Memoirs of a Chan

While Ibiza is the sort of cliché, I now tend to avoid, there was a time when I was an avid clubber. When a few friends from my old clubbing circle decided to plan a trip to Ibiza, how could I refuse?

Given that I have a marathon to run in 5 weeks, I decided to keep the trip length to a long weekend. It takes me much longer to recover from a big night out nowadays.
 
We left London on Saturday afternoon, ready & raring but our enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the delay in our flight. We sat on the plane for over an hour while the ground crew looked for a new battery for our plane. Three cheers for Ryanair!
 
We didn’t arrive in Ibiza until 10.30pm, checking into our hotel at just after 11pm. That wasn’t a problem since things only start picking up around that time.
 
We had initially decided to find a local bar, have a few drinks and chill out, then go clubbing the next night but we found ourselves at Paccha nightclub at 1am.

 
Paccha is one of the ‘super’ nightclubs where big DJ’s like Tiesto & Paul Van Dyk play. We knew it would be an expensive night but we were completely unprepared for the 60 euro entry fee (without any drinks included).

There were 8 of us so we negotiated the price down but not by that much. As far as nightclubs go, it was quite a nice looking club. I wouldn’t say it was miles above other clubs I’ve been to though.
 
We attempted to reduce the big dent in our wallets by having a few drinks in our apartment before heading out. Our apartment block was right by the beach. Unfortunately Jess, Ly and I got the room that had the broken air con. They were fully booked that night so we couldn’t change rooms.
 

One thing about Ibiza that really surprised me is how large the island is and how spread out everything is. Catching a taxi is really expensive as the distances between places are so long. I also suspect the taxi meter goes up a lot faster than other cities.
 
By the time we got to the club, we had spent so much on the taxi ride there that there was no way we weren’t going in. It wasn’t long before we hit the dance floor, each with a vodka and cranberry. The music was pretty good despite the club being relatively empty.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a club with these particular set of girls so I really enjoyed myself. It’s funny to think that we’ve known each other for over 10 years and here we are in Ibiza, rehashing the past!

I got a real shock when I went to the bar and bought two small bottles of water. It cost me 20 euro. Extortionist prices! Ly & Janee paid 15 euro each for a vodka & redbull.

As the night progressed, we met more and more randoms and our photos got sillier and sillier.

We left the club at 3.30am, quite a good effort considering none of the girls were sick in the club or in the taxi ride home.  I shared a cab back with Ly but when I hopped out of the car, I couldn’t see her anywhere. It wasn’t until I looked down that I realise we had our first casualty of the evening.

Ly doesn’t make much noise while throwing up so I didn’t have any sympathetic urges to follow suit.

We raced back to our apartment and crashed for the night. I must have been so tipsy that I didn’t even notice the lack of air con or the salty tap water when I brushed my teeth.

The next day, Jess and I suffered the consequences. Generally we wake up dehydrated after a night of drinking but when coupled with a few hours sleep in a hot room, we were worse for wear the next day. I had a persistent headache and Jess was nauseous.

Ly was chirpy and bright eyed which we were thankful for as she brought us breakfast and bottles of water. Both Jess & I slept in Janee & Su’s air conditioned room while the rest of the girls headed to the beach for some sun.

Once Jess & I managed to rouse ourselves out of bed, we headed into the West end of San Antonio to have a look around and get something to eat. All the shops and restaurants looked really touristy and pricy. We settled on a restaurant that overlooked a square in front of the harbour and both ordered paella. I didn’t have high hopes for its quality which help me avoid immense disappointment.
 
Jess & I consoled ourselves with the fact that we would be in Seville the following week and Valencia in a matter of weeks so we would have other chances to have good Spanish cuisine. 
 
After exploring San Antonio town, we headed to a small beach on San Antonio bay to relax and watch the sunset.

 
Much to our relief, we were able to change to a room with air con. We moved rooms before heading to San Antonio’s sunset strip which has lots of bars & restaurants along the coastline.

 
It was extremely busy at 10am to midnight so it’s probably where everyone goes before they go clubbing.
 
The sunset strip is how I imagined all of Ibiza to be. Long stretches of coastline with hundreds of clubs, bars and restaurants. Instead, the clubs are situated in remote warehouses or old buildings separate to other areas in Ibiza. The island is huge and the main areas/attractions are far apart. 

 
We decided not to break the bank or ruin our livers by another night out at a club. It was a relatively early night for us as we were in bed by 3am.
 
The next day we caught a bus to Ibiza town to have a look around. We had lunch at a random café with unremarkable food. Jess had a tuna salad, I had a ham & omelette roll while the other girls had burgers.
 
It was a hot day so we walked around for an hour or so before catching the bus back to our studio apartment where Ly, Jess & I caught a taxi to the airport for our flight back to London. 
 
 The verdict? I’m glad I went and I had fun with the girls but it is an expensive and slightly overrated party destination.

Last Friday, I headed to Edinburgh with my parents and Jess. We timed our trip to coincide with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Military Tattoo Parade.
 
I’ve heard many great things about Edinburgh so I was really looking forward to it. Edinburgh lived up to my expectations and the hype. It’s a beautiful city. It has the history and architecture similar to the heritage buildings in London but it is far more picturesque.

The city landscape is unreal. Edinburgh Castle is perched atop a cliff, in the middle of the city. It is quite something to be walking along a main street and having a beautiful castle looming over you.

