But I had a flight to take in your territories, dear Macau. This, and the Prince in question took well charge of things. So there I was, running through your half portuguese and half chinese streets, paved in ways that resembled us, the Prince and me, quite a lot.

Macao, far and wide.
From its pretty streets, laid in cobblestones, and its subtle decors of classic beauty, to its impressive, flashy-flashing monuments.
From its outdated street restaurants, where chopsticks pinch everything, to its good old knife-fork ready portuguese chicken.
From the tranquility and charm of a walk in its heart, to the colorful excitement, to the luck (and misfortune) effusion of its casinos.
Everything displayed in contrasts, everything intense.

The Prince booked a high class hotel. Inside, there is a casino and a particular fountain that spins in many colorful and musical combinations, bringing together a crowd of curious:  an overdose of kitsch.

The room is beautiful and without a doubt, worthy of a princess’ expectations. One can watch TV while sitting in the bathtub, or even while taking a shower, thanks to the speakers installed in the bathroom. The chairs and bed mingle with our shapes, comfortables.

And to the casinos… It’s my first time! Just as usual, I enter this new place with my bunch of romantic misconceptions (that I kick away with awe and delight): sitting at the slot machines, there’s a crowd of lone and determined little ladies that remind me of my own mother.

Later on, the Prince wants to show me the oldest casino in town (the most authentic!). So here we are, at the Casino Lisboa, which has nothing on the LEDs of its giant neighbor. For the Casino Lisboa is the heart of Macau, popping right into your face.

On entering the huge round playing room, you’re left breathless! Players fill up the entire space with their persons, with their exclamations: it’s a real hubbub, it’s full of energy, bubbling, screaming, quacking. It makes the croupiers, stoical, seem inhuman.

And then, outside the game circle, there’s a strange merry-go-round taking place. Tall girls, with plunging necklines and provocative looks, pretending to go for a walk. As soon as they are out of sight, they start another round.
A crowd of men of all ages stares at their bare legs activating, weighs them up.
Sometimes, one of the girls feels looked at. She slows down, and poses with a feline stare, seeming to defy the man as if he was her prey.
The girls will keep walking, sometimes throughout the night, until, tired, these gentlemen will have made their choice.

Tired of all the voyeurism, we go back to our princely bubble bath. And I know that after a delightful night of sleep, my chinese holiday will come to an end.
The Prince accompanies me to the winged chariot that will take me far, far away. As for his fate, he will return home on that same white horse, but this time, more lightly.

The 1 day Alzheimer experience (aka the motorbike accident)

I fell asleep on my motorbike while driving in Vietnam (seriously, they drive like snails over there… so boring!). I hit my head, grew the perfect face to scare all the kids off, but mostly, I lost my memory for a few hours. Where was I? Why the hell in Vietnam? Waking up at a small village’s doctor with all asian faces around felt like being cast to the 37th dimension. Pretty cool, for a first travel in time.

Bargaining with the police & getting officers’ numbers

I was arrested by the police in Laos, for riding a motorbike without license. They let me bargain the fine and in the end, the chef offered me further protection… in return for my telephone number. Why not? I ended up surrounded by 5 guys in uniform pointing Jennifer Lopez to me in a random magazine somewhere at the Mekong… and I was made proud owner of two police officers’ phone numbers. For my safety, of course.

Mimetism, you’re doing it wrong

I violated a secret beach guarded by the communist army in Vietnam. How? A random guy offered to drive my friend and myself on his scooter through some sandy jungle (off road with three people on the bike, hell yeaaaah!) so to skip the guards. Incognito… well not really, considering my shiny paleness.

It’s dehydration, hell yeah!

I ran and jumped through the cliffs in LongDong, Taiwan, in the midst of the night. I ended up totally dehydrated, with the heart beating at a 300km/h rate, my tongue sticking out and my body refusing to walk. Gladly enough, somebody identified the issue and fed me 2.5 liters of water at a speed I could easily enter in the Guinness of World Records. Safe!

Longdong's beautiful cliffs, in Taiwan

Throwing a party for a ghost

I was wandering around the Mekong in some lost village in Laos when I heard a traditional orchestra. I followed the sound and got invited to take part in what was a thank you celebration for a ghost. I was served and fed like an honored guest, and got to take part in their offering tradition, and got treated their awesome village made food. Ghosts are cool.

