Yes, it’s a cliche, but like most cliches, it has a basis in truth. Amazing coincidences occur when you travel.
I’ve run into friends from home on the other side of the world and met people who know people I know, but this is probably the weirdest thing that has happened.
Take a look at this picture:
I love a good impromptu holiday. On many occasions, I’ve travelled within hours of buying my ticket. Sometimes, I’ve simply arrived at an airport, alone or in company, and booked a flight on the spot.
But you’ve got to have your wits about you. A friend was recently lamenting the fact that he’d bought plane tickets on the internet for a flight a few days hence and hadn’t realised that he needed both a visa and a vaccination before he would be allowed to visit his intended destination.
You’re bound to have heard a story about people who meet while on holiday, exchange addresses and phone numbers, and hope like hell that they never hear from each other again.
Then, there are those cliched holiday romances — none more romantic than those forged on a sea voyage — that always end in tears (although not always due to an iceberg).
Updated: October 12 and October 21, 2018
A few years ago, a dog defecated in front of me. Not a big deal you might think – except that I was on a cruise ship, in the buffet restaurant.
The dog was an “emotional support animal” for a woman who, admittedly, was deeply embarrassed. But the fact remains that a dog did its business in a place where people eat, creating a health and safety hazard.
Continue reading Support animals on planes: a discussion we have to have
Last night I was in an Abu Dhabi taxi whose driver behaved in what you might think is an extraordinary manner. He drove right up to a vehicle that was stopped in front of us, edging ever closer to it, then suddenly braking to avoid contact. He flashed his lights at the car, muttered some curse words and shook his fist at the other driver.
Why? Because the car in front had stopped at a pedestrian crossing to allow some people, including a woman pushing a pram, to cross the road.
I am an impatient person when I’m doing things that I don’t think are important — especially when it comes to shopping. And getting haircuts.
As a child, I squirmed in the barber’s chair as if I were being tortured. As an adult, I try to hurry the hairdresser along, saying (often truthfully) that I’m on my way to work.
But in the United Arab Emirates, and across the Middle East, a haircut is not a thing to be rushed. You only have to see how wonderfully groomed men in the UAE are to know that. Continue reading A cut above
As cruise ships get bigger and bigger, they resemble small cities. They can carry as many as 7,000 passengers and crew. The upside to that means there are plenty of people to mingle with, a wide choice of dining and shopping options, great entertainment and a host of fun activities on offer.
But wherever there are a large number of people in a confined space, there is also a down side.
I was once assigned a seat in the second last row of a plane, in front of a row of children who were travelling as unaccompanied minors.
My initial reaction was dread, imaging that the kids would be shouting, kicking the back of the seat and generally disrupting my flight. In fact, they behaved incredibly well.
I make no secret of the fact that I am not the most adventurous of travellers. While it’s true that I love to make unexpected discoveries when I travel, there are some things that I want to be predictable — especially the standard of accommodation.
For that reason, I find myself more and more drawn towards brand-name hotels. Yes, I’ve stayed at some fabulous family-owned hotels and bed-and-breakfast joints over the years, but I’ve also had some nightmare experiences.
I recently received a promotional email from a hotel apartment complex, and I noticed that the cheapest accommodation option was a “superior room”.
Now, being the pedant I am, I double-checked the meaning of “superior” in the dictionary*. And, pretty much as I expected, it said: “Higher in rank, status, or quality.” Continue reading Don’t supersize me
It’s one of the great travel cliches. Tourists at beach resorts who get up early and “reserve” a spot on the beach, a deck chair or by the pool by placing a towel there. Then they go back to bed or breakfast, hoping to take up their privileged spot later on.
It’s led to (often racist) jokes, arguments and even fist fights in the past. And now it’s illegal. Continue reading No reservations
You may have heard about The Man Who Lived at the Ritz. It was a novel, then a TV movie, about a man who spent several years at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris during the Nazi occupation.
In real life, Coco Chanel did live at the Ritz (although, apparently, not in the actual suite that now bears her name).
The classic Little Golden Book Gordon’s Jet Flight, by Naomi Glasson and Mel Crawford, was first published in 1961. I read it when I was old enough to read Little Golden Books.
In my memory, it was about a little boy’s first flight on a Boeing 747 Jumbo, but as the cover shows, it was about the B707, which was still a mighty plane in its day.
The issue of appropriate attire for travellers has been in the news lately. There was outrage in the Middle East, and an official apology in America, when a man from the United Arab Emirates was judged suspicious by an Ohio hotel clerk, and later arrested, partly because he was wearing national costume.
That incident led to an advisory from UAE authorities to its own citizens suggesting that they not wear traditional clothing while travelling.
Meanwhile, in a survey of 2,500 Americans, 59 per cent agreed that passengers should be kicked off aircraft for “dressing inappropriately”.
I’m pretty much an omnivore, but I am sensitive to other people’s dietary requirements. And I feel for those with diet restrictions when they are travelling.
So, it’s great to note that there are organisations that do the research and spread the word on the web so these people know where to go to get a good meal.
Ibis Styles on Macpherson
Singapore
June 2016
I chose to stay at this hotel for a very simple reason: it was the cheapest room I could find online among my preferred brands.
I was looking for a relaxing stay in a no-hassle place. I’d already chosen Singapore as my destination because of the excellent business-class deal I secured from Oman Air, and the knowledge that I’d be comfortable with my surroundings.
The Styles came in at about S$128 (US$95.50) a night for bed and breakfast. Continue reading Review: Ibis Styles, Singapore
A time-lapse video doing the rounds of social media demonstrates three years of change in Singapore in just under five minutes.
Created by artist Keith Loutit and posted on Vimeo, it shows buildings going up, and coming down, cars winding through the streets, and changes in season and weather.
You can read more about the artist and his work here.
A trip to Raffles features on many a bucket list — especially for those interested in Singapore’s colonial past who want to see (or stay in, if they can afford it) arguably the most celebrated hotel in the world. For me, this was my third visit, and a somewhat sentimental one as I remembered a departed friend with whom I first visited Raffles many years ago.