 
The streets are clean and the people are friendly. It was a particularly busy time for us to go but we felt it added to the atmosphere. The Scottish are a friendly relaxed bunch of people.
 
We arrived there on Friday at 5pm in the afternoon after a slight delay with our flights. After checking into our hotel, which is a 15 minute walk from the city centre, we headed into town to explore.

Our first stop was Princes Street where we came across the half price ticket booth for Fringe festival shows. We immediately bought tickets for a show called ‘The Legend of the Card Ninja’ which I wanted to see as soon as I saw it in the program guide. Right up my alley! I was super happy to see that tickets were half price.
 
We had dinner at a restaurant called the Mussel Inn.

We happened upon it by chance but Mum said it was mentioned in the lonely planet guide. What a find that restaurant is! It specialises in mussels but has a range of other seafood dishes. Our waitress told us they go through several tonnes of mussels each week and these are all cleaned by the staff in their kitchen. We ordered 1.5 kgs of mussels, with half a kg each cooked in different sauces.

 
We also ordered a seafood platter, seafood pasta and clam chowder to share.

 Needless to say there was nothing left by the time we were done.

 After dinner, we headed to the Assembly Hall to see the show. It’s normally used for university classes but for August, it was converted to lots of rooms in which artists could perform in. I know Jess and my parents and doubts about what sort of show they had been roped into watching but I knew they would come around to my way of the Ninja!

Thankfully my parents found the show entertaining. While the guy wasn’t side splittingly funny, he was funny, likeable and easy to listen to. A great way to end the evening.
 
The next day we woke up and pigged out on a continental buffet breakfast before heading to the Royal Mile for our free 3 hour Sandilands walking tour.

Our guide was extremely knowledgable, having been born in Edinburgh and studied two degrees there. He had a mixed accent as he had lived in the states and other places in the UK. He pointed out all the major sights and described the history of them in great detail.

He was a very good storyteller and kept our group interested. Dad gave him a £30 tip at the end of the tour to show our appreciation and my dad doesn’t give tips unless he feels they are deserved.

After the tour, he took us to a local pub where we had Haggis with Neeps and tatties plus a glass of wine for £5!

While Haggis isn’t a dish I would go out of my way to order again, I’m glad I got a chance to try it.

After lunch, we walked around town to explore the areas that we covered on our tour but wanted to see more of.

Then we headed back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours before having dinner at a pub.

We hung out at the bar while we waited for a table. The restaurants, pubs and bars must do great business during August.  

I had Bangers and Mash while my parents had steak and chips. Jess had salmon and steamed vegetables. It was a seriously good pub meal!

That evening, we walked up to Edinburgh Castle which is where the Military Tattoo Parade was held.

I wasn’t sure what we were going to see so I found myself pleasantly surprised. This year was the festival’s 60th anniversary. There are over 1000 performers including bandsman, dancers, gymnasts and singers.

This year, international bands included Jordan, Nepal, Poland, New Zealand and the US. Each of the bands performed a piece separately before coming together at the end to play Auld Lang Syne.

In between band performancers, we were treated to a display of gymnastics from a troupe in the British Army, a traditional Scottish dance and a performance by Motorcross riders, with the youngest rider aged 3 and the oldest rider aged 16.

The show ended with fireworks over the castle, with us watching from the courtyard.  No matter how many times I watch fireworks, I enjoy them just as much as the last time.

We spent our final day in Edinburgh enjoying the beautiful weather. First we bought tickets to see 2 shows. Stand up comedian Tiffany Stevenson and Baba’s Rap Guide to Evolution.

Baba’s Rap guide to Evolution was funny and very clever. It was my dad’s favourite show, despite him not being a fan of rap music.

Tiffany Stevenson was funny in some parts but a lot of her routine had references to Scottish/British shows so we didn’t always follow the jokes

It also didn’t help that we were full and sleepy from a delicious meal at a French restaurant.

The menu only had 4 main dishes on them but the dishes were cooked very well.  If you like to eat calf liver, then this is the restaurant for you.

Edinburgh is a gorgeous town, one that I will definitely go back to.

On Saturday morning, I headed to Lille with some of the wonderful crew that I met on the Everest Base Camp trek. Charlie and Will came into London on Friday evening and stayed over at my place so that we could catch the train together in the morning.

Even though we had to be at the Eurostar terminal at 8.20am on Saturday, we headed to the Alicehouse on West End Lane for a few drinks.

Given we were having a few drinks with Will, it shouldn’t have surprised me that those few drinks turned out to be more than we planned plus a late night trip to the local kebab shop.

The next day we woke up, a little worse for wear and rushed to the train station, only to find that we just missed the train to Kings Cross St Pancras. We took a mini cab, stressing that we were going to miss the train to Lille when it turned out that our generous benefactor was running even later. Chris travels to Paris every week for a project he works out and has built up a huge amount of Eurostar miles. He (very generously) used his points to pay for us to go to Lille for the night.

Chris turned up at Eurostar in his office clothes from Friday and his passport. He had been out drinking the night before and hadn’t even gone home to pick up his stuff. His flatmate jumped in a cab and brought his passport. Now that’s impressive!  Since we were running late, we had no time for breakfast. Luckily, it was Nod to the rescue with crisps and chocolate coated nuts. Nothing like a nutricious breakfast to start the day.

