The Most Epic Trip Ever

I probably didn't build up the holiday enough on this blog, sure I mentioned it as it was about to happen, but to say it was going to be the greatest holiday ever in the history of history probably could have done with a bit more build-up.

Of course, it's easy with hindsight to say that I could have sold the fact that it was going to be ridiculously epic, but believe me, every man and his cat knew I was going on this holiday and that I went in with an agenda for it to be the best thing that's ever happened to me.

It delivered.

It fucking delivered.
It fucking delivered and had extra cheese.

But I didn't experience it in the way I envisaged. I envisaged this ongoing, perpetual high that only improved as time progressed and was more akin to travel I'd done in places like Asia.

The fact was, I'd only done Asia, and the fact was, I'd done it predominantly solo.

This trip was different: it was longer, not in Asia, and was in a group. Boy, did I learn the latter was a game-changer very quickly. But we'll come back to that, I think we'll commence with something that sets itself up... let's start with the bet.

I even make this look like an effort, that will change, soon

The bet was an undertaking whereby I wanted to move 20kg in six months, I started it just prior to going on holiday. Do not doubt for a second that I'm serious about this endeavour, but also don't doubt for a second that I'm not going to let it obscure my holiday in Europe for the first time. Actually, come to think of it, starting off with the bet is a shit way to get this story started. Sure, it needs to be acknowledged, but we need to kick this shit off with a motherfucking rainbow...

Here be a motherfucking rainbow

Rainbows are great, and I'd liken it to my trip with a clever analogy, but I can't be fucked right now and we'll probably park that for now until I drop it like a bomb at the end of this tale and you realise you forgot about it and I'm all like hey, I be a clever writer.

The shot of the rainbow was taken just before my trip to Europe, I'd moved back to Sydney from Singapore and was in this bizarre twilight zone where I was settling back in Australia but not. I checked out a few places to live, acquainted myself with some of my best friends, and basically hinted at the fact that my life was going to get ten times more awesome than theirs in the coming month. If you're one of those friends reading this currently and wondering if I actually delivered on this promise, then suck shit - it was actually 20 times more awesome than you could possibly envisaged, except a friend I won't mention, he left me this heartfelt message on Facebook the day I left:

Oi. Have a fucking incredible trip cunt. Awesome seeing you the other night, and good having you back in the country for good this time. I missed you while you were in Singapore. Stay safe, but also smash the fuck out of it on your holiday.

I love my friends.

But where were we? Oh yeah I was about to commence my holiday. I jumped on the plane, hit up my tablet and finally got why Breaking Bad is considered good television, and chatted to an old grandmother from Scotland. Oh wait I blogged about that. And eventually I hit.

First stop : London


If you're a new reader to this blog, you won't know this, unless you know me in the flesh, then you will definitely know this. I plan to be in one of three cities in the next 18 months: London, New York, or San Francisco.

I cannot stop crapping on about my plans and I'm now getting categorical eye-rolls from my friends whenever I mention them, rest assured though you non-sympathetic bottom-dredgers, I will deliver on my plan.

But I digress, the point I was trying to make was that London wasn't high-up on the expectations list. I have friends there and all, but if I'm eventually going to move there anyway what's the point in getting excited about it?

Boy did I get proved wrong. In world record speed (I daresay even faster than my first foray into Chiang Mai), I was crapping on about the textures of the city, appreciating its public transport system, and reveling in the fact there were people in the pubs, all the goddamn time!

I fell in love. I finally understood why half of Australia goes there. I even soaked up some of the sights.

Normally I caption each photo, but I think you get the general theme here

The people blew me away. All of my Australian acquaintances welcomed me with open arms. They asked questions such as 'when are you moving here?', 'you alright?' and 'can you father my children'?*

I spent six days there, working in the Google London office for three of them. The work made it a bit of an intermission, but oh my, what an intermission it was. I love London, and it's really thrown a spanner in the works for San Fran's and New York's hopes, but it was just the beginning, and each trip needs a middle, a hearty middle nestled within Spain.

Second stop : Barcelona

Oh my, what a fantastic nose you have

The first real thing we remember about getting there, was being told to watch my bags as I was a target. It wasn't a warm welcome. But that element of danger boded well for the adventurous occasions that ensued.

By jove, I have never, and probably will never, party as hard as I did in Barcelona.

Going there for Sonar Festival was incidental, it was the parties off the festival that made the trip so worth it. Riddle me this:

This was just warming up, that's right, the sun was shining and the tunes were belting

Picture this. Three of your best friends, a pumping dancefloor, trollied off your nut, listening to an up-and-coming DJ/Producer, and then John Paul Young's Love is in the Air comes on. Can you picture the magic that went down at that particular moment? Can you imagine 500 sweaty people singing in unison to one of the cheesiest Australian songs ever in the history of the world being played 25 years later on the other side of the earth? And then hearing tune of the European Summer being dropped immediately thereafter?

It's pretty hard to articulate, but man, you wish you were there.

