Calgary and the Canadian Rockies

While Japan remains one of my favourite countries in the world to visit, Canada has to be a close second. I first got the opportunity to visit the USA's neighbours to the north in the middle of 2012, and then again later in the same year. As yet, I haven't had the chance to return since then, but the Rocky Mountains outside Calgary are still one of the most beautiful places I have been lucky enough to see in my travels to date.

Fiesta de España, 2015

At the end of November, 2015, I found myself back in one of my favourite countries in the world: Japan. Despite having been there about 8 or 9 times now, I still love it and I think I always will!

I arrived on 24 November, and had a job scheduled for 25th-27th. I then had the weekend to myself before the final day of the job on the 30th. Based in Kimitsu, as in this post, but without a car, I was a bit stuck for something to do over the weekend. So, I chose to check out of my hotel for one night and head into Tokyo. I found a last minute room at Jalan.net in one of the many APA hotels that are scattered around Tokyo (and the rest of Japan). And so, on Saturday morning, I packed a backpack and jumped on a train into the city.

Parlez-vous Francais? Oui!

"London to Athens" Contiki Tour, June 2011, Post #1

Actually, the real answer to that question is "non". Forgive me, I shouldn't tell lies in my blog titles.

Following on from my previous post, we finished up our brief stay in London on June 10, 2011. I can remember waking up on the first day of our Contiki tour and panicking that we had slept in. It was bright light outside, and we had planned to get up at 4:30am. But this was just me not being used to the crazy sunrise times in the UK: bright daylight and 4:30am are two things that simultaneously occur in a British summer, apparently.

In any case, we weren't late, and we got to the meeting point for the tour and checked in. At 7am, the bus departed and headed south for Dover, where we would catch the ferry across to our first stop, Paris.

A City That Needs No Introduction

Going back a little over 4 years to June 2011, I had been in my new job, travelling the world, for almost 3 years. As you can imagine, by this point, I'd amassed quite a few frequent flyer points. So, it was time to travel somewhere and not bring my tool kit with me! I blew about 200,000 points on return flights to London, and set foot for the first time in the UK.

Taiwan: My Home Away From Home

You're probably starting to think that I spend a lot of time in Taiwan. Well... that's true. For the last 1.5 years, I have been dating a local (Avy), so I have a bit of a bias towards visiting her! Unfortunately, my work doesn't take me there particularly often, but I can usually pick up my own cheap-ish flights when I finish in a job in Thailand or Vietnam, for example. Now that we are engaged, my other half will eventually move to Australia, so I have to take advantage of her tour guiding while I can!

Royal Seasons Hotel

I sat here, trying to come up with a more interesting title for this one, but I have failed to do so!

Following on from my previous post, I had a job in Taichung during the 2nd-last week of October. As I'd mentioned, this was smack in the middle of Bike Week in Taichung, so hotels were full to the brim. However, I was very lucky to snag a room at the Royal Seasons Hotel.

Taking it Easy in Taichung

On 17 October 2015, we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. Originally, my girlfriend and I had planned to head away for the night to see a famous traditional town in northern Taiwan called Jiufen. However, on the day, we struggled with long lines for buses and trains, and eventually decided not to go. So then, we began trying to book some accommodation very last minute for the night in Taichung. The problem was it was Taichung Bicycle Week (which seems to go for, like, 17 months), and so the masses of foreign bicycle industry companies had descended on Taichung and booked out all the decent accommodation well in advance. It took a bit of scrounging on TripAdvisor and CTrip, among other websites, but we eventually found a place to crash for the night in Taichung Ease Motel.

A Little Taste of the High Life

It's been a while between posts! But I had a bit of a lull in my work travel over the past two months or so, and as such, I didn't really have a lot to write.

However, this morning, I rolled out of bed at about 4:20am to head to the airport - ahhh the joys of travel to Asia! When I arrived at the airport, I lined up in the fancy-pants queue, as I'm now a One World Emerald member. I asked the Cathay check-in staff member if there were any exit rows available - gotta put my 6'3" legs somewhere. He smirked a little as he handed over my boarding pass, explaining that I had been upgraded to Business Class for the flight through to Hong Kong.

