Category: Europe
Catching Feels in Cambridge: In which I finally get to live out my Hogwarts fantasy, pretended to be a perfect Asian tiger cub for a hot minute, and waltzed with the Rick Blaine to my Ilsa Lund* under the moonlight on the grounds of Trinity College. Romance isn’t dead - it’s just moved to Cambridge.
- 20 - 22 July 2019 -
*That is, if Ilsa were a bratty brunette of Malaysian-Chinese descent and if Rick - although still American and still jaded - is not nearly as bitter. The setting is Cambridgeshire in peacetime rather than Casablanca on the brink of war, but baby, between “Rick” and I, there always has been and there always will be a battle - of wits.
July 30, 2019
A Rome-ing Eye: My Photo Diary from the Eternal City, Rome
30 May - 4 June 2019
There are some places that I would revisit time and again. One such destination is the appropriately-nicknamed ‘Eternal City’ - Rome. You’d only have to ask, and for this recent trip Luxy asked me to buddy up with her. Curiously enough, the last time we were both in Rome was 5 years ago at around the same time. Having already been there, seen it, and ran the appropriately well-informed commentary; we were unburdened by the savant’s guilt of having to experience all the city’s cultural and historical offerings. The nature of this trip would be less intellectual and more indulgent - purely devoted to enjoying the Eternal City at its best, soaked in sunshine and sorbet. Well, when in Rome...
Photos of me taken by LUXLIFEBLOG, naturally.
July 12, 2019
Spanish Fly: The Journey Home from Morocco, by way of Spain
SAN SEBASTIAN - BILBAO - BARCELONA
This past summer I made my virgin voyage to Africa, with a tour of Morocco that took me through the Atlas Mountains, the Saharan desert, and coast to coast. It was an extensive road trip that covered at least a dozen cities and towns, 9 of which I blogged about. But sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. As they say in France (and Morocco) - c’est l'embarras des richesses. After 10 days of being on the road, spending each night in a different town or city; and eating enough tagine, cous cous, and lamb to last a lifetime; I couldn’t quite head straight back to the grey skies and gravy of England, could I? I needed a transition destination - a holiday to recover from a holiday, if you will - in a country that was different enough to be interesting yet familiar enough to ease me back into reality. So I spent 5 much-needed days in Spain: decompressing and recalibrating in San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Barcelona. As one does...
November 30, 2018
Much Ado About Doing Nothing: A Blissful Lazy Day in Porto, Portugal
Porto was the perfect antidote to my short but frenetic tour of Portugal. I had shown my mother (who was visiting Portugal for the first time) Lisbon in 24 hours, trekked across the hills of Sintra in search of castles in the sky, and made a day trip to Fatima to witness the largest gathering of Catholic pilgrims in the country. A highlights reel of 3 cities in as many days; travelling by train, coach, trams had made for a hectic pace, and it came as a relief to spend a lazy day in Porto before flying back to London.
That’s not to say that Porto had little to offer. Quite the contrary. From the moment the train emerged from the pitch-black tunnel to reveal a bird’s eye view of Rio Douro and her graceful arched bridges; Porto wowed me with the faded opulence of her medieval walls covered in hand-painted azulejo, the rustic charm of her hole-in-the-wall taverns, the prettiness of her pastel houses carved into hills that stopped short of the promenade, and the joie de vivre that one gets from sipping Port Wine by the riverbank from dusk till dawn. Porto, in short, was like a pop-up book of life’s greatest pleasures, laid out for the languid perusal at the tip of this lazy reader’s fingers. This is my photo diary from Porto I hope that it captures the sultry, sun-drenched, soirée I enjoyed during my last day in Portugal.
June 20, 2018
The Castle Circuit: The Palaces of Sintra You Must Visit in a Day Trip from Lisbon
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Castles rising from rippling mountains. Palaces peeking out from peaked pine hills. Mansions encircled by exotic gardens brimming with luscious flora. Ruins coated in lichen and moss. It’s no exaggeration to say that the picturesque town of Sintra, the Moon Hill, is like a jewel box, especially when you realise that this tiny town is full of gems: a glittering collection of national monuments ranging from colourful castles, gothic mansions, Moorish fortresses, and imposing palaces.
Back in the day, Sintra was the playground of the nobility and elite for the fresher air, cooler climate (thanks to the town’s elevated position in the hills of Serra de Sintra) and evocative landscape. These enticed the 1% to build the exquisite homes and gardens which form the famous “palace circuit” that have established Sintra as the must-do side trip from Lisbon. You’ve seen my pictures from when I visited Pena Palace (left), here are the other palaces and mansions I saw, as well as how to make Sintra a day trip from Lisbon and how to get around this beautiful town.