As soon as we arrived at our hotel in Lille, we headed straight for the hotel bar.

It was surreal to think we met in Nepal and months later, were having catch up drinks in a hotel in Lille. Thank you Chris!

After a few drinks, we headed into town to grab some lunch and look for some clothes for Chris.

We found a factory outlet next to Zara where Chris got his own shop attendant! ahahha

It was the most random shop yet somehow it felt exactly like the type of place for us.

It doesn’t matter where we go, there’s always something or someone we can laugh at.

Unfortunately Will couldn’t find anything in his colour.

Nod, on the other hand, suits a greater range of colours. Maybe it’s his happier disposition! ahahha

Next up was lunch at a restaurant around the corner where all of us except for Chris had mussels and fries.

I had my mussels cooked in Leffa beer but the guys decided to have the beer straight from a glass.

Nod has entered the New York marathon this year and in support, Chris pledged to donate £1,000 to his choice of charity if he runs it in under 3 hours 30 minutes.

Now that is exactly the kind of challenge Nod loves. They sealed the pledge with a Euro coin.

After lunch we headed to a small bar where we had more drinks. Charlie and I drank Soho Lychee liqueur with lemonade. We had about 3 drinks when we decided we wanted to head back to the hotel to chill and watch Alice in Wonderland (free movies teehee!).

The guys had at least 6 beers each in the same time that we had the drinks. Chris and Nod proceeded to man-wrestle on the floor while Will conveniently forgot that you can’t smoke indoors anymore. That’s precisely when we got kicked out.

We walked through town, struggling to find a taxi. After 45 minutes of walking around, we decided to walk towards the central station.

Once we found the central train station, we found our way back to our hotel. Charlie and I had showers, relaxed, watched a movie before going to the guy’s room and finding them even more intoxicated than before. They had a few more beers while we were absent.

At that point, I discovered the extent of Chris’s vocabulary when he’s had a little too much to drink. It consists of ‘cry me a river’, ‘boo f$73ing hoo’ and hi five! He only spoke to me in hi and low fives! and a few pats on the back. ahahha

Charlie and I also suspected that we had lost Will as his eyes were a peculiar shade of red and looked like Chris’s eyes a few hours earlier. We agreed our best chance to sober them up was to go for dinner.

The idea would have worked if they hadn’t ordered wine at dinner.

We did suggest cocktails with the secret intention of getting them non alcoholic cocktails but the restaurant didn’t have pitchers.

Even the most hardened drinkers can get tipsy on a glass of wine so that was really all it took to send Will over the edge.

After dinner, we hit the streets of Lille and found a good ole Irish bar. You are guaranteed to find one everywhere!

There we had a few drinks each as well as some tequila shots.

I suppose tequila is an acquired taste.

 Will was determined to look for some Jaeger as he was crashing and burning and needed something to pick him up. After much searching, we settled into a smaller bar and had a few drinks each and 3 different type of shots.

Chris was long gone by this point. There was just no rousing him.

At least we still included him in our photos.

However it wasn’t long before Will followed suit. Another one bites the dust!

We left that bar and walked (well Will & Chris stumbled) until we found a club that we wanted to go in. The bouncer told Nod to gather all his friends but when I looked around, Chris was nowhere to be seen. I retraced our steps while Charlie walked in the nearby vicinity, yelling his name.

Chris towers over me so he really shouldn’t have been hard to spot, even in a crowd. It wasn’t until I saw a Frenchman bent over an unanimate object on the road that I realised I was aiming too high. This Frenchman was poking Chris and asking, ‘Monsieur Ca Va, Monsieur!! Monsieur!’ 

I looked down to see Chris with his eyes closed, smiling like a cheshire cat (yes I had just watched Alice in Wonderland) with his arms sprawled above his head and his legs in a spread eagle. When I managed to stir him awake, he looked at the Frenchman and asked me if he knew him. At that point, I knew it was time to call it a night.

We began the long walk back to our hotel, strolling along, listening to Nod’s music on his iphone and singing loudly. I noticed a definite change in the way Will was walking. He was hunched over and had a funny rhythm going. I did point it out to Charlie and Nod but we laughed it off and thought he was being funny.

As we got closer to our hotel, Will’s walk became a stumbling gait and he became even more stooped. You know Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Will was digressing before our very eyes! He looked like how I look when I’m trying to climb a hill that’s far too steep for me. It wasn’t until he was walking so low that he fell forward, off the sidewalk and smashed his face on the road that we realised he wasn’t trying to make us laugh.

After the initial shock wore off, we helped him up and to our chagrin, his face was bleeding in 3 different areas. Below his right eye, his nose and above his lip. There was quite alot of blood as the face tends to weep alot, even with superficial wounds. No one knows that better than me. Still it was quite scary to see how much blood was streaming down his face.

I got my camera out and tried to take a photo but he wasn’t keen on having his photo taken at that point in time. Will falling unleashed some protective streak in Chris. Where he was incoherent and glossy eyed before the fall, he suddenly became lucid and aware of his surroundings. Nod and him supported Will all the way back to the hotel.

Charlie and I helped Will clean his face before turning in for the night.

The next morning, he didn’t look any better and his face was still bleeding. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do but grin and bear it. I’m still kicking myself for not getting photo evidence while he was asleep! Ah well, despite the casualties, it was a fun weekend and a great chance to catch up.

