STAND BY

Hey everyone, working on a brand new design right now sooo... I've put the blog in this random layout for the moment.

Loads of exciting stuff coming up. I'm moving country again soon on an island although I've got a sweet project in Hong Kong though but at the same time a great job waiting for me in another continent...if everything goes according to plan.

Stay tuned.

Ally

Diving Snake Cave, Koh PhiPhi

There is a lot of dive sites in PhiPhi. But this is one which you won't find in any other dive shops leaflet. So of course, I went.

"Humpff" "Schhhh", "Humpfff" "Schhh" is pretty much the only thing I can hear. Around me, blue, blue and more blue. Slightly turquoise. It's not really clear actually. I only can see may be 12 to 15m ahead.  Bubbles come right onto my face and blur my vision. It comes from my friend Ian, who went down quicker than I did. I give a quick glance at my watch. I am getting to 14m underwater, we are on our way to one of the dive site on Koh PhiPhi Island, the famous Snake Cave.

Expiring the maximum air out of my lung, I try to catch up with him. On my sides my two other friend Jessie and Bruno do the same. The wall of coral and pinnacles finally appears. I switch my torch on and start looking around for small organism like the others. Bubble coral, fan coral, hard coral, blue, red, green, orange, colours, fishes. My mind drifts off. It does it a lot when I'm diving. Unless I lead customers, I don't seem to be able to concentrate underwater. I stare deeply at the blue, I get lost into the rhythm of my breathing. No precise thoughts, it switches my brain on the off mode. I follow along, keeping the yellow fins of Jessie in the corner of my eyes, when I hear a banging on someone's tank, a huge Cobia just appears in front of us. It's a good sign, Cobias swim with whale sharks, and they are the ultimate underwater lottery prize in our waters.

How not to lose someone in Bangkok

The night before, on Kaoh San Road

I lift an eyelid, then two. My eyes don’t seem to work well, and my throat is made of sand paper with a hint of dust. As my vision is attempting to come back to normal, it’s now my nose that is awaken by a strong mix of spices and sweat, and my ears are being attacked by non-stop honking on the streets and loud tacky dance music. I finally see clearly. I’m in my guesthouse room, in Kaoh San Road, Bangkok. The walls are yellow with patches of rotten moisture. It’s worthy of the start of The Beach. But I’m not alone. I turn my aching body to my left. I am alone. I should not be. 

Next to me should be emerging from the cover some bright ginger hair belonging to my best friend Liz Bell.

We have been on the road with me for over four months, across South-East Asia. To be fair I could not have done without her, she’s been making sure I don’t lose any of my belongings (or my mind for that matter), reminding me in her very articulate English accent that I started to copy “Ally Cat, have you forgotten something again?”. Yes, I probably did, I always do. But I had my role in this partnership as well, because with her perfect English rose look, the white pale skin, the golden red hair, there was never a day without a full tube of suncream to be applied.

Liz and I, last day in Sydney, months later.

And right now, she is not here. I try to put my thoughts together, I stand up, I look around. Her bag is not here. She is not here. At all. The hammer pounding on my brain is not helping. Think fast, faster. Get up, get dressed.  I run down the stairs on to the street. I catch a glimpse of someone’s watch, 9.30. It’s already hot and sticky, and the street is filling up with backpackers walking with their dead tourist eyes, woman with fake tribal hats and food stalls displaying spring rolls from the night before, fried bugs and cheap pad thais.
As I grab a bottle of water, I make a conscious effort of remembering the night before.

Travel Playlist: February 2012

Oh what? Yep, haven't done one of these in a while!

Stones Bar- best late bar on PhiPhi

Hope you enjoy, this is majorly inspired by being in PhiPhi Island for two months. Comments are welcome!



Blue October - Into The Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZES3nJQYJok&ob=av2e

Bob Dylan- Don't think twice, It's alright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZPh3hpxLKs


Whiz Khalifa - Young, Wild & Free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lYOUIDkjUA

Nero- Crush on you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWK6dQOdri0&ob=av2e

Nero- Must be the feeling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld50mfW-BCM&feature=branded

Set your Goals - Product of the 80's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ATQxt7q98w

My travels from A to Z

I haven't done a post in a while, being busy living on a paradise island and getting really ill from a cut (more on this later), so when Connie from ConnVoyage tagged me in this A-Z, I thought it was a good way to come back to blogging and share with you my best travel experience!


