In Amsterdam, I went to the van Gogh museum. It’s pretty impressive and well worth the price of admission to go there and just see the entire history of van Gogh’s works, from his earliest studies to his later, more abstract works. But I couldn’t help but wonder, towards the end of the museum: was […]
The National Concert Hall (NCH) in Dublin is a very imposing building. It is a massive stone structure which would not be out of place as a Monarchial residence. It reminds me of the majesty of some buildings in places like Paris or London: buildings fit for Kings and Queens. Wikipedia tells me that it […]
I always thought the UK was a train country. By that, I mean you always hear about how good the trains are there, how easy they are to take, and how connected the country is. I also think the Victorian steam era of the UK heavily features the development of its rail network, so it’s […]
I just got back from Indonesia, after nearly two months on the road. I really enjoyed my time over there, and it showed me that travelling (especially travelling solo, with just a backpack) makes you learn a lot about yourself and about the world more broadly. Here’s a few things I took from this most […]
Last weekend, I went to Borobudur Temple, which is a famous sightseeing attraction near Yogyakarta in Java, Indonesia. Now, when you book the tickets, they have lots of different options. When I was at Prambanan Temple the day before, you could buy a combo ticket, which gets you entry to Prambanan and Borobudur for a […]
For the final two weeks of my study trip, I’m in Java, which is an incredibly important island as it is the host of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta (although not for much longer), and as such is quite politically powerful within Indonesian government. I’m spending a week in Yogyakarta, which is something of a study […]
The past few days, I had this as my view (all for about $25/night): I realise, typing this now, that it doesn’t look like much – in fact, it looks rather like a dead garden at the front with the bin – but the main point was actually that I had this beautiful view of […]
“Are you filming a vlog?” Asks Ryan, also known as Ray to his friends (and after sharing a meal, I was now on Ray-terms with Ray). “No,” I responded, “why do you ask?” Ray proceeded to tell me that he thought Banda Aceh had a lot to offer for tourists, but that there’s not much […]
Before I had travelled to Bali, I played in an Balinese gamelan (traditional ensemble) in Canberra. Friends there often expressed a sense of regret or sadness about the current state of Bali. “It used to be a beautiful, natural island,” they would say, “but now it has become overrun with resorts and tourists”. They would […]
Hi everyone, I’ve been very sick this week unfortunately so only a very short blog post from me. Unfortunately I came down with some kind of illness on Monday and so I spent most of this week resting up. I was even worse yesterday but once again I seem on the mend (though I recall […]