Last week, I was in Bali for four days and then flew straight to Hong Kong for another four. It was the craziest week of traveling and flying that I've ever had in my life. I have learned quite a few things from those days, but now that I'm trying to settle back into my normal routine, there are a few things I hate about the end of a holiday. 1. Unpacking At the beginning of each trip, I have this neat and organised suitcase of clothes, shoes and toiletries. At the end of the trip, I turn I...

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When I heard the news of David Bowie's passing, I wasn't sure how to take it. I know he was an icon, a very prolific music legend.  Everybody knows who he is. How can you escape him and his countless cameos? I watched David Bowie Ziggy Stardust being parodied in Flight of the Conchords and felt quite emotional of astronaut Chris Hadfield's cover of Space Oddity, which is the only song I know from his never-ending repertoire.  So today, I decided to listen to his songs and was quite pleasantly surprised that I'm actually more familiar with them...

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The Royal Mint had launched a new set of commemorative coins over the weekend and they may just be the coolest ones on the planet right now.The new £2 pound coin celebrates 400 years of Shakespeare and coincides with the UK's Shakespeare Lives campaign. The design features a skull and rose on one side and a crown and dagger on the other.The new 50 pence coin features Peter Rabbit, which pays homage to 150 years of classic children's book author, Beatrix Potter.Other coin designs launched at the same time commemorate the Great Fire of London and the Battle...

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I can't pinpoint when I fell in love with Neil Gaiman's stories -- it could've been American Gods or hearing him read The Graveyard Book -- I just suddenly knew he's one of my favourite authors. So when I had been given the chance to stay in London for two weeks, I quickly hatched the plan to go on a Neverwhere tour. Neverwhere is Gaiman's fantasy novel about an average guy who suddenly finds himself in an adventure story in the strange world of London Below, an alternative dimension of the London Underground where the tube stations are...

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I keep telling everyone that the UK version of The Apprentice is much, MUCH better than the original, especially now that Donald Trump is making an arse of himself by running for US president. Practically nobody outside of the UK knows who Lord Alan Sugar is. In fact, even I have next to no knowledge of his business ventures (he's apparently an electronics magnate). However, he has given the series so much personality and his input results in very practical business lessons, that I can't imagine anyone else doing the job. I've spent most of Christmas Eve and...

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Here's how I realised the extent of my anglophilia.When I first heard the Years & Years song "Shine," I just thought here's another catchy, synthy RnB song. Even though I liked the song, I didn't give it much thought. But at some point, I googled them.They are BRITS. I was hooked.Even better, I remember seeing frontman Olly Alexander in the film Great Expectations and some episodes of Penny Dreadful. I'm crushing on him hard -- I don't care if he's gay! Olly's voice sounds a little like Justin Timberlake's, but with less of the pretentious lilts and with a lot...

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Anyone who has spent enough time in the UK would have come across Costa Coffee. It's literally everywhere. Every once in a while, I would find myself craving for a Mocha Flake. It's silly, really, because that's just a normal mocha with a Cadbury Flake piece on the side. I could order a mug of this in any coffee shop, if only I could find Cadbury Flakes in this town. Oh, well. When I was in the UK last October, I couldn't get enough of Costa's Hot Spiced Apple drink. It's basically hot apple juice laced with cinnamon and topped...

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