June 15, 2018
No Need to Adjust Your Set: This Technicolour Trip is All Real. #NOFILTERNEEDED. 😳😱😍
Pena Palace is a sight that seems all too familiar even to those who have never been to Sintra, Portugal. The utter wackiness of this castle - a hedonistic hodge-podge of architectural styles and colours that resembles a box of oversized crayons - has more than made the rounds on postcards (and its modern day equivalent: the holiday snaps on social media) to the point where many who cross the threshold of this famous palace for the first time are struck by deja vu. But unlike a dream, the reality of Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal; is more fantastical, more lurid, and more unbelievable than the imagination can conjure...
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June 11, 2018
In the Footsteps of the Faithful: Following the Pilgims to Fatima, Portugal's Holiest City
Now, let me preface this with the disclaimer that I am neither here nor there on religion, that is, I’m not quite a heretic destined for eternal damnation nor am I meek enough to inherit the earth; but rather one of the “fence-sitters” of the religious world - an agnostic. I’m not foolish enough to believe only what I can see with my own eyes yet I also possess a healthy dose of skepticism - the latter of which I believe to be my form of self-preservation, because, well, you can’t be disappointed or let down by something you didn’t truly believe in, can you?
But whatever my fluctuating position on faith, religion, and divinity, what I witnessed in Fatima, Portugal; was nothing short of a modern day miracle.
June 08, 2018
24 HOURS IN LISBON, PORTUGAL
WHAT & WHERE TO EAT, STAY, SEE, AND DO
Summer is nearly upon us in the Northern Hemisphere which, for the adventurous but time-pressed, means sun-soaked city breaks. No continent is better suited for a “little in-out” than Europe. But first; an anecdote that may go some way to explaining my “too much” gene. A few weeks ago mummy dearest travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to London...just for the Chelsea Flower Show. Upon realising that crossing 8 time zones over a 13 hour flight just to look at some plants seemed like much ado about nothing, she decided to make the most of being on my side of the world by visiting a country she’d never been to before - Portugal.
And so, we spent a week in Lisbon, Sintra, Fatima, and Porto; which I can assure you was far more fulfilling than perusing peonies or contemplating chrysanthemums (oh, and did I mention that I suffer from severe hayfever? Kill me). I digress. Whether or not you have EXTRA AF family & friends visiting or just fancy nipping over for a change of scenery, here is my guide on WHAT & WHERE TO EAT, STAY, SEE, AND DO WITH 24 HOURS IN LISBON, PORTUGAL.
June 05, 2018
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
THE FINALE, DAY 20: RIVIERA REALNESS IN PORTOFINO, ITALY. Reminiscing the end of a mini era with a post about the Italian Riviera
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I pen this post, the final entry of my travel diary series 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries. Not just because writing these chapters has been the most fun I've had with Posh, Broke, & Bored this year; but also because this post marks the end of a era - travel-wise and also on a more personal level. At the ripe age of 31 I can hardly describe myself as being marked by "the loss of innocence" but even so, at every and any stage of life certain events bring with them upheavals of hitherto heaviness. Without going in to too much detail, you may have read between the lines from my presence on social media that I'm currently fighting some battles, hence the recent short blip from my blog. And I would've taken a longer break from writing, if not for my #TRAVELLINKUP sisters and brothers' posts about journeys reminding me that all is transient and that the only way is forward. So thank you for inspiring me to write this final chapter, to move forward, and to take one last look at my epic summer road trip across Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Italy.
November 07, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 12, DAY 19: CACTUS CATASTROPHE IN CINQUE TERRE, ITALY
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There is quite literally a danger in paradise. If I thought that nearly drowning in Plitvice Lakes National Park, having a dress zipper split in Split (of course), and breaking my suitcase as well as losing my favourite hat in Dubrovnik were the end of my mishaps on this trip I had another thing coming. 😫 It was the penultimate day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, and naturally the Gods of Misfortune had saved the best for (almost) last. But before I delve into what was the most epic accident of my Summer holidays, allow me to first lull you into the same sense of serenity and wonder that Cinque Terre did with her breathtaking beauty before springing a spiky trap...
