Monthly Archives: January 2016

Travel review: America – a land of surprises

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Over all the last decade, dad and I have travelled extensively in the USA. Once you’ve worked your way through the laborious visa application process, they are generous in giving a 10 year multiple entry visa as standard

The USA is a land of many faces, both in the people and the landscape. Having seen the variety of natural beauty available in their own country, dad and I aren’t surprised that so few Americans have a passport because they can see so many aspects of the Earth’s wonders right home, from the icy glaciers of Alaska to the white beaches of Florida, from the arid desert of Death Valley to the forests of soaring redwoods in Northern California Continue reading →

Travel review: Heathrow airport

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London is served by 4 major airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and City) though Easyjet is trying to dupe unwary foreign flyers into believing that Southend on the east coast is in London

Heathrow still retains the cachet for foreign airlines and most fly there though a few now do also use Gatwick

Belying its military airfield beginning, Heathrow’s position in the middle of a dense residential area has limited its expansion over the years and the government are about to decide on which London airport gets a new runway. If it’s Heathrow, expect many years of disruption with building work Continue reading →

Travel review: Virgin Atlantic Airways

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Virgin Atlantic is my and dad’s trans-Atlantic airline of choice. Dad has the Virgin Atlantic credit card, so he collects miles for his purchases. If he spends enough in a year, he gets extra rewards like a free companion flight (yay for me!)

These miles can be used to get reductions in fares (only 2000 miles required for this) as well to get upgrades in class or even for ‘free’ flights. I’ve put parentheses around the word free because you still have to pay the taxes, which is about half the cost of the ticket. It is also very important to realise that there are limited numbers of reduced / upgradeable / free seats on any individual flight, so it’s important to book these seats early Continue reading →

Why we love to travel

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Dad and I have learned to love to travel over the years. As we’ve grown older and wiser, we have found that rather than accumulate things, we would rather have experiences these days and this is now our motto

Dad and I hail from Malaysia and we got used to flying from an early age as we came to boarding school in 1981. In those days, planes had to refuel at least once on their flight over from the Far East and these delays in exotic-sounding places in the Middle East and Europe were a sleep-sapping inconvenience. Little did we know that we would fall in love with travel later in life Continue reading →

Teddy meets little Chewbacca

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Other than the Ewoks on Endor, I identify most closely with Chewbacca in the Star Wars films. He’s big, furry, brave and loyal and he has a cool bowcaster that even Han Solo coveted in the latest Star Wars film  

Chewbacca was turned into a bit of a wimpy teddy bear in The Force Awakens for comedic value but he’s still a hero to me  Continue reading →

‘Future mom’ treats dad to a day at SenSpa, Careys Manor Hotel in the New Forest

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Firstly, just a quick clarification. Dad and ‘future mom’ are getting married in August, after which she becomes my official mom!

‘Future mom’ had a little surprise for dad last weekend. To kick off their wedding year with something special, she had arranged a spa day for them both down in the New Forest

The New Forest is located in the south of England adjacent to the English Channel, giving it a nice mix of low lying forested areas, the sea and some charming villages. It’s also famous for its free wandering wildlife like ponies and pigs Continue reading →