That was near the beginning. And it was a party we weren't even originally going to attend. And there were at least 20 similar parties going on that week. And... hey, I don't even want to sell it to you, more room for me to boogie next year.

Other things happened, including seeing Derrick Carter in a club, Richie Hawtin at a street festival, and then going to the best party in the universe.

Derrick is the black blob to the left, I'm the blob in the middle

Panorama of the best party of the year, Minus @ The Boo Beach Club, Barcelona... what a GREAT DAY

Barcelona absolutely rocked my socks, I partied like I'd never partied before, and enjoyed the shit out the tapas culture as well.

How could you not enjoy the shit out of this?

But whereas Deadmau5 is content to fax the next destination, I was going for gold, I was headed to...

Third stop : Berlin

There is not a single person in my friendship circle that doesn't think Berlin is where it's at. And now I get why. It totally owns, where London had the element of surprise, and Barcelona had the element of party-ness (I just made that word up), Berlin had completeness. It was the entire package, and I even took in the sights this time, more so than the other cities.

I believe this square is composed of rich mahogany, and the archway was once a resting port for breaching whales, yes, I'm quite sure I'm right

I checked out the Holocaust museum, wow, after a week of partying in Barcelona that was a lot to handle. I'm glad I went, but you could feel how overwhelming the tragedy was less-than-a-lifetime ago. But you know me, I like to keep things light, and I kept it gangster by saying bo selecta...

The Marshful Dodger

I took the most photos in Berlin. And I'm not even a photographer. We had a great mixture of company, schnitzels, broken weather, and just a dash of partying. And while I'm throwing around a lot of "of the years" here's another one. I went to the concert of the year (for me). I got to see New Order, a band I've long idolised post-high-school, and who helped me through some really crap times. My friend had arranged tickets to see them on Thursday night in Berlin and they did not disappoint.

I should have stolen this poster as a souvenir

While I consider myself articulate, describing what went down at that concert from an emotional perspective is difficult. I had built them up in my head so much that I doubt they would ever transcend the lofty heights in which I had placed them, but even taking that into consideration they still blew me away. Hearing Crystal live was always going to be underwhelming. It's a very slickly produced track, but as I cried and cheered and absorbed it definitely brought a sense of closure to what has been an integral part of my story.

New Order playing Regret in Berlin

Hearing Regret - a song with a huge history between me and one of my mates was special, and then when Bizarre Love Triangle came on I peaked, and there was many a joyous hug. I'm kind of disappointed I didn't lose my voice, but I gave it a good nudge.

With all this happening, a normal person would be content to let the holiday peter out, and call it stumps. But, ladies and gentlemen, we be entering the bonus round...

Bonus round : Amsterdam

Initially, I was of the opinion that including another city in this sojourn was over-ambitious, and should best be put at back of mind, but after chatting with friends and experiencing group-holiday-politics for the first time, I booked a last-minute trip to Amsterdam for the night to go to Defqon.1 - a hardstyle (and other genres) festival that was not for the faint of heart.

After everything that had happened leading up to this, I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew. After all - who wants to push their luck when they're clearly #winning already?

Well, what an epic show. The only artist I knew on the line-up was Scot Project - not only did he deliver - but the dozens of unknowns that I also encountered delivered as well. The vibe was amazing. My approach was to embrace the experience and take it for what it was, a bit of long-distance fun with one of my closest friends.

It was the right approach. 

Juxtapose the trip there:

Boring town

With the most amazing visual experience I've ever encountered:

This be the mind-blowing shit

It wasn't all apples

Now all I've done is spout positivity, despite hinting at the fact that the trip didn't enjoy ideal group dynamics at the start of this entry.

There was some lowlights, they included:

• Losing my debit card to an ATM and being without cash for five days
• Quickly realising that group-travel isn't harmonious and utopian
• Spending unnecessary amounts of money on things I didn't need
• Realising that Defqon was a very, very expensive cab ride away from our hotel
• Fighting with one of my best friends over complete crap

But do you know what? It was the motherfucking best holiday I've ever had. And then some. I'm actually welling up now as I type this at an Irish bar in Singapore and realising that it's over. 

This is where I throwback to the rainbow.

Be ready for me to drop an epic conclusion

A rainbow is a colourful journey between two points. The beginning is filled with expectation, and the ending is a wonderful reflection. But to get that magical reflection you need rain, for without rain the rainbow doesn't exist at all. I'm thankful it rained, because without it I would not have this fantastic thing that just happened to reflect upon.

And for that, I thank all who were involved.

You could have said love was in the air. And with that I leave you with the most magical moment that happened on this trip. Naturally in Berlin, naturally with some of my best pals:

*Names will not be named.

Revelling in Geekery

"The best thing about being an adult, is you can do what you want, when you want".

Words from my former stepfather. I used to hate it when he'd tell us that as kids, and thought there was no way I would ever embrace this kind of attitude when I finally became an adult.

Yet 20 years later, here I am opening with this very quote.

Mid high-school I struggled. I was a target for bullies and my fondness for computer games and miniature war figurines didn't exactly endear me to the cool kids. Now I'm in a regional role at one of the best companies in the world and getting paid to embrace my love of all things outright geek.