October 27, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 11, DAYS 17, 18, & 20: TUSCAN TALES IN FLORENCE AND PISA, ITALY
By the 16th day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip I had already lapped up the imperial splendour of Vienna, been pleasantly surprised by the laid-back charm of Slovenia (Ljubljana, Maribor, and Bled), was profoundly moved by the tragic history of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Mostar and Sarajevo), had sampled some of Croatia's most compelling towns and cities (Zagreb, Plitvice, Trogir, Split, and Dubrovnik), revisited Kotor, Montenegro, as well as had a nosy in a few other small towns along the way. Needless to say I was knackered from having to pack up almost every morning, drive to a new city and and cross country borders almost every day, then hurriedly unpack in a hotel I knew I wasn't going to see much off because I wanted to squeeze in as much sightseeing as I could before leaving the following day (or the day after, it was lucky); rinse, repeat. 😵 After my 2+ weeks binge of all things cultural and historical my little mind was beginning to short-circuit, so I promised myself to take it easy on the Italian leg of my journey. 😚
To keep things tidy, I thought I'd group Florence (Days 17 & 18) and my short jaunt in Pisa (Day 20) into one post. These are my Tuscan Tales...
October 23, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 10, DAYS 13, 15, & 16: MODERN AND MEDIEVAL MAGIC IN DUBROVNIK, CROATIA
It had been a very sombre couple of days chasing the ghosts of war in Mostar and Sarajevo. So it was with some relief that I left Bosnia-Herzegovina and drove down toward the Adriatic Coast to Croatia. At that point in my whistle-stop tour of the Balkans I had already visited the Croatian cities of Zagreb, Plitvice, Trogir, and Split; and my final stop before moving on to Italy was Dubrovnik. Unlike my previous destinations on this 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, I enjoyed the luxury of having more time in Dubrovnik. With 4 days and 4 nights to indulge (excluding a day trip to Kotor, Montenegro) in the offerings of this ancient walled city, my time Dubrovnik was a welcome change of pace: languid yet vibrant, laid back yet luxurious - in other words, my fantasy of what life in Dalmatia should be.
October 20, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 9, DAY 12: FOOD FOR THOUGHT in SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Having spent the better part of the day in Mostar - the fifth largest city in Bosnia-Herzegovina and home of the country's most iconic bridge - it was time to head to the capital city, Sarajevo. Sarajevo seems like an obscure travel destination, being either a city that doesn't register on the mainstream mind map (Bosnia-Herzegovina itself being one of the least-visited countries in Europe) or a city that brings to mind images of desolation and destruction. Of course, now that I'm a little past halfway into my series 20 Days, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries in Austria, the Balkans, and Italy, you'd know by now that the catalyst of my 3 week road trip was my fascination with Yugoslavian history. I have heard Croatian and Serbian perspectives on the turmoil that seems to shadow the former socialist state, so now it was time to see the story from the Bosnian side. I knew that Sarajevo wasn't going to be all sunshine and roses, yet I wasn't completely prepared for the darkness that haunted this beautiful city...
October 14, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 8, DAY 11: UNEXPECTED OTTOMAN EMPIRE AT MOSTAR, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. "Hey now, you're a Mostar, get your game on, go play..."
Before heading from Split to my next Croatian city, Dubrovnik, I made a detour and drove across the border into one of Europe's least-visited countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina. My 20 Day, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries Balkans road trip was inspired by my recent reading list of Yugoslavian history* - more specifically, the events surrounding its collapse in 1992 (I was especially haunted by the scenes depicted in Joe Sacco's journalistic graphic novels Safe Area Gorazde and The Fixer: A Story From Sarajevo) - so it was inevitable that I would eventually find myself in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was a long drive from Split, Croatia to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, so I decided to break up the journey by stopping midway at Mostar - a city of great architectural and natural beauty with Turkish influences that was a world apart from anything I had seen on this trip thus far.
*Yes, it's not the most romantic reason for a "holiday" - Other people: "I want to go to Paris because l'amour!" Me: "I'm going to Bosnia, because war..." - but I've always been a nerd for conflict history and socio-politics.
October 11, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 7, DAY 10: Catching Feels in Croatia - a Sentimental Return to Split
Even before I embarked on my epic 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip across Austria, the Balkans, Tuscany, and the Italian Riviera there was one particular city in my itinerary that filled me with equal parts trepidation and anticipation. As the calendar inched ever closer to Croatia, the butterflies fluttered more rapidly in my stomach at the thought of Split. Not because it was a hitherto unknown destination to me; but because I have, had, and have had strong feelings for this Dalmatian coastal city. It was a little over a year ago in this very city where two people reunited then parted (not for the first nor last time, in many cities across the world) - or should I say, split. A summer later, I returned to the stage where last summer's love story played but the leading man was thousands of miles away. Despite my solo encore, the other star was there in spirit, which made my return to Split, Croatia, all the more bittersweet. 💔
October 09, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 6; DAYS 9 & 14: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PARTS 2 & 3 - DRIZZLY DAYS IN TROGIR, CROATIA AND KOTOR, MONTENEGRO
When it rains, it pours. 😫 I thought I had used up a lifetime of getting soaked - having endured a 6-hour nightmare trek through a thunderstorm in one of Croatia's most breathtaking natural wonders, Plitvice Lakes National Park - but even after having sworn off the great outdoors my wet weather woes were far from over. 😭 Now, I'm all for posting in chronological order but the thought of writing two separate posts on getting caught in the rain in two different countries gives me the chills - so today I'll recant Day 9 (Trogir, Croatia) and Day 14 (Kotor, Montenegro) just to get the showers out of my system. Like ripping off a bandaid all at once instead of peeling it back millimetre by millimetre. On the morning of the 9th day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, I woke up in Hotel Jezero at dawn - without a cold, miraculously - and without even looking back I quickly revved the engine and set the coordinates to the Old Town of Split.
