worldwide club guide: shanghai

Shanghai is the sparkling jewel in China’s crown. I think it has overtaken NYC as the ‘capital of the world’ (don’t hate on me, New Yorkers) and the best evidence for that is at night – when the skyscrapers are lit up with crazy disco lights, you know you’re in a city that likes to party!

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ask an asian: when can I slurp?

In some Asian countries it’s polite to slurp your noodles and in some, it’s rude. Which is which, I can’t remember!

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you know what i hate? manners

Judith Martin.  Yep, Miss Manners, herself.  I’ve spent the last 30 or so years suppressing gas, speaking quietly, shaking hands firmly, not picking my nose in public (I do not consider driving my car as ‘public’), looking people in the eye when I speak, squeezing zits in private, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, patiently queuing etc.  The list goes on….and then I went traveling.

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food blog: bangkok Indian

I think I must have some kind of mental condition where, when I chance upon a restaurant I really like, its name is immediately erased from my memory. Sadly, there are restaurants I won’t ever mention here because all I can remember about them is the food.

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worldwide club guide: Vegas

When the harsh desert sun goes down, Las Vegas comes to life – an overwhelming spectacle of neon excess and glittering lights. While Las Vegas is primarily known for gambling, don’t waste too much time (and money) playing blackjack as there’s some world-class clubbing fun to be had.

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ask an asian: can i touch your head?

I keep reading about how touching Thais on the head is rude as is pointing with your feet. Is this true?

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you know what i hate? litter

You know what I hate?  Litter.  I know I’m going out on a limb here, going against the grain and writing a groundbreaking blog, but man, litter sucks.  Just got back from Beijing, which is a fantastic city.  Very modern, interesting sights, great food, easy transportation and a wonderful layer of thick smog.  The trip was indeed kickass and the smog was tolerable (disappears after a good rain), but the litter at the tourist sites was honestly staggering and troubling.

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life's a beach: perhentian islands

Imagine a beach that comes straight out of a postcard.  Picture the towering coconut trees, the warm breeze, the tranquil emerald waters calmly rolling in on powdery white sands.  Sounds amazing, does it not?  Now imagine that it’s reasonably priced.  This dream is not fiction; I’m scribing about Perhentian Islands.

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food blog: package fatigue

It was recently ‘jeh’ week in Thailand. Jeh food – ahaan jeh – means ‘vegetarian food’ and jeh week was due to some kind of Chinese event.  The reason I know this is because all the vegetable-based foods I usually eat were moved to a special display at the other end of the supermarket, up-priced and rebranded with a giant red and yellow Chinese-style sticker saying “JEH”.

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worldwide club guide: sydney

Being a Sydney boy, all of my earliest clubbing experiences took place in Australia’s party capital. Sydney is a city that loves a party (although it stops to recover on Monday/Tuesday nights when it’s a ghost town after dark) and while the coolest, underground clubs come and go there are some mainstays which all visitors should check out.

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