This article was originally published in Let’s Travel Magazine in 2017 and is reprinted with kind permission. Please see letstravelmag.com for more.
Category: Southeast Asia
A 5-Star Eco-Resort In Untouched Malaysian Jungle – Japamala On Tioman Island
I’ve lost count, but I’m pretty certain it’s rained all but three or four days in the past six weeks in Auckland. As the final month of an admittedly mild, but oh-so-wet winter limped to its depressing, soggy end, my mind’s been drifting back to the tropics and my favourite island in the world. Malaysia’s Tioman Island lies…
Singapore’s M Social Hotel – A Robot Who Delivers Direct To Your Room!
I’ve always loved Singapore. With seven years in nearby Kuala Lumpur in the 80s, Singapore has so many of the same smells, sights and sounds that transport me right back to that Southeast Asian childhood. As I recently wrote in my weekly New Zealand Herald ‘Travel Bugs’ column: “I never understood why some people think Singapore…
Why The Andaman In Langkawi Is One Of Asia’s Best Beach Resorts – Let’s Travel Mag
It’s a travel writing cliche to say that a hotel or a resort was so wonderful that you didn’t want to leave to see anything else. “I just didn’t want to leave!” I’ve written it myself, though I suspect half the time this is travel writer hyperbole and that the writer really did want to check…
Why To Make Penang Your Next Tropical Island Holiday – My NZ Herald Article + Top 60 Photos
Last month the New Zealand Herald published my article about why Penang in Malaysia should be on your radar if you’re after a holiday on tropical island that’s a little different from all the rest. There are plenty of warm weather islands in the world with beautiful scenery and nice resorts to de-stress yourself, but there…
A Honeymoon In The Jungles Of Malaysian Borneo – My Top 40 Photos From Sabah’s Famed Kinabatangan Region
The precious jungles of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo are the stuff of legend for good reason. Regarded by some scientists as the single most biodiverse place on the planet, one 10-square kilometre chunk of rainforest in Sabah has more flora and fauna than all of Europe and North America combined. Mind blowing. In looking for…
Where To Stay In Kuala Lumpur? Why The Majestic Hotel Is Such An Authentic Step Back In Time
A few months ago a friend of mine asked which hotel I’d recommend for her to stay at while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Given this is the city of my childhood and a place that still somehow keeps pulling me back every couple of years, I was an obvious person to ask. And yet I…
Malaysia’s Tioman Island – My Herald On Sunday Article + My Top 50 Tioman Photos
A couple of weeks ago the Herald On Sunday published my feature article on Tioman Island in Malaysia. In case you missed it, here’s the link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11639305 In the article you’ll hopefully get a sense of why I love this island so much and keep finding myself going back. There’s also an incident involving monkeys,…
1 Year On From The Execution Of The Bali 9 Ringleaders – Amazing Grace & Their Final Redemptive Song
The pastor and the painter, Bali Nine ringleaders Chan and Sukumaran. Written April 29th, 2015 – Reprinted again today for the first anniversary. Several times over the past few days I had listeners challenge me as to why I don’t believe in the death penalty. I fumbled my way more than I wished through explaining…
Let’s Travel Magazine Articles To Kuala Lumpur & Lake Tekapo
Standing outside my childhood home in Kuala Lumpur. The latest issue of NZ’s #1 travel mag Let’s Travel is out and it has two of my articles. On pages 50-53 is my tale of going back to my childhood home of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. And by home, I also mean literally in the sense…
My Top 50 Favourite Photos Of 2015 – A Travel Writer’s Year In Review Including Fiji, Australia, Malaysia & New Zealand
Monkey Bay, Tioman Island, Malaysia. 2015 had me swashbuckling / cramping up embarrassingly through Malaysian jungles, spearfish snorkeling / ripping my swim-shorts in the butt-crack region in Fiji and hiking the lush and rocky landscapes of Victoria’s Grampians National Park. While getting chased by a kangaroo. For every premature self back-pat, something unexpected or awkward…
Did Elton John Really Stay At A 2-Star Guesthouse In Cambodia?
The signed photo that hangs proudly at the Fancy Guesthouse. With news Elton John is about to release his 33rd studio album (entitled Wonderful Crazy Night*), there’s one lingering question that remains tantalizingly unanswered for fans: Did he or did he not stay at a 2-star guesthouse while in Cambodia a few years ago? According…