Travel Blog

Food and Cycling Started the day with breakfast – coffee, bread and jam, water, a banana, noodles, meat on a stick, an octopus omelette, something Korean, and an ice cream. Yep, a pretty odd mix. All enjoyed with a great view of Osaka Castle. Think Japanese castle rather than British. Then we were off on our cycling adventure. It was about an hour out of Osaka: three trains and 30 minutes of walking, rewarded by lovely, clean mountain air. We went for the cycling but came bac

Last day in Sapporo We spent the first half of the day exploring a viewpoint, and the second half travelling. Quite different, but connected by snow. Sapporo has many forms of public transport. We learnt our lesson today when we confused the underground metro with the overground tram. It took a while, but we corrected our error and were still first in line for the cable car experience. Visibility was great on the way there, and even as we ascended in the cable car, providing

We started the day at a coffee shop chain that came highly recommended for its simple and cheap breakfasts. We opted for coffee, a boiled egg, and bread with jam. Komeda’s Coffee — there are loads of them. 600 yen, less than £3 each. Who said Japan was expensive? We took a train to a remote biscuit factory that makes chocolate-filled biscuits — they were everywhere in Sapporo. We were able to use our Suica cards for the first time. They’re virtual cards that you top up with a

A day spent mostly travelling. The day started with breakfast on the plane — 05:30 Tokyo time, or 20:30 London time. Neither is an acceptable time for breakfast. Not far to go now — two hours to landing. I can’t work out where my AirPods are, though they seem close… and charged. We had hot soba noodles for breakfast — a bargain price of £8 — before settling in for an hour’s wait for our next flight up to Sapporo, which promises to be snowy. This will be a surprising change fr

Multiple alarms — 04:15, 04:20, and 04:30 — were set for an early rise, and those were just mine. There was no way we were missing this flight. It was dark, wet, and cold outside. The M1 and M25 route to Heathrow was straightforward, and we made great time, arriving right on schedule at 06:00 to drop the car off. We dropped the bags, cleared security, and in no time at all were ambling along the secret tunnels to the T5B lounge. Once lounged in the lounge, sausages were clear

When a butterfly flaps its wings in South East Asia and there is an earthquake in Puerto Vallarta — you get the drift. Last night, we had our own example of this…. Just as we had settled down to watch the traditional Friday night Northampton McCaughey movie, the car alarm on our now 12-year-old Kia Sportage went off for no particular reason. This was strange for three reasons; 1. I don’t think we had ever heard the car’s alarm — so apologies to the neighbours, whom we private

Let me make it clear from the outset, it’s not that I don’t like dogs, it’s just that they aren’t something that I want to have. And if I did decide to have one, I wouldn’t refer to it as my fur baby! And thinking on a little more about it - it’s not the dogs that I have a particular issue with its those fecking fur parents. It’s a stretch - but the closest I’ve been to being a fur parent is being an actual parent to toddlers - and as it happens it’s not a bad way of making m

Special bin day - Christmas Recycling Day.... Christmas recycling challenge done. It's always tricky with the additional cardboard from the Christmas presents delivered by Amazon, more visitors producing waste, wrapping paper, not to mention the cans and bottles. But we did it! Careful packing was needed from the start, and the bins were brimming full. Ignore the fact that we have two blue bins - we pinched the neighbour's bin about 10 years ago after he was rude to us. True

As per plan, after testing various recipes and approaches I made the potato bread - some 200 potato farls. As a reminder I took advantage of the cheap potatoes that all the supermarkets sell over the Christmas period to grab the primary ingredient at an advantageous price (15p for 1.5Kg). The potatoes were floury rather than waxy - that was an important consideration. It was a massive undertaking - I peeled and boiled just over 3Kgs of potatoes making a fine mash with a potat

The opportunity of cheap potatoes offered by every supermarket to go along with Christmas dinner provided the perfect excuse to play around with a few potato bread recipes. I bought three large bags of potatoes to perfect our recipe, with the intention of mass production and freezing for consumption through to next Christmas. Between Christmas and New Year, we tried a few different recipes. We had some miserable failures and one absolute winner — though the amount of butter r