October 06, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 5; DAY 8: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PART 1 - GETTING SOAKED IN PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK, CROATIA
Blue is the warmest colour? You jest. 🙄 Not even the sapphire blue waters of Plitvice Lakes could convince me that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse hadn't cometh on a giant storm cloud, their hooves clanging like crashing thunder, stabbing from the skies with spears of lightning. It was Day 5 of my 20 day road trip across Austria, the Balkans, and Italy when the weather took an abrupt turn for the worse. I'm not talking about the occasional shower here and there; I'm talking about freak storms across Croatia for the first time in 3 very hot, very dry weeks. Where was the rain when wildfires were spreading across the countryside?! Waiting for me to show up so that it could ruin my holiday like a literal wet blanket. 😩
I refuse to let the unseasonable showers put a damper on my diary-keeping, so for the sake of posterity here is the (possibly overdramatic) story of how I nearly drowned in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. This is just Part 1 of my three-part 'Don't Rain On My Parade' series - there's also Trogir, Croatia; and Kotor, Montenegro (I'm not even going to mention the wetter days in Split and Dubrovnik 😶 ). Wrap up warm and pour yourself a hot toddy because this is going to give you the chills... ⛈
October 05, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 4, DAYS 6 & 7: CHASING CROATIA IN ITS CAPITAL CITY OF ZAGREB
Croatia is a country that is very near and dear to my heart. So much so that I sometimes catch myself singing, to the tune of the famous Tourism Malaysia jingle: "Croatia, truly Aaaaasia!" (What). It's not that I know every nook and cranny of the country - far from it, my first and only (up to then) proper visit to Croatia was a sultry Summer of Love 2016 in Split. Rather, my affection for this gorgeous country is because someone close to me is half-Croatian, and their own embracing of their heritage (including egging me on to drink fiery shots of rakia) has made me also love Croatia by osmosis. 😚 Aside from Split, the only other time I had been to Croatia was passing through Dubrovnik to get to Montenegro. I was more than ready to see more of Croatia than just the Dalmatian coast. So it was with eager anticipation that I left Ljubljana, Slovenia for another capital city - Zagreb. 🇭🇷
October 03, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 3, DAY 5: THE SERENE SPIRITUALITY OF LAKE BLED AND SLOVENIA’S ONLY NATURAL ISLAND
On my 2nd and last day in Slovenia, I woke up in Ljubljana with a feeling of missed opportunity: for I had failed to capture the capital city's vibrant nightlife, which came as a surprise to me given the tranquil and traditional nature of its charming cobblestoned Old Town. Those close to me *does the Mockingjay salute to my long-suffering friends and family* know that my need to be aware of every detail of my travels borders on the obsessive (some would say I'm a control freak, I prefer the phrase 'detail-oriented'). Having found myself unprepared for the dark side of Ljubljana's moon, I drove to the most famous destination in the town of Bled praying that I had done my homework, and that Lake Bled would be as breathtaking as I had hoped it to be.
Once again, I discovered that nothing could've prepared me for what I was about to see...
September 28, 2017
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY
PART 2, DAY 4: THE LAID BACK CHARM OF LJUBLJANA AND MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
After acclimatising myself with 3 indulgent days in the opulent city of Vienna, Austria; I felt ready (or so I thought) to throw myself into my whistle stop tour of the Balkans. From this point onward, my 20 Days Across 20 Cities in 6 Countries would be a true road trip: crossing borders by land and spending as little as a few hours in each city as I traversed Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe before rounding up my trip in the Mediterranean. It was time to hit the ground running and burn some rubber, baby. So began the 4 hour drive through the rolling Austrian countryside, to the Slovenia capital of Ljubljana via its second largest city - Maribor...
September 25, 2017
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