I’ve got Seoul but I’m not a soldier

Caution! Slightly whiney post alert!! 🙂 Apologies for the leap forward in time without an update! Following on from my hospital bed post, the surgery was successful and I’m well on the way to recovery although I still have to wear a back brace for the next 3 weeks and stairs are still an issue […]

Daegu-ja Vu

It’s currently half past midnight and I’m lying wide awake in a dark hospital ward in the centre of Daegu, South Korea. 48 hours ago my plans for this week were very different but frustratingly life has a way of sneaking up and kicking you in the balls when your least expecting it (usually just […]

Hong Kong Queuey (Part Two-ey)

The skyline of one of the world’s great mega-cities spread out before me and away into the distance. The views from Victoria Peak were staggering, and despite the heavy tourist traffic on the tram coming up, the trail around the peak was virtually deserted which suited me just fine. After a few hours ambling around, […]

Hong Kong Queuey

Prelude : An apology. Apologies for the delay between posts, it’s been a chaotic 3 months however there’s no excuse for not posting in so long! I’m looking forward to getting you all up to speed on the most recent set of travels and activities (including finally making it to one of China’s ‘big hitters’ […]

Rotten in Rui’an : My personal ‘Catch 22’

Unfortunately I’ve been forced to bring my time in China to a rather abrupt end. Over the course of the last week I’ve been subjected to a series of increasingly abusive messages from the new director of studies (DoS), Elsayed (or El-SiSi-ed as I now call him in tribute to the Egyptian dictator he’s modelling […]

Harbin(ger) of doom! (final part)

The minibus pulled up at a nondescript junction of a duel carriageway and the driver motioned for everyone to disembark. In both directions all I could see were snow covered fields and road, with the exception of the huge billboard marking the turning for Sun Island pointing back the direction we’d just come. As the […]

Harbin(ger) of doom, part 2

Tired, cold, sick and deflated. After being comprehensively defeated by the cold on the previous two days I was staring defeat in the face for the first time in my travels in China. After a second night of virtually no sleep in my boiling hot, windowless hotel room the thought of going out and facing […]

Harbin(ger) of doom! (part 1)

Just over two years ago, sat in a cafe somewhere in Cambodia, Leighton was showing me some pictures from his visit to the Harbin snow and ice festival in Heilongjiang province, China. It looked spectacular, a cacophony of ice, snow and colour with gargantuan sculptures between huge, illuminated buildings forming a mini-city made from ice. I […]