That's right baby, we're getting our geek on.

Now I'm not saying I didn't enjoy my childhood, I had a fucking great time. But now I can do what I want, when I want, and no longer worry that Nick Evans is going to shove me into a locker and break my arm again, or that Ben Joske is going to kick away my basketball. Douche bags... look at me now!

That's right bitches, the face of success

But I stray from the point, which is to revel in geekery unashamedly. Sure I'm a nerd, but I make it look fucking cool.

Some of my favourite geek moments:

• Wake up, reach for my tablet, which is connected to my eee PC, and play techno on YouTube on the computer that has the speakers connected. It's pretty boss.
• Being ingenious with existing technologies. I remember altering my Sega Lock-On's by taping plastic over the barrel, and drilling holes in the centre for more emphasis on accuracy rather than the wide-range they originally shot at.

Yeah baby, they were the duck's pyjamas

• MacGuyver-ing that shit. When I couldn't charge my Asus eeePad I visited some forums and discovered that you could fix the charger by putting it in a freezer. Not having one on me in an airport in Chiang Mai, I drank my iced tea and deposited the charger battery in some ice. The result was gleefully exclaimed in this G+ post.

There are of course, many more glorious moments such as this. My point being that where once upon a time I'd try and mask these incidents so as not to look like a geek - are now moments I happily celebrate and revel in. I may have even just broadcasted them on the Internet. It's cool being an adult. You can do what you want when you want.

The Rise of the Anti-Troll

"Lol faggot".
It's a pretty tough world out there for the average Internet dweller trying to be heard, after all, manifestations of this kind of stuff appear all the time in the online world. Imagine if you were a spring chicken to this kind of stuff, and were instantly hated for doing something innocent?

Fortunately or unfortunately, most people are familiar with dealing with trolls to some extent. We all come to the Internet a little wary, and just put it down to it being a thing. A thing that you shrug off and put it down to its own nature.
Nice try. Catch. Whatevs.

What I've noticed lately is that the anti-troll is emerging, and it's a force to be reckoned with. The anti-troll is a champion for all that is good, and uses the powers of the Internet to get people back who deserve it (park the term 'deserve' for now, I'll come back to it).

A troll getting what's coming to them

You don't know what I'm talking about? Check out these examples:

• Infamous Singaporean blogger XiaXue delivered an epic smackdown of some outspoken Facebook trolls. The post, called The Faces of Haters is a great read and an indicator of how times are changing. No longer are the haters faceless. With anonymity slowly fading away, even the most amateur cyber-sleuth can deduce, name and shame. The reaction brought news and media attention.
• It's not restricted to online. Another great example is PennyArcade Versus Ocean Marketing. If you don't have the time to read the article, the long and short of it is, mid-tier marketer shits on young guy, young guy escalates to a bastion of glorified geekery, mid-tier marketer's life and career = destroyed.
• And the latest actually brought a tear to my eye (I may be a little fragile from long nights in Barcelona), a ruthless copy-cat site called FunnyJunk (I feel dirty linking that) bit off more than it could chew when it decided to file a lawsuit against The Oatmeal. An Internet superhero and all-round nice guy to boot. As if his letter calling them out isn't amusing enough, Matt Inman (creator of The Oatmeal) decided to crowd-fund $20k to flout their stupidity, and donate the proceeds to charity. At last count with 10 days to go, Inman has raised over $170k, taking the Internet and using it's powers for good.

Remember that thing we parked? People who deserve it? Some of these people mentioned in the examples have suffered some very fiery wrath, and observed the full force of the Internet at their doorsteps, and sometimes, you can't help but feel a little pity.

But only a little.

There are a lot of Internet bad guys out there and they need to be quelled. Anti-trolls are heroes, and have the courage to stand up to these guys and give them a taste of their own medicine, I'm not saying it's a perfect method for justice, but until one comes about I'll be standing up and applauding stories such as these and secretly doing a fist-pump from behind my keyboard.

Internet justice - fuck yeah!

So having said that. I'm just going to place this here, they're a regular that crops up in my blog comments every now and then with posts such as these:

I'm pretty good at dealing with shit. You're on notice you prick. You'll slip up one day and will receive a smackdown to rival all smackdowns. You've been warned.

Buenos dias!

In for the Long Haul

I've been sitting on the longest flight I've ever flown. London is less than two hours away. I'm sitting next to a grandma from Scotland. I'm listening to a 2005 King Unique set recorded live. I'm sipping a scotch and diet Coke. Everything is how I want it to be. This is what travel's about.

Man, I'm sure I've mentioned my upcoming holiday on the blog right? My oft-updated blog? No?

Well colour me pink with a rusty crowbar, it's the journey of a lifetime and in the words of Deborah Conway - it's only the beginning.

Starting today I've embarked on an 18-day tour of Europe. Home of The Final Countdown. Maybe.

This trip has been in the works for a long time. In fact, in recent years, this has been the longest I've delayed gratification. I booked it in February, and the planning started at the very least by October last year, probably earlier. It's the holiday I've been wanting to happen since I was 15. For those of you playing at home, that was 13 years ago.

