CHINA | Tuesday, 14 Apr 2015 | Views [1036]
At first I was a little uncomfortable, a little confused. The old man stood in front of me, looked me up and down and drew heavily on his cigarette. Initially I tried to avoid eye contact; ‘perhaps he’ll go away soon’, I thought. Some ... Read more >
Tags: china, dancing, finding yourself, pyjamas, singing, westerner
CHINA | Friday, 10 Apr 2015 | Views [1303]
Turning off the main street, just past the train line, an alley cuts in between a series of squat aging apartment blocks. Steel frames dress the windows above. Potted plants rest on window sills. A small shop stocked with drinks and cigarettes stands ... Read more >
Tags: china, dai minority, food, kunming, yunnan
CHINA | Sunday, 29 Mar 2015 | Views [823]
I look up at the shiny metal stand next to my bed as the fifth bottle of intravenous drip slowly empties itself into my blood stream. I had planned to let it run its course before I went to the toilet, but the urge to relieve myself has become unbearable.... Read more >
Tags: china, good poisoning, kunming, local clinic
CHINA | Thursday, 19 Mar 2015 | Photo Gallery
China 2015
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CHINA | Thursday, 19 Mar 2015 | Views [1451] | Comments [3]
A distinct chemical burn appears in my throat, I start to choke on my sushi roll. I look down at my bowl of soy sauce where a sheen of chemical slick has developed on the liquid surface. What the hell is this stuff? I ask as I examine the fresh tube ... Read more >
Tags: china, counterfeit, cuisine, culture, food, kunming
UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 9 Nov 2014 | Views [1140]
Multifaceted, ever-changing, often fickle; London is defined by it’s pace, density, and diversity. Multicultural and inclusive here, homogenous and exclusive there, but most often both, side by side. Neighbourhoods offering overpriced continental ... Read more >
Tags: london, uk, working holiday visa
UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 10 Aug 2014 | Views [911]
This year’s summer here in the UK has found me considering questions of identity, challenging “facts” about myself and where I belong, as well as taking advantage of a few opportune moments along the way to fall back on my Australian ... Read more >
Tags: australia, bastards, heatwave, pick and mix, spiders, uk
NORWAY | Sunday, 1 Jun 2014 | Views [946]
A recent interaction with the UK’s HM Revenue and customs has reignited my underlying sense of contempt for bureaucratic organisations. It seems that no matter how far and wide you travel there are a few certainties:
Whatever new country ... Read more >
Tags: beureaucratic red tape, immigration, immigration police, norway, tax, udi, uk, visas
NORWAY | Sunday, 18 May 2014 | Views [930]
Like clockwork the deciduous trees had begun to yellow and drop their leaves. The days were visibly shorter and the autumn rains were moving in. It was damp under the forest canopy, a rich musty smell rose from the undergrowth. I picked my way gingerly ... Read more >
Tags: food, home cooking, oslo
NORWAY | Friday, 16 May 2014 | Views [923]
Some eight years ago walking home through the inner city suburb of Macdonald Town, Sydney, I stopped to read a few words etched in the cement.
“This is not Scandinavia”.