My parents arrived in the early morning last Thursday, after the long haul flight from Perth. They were tired but stayed up as they wanted to get their body clocks in sync with UK/Europe time. Jess has been waiting their arrival with much excitement (both of us have been!) since she misses her parents and my parents (being direct relatives) are the next best thing! ahhaha
 
They spent Thursday afternoon visiting the various banks to sort out their financial affairs and get some money out. Jess went along with them and waited patiently in the banks foyers. Much to her chagrin, they didn’t get much accomplished. Dad spent a good half an hour trying to convince one of the staff at Halifax to emigrate to Australia. 
 
On Thursday evening after work, I headed up to St Albans to see them. It was really funny to knock on the door of the house that I lived in for 18 months and have my dad answer the door. Big hugs all around! Mum and dad hadn’t changed. They never do! Even when they are tired and jet lagged.

We decided to go to my favourite Moroccan restaurant for dinner.

Mum and dad seemed to really like the food which made us happy as jess and I know how unforgiving they can be when it comes to food/restaurants and we wanted them to enjoy their first meal in the UK.

The restaurant had a belly dancer performing for about 45 minutes and we watched while she pulled young men from the crowd, trying to show them how to shake their hips. It was not until dad went up that she realised she had met her match!

Actually she looked at me first to see if I wanted to go up and dance but my belly does enough natural shaking off its own without me trying to shake it even further. It didn’t take much convincing for dad to go up there and dance, in a crowded restaurant!  

The next day was Jess’s birthday! I took the day off and slept in till 10.30am and watched a Jet li movie until Jess & my mum came to visit.
 
Dad & Jessen played golf in the morning so we decided to walk around my area and head into Oxford street/Piccadily circus. I knew there was no way we’d get my dad to go to Oxford circus so may as well take advantage of his absence. 
 
In the evening we headed to Chinatown for Jess’s birthday dinner meal.

We decided to go to Plum Valley for dinner which is like a nouveu fusion Chinese. The food was quite nice. It wasn’t what you would call ‘authentic’ chinese cuisine but it was tasty.

We had Crispy Aromatic duck and this lovely honey & champagne cod. 

Gen sent Jess these gorgeous macaroons so we had them for dessert.  

We parted ways in Chinatown but not before Dad went and bought a whole roast duck for takeaway. 

I arrived back on Sunday afternoon from Lille and headed straight to St Albans where I met up with Jess & Mum on the high street. Mum loves St Albans. In fact so does Dad. They both think its very picturesque and very English.  

 On Sunday, dad and Jessen played golf at the Grove with Jessen’s golf pro friend Alex. Polly, Jess, Mum and I headed to the Grove at 7pm as we were having Jessen’s birthday dinner there.

We started off with drinks at the bar to celebrate my dad BEATING Jessen for the second time! Oh and Jessen’s birthday of course! Hahah

Actually we thought that Alex and Dad should have let Jessen win. It is his birthday after all! Dad has been using Polly’s golf clubs. Twice now, he has played really well with them so we’ve told her to keep them locked up before they leave.

 
I took Monday off so we headed to Aunty Cassy’s house for lunch. There we spent the afternoon eating mee hoon, wo tau goh and spring rolls complete with her homemade pandang cake with mangos, cherries & blueberries.
 
In the evening, the 4 of us headed to Chinatown with Aunty Cassy and tried out a restaurant called Yoong Ching.
 
There we had curry crab, steamed seabass, lobster noodles and garlic shoots/chives. Gosh I haven’t had a meal like that since I left Perth. Jess and I were SUPER happy. Dad thought the lobster noodles could be a lot better but I couldn’t really tell! 
 
I came back home, rolled into bed, feeling much heavier and thicker around the waist. I went into work the next day but couldn’t settle in as I found that I already missed the company of my parents. So I left work and went to meet them for lunch.

We met up with Aunty Cassy at Royal China in Bayswater. It has the BEST cheung fun! SOOO delicious!! 

 
We walked around Westfield shopping centre for awhile before parting ways with Aunty Cassy and heading back to West Hampstead where we had dinner at Yo sushi. 
 
I am so happy to have my parents visiting. All the travelling and exciting things I’ve been doing has kept me busy and distracted and while I haven’t missed Perth as a city, I do miss my family a great deal. This visit has just reinforced that.

As part of my company’s (Colt) CSR programme, the Central Finance team chose to spend a day volunteering at Highgate Cemetery.

 The Highgate Cemetery opened in 1839, and soon became a fashionable place to be buried, with many notable names buried there.

The cemetery stretches over 37 acres, with 170,000 names buried in 52,000 graves. Its extensive grounds are full of trees, shrubbery and wild flowers.

The cemetary ceased to be financially viable in 1975 and as a result, fell into disrepair.

Since being bought by The Highgate Cemetary Charity, several buildings and monuments have been restored with much of the overgrowth cleared by volunteers.

We were met at the entrance by cemetary volunteers, who proceeded to run through potential hazards and correct use of tools.

Despite being a balmy 26 degrees, one avid team member, inspired by the prospect of spending a day outdoors, jogged to the cemetary from London Bridge.

We were completely unprepared for how beautiful the cemetary is. With its wealth of Gothic tombs, mausoleums and elaborate gravestones, it was as if we had stepped into a scene from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Our tasks were to clear away brambles, stinging nettles and holly, with a lucky few chosen to chop down trees. We got off to a slightly shaky start, since some team members were unable to distinguish the difference between the various plants.