Sure, some circumstances have been out of my control, but it was time to take command of my destiny and do it. Stand back guys, I got this.

My prose may be floating around a bit and for that I apologise, I think I've racked up half a dozen beverages, thank you very much. Although, it's been diluted over a 13-hour flight, so I'll have to make up for that when I visit my friend and visit a ye olde English pub.

The timing is pretty good for a celebration. I got shortlisted for the B&T 30 Under 30 this week. I'm absolutely blown away by it and very pleased to even be considered for such recognition. The fact I get to share the accolade with a friend and former colleague is humbling, as well. Well done Sam.

The final 30 is announced at an industry event I've been invited to on the 18th July. Amazing. Looking forward to attending that one and donning some fine clothes let me tell you!

So where am I going besides London. Well, I think we've planned this pretty well. We have six days in London, six days in Barcelona for Sonar Festival, and then six more days in Berlin before returning to Singapore, and eventually Sydney.

And what's it like being back? Bloody fantastic I tell you. I couldn't be happier with the result and it's been a privilege to rekindle friendships back home with company I love and enjoy. The travel bug has firmly taken hold and I don't think I'll be in Australia for the long-term, but for now it's heartwarming and just what I desired. I wouldn't say I was unhappy in Singapore, it's just made me realise how much I love Australia. Watch this space and mark my words, one day I'll be buying property in Williamstown, a suburb just west of Melbourne. Mark them well. One day...

Dreams are made to be realised. And I'm pursuing and realising another one today. Seriously, I'm one of the luckiest people in the world to be able to do what I do. The fact that things looked a bit more bleak six to seven years ago only makes it all the more sweeter.

And I'm writing a story to tell you about it. I know, I know. The book is almost a vapour-tale, but I really think that dream will be realised within the year. I attended the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, and between that and this holiday, things are looking like they will be delivered upon.

Speaking of special deliveries. Oops, I did it again. Yep, I've ordered a special delivery for 20 kilos to be extricated from my body. Third time lucky, only luck has nothing to do with it. It will be discipline and hard work this time around. And yes, I realised the irony of saying that while boozed up on a holiday to Europe... It's unfortunate timing but it just means I'll have to work extra hard when I get back. There's a lot more riding on it this time and failure is not an option. Australian Summer, ladies, gents, and potential lover-partners, you've been warned.

Sayonara bitches, I've got a holiday to attend to. They say that in Europe right?

P.S. Things I would have tweeted if I had Internet access this flight:
Holy shit there's a city in Europe called Dresden?
Where the alcohol at?
Man, I've been a hater, but Breaking Bad has been pretty compelling.
I'm so excited I'm about to piss my pants, and I wish I could to replace this warm satisfaction I'm feeling.

#EWF12 - Emerging Writer's Festival Conference

The Emerging Writer's Festival caught my attention while on Twitter. I was browsing a smart-arse's tweets, and he tweeted @EmergingWritersFest something along the lines of "aren't you guys already emerged?"

It piqued my interest and I started investigating. The well-thought-out site was easy enough to follow, and after seeing that the conference was on a weekend, in Melbourne, and I had money in my bank account, I decided to book and take the plunge.

And what a great decision it was.

The festival was just what I needed, needed really bad. It's no secret that I've struggled in the last couple of years with my book, and it was time to either escalate things or give up. Fortunately I went with the former, and the latter seems completely foreign to me now.

A consistently echoed theme from the conference was to "take the path less travelled" and now I feel like hacking my own path up with a machete - proverbial of course.

The conference was laid out in an easy-to-follow, two-day program, and after some study of the program, I opted to go to the sessions: Seven Enviable Lines, Tough Topics, Structure, Cross Platform on the first day, and Crowdfunding, Self-Publishing, Digital Writing, and Building an Audience on the second day.

I took copious notes, and have taken the liberty of uploading them to an open Google Document that can be found here.

Overall it was a fantastic experience, and has given me a lot of food for thought. I'm very certain the book will be published this year now, more to come.

My Toughest Musical Break-up (Gabriel & Dresden)

I've had something preying on my mind for a while now. I've had it on my list-of-things-to-blog-about, but I start tapping away at the keyboard and then all I see is rage and disappointment. This entry will be no better, but at least I've now made peace with that.

I'll tell you what I haven't made peace with: Gabriel & Dresden playing Skrillex.
It kills me.

I don't know where to start.

For one, I'm not close-minded about dubstep. I actually quite enjoyed it for a while, you know, when it was good. I'm not just saying that either. I saw Skream twice on his Melbourne debut in 2006, and even managed to get a shitty photo with him when he was playing at Lounge.

Wow, I had a lot of hair back then.

I followed the style for a while, until a few years later I saw Skream again at Hi-Fi, where equipment troubles stopped it from being a top night. My interest faded completely by 2010, where a gig at the Gaelic became a rewind-fest. Some people loved it and lapped it up. Me not so much.

