Travel
Articles from my travels
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Wi-Fi in KLIA Malaysia
The airport will give you 3hrs worth of free Wi-Fi. This may not be enough if you’re stuck on one of those up to 12hr stopovers that seem to be a feature of changing planes there. It starts from when you first hook up to the service so don’t link your gadget to it until you’re ready to use it. … Read the rest
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KLIA Airport Malaysia: Using foreign currency
Most shops in KLIA will accept most foreign currency (including Chinese Yuan thankfully) to pay for things but be warned, most of the stores will round up and won’t give you any change. Try going to the money changer on the ground floor and changing everything you want to get rid of before you shop, you’ll get a better rate.… Read the rest
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KLIA Airport Malaysia Smoking Rooms
There are two smoking rooms in KLIA both on the top level by the prayer rooms at the end of the North and South wings. The North room is modern and has seats but is usually crowded and you’ll be fighting for oxygen. … Read the rest
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Useful information for travellers
I came across this site the other day and it is so useful that every traveller should bookmark it. It’s called Help for World Travellers and lists all the electrical, phone and TV standards around the world. The really important one for me is the electrical one, now I can easily find out what plugs I need to take when I’m planning my packing.… Read the rest
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Don’t times change? The Lonely Planet goes middle class.
I’m about to hit the road again, so I thought I’d grab myself the latest copy of the Lonely Planet for where I’m going.. and my, haven’t times changed! When I first started using them, a guest house would be rated well if there were no bedbugs and there was hot water.. … Read the rest
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Where have you been?
I’ve always had a soft spot for this map, it goes a little bit more red every time I update it. Despite all the travelling, I’ve not even made it to 20% of the world yet. Although it didn’t allow me to specify the Azores (Portugal) and Tibet and Hong Kong have been absorbed into China.… Read the rest
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Christmas Markets in London
Who knew? London has Christmas Markets! There’s only a few but they’ll certainly liberate any cash you have in your wallet. Here’s my picks: Southbank Christmas Market. Ok, so the website seems to go out of it’s way to be underwhelming but for sheer location and atmosphere, this is my favourite. … Read the rest
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Adelaide’s Hidden Gems 4 – Penfolds
Whilst we’re on the subject of wine, let me briefly rave about Penfolds Winery. It’s 20 minutes in a cab from the centre of Adelaide (you can catch a bus and walk the last 1/4 mile but we are talking civillised here) and it’s a lovely spot to enjoy some nice food. … Read the rest
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Adelaide’s Hidden Gems 3 – Winery tours of the Southern Vales and Barossa Valley
If you have the time, and like wine, then a wine tasting tour of the Barossa Valley or Southern Vales is a must. There’s many ways you can do it; a group bus, a limo or (and I don’t recommend this unless you have someone who really is teetotal driving) hire a car and get the iphone app (sadly not available on android).… Read the rest
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Adelaide’s Hidden Gems 2 – Adelaide Festival of Arts
I’ve been to a fair few different Arts Festivals down the years and again, I’ve come across nothing to beat Adelaide’s. Unlike Edinburgh, the performers aren’t desperate to be noticed and offered tv deals and there’s not the whole air of pretentious “look at me!”… Read the rest
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Adelaide’s Hidden Gems 1 – Skye Lookout
One of my hobbies in this life is watching sunsets and out of all that I have seen all over the world, none compare to Adelaide. It has the makings of the best sunset you’ll ever see but you have to know where to go. … Read the rest
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Adelaide Weather
Let me tell you, Adelaide is a great place to retire to. However, if you’re younger and a little more lively that’s probably not much of a recommendation. Adelaide is actually a great place to go hang out in for a while. … Read the rest
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Changi Airport
Did you know that Changi Airport (Singapore) has a pool? There really is nothing nicer than a quick dip if you’ve got a couple of hours to kill, so don’t forget to pack your bathers and a towel in your hand luggage. … Read the rest
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Buying advance train tickets in the UK
Usually buying your ticket in advance is cheaper but not always. Before you buy a ticket, particularly if it’s for a day return, check to see what the price of the ticket is if you buy it on the day. As I discovered the other week, buying a day return in advance actually disadvantaged me as you have to book a particular time for both journeys and even the return point was fixed, rather than the generic “london terminals”.… Read the rest
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Walking around Bruges
Bruges is lovely but those cobblestones can be hard on the feet. My pro tips for foot care when doing a lot of walking are to make sure you have some of those sport gel inner soles in your shoes, try to have ankle support (boots or even basketball type shoes) and if you’re susceptible to blisters, a few days before you go make sure you start to rub lots of moisturiser into the places where you usually blister and keep doing it. … Read the rest
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ATMs at Brussels Railway Station
The ATMs at Brussels railway station aren’t well signposted. There’s at least 2 (I didn’t go exploring much further down the corridor) on the corridor by the door closest to the Eurostar platforms. There’s also a cafe beside the first cash point that you come across there that served the best coffee I had on my last trip to Brussels. … Read the rest
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Australian Mobile top ups
If you are in Australia for any length of time or are going to be making calls, it’s worth it to get a sim card. If you get an Optus pay as you go (they call it pre-paid there) and you run out of credit whilst you’re on the go, you can text IOU to 468 and they’ll credit you with $3.00, which they’ll take back when you next top up. … Read the rest
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Chinese Social Etiquette – Handling Money
When you hand something to someone (including money) use both hands. If you want to be even more polite, lean forward (a slight bow) when you do it. As the saying goes, manners cost nothing.
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Jordanian Social Etiquette – Don’t answer the door with wet hair
In Jordan if you have wet hair it’s a sign you’re sexually available. I found in a couple of hotels as soon as I got out of the shower there’d be a knock on the door and one of the (male) hotel staff would be there on some trivial (and unrequested) excuse. … Read the rest
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Local buses in Jordan
If you brave the local buses (and they’re not bad), if they don’t have a bell for you to tell the driver you want the next stop then tap on the window a couple of times with a coin. You’ll see the locals doing it, so don’t be shy.