Relaxing in Taichung: Millennium Vee Hotel

After finishing up a section of my work trip in Thailand in the last week of January, 2016, I had a few days either side of a weekend to spare before the next job (which was also in Thailand). I had previously booked flights to Taiwan as part of the work trip, but the job to be done there had to be delayed. But, if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know my fiancée lives in Taiwan. So I kept the flights (reimbursing my company for them, of course!) and headed over to spend some time with her, staying for five nights in Millennium Vee Hotel,Taichung.

Overnighting in Jakarta: FM7 Resort Hotel

Whenever I come to Indonesia to visit some customers, I inevitably transfer in Jakarta. When I have had an overnight in the past, I have often stayed at the Sheraton Bandara, which sits just outside the airport. On this trip, which has me going back and forth across SE Asia for a total of 6 weeks, I had 3 separate one-night stays in Jakarta, and my travel agent this time put me up in FM7 Resort Hotel.

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!