Well... I suppose that will do!

A Little Seaside City Called Kimitsu

A couple of hours' train ride around Tokyo Bay lies the small industrial city of Kimitsu, in the Chiba Prefecture. Formed towards the end of the Second World War, it relies heavily on its port industries, namely fishing and the massive Nippon Steel factory - the latter of which is my reason for coming here. I have visited several times over the past 5 years or so, but my exploration of the area has been quite limited. I never have a car to get around, and my limited skill of high-school Japanese makes wandering into a restaurant a bit of a daunting task. However, on this occasion, I had a little help from my customer and translator in seeing a bit more of what this part of Japan has to offer.

Kia Ora, it's New Zealand, bro!

America has a bit of a love-hate relationship with its neighbour to the north, Canada. In Australia, we have a similar friendly rivalry with our neighbour to the east. But the reality is, New Zealand and Australia have a lot in common. We have very similar personalities, tastes in food, and our love for sport goes right down to the bone. And while we Aussies do give the Kiwis a bit of flack for their quirky accent, and their supposed extra-marital activities with their woolly ovine friends, I have always thoroughly enjoyed my trips "across the ditch".

My First Little Taste of the United States

Late in 2011, I was on a job in Christchurch, New Zealand (I promise I will blog about the Kiwis later!). After a day of work, my boss called me and asked me if I would be okay to take on a quick trip to the USA. I'd never set foot on American soil, and this would turn out to be first of about 5 trips over the next 12 months, so here is a bit about my first experience over the other side of the Pacific.

 

Tea is Good for the Soul

Okay, so this post isn't really about travelling. But it's inspired by things learnt from travelling! One of my customers in Taiwan always offer me Oolong tea when we sit for a meeting. On a recent visit, the boss was nice enough to give me 2 bags of his favourite leaves. Complete with a teapot and cups from my girlfriend, I have been getting into a nightly pot or two. For those who don't frequent their teapot, I thought a quick guide on how to brew a tasty Asian tea would be a nice addition to my blog.

A Little Exploring in Taiwan on Foot

As I mentioned previously in this post, Taiwan has become one of my most frequented destinations over the past 5 years. Even more so recently, now that I'm dating a local. Coming from Australia, Taiwan is rather amazing in its density; the country itself is less than 0.5% the size of Australia, and yet it has roughly the same population. The majority of the population live in cities along the west coast, as the east of the island is very mountainous. So as you can imagine, so many people in such a small area gives rise to a phenomenal amount of culture available to be experienced.

From the Sand to the Sea

In April 2014, my job had me based in Kathu, South Africa for a period of 2 months. Towards the end of the month, I was faced with four days off for the Easter weekend and a whole lot of nothing to do for those four days. Kathu is not a particularly entertaining town, you see. So, rather than sitting around doing nothing for the whole break, I booked myself a few days in one of the country's main tourist spots: Cape Town.

A Feed That's Fit for Mice and Men

I spend a lot of my time away from home; that's just the nature of my job. But sometimes I do get to hang around here long enough to enjoy my home town. Adelaide, South Australia, may not be on par with the New Yorks and the Londons of the world, but it has a quaint, homely feel to it that I very much enjoy. And so, today - and from time to time going forward - I would like to share some of the gems of my home town, so that you, too, might enjoy them one day.

At the Heart of the Philippines

This week, I was back in the Philippines - specifically, Cebu - for 4 nights; I was last here in January of this year. I wrote about that stay in this post. That time, I stayed a bit more into the city. On this occasion, I stayed closer to the port, booking into the rather opulent Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

Tokyo Is The Place To Go!