The fact that someone had chosen preserve these precise ... Read more >
Tags: norway, oslo, this is not scandinavia
NORWAY | Friday, 16 May 2014 | Photo Gallery
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SPAIN | Wednesday, 7 May 2014 | Views [869] | Comments [1]
As we sat in the police station waiting to file a report we reflected on the week that had been. Despite it being the middle of spring we had been treated to nothing but rain. The hours of queuing for over-priced attractions were wearing thin, and as ... Read more >
Tags: gay bar, sitges, spain
UNITED KINGDOM | Tuesday, 6 May 2014 | Views [674]
Making a beeline past the hipsters and young professionals of trendy Hackney, deep into East London, towards regional Essex, you will find a slice of the old school. Yet to be gentrified and still, on a London scale, fairly affordable to live in, boroughs ... Read more >
Tags: chinwagger, cockney, east london
CHINA | Saturday, 19 Apr 2014 | Views [1131] | Comments [2] | Scholarship Entry
It was dark as we clambered over the tall, iron gate at the foot of the mountain. A guard stumbled out of a small hut, shining a torch in our direction. "We want to see the sunrise on top of the mountain", my friend explained. He waved us on. At the ... Read more >
Tags: 2014 Travel Writing Scholarship - Euro Roadtrip
CHINA | Monday, 7 Apr 2014 | Views [917]
It was muggy disembarking the intercity train from Chengdu. Crowds of people pushed through the gates exiting the station. Emerging the other side, we made our way down to the subterranean leg of the metro network, Chongqing. Underground, the air was ... Read more >
Tags: chongqing, monkey drum
UNITED KINGDOM | Tuesday, 1 Apr 2014 | Views [713]
London boasts a phenomenal number of museums, around 240 in total. Included in these monuments to the wonder of human accomplishment and our natural world are such greats as the Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, ... Read more >
Tags: british museum, collectors, hoarders, huntarian museum, london, wellcome collection
CHINA | Thursday, 27 Mar 2014 | Views [899]
Behind the glass window in the ticket hall of the bus station at the northern end of Songpan in the Aba prefecture of Sichuan, a middle age woman methodically typed information into her computer, printed and stapled together a two-part ticket and exchanged ... Read more >
Tags: china, langmosi, sichuan, songpan, tibetan autonomous region
UNITED KINGDOM | Thursday, 20 Mar 2014 | Views [789] | Comments [1]
Entering my local NHS doctor’s surgery it resembled a news report on the latest strain of bird flu. There was an air of ailing disarray. The waiting room packed with patients, children squealing, clinging to their parents. When ... Read more >
Tags: health-care, nhs, uk
CHINA | Thursday, 13 Mar 2014 | Photo Gallery | Scholarship Entry
Ingredients 2 Chicken breasts cubed 2 Large spring onions thick sliced (can be substituted with celery or leek) 200g raw peanuts A handful of whole dried chilies sliced in half and deseeded 1 small piece of ginger sliced 3-4 cloves of garlic sliced ...
Read more >See all 5 photos >>
Tags: Passport & Plate: ITALY 2014
UNITED KINGDOM | Saturday, 11 Jan 2014 | Views [918]
Coming from Sydney I am thankful if my bus or train turns up at all. Years living in one of the most poorly serviced parts of the world for public transport has made me a little more forgiving than the average Londoner. While London's public transport ... Read more >
Tags: bus, dlr, london, minicab, national rail, overground, public transport, taxi, tube
UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 6 Jan 2014 | Views [2464]
If not for the usual high street signage like Sainsubry’s, Argos, Primark and the old Lloyd’s Bank spanning East Ham High Street, one would be forgiven for forgetting for a moment that they are in fact still in greater London, or even the ... Read more >
UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 5 Jan 2014 | Photo Gallery
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UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 5 Jan 2014 | Views [1037]
Back in the nineties young people from Australia used to flock to London on the promise of earning good money (in ever strong British Pounds) which would then pay for the travel, adventures, parties and a series of hazy but satisfying remnants of memories ... Read more >
Tags: london
CHINA | Thursday, 30 May 2013 | Views [1682]
Heading north from Chengdu into the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, signs direct traffic up a winding mountain road to the not so aptly named Jiuzhaigou “Scenic Area”. Frankly, passing off this extraordinary UNESCO world heritage, AAAAA ... Read more >
Tags: china, earth-porn, hospitality, jiuzhaigou, sichuan, tibetan
CHINA | Friday, 17 May 2013 | Views [12109]
As I sit in a vegetarian restaurant in the Tibetan district of Chengdu, chewing on particularly tasty chunk of imitation lamb, I observe a Tibetan monk on the table opposite, thumbing messages in to his smart phone with one hand, lips moving silently ... Read more >
Tags: chengdu, china, monks, temples
CHINA | Monday, 6 May 2013 | Views [1396] | Comments [2]
Among the frenzied ruckus of blaring music, ballroom dancing, opera singing, and endless chatter in Peoples Park Chengdu is found a network of paths intersecting through the trees. People young and old gather here and shuffle up and down the pathway ... Read more >
Tags: chengdu, china, marriage market, peoples park
CHINA | Monday, 6 May 2013 | Photo Gallery
Chengdu 2013
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INDIA | Thursday, 18 Apr 2013 | Views [875] | Scholarship Entry
I sit, focus drawn upward, eyes fixed on the colourful pattern adorning the fabric that stretches over the roof of the giant marquee. A group of men sit on a small stage. Sliding, pounding hands produce a complex series of rhythmical syllables on tablas ... Read more >