View the two videos I took of this incredible celebrations where old ladies dance for hours, changing their clothes many times, and guys dance with candles on their swords. You can also view all my photography taken in their village in my portfolio.

Ghost celebration in a village in Laos

Road tripping, but not with a broken arm

I went for a 2’200km motorbike roadtrip through the deep north-eastern Thailand, with a friend… who managed to broke her arm on the 6th day: cast away, back home! I had to keep going on my own. Empty tank, crazy drivers, missed romance, highway, highway, highway, kind people, annoying people, encouraging people… I saw everything, including ‘warning! wild elephants’ signs. Everything, except the elephants.

a tattoo and a bowl of blood (how badass is that?)

I got a shaman to tattoo a magical and powerful ink on my back, in the heart of the jungle in northern Thailand. After that, I drank raw pig blood, and I liked it.

The raw pig's blood, after the tattoo

I still need to try balut…

I ate all kinds of weird food from here and there. After the raw pig bloog, I had the dancing shrimps (slowly dying in your plate), all the single parts of a beef, a pig, a chicken (including the ass), buffalo hide, stinky tofu, snake (blood, poison, meat and… semen), insects (worms, grasshoppers, etc)… I-am-not-done. Keep them coming!
You can view sabkrab’s video of the goong dten (aka dancing shrimps).

This is me eating snake!

Not sure if beautiful or unpractical

I was bridesmaid in Sri Lanka, with the saree dress and all! A saree, that’s sublime… yet not really practical when you have to go every five minutes to toilet, and you’re not even sure where your daily food is going to come out from… You’d better either manage the fabric like a pro, or get naked and don’t dare to move out of the restroom for the rest of the wedding.

More adventures coming soon ;)

• Where to drink and party in Taipei: clubs, lounge and cocktail bars, whisky bars, dive and beer bars, and live music venues
• Where to eat in Taipei: taiwanese breakfast, taiwanese dinner, delicious international cuisine, (awesome) burger joints, markets
• Where to work online in Taipei: some of the nicest cafés in town!
• Where to chill, hang out and take pictures in Taipei: sights, spots of interest, cultural venues
• and… a little bit of shopping in Taipei.

View a bigger map (with categories sorted by type)

Unagi (miso eel) in the japanese street

My favorite places

• Mono Mono bar for its awesome selection of whiskeys, its warm family-like mood, its delicious snack, and its cool bartenders
• Insomnia Café for the reliable wi-fi connection, the lovely quietness, the delicious waffles and juices: perfect for a work day.
• Myst and Primo clubs, for their more mature crowd, their old school hits, and their usual hot crazy party vibe.
• MayBe bar, for its old school karaoke wall: just grab the mike when you feel it and light up the room!
• Din Tai Fung, for its internationally renowned xiaolongbaos (dumplings) and global deliciousness of the taiwanese food.
• 33 and 69, and generally all the re chaos where you can taste plenty of tasty taiwanese delicacies for a modest amount of money, including fresh seafood.
• Phat Burger, for its amazingly juicy taiwanese beef patty and the loveliest service ever.
• 肥前屋 (japanese) for its mind-blowing unagi, or miso eel. Warning: hot place, queue!
• Ice Monster, for its truly monstrous and obscene mango shaved ice.
• Sleepless restaurant, for its most amazing view on the city lights, perfect for romantic dinners.

Ice Monster's mango shaved ice

Check my map to read details on the venues I enjoyed on Boracay: restaurants, cafés and party places. The island is divided in several stations, the most popular and crowded being the Station 2.

Where to sleep?

I stayed at Trafalgar Cottages, a quiet little resort based in Station 2. They have many little bungalows, all with their cool terrasse and hammock. Everybody is also very friendly, smiling and of good advice. A double room with shared bathroom will cost you 11$ (split it by two and… you got it!). Luxury island also welcomes backpackers, yay!

Oh, and… there are Couchsurfers on the island!

Sunset on Boracay

Want to try filipino food?

Good choice, I personally love it – and I always come back from this fabulous country with a few more kilos… on my person! Fortunately, they don’t consider this in the airlines ;)

You will find nice and modest dishes at Big Mamas (right next to Starbucks, on the beachfront) and at Zest Restaurant (a little bit inside, nearly in front of the small E-Mall). The first one offers a small, modest yet delicious selection, and the second offers a wide menu card, as delicious, but with the addition of awesome filipino and international breakfasts, and fresh fruit juices.