My point being, unlike many people, I'm not a blind hater and gave dubstep a go.

Let's park that for now.

Now Gabriel & Dresden. My word, what an outstanding duo. I discovered them by accident. I was on a DJ mix site, and was searching for New Order live sets. To do this, I'd load up the page, press Ctrl + F and type in 'New Order' - cycling past all the mentions of Blue Monday and finally coming across this bizarre set list. It was Gabriel & Dresden's 2005 San Diego set. And among the last few tracks they played, was a remix of one of my favourite New Order tracks: 'Someone Like You'.

I downloaded the set out of curiosity, and fast-forwarded towards the end, and the track sounded completely different. In a good way. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I gave the whole set a listen. And really enjoyed it. Yep, even the Groove Is in the Heart remix.

I had to download more of their sets, and did. I probably went a bit crazy with how much I got into them actually. For the benefits of this blog post, I just did a count of how many sets I downloaded and listened to.

The answer it seems, is a fuckload.

And the love affair continued. I would listen to them over and over. I could tell you that their mash-up of Timo Maas's Shifter into their Someone Like You remix was a work of art, that I loved their 2nd Essential Mix just as much as their first one for playing Dirty South's 'It's Too Late' remix, and further, I could tell you that my favourite sets usually came from their Organized Nature radio show.

Sadly, they didn't make it to Australia after I had got into them. They broke up. These things happen. I always dreamed of course. That one day they'd put their differences aside and reform.

Meanwhile, my life continued. I would play their sets at recovery parties. So much so, that one of my good friends, perhaps in a slightly intoxicated state and listening to Jaytech (another brilliant progressive house DJ), famously announced to the group: "I know this is Gabriel & Dresden, but what is it?"

There were other amusing moments. I remember being at a gig with some of my best friends, seeing Way Out West for the first time at Tank, Sydney, and hearing them play Mindcircus. I lost my shit. I jumped up and down. I yelled and whooped and pointed out that Gabriel & Dresden had played this. I was wrong. (They'd remixed it). But that was beside the point. Anything that referenced these guys was gold. In my ears anyway.

Then the move to Singapore came and I was swept away in realising my dream of going overseas. For approximately one day. Then Gabriel & Dresden not only had reunited, but were coming to Australia after I leave.

You could not have scripted a bigger fuck-up. Needless to say I was shattered.

I got my life together, and moped my way through Singapore. I got to see Richard Durand, Markus Schulz and James Zabiela in those early months. But it wasn't Gabriel & Dresden.

Until I checked the Zouk line-up around June. I was in a quiet office back then. It did not stop me doing a jig and collectively lose my shit on social media. I was still new to the country, but sent out an impassioned email to my newly met acquaintances about the Second Coming.

Hey guys,


I know this could be, something I remember in my head… 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ctGg_9PwE4

As someone that has been in touch with me you might be vaguely aware of my obsession with one of the greatest DJ/Production duos on the planet: Gabriel & Dresden. These guys are my number one, they broke up in 2008 and I never thought I’d ever get a chance to see them live. Here are some quick facts about how much I love them:


·         Their first remix was of one of my favourite New Order tracks – I have a New Order track tattooed to my left arm
·         I have 4GB of every set of theirs I have been able to download, this is about 70 hours of DJing
·         I cried at the Armin Van Buuren party when he dropped Zocalo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIOjGNi5mYc) I later discovered this was produced with Gabriel & Dresden
·         They reunited this year, and the day after I discovered I was moving to Singapore, they announced they were coming to Australia – it prompted this reaction from me on Facebook: 

   Yesterday's rejoicing about a move to Singapore has been soured by the news that the greatest production/DJ duo OF ALL TIME are playing in Sydney, on April 30th. I hate you, Gabriel & Dresden, I hate you with the power of a thousand suns.
·         And I could go on…


But the stars have aligned and now they are playing at Zouk Singapore tomorrow evening.
Naturally I’m excited, naturally I’m attending.


I know barely any of you like “club” music, and aren’t fond of late nights, but if you’re keen to join a drooling fan boy having the time of his life you’re more than welcome to join.

So it was set, a group of pals came along and I got to see DJ Gods in action.

Hearing a rejigged version of Mindcircus, and getting blasted with an ice-cannon while the vocalist belts out "falling" will always be etched in my memory as one of the greatest moments in my history of ever. But then something happened.

They played a dubstep track.

It completely floored me. I didn't see this coming. Why would they stoop to this level? Why? After mastering pop-progressive house, why, why would you go and do something like that?

I didn't last till the end. Their tweet: we played 40 minutes of our classics at the end, only rubbed salt into an irreparable wound.

Some of you reading this would have already seen the writing on the wall a long time ago. They played a Groove is in the Heart remix? Dirty South you say? What the fuck did you think these flavour-of-the-month specialists were going to play when the dubstep party came to town?

So that's why it's my toughest musical break-up. They haven't changed. They were always playing what's popular to a degree. But I draw the line, however superficial that may be, at playing that maligned genre.

As a famous anonymous DJ said:

I may be a cunt,
But I'm not a cunt that plays dubstep.