A: Age you went on your first trip.
I think it was 7. My parents took me to Edinburgh (Edinbraaahh). I think that's when I got bitten by the Travel bug (Sorry Nicole, I needed to use the expression haha!). First time on a plane, first time out the country, I loved every second. Oh and I had my own room in a 5* hotel. Win.

B: Best (foreign) beer I ever had.
Hum, I'm not sure. I'm really not a big beer fan. But I'll tell you that. I do enjoy one very cold beer at the end of the day, preferably somewhere exotic. You know this feeling. When it's hot and sticky, and as the night settles in, in a mix of sweat and dirt, sit down with friends and enjoy the local brew.

C: Cuisine (favorite)
Tricky question. Very tricky. So tricky I cannot get it down to one. So I'll have to say French/Japanese.
I am french and I love going back home for the food! Call me chauvinistic but I love it. Right after that comes Japanese food. Not only sushis, but everything. The flavors are so fresh and varied.
 

D: Destination (favorite and least) 
Cambodia was probably my favorite part of South East Asia. I find this country absolutely fascinating and its history as well. Siem Reap was a very special moment for me,  I dreamt to go there since I was a kid, and finally getting there got my stomach upside down with excitement. Being in Cambodia was also my first "paradise beach" with the turquoise water and the pristine white sand.

My least favorite? Pattaya. I'm pretty easy going, and generally quite happy to just being on the road. But it was so seedy, so wrong at so many levels. You can breath the cheap perfume coming for the girlies bar, and smell the sweat off the backs of overweight middle aged men who have left their families to come to places like these. I have a serious issue with these people and tend to loudly express it when I see it . Anyway Pattaya was just a terrible place.

Koh PhiPhi: The Best of.

Click on the map to zoom in

There is more to PhiPhi than just Pad Thai, buckets and drunken idiots. After weeks and weeks spent in PhiPhi I got to try quite a lot of places on the islands. Here are my top eateries, bars and activities!


Best Bakery:
 "PhiPhi Bakery", ok so it doesn't sound very original but it is as good as its lack of originality. And I'm french I know a whole lot about a good croissant. Before setting off for your day indulge in  awesome coconut bread or may be a vanilla donut.

Travel Playlist November

Yes it is that time again...The Travel Playlist! For you on the road to get some new ideas to feed for your iPod (or mp3 player of your choice should I say.) and for anyone to turn up the volume and have a little disco wherever you are!


VIDEO/SINGLE of the Month:
The Getaway Plan - The Reckoning.
I was very happy to hear that the band was reforming, and the promising new single is surely a sign of yet another quality album from the melbourne band. Loving lead singer Matt's vocals on the chorus. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u7ht4fEEtBU#!



Having a bad day? Don't say "I hate everyone" (by say anything) you have probably some pals to bitch to about your day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQd7_HqR900&ob=av2n

Thats for "Certain" (by set your goals)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPXnSX-7cDc

And really if you "Love your friends, die laughing" (by man overboard)  So thats ok.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPBbf26HA1Y

Then you'll realise, that these days are indeed the "Glory Days" (by sharks)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdczeAUeoGM

And there you go. You are "Back in the game" (by jamie t)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFWLMTUHM-c

So pull some "Moves like Jagger" (maroon5)  and everything will be sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEPTlhBmwRg&ob=av3e

That's it folks!

What's it like to work and live in Vang Vieng, Laos.

"Oh man, I nearly died in Vang Vieng, Thank god we only stayed for 3 days."

I heard that a lot. But now imagine staying there for way more than 3 days. More like 3 weeks. 

Now, I hear you "You just got drank everyday and the people that works there are just your typical stupid drunk backpackers that from doing nothing earn more than locals." Well yes. And absolutely not. 

How can you say no. Free food, free drinks, free accommodation. Backpacker heaven. Liver hell.

So me and my travel buddy (I quote from comments: "The cute redhead on your travel photos") got jobs at the restaurant/bar OhLaLa! . What is like to "work"in VangVieng? Here is our schedule:

To travel bloggers and others: On earth and things that scare me.