I recommend you to try: Bicol Express (spicy!), Bistek and Inasal. Don’t forget to add kalamansi, this little lemon from the Philippines – it’s the secret of every good recipe!

Delicious Mango salad (with kalamansi!) at Zest Restaurant

Party party party!

That’s what most of the island is about anyway, so chances are, you are probably counting on this!

If you like crazy packed party places with the latest clubbing hits playing, you’ll love Summer Place and Palaw Club. There is also a fancier version of them, one of the most renowned clubs of the island: Epic.
Crowd: a wonderful melting pot of people from all places, ages and backgrounds (including locals).

If you’d rather listen to well-mastered electronic music mixes, far from the MTV hits, head to Jungle Bar, on the opposite side of the island: on an amazing private beach, with nice lighting, cool ambiance and thoughtful service.
Crowd: mostly westerners that enjoy drinking when it comes with good music.
Don’t miss: their full-moon parties!

If you’re the type that likes meeting people around a glass of anything, comfily sitting yet still feeling in a foreign place, maybe the bars on the beach will be the most suitable. Try Pat’s Creek or Bom Bom Bar, close to each other, with a local live band that masters old school rock as well as filipino reggae.
Crowd: many locals, and a nice melting pot too.

In the middle of all this, here’s also Le Soleil de Boracay, on the rooftop of an hotel at the beachfront, with clubbing music, yet a lovely terrace from where you can look at the many people passing by. Dance or sip? Your go.
Crowd: mostly westerners and a few locals.

Just chillin' on the lovely white sand of Boracay!

I met this backpacker while I was on Boracay, Philippines, with Cristine, my multi-recidivist travel companion. Cristine is from the Philippines and she knows a bunch of local bloggers, so it was all naturally that we met this inspiring character.

Everybody knows that the average salary in the Philippines isn’t very high compared to western standards: A professional nurse, for example, will earn an average of 150 USD per month.

Yet Filipinos, just like the rest of us, like to travel. And if they can’t make it to some far away country because of the excessive cost of a flight, they will find another way.
Amongst all the countries I visited, Philippines must be the place where I met the most eager travelers around.

And Journeying James is one of them: he knows how to make out of the smallest escapade, the greatest adventure!

Corinne: Hello James, you seem free like a bird!
Tell us what you do for a living and how travel blends in.

James: I don’t have a day job and I dont plan of having one. When people ask me that, I just say I’m a travel writer (emphasis on the travel part).
Well, I write for some local in-flight magazines. Then for the past months, I began enjoying some income from the blog, through advertisers.
So, I just travel and write something that would make others go to the place I went to.

Corinne: Every time I stumbled upon you in the Philippines, you were surrounded by a bunch of people. How do you usually create encounters through your travels?

James: I also don’t know. Can I call it charisma? hahaha! It usually starts with a smile and then I let them now that I’m traveling solo and would be very happy to meet the locals in the places I’m visiting. Then the locals I met will introduce me to other locals and so on….

CORINNE: How much do you travel per year… and what are you doing when you don’t travel?

James: I would say I’m on the road for a total of 7-8 months per year. When I’m not traveling, I run half-marathons or write as much blog articles I can. I just stay home, sip some coffee and relax. Watch movies too.

CORINNE: Excuse the question, but how old are you? When did this crazy travel bug bite you, and when did you start your blogging/backpacking adventure?

James: I’m 27.
While still in college (2001-2006), I always wanted to travel but funds were limited. So after graduation, I worked 2-3 years (2006-2008) then said to myself it was time to pursue this dream of traveling.
I’ve been traveling full-time for almost 3 years now (2008-2011) and my travel blog is already 1 year and 6 months now.

James at Camiguin, Philippines

CORINNE: What, above all, would you like to achieve?

James: Short-term goal is to backpack the Philippines for 100 days non-stop in the cheapest way possible, like less than 50,000 pesos all-in (= rough 1’200USD), write a book after that. A local travel show would be awesome too!
Long-term, I would be to backpack Europe and maybe do a Round The World trip.

CORINNE: Any plans/dreams of visiting some far far away country?