Rest in peace Gabriel & Dresden.

20 Stamps, Many Memories

I had to know how many stamps I'd got while I was here, turns out it's 20 trips. Add four trips back to Australia in that time and that's a lot of time in the air. The past 15 months have been amazing, and I'm trying to document what each trip meant to me here.

The Short Version

1. Singapore - 27th February, 2011
2. Krabi - 6th March, 2011
3. Chiang Mai - 1st April, 2011
4. Kuala Lumpur - 6th May, 2011
5. Chiang Mai - 29th July, 2011
6. Chiang Mai - 13th October, 2011
7. Manila - 22nd November, 2011
8. Tokyo - 3rd October, 2011
9. Bali - 28th October, 2011
10. Ho Chi Minh - 5th November, 2011
11. Kuala Lumpur - 24th December, 2011
12. Ho Chi Minh - 31st December, 2011
13. Tokyo - 17th January, 2012
14. Bangkok - 19th January, 2012
15. Manila - 26th February, 2012
16. Chiang Mai - 2nd March, 2012
17. Ho Chi Minh - 5th March, 2012
18. Bangkok - 25th March, 2012
19. Jakarta - 24th April, 2012
20. Kuching - 27th April, 2012

My apartment view (when I wasn't on the road!)

The Long Version

Singapore - 27th February, 2011
My first international trip. And it's to relocate overseas. Looking back, I hadn't done a lot of research. I sourced a few opinions from people, and threw myself in without giving it a second thought. I've already documented what it was like on those first few hours (link to old entry), but I'm still convinced it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The amount of learned about the world, or more accurately, learned how little I know of the world is staggering.

Very simple things that I took for granted, like my accent, were completely foreign to people. It took me a while to stop thinking: "are you serious?" when somebody asked where I was from, and that's totally down to my ignorance.

I'm not much better these days, but I'm damn sight further along the cultural knowledge spectrum than Marshwah was 15 months ago.

Krabi - 6th March, 2011
My first international business trip, and in my second week of being in a new country too. The penny dropped here. Where Singapore was a somewhat easily-negotiated, condensed city. This was a town surrounded by jungle and by some beautiful beaches. There's nothing I can take away from my opening week in Singapore, but this is where it first dawned on me that international travel with friends is something that I needed to do.

I arrived at a five-star beach resort. It was the most scenic thing I'd ever engaged in, and easily the most majestic surrounds I'd ever stayed in. A thought entered my head as well. I wondered if I could film or take photos on this trip and capture what I was experiencing, then realised it's best done with friends.

Career-wise I hit another milestone, I delivered a presentation on the Singaporean digital landscape to our agency's brightest minds, including two global CEOs, and nailed it. I remember being so amped after that presentation that I called a few of my friends back home and garbled excitedly. I kind of forgot about the time difference but they appreciated my enthusiasm.

Chiang Mai - 1st April, 2011
It was but six weeks into my international jaunt and I knew I had to connect with my two friends that had been there the last time I relocated. Last time was Sydney, and they absolutely made the transition between cities ten times easier. This time they were involved as well. Less directly, but had certainly urged me to explore all of what SE Asia has to offer.

So I visited their home in Chiang Mai and the bar was set even higher. I made it quite clear what I wanted to do there. Eat, drink, and be merry. And that is what we did. And then some. After at least a year of rejecting their travel pleas, ignoring their assertions that the region was a bountiful and rewarding place to explore, I finally did it.

My friend tells me that I was raving about how good the place was within half an hour of arriving. I don't doubt it. It was like a part of me had been unlocked!

Kuala Lumpur - 6th May, 2011
Another friend I caught up with in Singapore had said it's worth making it habit to get out of Singapore at least once a month. It had been longer and I flippantly booked a trip to Kuala Lumpur for that weekend. It was $200 SGD return including accommodation. I asked some people within the office how to go about it, got some tips, and then plunged in.

What a random adventure. I'd mentioned on Facebook where I was going and it turned out a buddy just happened to be in town that night. We painted the town red, had many a laugh, and I finished the evening eating delicious street food outside Chinatown at 3am in the morning. I couldn't finish the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout I purchased alongside it, that shit is vile.

With my mate gone and not having much of a clue about anything, I checked Resident Advisor (link) what's on that evening. It turned out Deadmau5 was in town. With nothing better to do I purchased a ticket and went and danced to one of the world's most notorious dance music producers. And I loved it. Random, but that's the point.

Chiang Mai - 29th July, 2011
My friends in Chiang Mai are renowned for springing surprise visits to Australia. It was time to return the favour to one of them. Booking a last minute trip there was a spur of the moment decision, seeing the reaction and receiving a hug from one of my dearest friends was something I'll cherish.

As with all of my trips, my focus was on drinking and eating, but we broke it up with a delightful bike ride out of town and to a nearby lake. Sitting in a bamboo hut by the water, drinking vodka and mixer, and eating some of the spicier foods within Northern Thailand was a pleasurable experience. The ride back into town was interesting, and then the sheer scale of where they eat steam boat blew my mind.

