload should you go there. For now, I can only offer some pretty tame photos...

Gateway to India - Mumbai

Corner of Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel (before the bomb blast)

It's not the Taj Mahal, it's Humayan's Tomb - New Delhi

Beautiful isn't it - no crowd at all, they're all at the Taj Mahal

Sunset at the Marriot Beach Resort - Goa

Church & Convent of St Francis of Assissi - Goa

Ruins of Golconda Fort - Hyderabad

Front entrance to the fort

Another view of the sprawling ruins

あばよ Business Travel (Part 1)

After 3 years of business travel, it has finally come to an end. It was nice while it lasted, but well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and this man's gotta work for money now. It might be quite a while before I travel for business on a regular basis again - Goodbye to 5 star business hotels and fine dining, Goodbye to hotel loyalty or frequent flyer mileage points. Hmmm ... Leisure trips that I make in future with Veria are going to take a dip in the luxe factor from now on. Anyway, putting that aside, this posting is a celebration of all the glorious times that I spent as a road warrior in the past three years - Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, UAE, Australia, and of course, most importantly - Incredible India. Pardon me for the quality of some of the pics though, they're mostly taken with my lousy Nokia camera phone. Here's Part 1, a tribute to Japan, where my ex-company headquarters is located.

Hanami - Cherry Blossom Viewing, an all-time Jap favourite activity

Sakura - Truly one of the highlights of going to HQ in Spring

Pretty Clouds of Pink - everyone should see them at least once

Japanese Summer festival

Pachinko! - Possibly Japan's favourite vice (or is it porn?)

Cute-sy tap at Ghibli Museum

东北三省 - 寒冷的世界

Only two words can be used to describe our Christmas/New year trip - Unbearably cold! Yes we wanted to have a white christmas, but this was really more than what we bargained for. -31 degC at its coldest, nothing could prepare us for this. Our bodies were wrapped up like giant bar changs, (rice dumplings) but our feet and hands just couldn't be insulated well enough. Imagine that water vapor could condense on our eyelashes and then freeze into tiny clumps of ice. This was truly the coldest I ever felt though theoretically I experienced similar temperatures at Hokkaido in the winter of 06. They say its because of the Siberian wind that blows from Russia. Also locals say this was the coldest winter they had for a long time, possibly due to climate change. Anyway, here are some of the photos, least I have ever taken on any trip coz my gloves were too thick to control the camera properly and my bare hand couldn't stand more than a couple of seconds out in the cold. Enjoy them, coz I probably will never go some place this cold ever again.

张学良将军's mansion

One of the buildings at 沈阳故宫


Probably China's most Majestic Beast - the Siberian Tiger


One of many Immense Ice sculptures at Sun Island


Same one with a different view

The one reason we put ourselves to the torture - 哈尔滨冰雪大世界

Got to see it to believe it (well we've done it so that's it, enuf)

My favorite piece, The Himeji Castle ice structure

Decadent European Tour

This has got to be my most luxurious trip ever! - Flying on the A380 with Singapore Airlines both ways, opulent 5-star hotels (even got a room at the Westin with a view of the Eiffel tower), beautiful B&Bs, (including feeling like royalty staying one night at the Chateau des Ormeaux), amazing restaurants, (dined for the first time in a 3 Michelin star restaurant at L'Astrance) private trip in a BMW and also at some point in time cruising around in a 2L volkswagen Jetta. I never thought I would ever spend the money to indulge in such luxuries. Well, I still wouldn't, but with all the accumulated air mileage, hotel loyalty points, and support from our couchsurfer/hospitality club friends, (Thanks Piere & Christian!) it was possible to craft a truly decadent itinerary for my wife and me with a modest budget of $3800 each.

And what a beautiful trip it was! I have always loved France in the first place, having already been there 3 times before, but with my darling wife around, I love it even more - it's a place for Luurrveee... My first time in Belgium, too, was truly memorable, especially when it came to the divine chocolates. How i crave for another bite of Pierre Marcolini's... I'm drooling already. The UK? I used to think that England was a dark and dreary country, cloudy and raining most of the time. Now, after having stayed there for 5 days, I still think the same... BUT ... on the occasional day (2 out of 5) when the sky was clear and blue, the scenery was simply glorious. The pastoral scenery that I saw has to rank as one of the top that I've seen in my entire life. Even though I still love France more, I must say that the English countryside is considerably prettier - cute little lambs grazing on wide open meadows, beautiful little villages within a setting of trees and a little stream or river, quaint little cottages like the ones in Children's picturebooks - classic.

In any case, here are the photos. I've arranged them roughly according to the sequence which we took them, though i did not select pirctures from every place we went to.

France: Paris, St Malo, Dinan, Mont St Michel, Loire Valley

Belgium: Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Namur, Dinant, Leuven. Liege

UK: London, Salisbury, Bath, Cotswolds, Oxford

Monsieur Gargoyle looking over Paris from Notre Dame Tower

The Classic Black and White photo of the Eiffel Tower

Timber houses in Dinan, Brittany

Probably my last time at the Mont St Michel

Spectacular gardens at Chateau De Villandry


Candes-st-Martin, "one of the prettiest villages in France"


Chateau D'Azay le Rideau- charming from the outside with the surrounding waters


Magnificent Castle town - Amboise


Prince and Princess for a day at Chateaux des Ormeaux

Blois - Yet another stately castle town


Biggest and Grandest of all the Loire Valley castles - Chateau de Chambord


Classic Fairytale town - Bruges, the 'Venice of the North'


The 'Lake of Love' in Minnewater park, Bruges


Ghent - 3rd most authentic travel destination in the world according to NatGeo Traveller

Imposing architecture with intricate details looming over the Grand Place in Brussels


With its Citadel high atop a cliff, the Walloon City of Dinant

Magnificent Town hall in the University town of Leuven

The World-Famous Roman baths at Bath

Quaint Thatched-roof Cottage in Chipping Campden

Another beautiful cottage in the Cotswolds

Another Beautiful scene in the Cotswolds - the lambs must be tasty

The old water mill in the lower Slaughters

The river Windrush running through Boughton-on-the-water

Some nice random house in Bibury

Just can't leave Big Ben out of any Travel Blog that features London, right?