 Ok there, so before starting shooting comments informed or ignorant about how informed or ignorant I am and how patronizing of me, please let me make my point.

I'm not tree hugger. I don't fit with your stereotypical hippie, green, whatever you want to call it activist, environmental conscious people, I'm far from doing the maximum. But I was thinking. And here I write to my fellow travel bloggers, but any backpacker or travel enthusiasts really. Yes. I am talking about preventing our world to go to well, hell.

The Best Tuk-Tuk driver in Siem Reap

Meet Cobra. No worries, this one won't bite you. But he will take you to all the best places in Siem Reap and has an endless knowledge of the city.

We met Cobra at the Garden Village guesthouse in Siem Reap. He took our friends to Angkor Wat. And f rom that blossomed a friendship. We asked him to take us to a tattoo place. "A good one".

Yes, we did the classic thing of getting a tattoo while backpacking. No it's no my name in thai/khmer/laos.

No, its not a buddhist prayer or a salamander.

Anyway. So there we are, driving in the back streets of Siem Reap, bumping along the road and getting splashed in the floods. We get to a small house. There we meet our tattoo artist, one of cobra's friend.

Living in Hong Kong: First month round-up.

So there it is. A month in crazy Hong Kong. And so far I think we are having a love-hate relationship, Hk and me.

A month and 3 days ago to be exact, I was leaving dream like PhiPhi island to start my life as a master student. Back to words like lecture, seminar and essays. I'm really passionate about my studies (a dignified way to say that yes I'm a massive geek/nerd/bookworm), so I did not mind it, even after the freedom of a year spent traveling around the world. I remembered fondly my years as a student in Kingston, the long hours in the library, the strong bond between students, the warmth of our local pubs after a long day studying, the sports teams etc... basically your regular english university life.

But I'm not in England anymore. And this has nothing to do with before.

October Travel Playlist

I still have the summer feeling in my mind, so here is what kept me dancing through the Hong Kong streets:

Foster the people -Pumped up Kicks
Blink182-Up all night
The Descendents- Hope
Taking Back Sunday- Summer, man
SomethingALaMode- 5am
Dead Prez and WTF!?- Hip Hop Remix
Strange Talk- Climbing walls


Guilty pleasure of the month:
Sarah Bareilles - Gonna get over you

Click to watch the video!

Koh Phi Phi: Accommodations Review

Phi Phi. Turquoise water, sandy beach and hell of a good nightlife. But after a night fueled with Sang Som, you want a good place to rest your head on. Here are my picks.

Partying up with travelers and Jojo at Tara Inn

TARA INN
Room with fan - 500 baht (2 pax) 400baht (1pax) - negotiable if you are nice
Dorms - 200baht

If you are in PhiPhi to party, this is a good place to stay. First of all the owners are lovely. JoJo and Moon will always be there to help you out during your stay. The rooms are basic and clean, and if you have a problem it will be fixed up within a second. The location is ideal, right up at the start of the street leading to the main party beach. There is a shop right by it and a pharmacy to buy your bottle of water and your paracetamol for your hungover. In need of vitamin C? There is a fresh juice stall right by the reception.

BACK

Hello everyone,

The blogging is back on. Ish.

There is bits and bobs that still need fixing, but I hope you like it.
I chose to stay on blogger because I just don't have time to get on the full wordpress thing.
"But I've got a very busy life too, and I find the time!" Good for you! I don't!
So I decided to keep it nice and easy. Just a topic bar to get to articles easily, a travel picture link on the right and oh yeah, new blog posts.

Moving on! It's a new school year and it's been quite crazy so far. I moved to Hong Kong, started my MA and got into a million and half projects!

In 60 days on the clock, I'll be going onto my next adventure, becoming a dive master in Koh Phi Phi.
So stay tuned!

MAINTENANCE

Hey everyone.

I made it to Hong Kong and I had the best ever time in Thailand! I'm redoing the blog completely, so for the next few weeks its gonna be a bloody mess, but I'll be back veryyyy soon!!