It didn’t take long for us to figure it out though, judging by the numerous scratches, rashes and welts that appeared after the first hour.

The team fell into an easy cameradie, with managers and their respective teams working alongside each other.

It rained lightly in the afternoon but with the towering ash trees sheltering us, it simply added to the serenity of our surroundings.

While some of us initially had reservations about how much we could accomplish, we were amazed at the amount of overgrowth cleared and the number of gravestones we had uncovered in the space of a few hours.

It may seem that the cemetary had the most to gain from our work, but ultimately we were the ones to benefit. We came away relaxed and invigorated, with a renewed appreciation of how much we could achieve together as a team.

It takes very little effort to make a difference in the lives of others. We hoped that our conservation work will mean people can continue to visit and enjoy this enchanting and historic resting place.

This weekend, we headed to Clapham Common for a day of indulgence. The Ben & Jerry’s Sundae festival is held in the last weekend of July. Lucky ticket holders are treated to a line up of local bands and FREE unlimited ice cream.

Last year I went with Uzzie and we had seven cones each. Well, we had 7 scoops of ice cream and a couple of cones as I soon realised the waffle cones were a waste of stomach space. I had tried all the flavours last year and knew which ones I didn’t like so this year, I focused on cookie dough and strawberry cheesecake.

Even without eating any of the cones, I only managed 5 scoops this year. I had 2 scoops of strawberry cheese cake frozen yoghurt, 2 scoops of cookie dough (though one of them was larger than your average single scoop) and I tried a scoop of Berry Nice which was a waste of space.

It was a pretty hot day but there was a great turnout.

Jess even managed to fit in free candy floss.

The UK summer is still going strong so we decided to take advantage of that with a visit to Thorpe Park, an amusement park just outside of London.

I haven’t been to an amusement park since Oktoberfest and even then, it was more of a carnival/festival. We decided to go before the school holidays started and on the same day as the World Cup in the hopes that there would be less people at the park.

Thorpe Park was still full of people and we queued an average of 1 hour for each ride, all of which lasted less than 2 minutes.  For 2 of the most popular rides, we queued for an hour and 15 minutes! It was 28 degrees that day and none of us had sunblock on.

The best one by far was Saw which had a vertical drop as well as a loop in the dark. We waited in line for an hour and 20 minutes, giving Janee plenty of time to psych herself out. She still went on it and loved it!

The detonator has got to be the world’s shortest ride. Its basically a drop of 60 feet in under 5 seconds. It really didn’t look that high from the ground so I was in for a shock when I got to the top.

The first ride we went on was Stealth. The best part of it was the beginning. You go from 0 to 80 miles per hour before a steep drop.

There is no better way to kick off the English summer than catching up with friends and a couple of music festivals. Jess and I arrived back from Morocco, surprised to find that London’s gorgeous summer weather had finally arrived.

Having been disappointed by the standard of piri piri chicken in Lisbon, Jess and I headed to Nandos where she had her first Nandos peri peri chicken.

While she wasn’t completely taken with Nandos, she was impressed by the layout of the restaurant. In Australia, Nandos outlets tend to look like takeaway joints whereas in the UK, they are restaurants with nice decor and bars.

We started the weekend early by heading to Trafalgar Square to help Irene celebrate Canada Day.

I couldn’t find anything red and white to wear in the morning but I knew I could always fall back on my Canadian accent if need be.

There was a good turnout of non- Canadians. We went after work so we arrived when the bands were playing and missed all of the hockey games.

I found Canadians to be much better behaved than Aussies are on Australia day. Not that Canadians don’t know how to have a good time, more that they do it in a more refined manner. Still, the evening ended with a few disturbers of the peace!

I was told before I moved here that one of the things I had to do was jump into the fountain at Trafalgar Square on New Years Eve.  After seeing how well Irene handled the water temperature in the SUMMER, I have decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

On Friday evening, Jess and I headed to the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park where Pink was headlining. I was pretty chuffed  as Nod gave us a pair of free tickets. This was Jess’s first summer music festival and it didn’t disappoint.

We arrived just before the Ting Tings came on and walked around the stalls before finding a good spot to watch Pink.

Pink was AWESOME! This is the third time I’ve been to see her live and she is always amazing. Her shows are always high energy with alot of acrobatics and dancing. This time, she went instead a clear plastic ball and rolled on top of the audience’s heads (like a hamster on a wheel). She performed for over 2 hours and Jess and I felt like we really got our free tickets worth!

The next day Jess and I went to Brent Cross shopping centre to check out the summer sales. I came away empty handed but Jess managed to pick up a dress and bathers. In the evening, we headed to Ealing to visit Janee and Robbie.

I didn’t recognise Ealing at all but Jess did since she went to Twyford middle school which is on the high street. We had dinner at this cute little Japanese restaurant.

On Sunday, Jess and I had Dim Sum with her cousins. Rachel is in London for work so this was the perfect opportunity for Jess to meet her.

For long as I can remember, Jess has always been around when I’m with my cousins from my mothers side. So much so that some of my younger cousins don’t even realise that they aren’t related to her. It has been a role reversal for us since the Choong sisters + Abraham are Jess’s cousins on her dad’s side. It’s fantastic to see her reconnecting with them.