Dates of travel: 29 May 2015 - 02 June 2015

It has to be said: Tokyo is one of the coolest cities in the world! But maybe I'm biased... and to be fair, I haven't been to all the cities in the world, haha. Nevertheless, I have always loved Japan since my first visit on school exchange at the age of 16. The culture, the food, the people; what's not to love! On this occasion, I spent a few days with my girlfriend, Avy, exploring Tokyo only. And anyone who has been will know that a few days is nowhere near enough.

Set Your Sights On A Little Place Called Taiwan

Okay, that title sort of rhymes... it turns out "Taiwan" is a hard word to rhyme or parody for a blog title! But when I first went to Taiwan in January 2010, I can say that Taiwan was another one of those places that had never really crossed my radar as a place to visit. I don't know if I was even sure of its location. But after around a dozen visits, it has become one of my favourite places to go: a tiny island jam-packed with culture, food and scenery, it should definitely be on your list!

Asia's World City

Dates of travel: 05 April 2015 - 07 April 2015

It's been one of my most frequented stops during my travels, but usually just to transfer between flights. On a couple of occasions, I had passed through Customs to overnight in a nearby hotel, but that was about it. Now, I can finally say that I have properly gone outside the airport to experience Asia's World City: Hong Kong.

Uma semana no Brasil

Dates of travel: 16 August 2014 - 24 August 2014

To Google Translate, I must say "obrigado!" for that title. For those of you at home, it says "One week in Brazil".

Welcome to John's Town

Dates of travel: 02 March 2015 - 17 March 2015

Well, that's what it might be called if it had been settled by English folks. However, since the descendants of the Dutch got here first, it is these days known as a little place called Johannesburg.

Man who walk through airport door sideways...

Dates of travel: 28 February 2015 - 01 March 2015

... is going to Bangkok!

What can I say? I may be 31, but sometimes I just feel like being immature. :-)

After I finished up with my job in Saraburi, I travelled down to Bangkok for one night before flying out. Before leaving, though, my customer offered to take me out to dinner. We went to a local restaurant called Dairy Home. As far as I can tell, it's associated with a nearby dairy farm, because one of the big draw cards appears to be that they make their own ice cream.

A new name

So it would seem that, when I had what I thought was the brilliant idea for the witty title of my blog: "From the Fifth Corner", I wasn't alone. A quick Google and I found there is already a photo blogger with the website www.fromthefifthcorner.com. As such, I have been trying to think of a new name so that I can be a bit more unique. It took some brainstorming and discussion with some friends, but I have now opted for:

LATITUDES OF MATTICUS

Whatta ya think? :-)

Thai me kangaroo down, sport

Dates of travel: 08 February 2015 - 01 March 2015

Another week, another trip! Actually, that's not quite true. I was home for a good solid 2 weeks between the Philippines and this adventure. And 2 weeks is a long time to be at home on my calendar!

On February 8th, a week after "celebrating" my 31st birthday (seriously, 31?? When did that happen?!), I headed off to Thailand for a job. This one involved getting two new pieces of equipment up and running, so that meant an extended time in the one place. I was based in the town of Saraburi for 2.5 weeks, and booked into the Saraburi Inn.

Four nights in the Philippines

Dates of travel: 18 January 2015 - 22 January 2015

This entry is just a quick one, and really is mostly a hotel review. After I finished up in Indonesia (see previous post, "Indonesia will please ya"), I headed up to the Philippines to visit another customer for a few days. I had four nights in the city of Cebu, towards the south of the main islands, and I stayed at the Parklane International Hotel, so this entry covers mostly my experience at that hotel.

Indonesia will please ya

Dates of travel: 11 January 2015 - 18 January 2015

First of all... I apologise for that title. That was the best I could come up with at 7:30am. :)

Secondly, I have opted to do away with trying to blog about all my travels in order from the start. I will catch up on them all eventually, but for now, I will blog about where I am at the time so that everything is fresh.

Now... Indonesia! I have been here a few times in the past, but never had much of a chance to look around. It's one of those places where it seems if you aren't in a major population centre, you are in the middle of nowhere. But I suppose a lot of tropical Asia tends to be like that!