Home and Away

I'm off! Hello backpack, beaches, buckets and fit Aussie backpackers. It's back on the road for me so I'll see you in a month yeah?

Might do a couple of updates while away but no laptop this time so no.

Bye Bye!

Travel Playlist July

Hey there. I nearly forgot about July's playlist! When it's my monthly favorite thing to do on this blog! So there you go.

Song of the month:
The Belligerents - Such a crime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh_K47rYl4E

Jamaica - I think I like U 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yMA7pGM4PQ&feature=related

Girls- Heartbreaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcfO4t-sbYE&feature=related

Passion Pit- Sleepyhead (Borgore Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ3uRdbBeXY


Tubelord - I am azzerad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsI9kkVczd0

Battles- Ice cream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FsvMyQeC-Q&ob=av2e

Girl Talk - Down for the Count
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr2cfwR0roU&feature=related


And probably one of my favorite tracks from the start of the year:
Adele - Rolling in The Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjiswvTXdzA

And the guilty pleasure of the month:

Taylor Swift- Story of us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN6VR92V70M&ob=av2n

The Hostel Tales: How budget travelling can get you into the 4th dimension.

When you go travelling, the world is your oyster, you have no home and are free of all worries. Practically, you need a bed at night. Thank god for hostels ! But there is a bit of a trick there. See it’s an interesting reciepe (would I dare to say for disaster ?). Take a few travellers, some ready to paint the town red, some happy to read their lonely planet in bed after a hot cocoa. Then put them all together in the same room, more or less clean. Add a few (and more) drinks, hours of tiring journeys and different characters. Shake it all up. Here is your ready mix for some pretty special stories. I’m not going to lie, it mainly involves nakedness, alcohol and embarresent. But hey, that’s part of backpacking too isn’t it ?

« There is someone naked in my bed »
Working at reception in a hostel gets you to deal with interesting situations. One morning a backpacker asked me if it was possible to get some new sheets I replied for sure, but why ?
-Well, there was a naked woman in my bed. 
-Pardon?!
As I mentioned before you get very different people. Turned out that the naked woman had first of all visited the owner of the bed above and after some frolicking decided that in fact, it was far better to sleep in a fresh bed right there.
A pair of clean sheets later and 5 more complaints for « loud romantic noises » during night from the rest of the dorm, and everyone was fine.

The Excelsior, best hostel in Sydney - photo: Katie B.

«  I locked myself out of my room in tiny boxers » 
You thought it was great that your hostel had really nice bar to party. But how would you feel if you had to walk through it at 2am only wearing boxers ? Well. What if you just locked yourself out the room, went to the toilet and thought you would enjoyed  the dark corridors at night wearing nothing ? And what if  you finally realised that now you need to go down to reception to get a new key and therefore cross the entire hostel ? Always entertaining on a packed Saturday night.  Oh and don’t forget which room you are in.
Because there is CCTV. We can see you wandering naked through the hostel trying to figure out which door is yours.

« Why can’t I bring back prostitutes »
Sometimes it is not only a language barriers but serious mentality differences. No matter the nationality. But how do you explain to three drunk Polish backpackers that no, they can’t bring back prositutes. It went something like this:
- Why can’t they go with us ? We’ve paid for our beds and we’ve paid for her .
- Can’t have people who are not guests in the hostel. Safety policy. Especially for illegal paid sex.
- But it will be quick I only paid for an hour !
- No!
-Can we use the chill out room?
-NO!
-The Toilets?
-NOOO!

I could go on and on, but I think these three are fairly funny. So here is a few tips to get on with your dorm :
-Buy some pyjamas
-Stick to your own bed
-Keep your frolicking to a minimal noise. You know what, actually just don't.
-Don't bring back prostitutes.

Simple as. Enjoy your travels.

You can also find this article as a guest blog for my friends Cheap O Air! Check them out! Los Angeles Vacation packages

On a personal note...

Rachael, Liz and I. Waterfall in Koh Phangan.

I noticed that on every single travel blog, there was a little presentation of the blog owner. So I thought I'll do one of these post now.I will be short do not worry.