Would Dim Sum be complete without dessert? Okay so my diet starts next week!

Later on, Jess headed home to pack for her trip to Cinque Terre and I headed to the Wireless Festival with Nod, who managed to get a pair of free tickets with Jay Z headlining.

We got there before 6pm and headed straight for the bar before checking out the Friendly Fires and Lily Allen. I quite liked the Friendly Fires but I really wasn’t impressed with Lily Allen’s live performance.

It was Nod’s birthday so we decided to get happy by having more beers! Unfortunately the beers caught up with our bladder and we each had to go to the toilets a couple of times during Jay Z’s performance. I’m happy to say Nod broke the seal first.

The toilets were rank but I thought hey, if I can handle this, I can surely handle the toilets at Glastonbury.

Jay Z put on a seriously good show. He really got the crowd all worked up and was a very appreciative performer. He looked like he was having a really good time.

I’m now convinced that watching concerts outside are the way to go. Bring on Glastonbury!

After my recent trip to India and Nepal, my preferences for holiday locations have turned to more exotic locations. With this in mind, I headed to Marrakech in Morocco with Liam and Jess. 

My friend Jem travelled to Morocco with her husband 3 years ago and I recall reading her brightly coloured postcard and imagining it to be an ancient city full of colour and exotic aromas.

Her description of Marrakech, with its many teahouses and bustling souk is what first put Morocco on my radar.

Marrakech is an assault on the senses. While it is in North Africa, it is an Arab and Berber country. Having grown up in the Middle East, it wasn’t a culture shock for me. Jess however found the place fascinating as the buildings and city infrastructure is so different from what you find in Europe or Asia.

We arrived at 11am and caught a petit taxi to our Riad. The first thing that struck me was how widely spoken French is. I knew French and Arabic are spoken widely in Morocco but I didn’t expect so many people to be so fluent in French. It made a huge difference in the way in which we travelled as both Liam and I have adequate French conversational skills to get by.  

It didn’t prevent us from getting ripped off on our taxi ride to our Riad. We were charged 150 dirham for a 15 minute taxi ride. In contrast, Jess and I paid a mere 50 dirham when catching a taxi to the airport from a Riad that was further away from the airport than our first one.

Arriving at our Riad was an experience. A Riad is a house with a patio garden or extension. Many riads have been converted into guesthouses with authentic Moroccan furnishings.

They are usually situated among other residences where the lanes are too small for taxis to drive through. This makes it difficult for tourists to find them when they first arrive in Marrakech. There are unofficial guides, often neighbours who assist tourists in finding their way, hoping for a tip.

Our particular riad was called Riad Sabah, owned and run by a quirky German guy who married a Moroccan woman and moved to Marrakech a few years ago. The Riad was beautifully furnished and for a mere €18 per night, we were able to stay in a private triple with an ensuite bathroom.

The riad was a 15 minute walk from the medina which normally would be a cinch to walk however given we weren’t able to walk 2 minutes without being approached by someone wanting to sell us something or wanting something from us, it seemed longer.

One of the features that really stood out for me were the doors of residences/shops.

They were all so different and I wanted to take photos of them all.

I’m sure my friend Irene would have had a field day taking photos of all the different doorways.

Many of the paintings and photographs that I have seen of Morocco feature their doorways, including the cover of the Lonely Planet guide.

We were told that the Moroccans love the Japanese and Chinese since they are willing to pay higher prices for everything, with Americans coming in third. As such we were greeted constantly with all manner of phrases from Ko-Ni-chi wa, Ni hao ma, Hello Japan, Hello China, Hello Jackie Chan and even, Hi! We sell Siew Yap (roast duck in Cantonese)

We took it as a good sign that we would be welcomed (even if it was only for our supposed spending power) and were happy that Asians were well regarded by the locals. Eventually it wore us down but more on that later!

After we checked in and dropped our bags off, we walked to the Medina using a map given to us by our Riad. The maps on sale in Marrakesh or provided by the riads are very inadequate and lacking in detail.

The main attraction is Jemaa el Fna Square which is a big expanse of open space in the centre of the Medina. By day, it has a small spattering of stalls, made up of orange juice stalls and dried fruit stands.

A handful of fortune tellers, tooth pullers, medicine men and snake charmers can be found during the day.

However it is at dusk that the square really gets going. The square fills up with storytellers, musicians and acrobats and the number of food stalls increase.

There is a wide range of food on offer in the square and the cheapest can be found at the open air food stalls.

Jess and I had dinner at one of the stalls and had a plate of couscous each (one with chicken and one with beef), a chicken pastilla and a mixed salad. All for the bargain price of £3.50 each.

Other food on offer includes skewered meat, snail stew, tajines and seafood. We weren’t concerned about food poisoning as the food was cooked in front of us.

Jess and I bought a kg of fresh dates  for the week as well as some almond and peanut blocks.

Jess and I each attempted to bargain but we only served to reinforce why Chinese/Japanese are so popular among the locals.

We tried a slightly pricer restaurant in the main square that did the best couscous Tfaya which is a caramelised onion and chickpea concoction.

We also tried a few street side restaurants that were much better value for money yet didn’t compromise on taste.

Many restaurants served Shwarmas which are like kebabs. I used to eat them all the time in Jeddah so it brought back great memories when I saw them on the menu.

One of my favourite dishes was the Tajine Kefta which are mixed meatballs with egg. The meatballs aren’t massive but the flavour is great.