For the first time this year, as an alternative to my traditional Christmas sandwiches, I decided to try Christmas chips. They are relatively new to me, and so for those that don't know they are plain chips loaded with finely chopped leftovers from Christmas dinner. The same basic ingredients are used in Sandwiches and Chips - with a few subtle differences. The similarities - as you'd expect; Turkey Gammon Pigs in blankets Stuffing Cranberry sauce Mayonnaise The differences C

Saving for Thailand trip

Singapore is a city that never sleeps - pulsing with life at every hour. Our recent night out when over for the annual F1 race proved this true in every sense. It was a mad night filled with creative cocktails, temporary friends, and an unplanned short immersion into Korean culture. Get ready as I recount our unforgettable evening, which kicked off at a hidden speakeasy and ended up drunk in Korea Town. We should maybe have stuck to the plan and stayed in at the hotel, having

The day started the normal way, 5km run before breakfast, shower, suncream and sunning ourselves for the morning, before thoughts of lunch. It was then that the Uber App offered me 20% off if I was to take an autonomous taxi to Driftx - if I happened to be going. Two things; What’s Driftx - we’ll get back to that in a minute Uber Autonomous… I’ve always wanted a ride in an autonomous vehicle - so when I saw them available as an alternative on Uber, I paid a little more to boo

Lost in Singapore - big shopping centre and a need for lunch - but wanted to try something a little different. We decided to try a Chinese Hot Pot restaurant. We chose what I think might be the Hot Pot equivalent of McDonalds - Super Hi International / Haidilao Huoguo - available in many countries around the world. Apparently - “Not Just Hotpot, But Also A Culture Of Gathering”. We 'google map' walked in the direction of the restaurant and found ourselves heading down to the

This was the first time that we went to the Singapore F1, in fact it was the first time that we had been to Singapore. The blend of new city, track action, food, star studded concerts delivered well. Whilst the race itself may not have set records for excitement, the overall setup and enjoyment were excellent. Let me walk through the details.... Practice Day: A Pleasant Surprise The practice day at the Singapore F1 2025 was great, largely due to comfortable crowd numbers. We

I started this blog on 16th July 2026. Since then I've learnt a lot, and made some errors. We are now back into holiday season for the retired - so I'll need something to do whilst sunning myself.

Whilst in Singapore for the F1, we went to the Tiffin Room at Raffles Hotel. We had their Diwali Celebration lunch, an experience that was very enjoyable but for me didn't quite hit the spot. Ambiance and Setting Entering The Tiffin Room, the cooling AC was very welcome. The tables are elegantly set, properly separated, complemented by soothing music, creating a peaceful backdrop for dining. The service is a standout feature. The staff were attentive and knowledgeable, ready

Nestled in the heart of Singapore city is Raffles, a hotel that I've always wanted to visit. Whilst at the F1 - we took the opportunity...

Visiting the 1-Arden Sky Garden in Singapore combines both breathtaking views and nice drinks. Whilst in Singapore we took the...

....I could probably book another trip on Havila today. There are two types of people in this facebook group; those that have just joined...

Visiting the Apple Store in Milton Keynes for the "Today at Apple" workshop on taking better photos with an iPhone was a great...

Today we are off to Singapore - and will be parking at the airport. I decided to do an article about the meet and greet parking that we...

Arriving in a new city always brings a mix of excitement and a bit of anxiety, maybe 80:20 - especially when you're fighting off jet lag....

Only applicable to Port to Port travellers.

Visit the small but interesting Vardøhus Fortress.

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 7 - Arrive @ 00:00, Depart @ 00:30 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 7 / Day 1 - Arrive @...

Lecce, a charming city in the heart of Puglia, Italy, is such a lovely place. Our family trip there was the 3rd time I've visited the...

These are the phone apps that I see as essential for holidaying TL:DR Having the right tools at your disposal will make short work of any...

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 6 - Arrive @ 22:00, Depart @ 22:10 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 7 / Day 1 - Arrive @...