Ohlala, Qbar and Buck bar in Vang Vieng

So I'm french and part brazilian (I do not speak a word of portugese though. Shame). I'm 22years old soon to be 23. I grew up in Paris then I moved to London for about 4 years and during this time I did a BA Hons in Journalism with History of Art, Design and Film at Kingston University in Surrey. I love London with all my heart and I wish I could still live there. BUT. I went travelling with my best mate for 6months in Asia and Australia, ran out of money and came back to Paris to save up while working in a backpacker hostel. I also spent quite a bit of time living in Australia, in Sydney.



Trekking in Chiang Mai

 I always loved travelling. It's a family thing, there is only 3 members of our family in France and the rest is either in Hong Kong or New York.

I was lucky enough to travel quite a bit with my dad when I was younger and that soon became an addiction, which goes well with my other passion, journalism.

I'm now moving to Hong Kong to do an MA in Journalism.

Few facts about me:
-I've got a strange english accent which is a mixture between south london accent, australian, amercian and of course a hint of french, which result in people thinking I'm South African or Australian.



Buckets up! in Vang Vieng at Bar 3

 -I have moved every year since I'm thirteen, sometimes every 6months.

-I have a cat and dog.

-I'm a bit of an indie kid and nothing sounds better to me as a night out than a gig.

-I hate nightclubs such as Oceana, altough I'll dance to the same music in a beachbar anywhere in the world.

-While travelling I've been called "The Fish" because I can hold my breath under water for a longtime. Not because I drink like one.

-I have the biggest fear of snakes. Which amused my backpacker friends a lot when they killed a snake in Vang Vieng then tried to chase me with it, then took me to the Snake House in Cambodia where you eat on a snake pit. I know. Hilarious, right?

"Chilling" in Pattaya. Our worst stop in Thailand!

-I'm scared of heights but not bungee jumping. Go figure.

-I was a national and university champion in cheerleading with my uni squad Kingston Knights. By the way, yes, cheerleading IS a SPORT. I don't wave pompoms, I throw people in the air.

-I'm a pretty decent cook.

That's about it. If you got questions, go ahead.


OH and my next trip starts in 16days: London-Manchester-Bangkok-PhiPhi-Tao-Samui-Phangan-Bangkok-Doha-Back home.




Dining in Hong Kong



Memories from Bangkok.

First ever night on KhaoSan Road.

Here is what I wrote on our second night in Bangkok, about a year ago, at the start of my "gap yah". It makes me smile. Clearly I had no idea I was on Kaoh San Road, about sex shows and how all that was "normal" haha. You live and learn, I guess.

"We are finally here. After an easy going 11 hours-flight, we landed in hot and sticky Bangkok. It was so good to taste the humid heat as soon as we stepped out of the airport....before getting in an icy cold taxi.
The traffic here is worst than the M25 at rush hour and at every corner you come close to hit a speedy tuktuk.

We are staying in a beautiful hotel in one of Bangkok busiest street. The smells of the food vendors in the damp weather is overwhelming but oh-so tempting. 24 hours bars, old women selling cheap silver jewelery or kids with a bunch of roses, all try to get the attention of the "fa-rangs" (foreigners) that we are.

After a much needed shower, we decided to find a typical place to feed our very hungry stomachs.
"Ped-Ped" I ask. (very spicy)
I think they underestimated me. I empty half of a bottle of tabasco on my pad see ew. Now that's better.

We then sat down with a few cold beers in the bar,if you can call it a bar set up in front of our hotel, furnished with few plastic chairs and tables. A quid a bottle.

In a street that offers a wide choice of hostels, you never far from another bunch of backpackers. We meet some Irish fellow globe trotters, who just like us, are on their first night out in Bangkok.
Bar after bars we discover the real Thai nightlife. The local whiskey is poured way too many times, but the company is good. I'll remember forever our tuktuk race through the empty streets, the very cheesy guitar singers, the stray cats everywhere. We end up in a bar that only on a gap year I would dare to enter. Let say I'll never look at ping pong the same way. Classic.

Today, we fought the harassing heat (well, it is 38 degrees) with a long boat ride along the Royal palace and trough the boat market. After a first taste of the architecture, the wild life, the smells, I am starting to think that yes, it is going to be amazing.

Next stop, Pattaya. Famous for it's seafood, nightlife and prostitutes. We'll keep you updated."