If life is a journey 'travel' can mean anything
 
 

Year: 2017

 
  • Shape-shifting Singapore:

    Shape-shifting Singapore:

    Singapore has undergone many stages in its transformation from river-settlement to world metropolis. In the 14th Century the Kingdom of Singapora reigned and fell. The 19th Century saw resurgence when the East India Company purchased the island from the local sultan. Japanese invasion and independence meant further evolution in the 20th Century. From a traveller’s point of view, in its […]

     
     
  • The King and I

    The King and I

    Of course, I never knew Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej personally; only by reputation. While a filtered view could sometimes be presented, according to accounts he was a modest figure widely respected for initiating reforms and programs, especially those benefitting poorer Thais in rural communities. Not to mention creative interests. My visits to Thailand, beginning with the first many years ago, often coincided with events […]

     
     
  • On the Monet.
Nature reflecting art?

    Otway Odyssey

    Waterfalls, lakes and primordial forest. And satin bowerbirds! These photos were taken on a recent mid-winter visit to Otway National Park in Victoria, around Apollo Bay. The highlight, mostly because I hadn’t seen it before, was Lake Elizabeth. The lake was formed in 1952 when a landslide damned a section of the East Barwon River upstream from the town of […]

     
     
  • If you can’t stand the heat get out of the Thai kitchen

    If you can’t stand the heat get out of the Thai kitchen

    (A diner’s lament) Excuse me if I be grumpy ‘Cause the throat’s lumpy Not from events of sadness It’s Thai meals sullied by blandness!   Locals innocent I remonstrate Only try to accommodate Fussy foreigners feigning forays Couldn’t they simply stay away?   They want authentic in a bubble Have adventure without the trouble To travel abroad and not leave […]

     
     
  • Breaking a little bad in Bangers

    Breaking a little bad in Bangers

    After a long day and flight made more uneventful by the current airline trend of manufacturing night during daytime voyages (I think it’s to keep passengers subdued), followed by interminable queues at Bangkok immigration, I settled my starving self into this little regular near the guesthouse for khao pad Thai pak (rice pad Thai with veggies) and pad kee mao […]

     
     
  • White Night could need a white knight

    White Night could need a white knight

    In 2016 I wondered if Melbourne’s White Night was losing its shine. After attending this year’s event the doubts remain. Again, there were great sights at the bookends, but much less to observe in between, apart from buskers. There was also a similarity about some of the displays, and perhaps it could benefit from more reinvention. IMO the event was […]

     
     
 
 

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