Nov 30
When winter comes to Hong Kong, chapping lips and penetrating homes with no insulation nor central heating, I dream of a faraway tropical island among a chain of more than 17,000 spread like jewels along the equator. It waits in the shadow of its famous sister, separated by nothing more than a deep sea strait. Read more
Jul 31
Standing precariously on a ridge of loose volcanic scree, I squeezed the top of the trekking pole and pushed down with all my strength. A thin, broken trail of lights was now snaking its way to the summit roughly 100 metres above my head, a darkened mass that loomed tantalisingly close under the brightness of a full moon. In the distance I could just make out the finish line: two pinnacles forming a natural gateway to the peak. Read more
Nov 6
Place names in Hong Kong often have poetic, almost legendary origins. Kowloon, the peninsula of ‘nine dragons’, actually has a backdrop of eight peaks, but the extra dragon denotes a Song emperor, who took refuge here with his entourage to escape the Mongol invasion. Read more
Aug 6
Hair wrapped artfully in a turban of black cloth, her tough frame is softened by a lilac top and short frilly skirt. As she saunters in and out of the room, I watch the light momentarily catch on her earrings – they are two silver crescents, raw and slightly tarnished, sweeping around a hollow in the shape of the full moon. Read more
Jul 5
At 4:00am I am jolted from my slumber. Stumbling across the room, I pull open the curtains, half-expectant in the hope that yesterday’s rainclouds have already moved on. We are here in Xingping to walk the 1159 steps up Lao Zhai Hill, a proud shaft of rock jutting high above the riverside town. Read more
Mar 31
The café owner looks at me long and hard, his eyes almost piercing beneath a full head of silver hair.
“I remember you. Didn’t you come here as a young boy?”
Astonished, I manage a simple “yes”, wondering how he could have recognised me after all these years. Read more
Jan 29
Sometimes life is all about choosing the crazy option. Whether it’s taking spontaneous trips just days before an important deadline, or moving to a country with barely 5 months of the local language, it makes things a heck of a lot more fun. So when an old friend asked if I wanted to see the first sunrise of the New Year, I inevitably said yes. Read more
Dec 23
What do you do when you get a 5-day weekend in early December? For those of us in Salamanca, the answer was obvious: plan a brilliant escape to the Canaries. Read more
Sep 10
When I first returned to Hong Kong both my immediate and extended family members were quick to point out a drastic change in my outward appearance.
After a month of eating my way through Madrid, Brussels and finally Scotland, I was going to have to do something to kick-start my very own battle of the bulge. Enlisting the help of my friend Phil, an experienced hiker, we set a date for a 3-4 hour hike with the promise that it wouldn’t be too strenuous. Read more
Plus Ultra 