There's no 'E' in this Whisky

Despite spending time living in Europe, there are still regions that remain unvisited on my travel bucket list. The non-exhaustive list includes: Santorini and the Greek Islands, Normandy and Northern France, Cinque Terre and the Italian Coastline and the Whisky Regions of Scotland. Unfortunately these destinations more often than not took the backseat to the twenty-something life experiences that Europe has to offer (think Pamplona Bull Run and Ibiza). I confidently reasoned these destinations could be appreciated irrespective of age and would be experienced at a later stage in my life.

Recently there has been an the explosion of award winning whiskies from both Taiwan and Japan making Asia now a reputable player in the the world of Whiskies. It was decided that Japan, home of Suntory and Nikka would be a fun side trip to experience an Asia based Whisky tour. We managed to get cheap flights from Hong Kong to Osaka for 1200 HKD. Unfortunately, the main distillery in that region also happened to be closed during this time of the year for annual maintenance. Not to be discouraged we managed to visit a handful of local Whisky bars and even managed to find some non-export priced age whisky!

The trip, my first foray into the world of Air BNB found four grown men sharing a one bedroom apartment in the Naniwa-Ku district just outside of Namba. The days involved eating. Lots of it. A typical conversation that would take place went along the lines of "If we have [dinner/lunch] in 4 hours, we can most likely have another meal in 2 hours time, take a nap and then go out to eat again". I repeat. Non-stop eating. Most of the time was spent in Osaka, with one day out in the Bamboo forest of Asashiyama, Kyoto.

 Asashiyama, Bamboo Grove

 CoCo Ichibanya, Katsu Curry

 Koyoshi Sushi

 Matsuzakagyu Yakiniku M

 Otsuka Steakhouse

The farewell continues: Taipei

Back to back weekends - this weekend, Taipei. One night.

Memorable tidbit #1
First time I've selected a "special meal" on a flight. I went for the "Low Fat" option. Surprisingly not too bad.

Memorable tidbit #2
Scheduled departure: 16:40, expected arrival in Hong Kong: 18:25. Actual departure: 21:00, arrival back in Hong Kong 23:30. Typhoon decided to batter Hong Kong, forcing the airport to temporarily shutdown and for the plane to be stuck in multiple holding zones.

Pander Panda

We've come to that age where a casual dinner is no longer enough to mark a birthday or farewell. Given the accessibility and access to more disposable income it's not uncommon for milestones to be used an excuse to travel and explore. Traveling forges new memories and reinforces friendships through new adventures and experiences. Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, famous for the apothegm, "Chengdu, can do" and the home of the giant Panda would be the next destination.

Chengdu is a destination that is not high on people's traveling lists with the question of "Why are you going to Chengdu?" being the most common question. The natural answer was of course "Chengdu? For Pandas and hotpot of course!" which meant we had to see pandas and have hotpot.

Due to the last minute nature of the trip and the unintentional coincidence with Mid-Autumn Festival this turned out to be quite a costly trip. We secured flights from Hong Kong to Chengdu for 4200 HKD, corporate rates at the Ritz Carlton for 1200 HKD and a half day tour at the Wolong Panda Club for 3000 HKD.

The first evening was spent carousing Chengdu's own Lan Kwai Fong. Unfortunately the rain and the national holiday meant that the scene was a little weak, none the less, we found late night dumplings, headed to Jellyfish and found ourselves in the psuedo-projects of the Poly Centre which still kept us out until 4 am.

Saturday morning 8:35 am we were greeted by our friendly driver/host who was assigned to give us a tour of the Wolong Panda Club. The astronomical prices (400 USD) for the panda club included entry into the reserve as well as the rare chance to dress up as a surgeon and take a photo with a panda cub. Upon arrival (we were late), we were immediately whisked to an aluminium bench where were we given protective gear and asked to line up 6 others.

The panda was brought out from his enclosure and propped up against the bench. Not the most natural environment but I assume pandas find human furniture just as comfortable. We were issued the following instructions "You can touch him, just don't touch his face" and then the procession started, the cub was busying himself with carrot sticks as the attendant screamed out "next person", each person shuffled in next to the camera took a photo before the attendant screamed "next person" with a sense of urgency that was not reflected on the cub. It lasted 20 seconds. The cutest panda. Over. What a quick but fun experience! The highlight!

The rest of the trip was spent exploring Jinli Street and devouring Sichuan food. So. Spicy. So. Good.

Currently reading "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!"

Chinese Visa for Australian Passport

Having recently renewed my passport it was time to apply for a new visa into China. I had always used my local travel agent CTS for China Visas and had read somewhere that it you had the time and patience it would be significantly cheaper to apply for a Chinese Visa in person. The process is straight forward enough, go to the China Visa office in Wanchai (see here for details). Bring the following:

1). An up to date passport
2). A photocopy of the passport page
3). A copy of your airline tickets/schedule into China
4). A copy of your accommodation/hotel itinerary
5). A photocopy of your Hong Kong ID
6). A pen
7). A photograph of yourself

Fill out the latest form and prepare to wait. The process for regular Visa applications takes four working days (you submit your application form on Monday and it's ready for pickup by Thursday). The upside for Australian passports is that it only costs 800 HKD for a multi-entry Visa that lasts a year.

SFO

Napa Valley

No matter what you read about Napa at the heart of each and every circumlocutory description will be the following adjectives: Picturesque, Perfect, American and Quaint. My memories of Napa remain entire and vivid. A adorable town that embodies 'Pleasantville' and the cliches of American life packaged with amazing climate, food and wine. For reasons unknown, I only have one photo from my Napa trip our extravagant abode (The Whitehouse Inn). 

The Whitehouse Inn ranks highly on my list of B&Bs particularly because it offered the first hot water, full pressure shower since emerging from Blackrock City.

My memories of the 3 days in Napa are still so vivid and entire. Yet, for some reason I only have one photo from Napa.

Burning Man 2016: Carnival of Mirrors

Burning Man; Where do I even start?

#Dusty #Player #Amazing #OMG #humbling #indelible #lifealtering #seeyounextyear #LOL #seeyoueverotheryear #burners #player #theman #decommodification #OMFG #lacalaca #robotheart #newfriends #offthegrid #shirtcocking #needashower #dust #cold

So key points. It's as close to Never Never Land as you can get. It's whatever you want it to be. Music. Party. Art. Self Exploration. Self Improvement. I'll stop now as nothing I write will do justice to the event.

I left with changed views, feeling refreshed and energised but also sad and empty at the same time - Back to Reality.