We paid a visit to the El Badi Palace, which translates to ‘Incomparable Palace’.

Now it is more of an incomparable ruin. I love looking at ruins and the structure of the stones for this one reminded me of the facade of the Colosseum in Rome.

The terrace of the palace gave a great view of Marrakesh’s rooftops. I like to visit the the vantage/view points of every city I visit as there’s nothing like getting a feel for a city by seeing it from above.

We spent 3 days in Marrakesh. It was only supposed to be 2 days but I rolled my ankle on the second day, putting me out of action for the afternoon. I headed back to the Riad to elevate my ankle while Jess and Liam visited the Saadian Tomb, the Majorelle Gardens and the Yves St Laurent Memorial.

My inability to walk on smooth pavement messed up our plans to go on an overnight trek in the village of Imlil so we decided to go on a gentler day trek of the Ourika Valley once I had given my ankle enough rest.

My ankle was strong enough to go for a stroll around the new part of town which was COMPLETELY different. In the new part of town, there were traffic lights, large wide paved roads, McDonalds and KFC!

We didn’t get hassled at all as many of the people walking around seemed to be expatriates or other tourists. This new part of town really reminded me of Jeddah but on a smaller scale.

We finished off the evening with a walk around the Koutobia Mosque and gardens.

Unless you plan on getting lost in the souk more than once or twice, 2 – 3 days is all you really need in Marrakesh. There are plenty of mosques and tombs to see. We tried to visit the Marrakesh museum but got very lost in the souk and couldn’t find a map decent enough to show which roads would lead to the museum.

The souks are somewhat dangerous to navigate as they are winding and have motorcycles and bicycles wizzing by. We had one guy follow us for some time, asking us if we were interested in this or interested in that. He was extremely friendly and polite until we politely and firmly told him we weren’t interested. Then he said ‘ ahh go away, f!*$k you’ which we found hilarious since it was at the point that we understood each other perfectly.

I would have liked to take more photos of the people or of the stalls in the souk but our riad owner advised us to be careful as we have to ask people first if we could take photos and would evitably have to pay them for the privilege of taking the photo.

Jess learnt this the hard way. She tried to take a sneaky photo of the watersellers by pretending to take a photo of me.

As you can see from the photo, I am not in it. This is because she positioned her camera on my shoulder! I was looking out for Liam so I wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing. Then all of a sudden I hear her say, ‘ oh shit they saw me’, they are coming over’.

Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by 3 watersellers, asking me for money. At least I played dumb, pretending not to understand what they were saying.  However their persistence and the fact that Jess was cowering behind me gave the game away and we gave them 10 dirham. They were so pleased that they insisted we take a proper photo of them.

After this photo, they asked for more money and then…. I got angry. Lets just say they left us in a hurry.

We caught a shared grand taxi to Ourika valley on our 4th day there. A shared grand taxi can fit up to 6 people. We shared our taxi with a funny French man and 2 cousins from San Sebastian in Spain.

Our taxi driver put on some traditional Berber music and sped all the way to Ourika Valley. I had that wonderful feeling where you feel so completely removed from your normal life. There I was, squashed in the front seat of a taxi with Jess, so far away from the place we usually call home and I felt like I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really there.

Jess mentioned that the Berber music added to the experience of travelling in Morocco and her comment reminded me of the the time I spent in Goa, sitting in a minibus with my sister and her friends, listening to cheesy house music and hurtling through fields and valleys. I loved it!

We made a few photo stops at a local Berber village and an Argan Oil cooperative.

We reached the scenic Ourika Valley shortly before lunchtime and proceeded to trek up to the third waterfall.

We intended to walk all the way up to the 7th waterfall but the guide refused to lead us and there was no defined trail up to it. The third waterfall was a very popular stop for other walkers.

I had decided to stop there in order to go easy on my ankle and to keep Jess company. Jess was finding the climb quite steep and had to crawl up many of the boulders.

Lunch was a welcome diversion and it was in this valley that I had the best lamb tagine of the trip. Jess tried chicken brochettes.

I topped lunch off with a mint tea before we made our descent to the village of Settma Fattima.

The first time I tried this mint tea, I was taken back by how much sugar they put in it. The taste does grown on you if you find you don’t immediately like it. Another observation we made is how much bread the Moroccans eat. There’s so much bread at every meal. Our breakfast was made up almost entirely of bread or Moroccan pastries. Even Jess got to the point where she was eating more bread daily than I would eat in a week in the UK.

The village of Settma Fattima remind me of Namche Bazaar in Nepal but on a smaller scale, full of small stalls of food and tourist oriented products. Alot of Moroccans seemed to go to Ourika Valley on day trips.

It was in this village that Pier, our outlandish French friend who likes to smoke Hashish, found himself the smallest bottle of coke and a new girlfriend.

Liam had to leave early to go back to work so after he left, we boarded the bus for Essaouira, a coastal town 3 hours away from Marrakesh. Our visit coincided with the annual Gnaoua World Music Festival. The town was filled with people from all over Morocco as well as budding musicians and windsurfers.

The town was much more relaxed and chilled. There were so many tourists and lots of hippies and rastafarians.

Jess and I even took the time to go shopping and bought a few trinklets, all of which we bargained for and reasonably successfully as well. The riad we stayed in was more like a hotel and it wasn’t close to the medina but it was quiet and had very good curtain/shutters so we were able to sleep soundly.

