Wall upon wall of blank faces are staring at me, staring past me and staring through me. Some of the paintings are so life-like that if I wasn’t surrounded by people also admiring the many artists’ portraits I’d probably be a bit twitchy. A room full of faces, staring at a room full of …

Firmly in the tropics the humidity hits you as soon as you land in Cairns. This remote holiday spot has a lot going on. For me it was all about good food, great beer, saying goodbye, lazy walks along the coast, thought-provoking art and a gateway to The Great Barrier Reef. But I didn’t …

Spearing fish (well trying to) whilst wading knee deep in Cape Tribulation’s Mangroves on a monumental hangover and 2 hours sleep wasn’t up there with the most tranquil activities I would have picked to revive me from my night of hedonism. But it happens to be one of the best cures out there!

Landing in George Town, Penang, waiting for my rucksack (my whole life for a year) was a touch hair-raising but for some reason I wasn’t worried. I sat on my empty airport trolley and waited, sure enough it found me after choosing to catch a slightly later flight. I think Penang’s optimism had already …

From the second I landed in Hue, I loved it. I’ll attempt to put into words why but you know sometimes you just go somewhere and get a good feel about it? Well it’s one of those. Yes the streets are crowded like Hoi An but there’s still a feeling of space. On the …

So what to do in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). I spent 7 days here and tried to cover off most of the main things to do.  As you head down any street in HCMC you’ll hear the chants of ‘Cyclo, Cyclo’ and in my case ‘Madam Cyclo, Madam Cyclo, where are you …

I’ve landed, phase 1 complete. I successfully left Heathrow, had a quick stopover in Dubai and made my way to the Bangkok Centre Hotel (yes I cheated – I got a taxi). If you plan to stay here don’t be lame like me, jump on the train, the hotel’s right next to the MRT …

On Saturday 16th March I was lucky enough to see one of my heroes collection of paintings. Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) had 12 rooms (yes 12 rooms!) worth of work displayed in the Tate Modern. All his most famous pieces of work are on display until April, and some lesser know pieces of work too.