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Northern Ireland Road Trip: crossing the confusing unmanned border
In the Republic of Ireland, the signage on the roads are in Irish first and English second. As I cross the border, I see the very first sign written only in English. “Welcome to Northern Ireland,” it reads. Some vandals have decided to black out the ‘Northern’ so it reads ‘Welcome to Ireland’.
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Ireland Road Trip: Limerick, Quin Abbey and Cliffs of Moher
The highlight of the day and the reason why we did this long drive. The Cliffs of Moher are often touted as Ireland’s Most Visited Natural Tourist Attraction. The advertisers weren’t lying. There were LOADS… and I do mean LOADS of people there. After the LONG LONG drive, I was excited to finally arrive at…
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Dublin’s Jameson Distillery and Guinness Brewery: 2 teetotallers on a booze tour
Two teetotallers cannot be trusted to attend a booze tour. We should know better. We don’t. So we decide to do two things that are a ‘must-do’ on the Dublin bucket list. We decide to go to the Jameson Whiskey Bow Street Tour and the Guinness Storehouse Brewery Tour. Hey – just cause we don’t drink…
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Day 2 in Dublin: the Leprechaun Museum, the Natural History Museum, Riverdance and Irish food
Dublin feels like an old friend I haven’t met in a while. I’ve changed, but my old friend is same old same old. Days in Dublin start late and finish late. I don’t mind the starting late part, but I don’t care much for the finishing late part. I’m not big on the pubbing culture.…
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Day 1 in Dublin: the National Museum of Ireland, the Book of Kells and Irish culinary delights
Dublin reminded me a whole lot of Leicester in the UK minus all the brown people. On Saturday at 8am, it was a small sleepy town that had yet to wake up from the night before. It was refreshing to see a place so quiet first thing in the morning. With a population of 530,000…
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The Doha Layover: snoozy Friday in Souq Waqif
By 4pm, the shops reopen for business. The area around my hotel goes from a quiet sunny ghost town to a bustling lively mini cosmopolitan city. In Arabic, the word souq means market. Souq Waqif means standing market. It doesn’t look like much from outside, but the moment I walk in, I’m transported into a maze-like…
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Tokyo to Doha: the long layover journey
The Tokyo – Doha leg of the journey is an overnight flight. How fun? I don’t know anyone who likes long haul overnight flights. And although I love love love travelling; flying is the bane of my existence. I bloody hate it. Thankfully – I’m the kind of person that can sleep anywhere. And although…
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Kansai Area Highlights: Fushimi Inari Taisha and Cheese Yakisoba
When I found out that I was coming back to the Kansai area for a business trip, I crinkled and raised my eyebrows at the same time. It wasn’t on my plans. But when life is ready to bring you full circle, it will do it with a big smile on its face.
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Day 1 in Osaka: a bullet train and okonomiyaki
I got a seat at the counter and boy was I tickled by the sight of all those okonomiyaki neatly assembled. One chef was cutting the cabbage. Another was preparing the okonomiyaki. Another was making the negiyaki: made with scallions instead of cabbage. And another was expertly tossing noodles to make yakisoba. If you love…
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Nagano’s Nature: highlands, mountains and wild deer
I spent the past three days in Nagano on a business trip. A popular destination for school trips, camping and skiing – Nagano was exactly what I needed for a couple of days. I slept well, ate well and overdosed on nature. Although I was working, I finally managed to get a much-needed break from…
Twinn Swan 