James: Yeah, definitely. I dream of going to Europe. I’m always fascinated by Europeans. :)

CORINNE: can you describe an usual day in your travels?

James: I love the beach, so you’ll see me hanging on my hammock in between two coconut trees and just relax (maybe read a book to kill time). Have a mango shake or have a good lunch. Then snorkle or explore the island by foot.
Budget is always below Php500 (= 12USD). i also spend more time on knowing the locals, trying to learn their dialect or trade, or how they cook.

CORINNE: Could you give some advice to the people out there that are dreaming of traveling, but for some reason, think they can’t, or are afraid of it?

James: I share two of my favorite travel quotes:

Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think. - Horace, Ancient Roman poet

When I had youth I had no money; now I have the money I have no time;
and when I get the time, if I ever do, I shall have no health to enjoy life. - Louisa May Alcott

If you can still read the two quotes then you can still travel. It’s like learning how to swim. At first, you are afraid because you don’t know how, but then when you begin to float and swim and be confident with water, and you begin to enjoy it. You just have to be in the water. In travel, you just have to be out there.

CORINNE: How much are you enjoying your everyday life, right now? Is there anything you would like to change, or go back to?

James: I’m living my life to the fullest! I am not rich, financially speaking, but I’m rich with relationships-friendships fostered while traveling, experiences to share to my future kids and grandkids. I can easily go anywhere in the Philippines anytime and stay at a locals’ place for free.

CORINNE: What is the most important thing that travel brought into your life?

James: I learned that there is goodness in everyone’s heart. I also observed that those who don’t have are the ones who share: they share themselves.

Meet James…

… on his travel blog, Journeying James. You can also follow him on Twitter and like his project on Facebook …or somewhere through the Philippines :)

James at Bugtong-Bato waterfalls, Tibiao, Antique, Philippines

Sometimes we let a phone number, an address. Sometimes we flee without leaving a trace, with a torn heart, eager to erase a pain that could eventually mark us with an ugly scar. Sometimes we remain in touch for years, sometimes we let go…

When you’re constantly moving around, these situations become daily bread. You can try to wrap iron around your heart, or immerse it in icy waters… you can play the though one, but in the end, there is no exception. The time always comes to say goodbye, and sometimes, the tears you weren’t expecting end up having a bitter taste.

We can just learn: learn to say goodbye, learn to let go, learn to let the fire consume itself quietly, giving way to the ashes and finally to the night. Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it takes months and sometimes our whole life won’t be enough. There is no secret recipe for this kind of grief. People come and go, but put a mark on us.

We can only decide to drop all of our barriers and embrace each moment spent with them, and give them every opportunity possible to blossom.

In the end, what seems to remain are memories and regrets. But by living fully through it, we somehow built a piece of art. Temporary or not, we can give ourselves a reason and cherish all these little moments.

We can rejoince about the chance of having been able able to cross paths somewhere, somewhen, and make it a little spark of eternity to cling to.

If we grew up together for some time, or just enjoyed a good day, be sure I won’t forget about you. Have a good life and see you soon, maybe, somewhere.

PS. This is a repost of a Facebook note where I used to tag all the people that left from a place I was staying. It’s still going on!

I have been blogging for years in French, while I was living in the french part of Switzerland, on my Vie Nomade website. Now, my friend’s circle got bigger… and includes people from all around the globe. I guess it was just a matter of time for me to start publishing and writing in some sort of universal language.

The aim of this new project is the same: sharing my passion for travel. I want you to feel like traveling with me! I hope you will find some inspiration, read useful tips, or use my pages to kill some time…

The website is still in the works. There may be weird looking pages and glitches here and there. Please bear with me, as I work on this during my free time and as an hobby :)

Whereabout?

Right now, I am in Taiwan. I’ve been living here for a few months. I share a flat with two nice taiwanese girls in a quiet, yet full of life neighborhood in New Taipei City: Nanshijiao.
I explore the city, and its venues: food, party, cafés and spots of interest.
Sometimes, I take a little trip around the country.

I’ve had much travel under my belt during this last year (8 countries in Asia). I am hungry for more, but right now, I really feel like having a semblant of a normal life: working and relaxing.

After a few months in a country, anyway, I can’t claim I know about it, so it’s still an everyday adventure, and fabulous things keep happening.

Meet you soon :)