I can barely remember what was said, but finishing the rest of the vodka and arguing/talking with my friend was one of the best conversations I've ever had. (Vomiting due to over-consumption at the end of mentioned night, not so much).

Chiang Mai - 13th October, 2011
Some of my best friends from Sydney were travelling to Chiang Mai and circumstances conspired against their visiting Singapore to see my digs. Some back and forth made things work, and it was time to re-visit one of my favourite places in SE Asia. What was different this time, was that we had a whole crew with us and we were headed to a village outside of Chiang Mai, the fabled Pai (link to Wikitravel).

Seeing everyone was a blast. While I wouldn't say the 300 odd-turns on the way to Pai were rewarding at least I can say I've done them. That's when I wasn't crapping on excitedly. The mood was buoyant and the only regret I had was not staying longer. It's been a problem with the majority of my trips: cramming them into extended weekends and not getting as much as I would have liked out of them. I guess I'll have to travel more!

Manila - 22nd November, 2011
This was my first business trip with a new company and while Manila isn't somewhere I'd ordinarily go to, I was keen to make the most of the experience.

A few things I picked up on right away. The poverty was evident. And the security guards with automatic rifles were pretty hard to miss. We toured a lot of important clients and I got to know some of my colleagues better. The Greenbelt quarter was quite fun as well with cheap alcohol and great food.

I've heard a lot of the beaches in the Philippines are quite pretty, but it's more the realm of an experienced traveller, and I don't put myself in that category. I enjoy a bit more comfort and safety on my trips. Still, it was a very interesting place and one I'm glad I visited.

Tokyo - 3rd October, 2011
I have not heard many people talk about the similarities Japan shares with other countries. Tokyo blew my mind. I knew I was in another country the second I was off the plane. I loved every second of it. Before I'd even left the airport I was amazed by their toilets! Their toilets for crying out loud. I was here on business again and had just completed a leg from Melbourne (was there for a wedding). To say I was tired was an understatement. I lasted until about 4.30 that day much to the derision of my boss.

The rest of my time there was a blast. Being on business, I didn't really get to explore, but each night was a joy, the most bizarre experience being cosplay karaoke. Enjoyably bizarre. I had the Friday night spare, and ate some food, drank some local alcohol (ginger highballs), and went to a club where I discovered Darren Emerson was playing.

I didn't last the distance as I had an early flight the next day, but what I experienced was amazing and I really got a lot out of my time there.

Bali - 28th October, 2011
Bali has never been on my to-do list. From what I heard it was a bit of a tourist mecca and not much else. However, a group of friends from Australia were headed there and it'd be rude to ignore that fact when they were so close to Singapore. I made a weekend of it, and stayed in some very lush villas in Semanyak.

This trip was all about the company, these people were old work associates and colleagues and I was keen to chew the fat. The weekend was pleasant, with some overindulgence on my behalf Saturday afternoon. It was a long afternoon!

Having said that, Potatohead has to be one of the most pristine beachside bars I've ever had the pleasure of attending.

Ho Chi Minh - 5th November, 2011
Like a lot of my trips in SE Asia, this one was organised at short-notice. And after all the travel I'd done in the past couple of months I wasn't sure if I was keen. A colleague asked if I wanted to go however and who am I to knock back an adventure?

My travel fatigue was washed away the second we left the airport. Wow. What an amazing city. Absolute chaos. Yet in its chaos there is some sort of beauty that I struggle to articulate. The weekend I spent there was a good mix of shopping, sight-seeing, drinking, eating and partying. Special shout-outs go to the Vietnamese coffee. Having spent seven years living in Melbourne I was pretty skeptical of sweetened coffee, and this stuff blew me away.

It's very hard to pick between Tokyo and here for best city in Asia. Tokyo if I had unlimited money, Ho Chi Minh for us mere mortals. I swore I'd return.

Kuala Lumpur - 24th December, 2011
One of my best friends announced he was getting married in Melbourne in January and I put the random travels on hold for a while to save money. This interrupted my Christmas plans and it looked like I was spending Christmas in Singapore. An old colleague from Sydney got wind of this and at her insistence I boarded a bus to Kuala Lumpur for her family's Christmas celebrations.

It was the first time I'd crossed an international border over land and the feeling was quite surreal. That wasn't the half of it. Eating dim sum at 11am on Christmas morning, with an Asian family of about 20-strong, was very hard to process for someone that had grown up on the traditional Christmas dinners. It was unforgettable and a novel way to celebrate the end of the year. Mum made me swear I spend the next one at home!

Ho Chi Minh - 31st December, 2011
Another colleague from work was at a loose end as to what to do on New Year's Eve, and a cheeky Facebook status update saw us make plans to visit Vietnam to bring in the New Year. There were hotel dramas, but to be fair, I had a miracle run through Asia thus far and wasn't too bothered. I remember updating my status while there commenting on how crowded it was. A few know-it-alls commented on my update and said "oh, that's Ho Chi Minh". No, fuck you guys, I had been to Ho Chi Minh before and this was ten times more staggering.