I thought the streets were more colourful than Marrakesh. The seabreeze also made it easier to walk around in the heat.

The beach stretched for miles. I can see why its popular with locals and tourists alike. It makes for a great summer destination without being expensive.

My favourite part was the outdoor seafood grill markets where you seat on wooden tables and you can pick a selection of seafood to eat and bargain as hard as you can.

Jess and I had dinner there for 100 dirhams between the 2 of us (£8 in total). For that price, we had 3 fish, calamari, prawns, a bottle of water, mixed salad, bread (NICE SOFT bread) and 2 small crabs.

Jess and I had been eating so much chicken, beef, lamb and couscous that we went back again for another meal. Having seafood made for such a nice change, especially at such good prices.

I was quite chuffed with myself on the journey back to Marrakesh as I had a conversation in French with a young guy from Casablanca. It brought me back to my days in high school where i had to recall sentences such as:

 ’I live in England’

‘I lived in Jeddah for 10 years because my father worked there’

‘I do not like Craig David, I like Lady Gaga’

‘I am a Buddhist’  (Actually I’m not but it’s far easier to say in French than explain my status on religion)

‘Morocco is hot but it is good”

Morocco isn’t the easiest place to travel in. There were instances where we were ripped off by snake charmers, taxi drivers and water sellers. People who are trying to sell you something are more aggressive than those trying to sell their wares in India, Asia or Nepal. However not everyone is out to make a quick buck. Jess and I were offered assistance with getting taxis and directions a number of times without ever being expected to tip.

I would like to go back and visit other parts, like Fez, Meknes, a trip to the Sahara and some trekking in the Atlas mountains.

Jess, Janee and I headed to Lisbon for a long weekend. This was my first trip with Janee and the first trip with Jess since she moved here.

It feels somewhat significant that I get to share Jess and Janee’s excitement at seeing new places after their recent move to London. We caught the airport bus from the Lisbon airport to town and I wondered as I looked out of the window why I didn’t have that excited butterfly feeling in my stomach. Later I realised it was because the excitement was overshadowed by my hunger pangs.

As soon as we arrived in town, we headed to our hostel which was located smack in the centre of town (Baixa). Here’s the view from our balcony.

We were starving so we asked the manager to recommend a good local restaurant where we could sample some Portugese cuisine.

We found ourselves in a local ‘tasca’ or tavern around the corner from our hostel. We were given complementary ‘Pasteis de Bacalbau’ for starters.

These little salt cod cakes are a national addiction and reminded us of ‘Woo Gok’ from Chinese Dim Sum. I ordered the grilled squid for my main.

Jess decided on the fish of the day. Damn that girl can eat!

The girls and I had some sangria and finished off by sharing an ‘ Arroz Doce’ which is a creamy rice pudding, flavoured with lemon rind and vanilla.

We finished the meal off with 2 free shots of some disgusting cherry liqueur given to us by the restaurant before heading out for a walk around the city centre.

The cherry liqueur made us feel like superwomen!

The effect didn’t last long so we called it a night.

The next day we headed to Biarro Alto and Chiado which is the ‘high’ quarter full of cobblestoned streets.

This area is considered fashionable and Chiado is the area filled with expensive shops.

It was here that we found a fruit and vegetable market where I was able to have my first taste of fresh fig.

Lisbon still operates the old style of trams but the tram network doesn’t cover a huge area.

I suppose they make most of their money from advertising.

We headed to the Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara for sweeping views of Lisbon’s skyline.

For lunch, we stopped by another tasca where I had an ‘Acorda de Marisco’ which is a shellfish dish (in this case, it was prawns), added to a thick soup of mashed bread, oil, garlic and coriander.

The weather was beautiful so we walked off our lunch before wandering around the city mall and then grabbing coffee at the local starbucks. Jess happened to be wearing a Starbucks T-shirt so the staff asked if they could take a photo with her.

Next we headed to the harbour for some fresh air.

We felt tired after watching other tourists so we decided to head back and relax before dinner time.

For dinner, we planned to eat at a seafood restaurant we had found on San Antonio road earlier in the day. We managed to get lost and ended up walking up and down steep hills for an hour before finding our way to the restaurant.

Along the way we passed a parade with a marching band.

and more hills…..

In the end our hunger overrode our lack of sense of direction.

Jess had piri piri chicken, I had ‘Porco a alentejana’ (pork, clams and fries) which is supposed to be a local dish, while Janee had seafood stew.

This time we tried White Sangria.

We left shortly after Janee kept getting accosted by our waiter.

The following day, we headed to the area, Alfama which houses the Castelo De Sao Jorge and the city’s cathedral.

This area is supposed to be the ‘lower’ quarter but we didn’t see any evidence of that in the amount of steps we had to climb.

The castle itself wasn’t very big but it did have an amazing terrace which gives the best views of Lisbon.

We walked around the castle before looking for a lunch stop.

Janee and Jess were suffering from the heat …

until Zorro came to the rescue!

We had lunch at a fantastic cheap tasca up the road from the cathedral. The meal came to 10 euros each and we had a big portion of seafood stew (with rice) and piri piri chicken with some salt cod cakes to start.

After exploring the cathedral, we had tea and cakes before heading to the airport.

The trip was a culinary delight and I am happy to have 2 new travel buddies.