Weekend in Kuala Lumpur - Hello, Bangsar!

Antipodean Café

I used to think that "real" travelling means only doing local things and eating local food, until I realized that locals don't just do local things or eat local food, do they? We live in such a borderless world that local cultures are hardly limited to long-time traditions. Increasingly, cultures (in open economies, of course) are evolving, interacting with globalization and giving rise to seemingly generic phenomenons - take brunch for instance, a quintessential sunday luxury that is popular almost everywhere. But really, as long as we enjoy it, does it matter if you're doing the same thing except in different countries? To me, traditionally, visiting Kuala Lumpur equated to eating up a storm of street food. But what if you knew about an enclave with chic restaurants and bars coupled with eclectic, boutique shopping? Everyone, meet Bangsar.

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Tapas Hopping in Barcelona - 4 places not to miss!

Pinotxo Bar, Marinated Snails

I have gushed about Barcelona's amazing tapas on more than one occasion. (Can you blame me?) On many of these occasions, people have informed me flat out that Tapas is a tourist thing. I don't buy it. True, tapas originated from the Basque region of Spain, and not Catalonia where Barcelona is capital. But looking at the myriad tapas bars springing up in nearly every corner of the city and the locals weaving in and out constantly for a perk-me-up, how can anyone not believe that tapas has become an essential part of the Barcelona lifestyle? If affordable bubbly (Cava) and snack-sized indulgences (a McFoie burger, maybe? or Sirloin pincho?) are your kinda thing, this one is for you.

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A Day in Yarra Valley

Domaine Chandon's Vineyards

Have you been to Yarra Valley? Located just an hour's drive away from Melbourne, this amazing valley held some of my best memories from Australia. It's easy to see why - gorgeous vineyards, lovely wine tastings, amazing cheese and lots of beautiful local products. At las, we only had a day to spare. Here's what we got down to doing: (Scroll to the end for a list of places I'd recommend)

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3 Days 2 Nights Marrakech-Merzouga Desert Tour (Part 2)

Leaving Dades Gorge, Olive Tree Plantation

Day 2: Dades Gorge to Merzouga Desert

Early next day, we left the beautiful Dades gorge and visited Moroccan plantations. Turns out that they grow olive trees too! This tiny donkey really tugged at my heart strings. There was a visit to another village after this, which involved demonstrations of hand woven carpets while we were served tea.

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3 Days 2 Nights Marrakech-Merzouga Desert Tour (Part 1)

High Atlas Mountains

Day 1: Marrakech to Dades Gorge

The first part of the 3 days 2 nights Merzouga Desert Tour is finally here! It felt so incredibly surreal as we set off in a minivan, leaving all the headiness of Marrakech behind. You can bet we had ourselves some orange juice at the Medina square before leaving. What I love most about being on the road is the opportunity to watch the scenery flit past me - the blurry mountains and flickers of gentle grazing sheep. During the trip itself, the minivan frequently stopped at certain points to let us take in the scenery in its full glory and capture memories in pictures. Our first stop was the High Atlas mountains, which were much grander than I'd imagined. I loved how dreamy the mountains looked. There was a stall selling rocks and precious stones as well, but we didn't buy anything since it looked too much like a tourist trap.

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7 Fabulous Things to Do in Dubrovnik

One of the most memorable things I did when I was in Europe was heading to Croatia alone for 11 days. It wasn't as simple as I thought it'd be, but it remains one of the best experiences I've ever had. Of those 11 days, I spent 3 in Dubrovnik, a beautiful city with a rustic, walled old town by the sea. By all counts, Dubrovnik was a great place, but like most great places, too many people knew about it. It was too crowded and touristy. But then I started learning all its little secrets and found myself increasingly drawn to the quaint old town. By the end of my trip, I was completely charmed.

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3-Day London Weekend Itinerary

The London Particular

London was absolutely amazing. It was impossible to run out of things to do. I was blessed enough to bunk in with an old friend, M, when I visited London about two weeks ago. He brought me around for the first 3 days, and I explored the city on my own for the next 3. The luckiest part? He brought me around over the weekend! If there's one thing you need to remember before booking your tickets to London, plan your trip over the weekend - unless of course bustling markets of food and vintage don't mean anything to you.

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Saigon and Dalat in 5 days

Street Photos of Saigon

I really don't know how to begin to describe Vietnam. But if I had to put it in just one sentence, it was everything I had imagined and more. There were more motorbikes than I had imagined, more conical hats, more French influence, more alleys, more history, more surprises, more tourists (especially French), and more food. I had no idea how rich the food culture actually was, and I found myself overwhelmed by new knowledge everyday. Before the trip, nothing really made sense to me except Banh Mi, Rice Paper Rolls, Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls, and Pho. But Vietnam has so much more to offer than just that! This is part of the reason why I'm taking so long to share, because I'm mostly still making sense of everything, and partly because I really want to share everything I've learnt about this unbelievable city that has so much more to offer than meets the eye. I'll leave you with the itinerary for now but more posts are coming up!

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