The central business district of Ho Chi Minh on New Year's Eve is chaos in purest form. Picture droves of people shoulder-to-shoulder, add the scooters zipping through these crowds some how, and Vietnamese music blaring from any speaker that will play.

My colleague and I managed to beat our way through to discover a great little quarter with bars and restaurants. It was on the 31st December 2011 around 9pm that I had the best meal I'd eaten all year, and it was at this spot. This was followed up by some very enjoyable bar times. The hangover the next day was a bit much, but made perfectly bearable by a riverside brunch. 5 stars. Vietnam: amazing.

Tokyo - 17th January, 2012
After racking up so much airtime you would think I would have this down-pat by now. I didn't quite think this trip through. I was going to my friend's wedding in Melbourne during its hottest period. I was leaving from Singapore which is always hot. In between was Tokyo which was hot last time... To put it bluntly, I froze my dick off.

Getting into the place around 5am in the morning was a very striking wake-up call. I was there for two days. I toughed it out and endured a very strong ribbing from the rest of my team. The stupid Australian didn't check the weather before he went to Tokyo. It was bloody cold.

I still loved it. I got to eat at another restaurant and check out a hole-in-the-wall bar. I almost panicked on the train trips back to the airport too. Despite a frosty reception I still loved Tokyo, and it will definitely be a place I visit again.

Bangkok - 19th January, 2012
This one doesn't even count. I spent eight hours in the airport bored out of my mind (it is a good airport though, bloody large!) only to realise the connecting flight had lost my luggage. I went through immigration, got stamped, and found my purple suitcase in the lost and found section. Checked back in, put my bag through, and made my way to Melbourne.

Manila - 26th February, 2012
Another business trip. I don't to give Manila a bad wrap, as the people are some of the kindest in Asia, but I had another woeful time. The hotel placed me in a smoking room and couldn't move me anywhere else. I got sick. And did back-to-back-to-back meetings over four days.

I did get to bond with some team members though and shared a few laughs, so it wasn't all bad. It's just very hard to compete with places like Thailand, Japan and Vietnam.

Chiang Mai - 2nd March, 2012
Another last-minute decision. And given I'd just got back from Manila the last thing on my mind was travel. But a bad week culminated with a very frustrating Friday, meaning I was desperate to see some friends.

It just so happened my friends were very receptive, and headed to the mythical Pai that weekend to meet more of my friends. It was a fantastic weekend, and just what the doctor ordered, stress subsided and laughs were shared. The 300-turn trip on the way back wasn't even that bad, despite a monster hangover.

Ho Chi Minh - 5th March, 2012

The travel continued in earnest. This time it was a last-minute business trip to talk at a conference of one of our key partners. I stayed at the Majestic, a place I'd stayed at on my original trip, it didn't disappoint. The French-colonial architecture is beautiful.

I presented before one of my biggest crowds yet. An audience of 200 people or so, and to top it off, I won best presentation of the day to boot! The afternoon/evening I entertained clients, and made my way back to Singapore, still convinced of it being one of the best cities in Asia.

Bangkok - 25th March, 2012

I had deliberately avoided Bangkok. After enjoying Krabi and Chiang Mai (repeatedly) so much, I didn't want a more commercialised, city-centric version of the country I love. Yet business brought me there, and reeled off one of my biggest tours yet work-wise. Fortunately, I fell in love. If anything, Thailand without the village-like atmosphere I adored, was even more intriguing. It was cosmopolitan to the extreme, with all sorts of characters running around the city in harmony.

It had its dodgy-side, but I'd read up, and was experienced enougih with Asia now to know what to expect. My only regret? I didn't try and stay for the weekend. As being able to let loose without having to worry about work would be a real experience, especially in a city like this.

Jakarta - 24th April, 2012

My last business trip before I depart (knock on wood) and there was one thing that really resonated with me. Jakarta (and in a broader sense, Indonesia) is fucking huge. The scale of what we were dealing with was mind-boggling. It's punching in the same weight-division as the US for sheer population size. And yet it gets lumped in as SE Asia.

The other thing that really struck me was the gap between rich and poor. Like Manila, there is obvious poverty around the city and disparity between hotels I was staying in, and the shanties you see on the side of the road is sad to see.

It was never going to be the most pleasant trip with all that goes on there, but it was one of the most awe-inspiring.

Kuching - 27th April, 2012

My last trip before I head home (again, knock on wood) and this one was for selfish reasons. The move to Australia has been preying on my mind and the thought of being cooped up in Singapore without relaxing was too much to bear. I'd heard about this city from a few people, and it sounded like a great place for downtime. I caught an advance screening of The Avengers, ate sumptuous seafood, had my first full-body massage, and drank at some of the local bars. But most of all, I relaxed. Which is just what I needed.

---

20 stamps, and many memories. Asia, you've been great and I'll be returning for sure. I came with an open-mind, a willingness to explore, and gave back what I can. It's been one of the most awesome experiences of my life.

Next in the sights is Europe - I don't think its ready.