Brian Thacker's Blog, page 7
April 15, 2015
Bloody Starbucks.
That’s what I said when I spotted a Starbucks in Ubud. ‘Are tourists that desperate for a shitty chain coffee?’ I asked my wife as we strolled past the giant Starbucks right in the heart of central Ubud. I knew that they were coming to town because a local had mentioned their imminent arrival the last time I visited and they […]
April 7, 2015
AIRBNB VS Resort.
On my recent family trip to Bali we split the trip in half both in the destination and the type of accommodation we stayed in. On Nusa Lemobongan we stayed in a villa in a resort, which was booked through bookings.com, while in Ubud we stayed in a private villa, which was booked through Airbnb. […]
March 31, 2015
A wild wildlife encounter.
On my recent trip to Nusa Lembongan (a small island off the south-east coast of Bali) I went on a snorkelling trip to Manta Point on the southern side of neighbouring island Nusa Penida. As the name might suggest Manta Point is a favourite hangout for Manta Rays. Or most of the time it is at least – our skipper told us […]
March 12, 2015
World’s best (and worst) airport?
I’ve just returned from a trip to Bali and boy was I surprised when I arrived (and departed from) Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport. When I was last in Bali five years ago the airport was pretty much one step up from an oversized tin shed. It’s now a big, new, shiny, clean and well-run airport. There are […]
February 26, 2015
Bali beyond the beaches.
We are going to Bali next week and although this is my seventh time I’ve been there I’m looking forward to discovering somewhere new. We are going to the island of Nusa Lembongan, which is a half-hour boat trip away from Sanur. There is so much more to Bali than Seminyak or Legian (which I’ve never actually […]
February 19, 2015
My wife is a millionaire!
We are about to jet off to Bali for my wife’s birthday and my sister gave her a 1.2 million rupiah in cash as a birthday present. It would be nice if the rupiah was one rupiah to the dollar, but sadly it’s 10,000 to the dollar. Still, Beth is not complaining – that’s $120. I […]
February 12, 2015
I contracted a venereal disease at this hotel.
I didn’t contract a venereal disease from a hotel (or ever, I might add), but that is just one of the great quotes from a review on Trip Advisor. I admit that I use Trip Advisor quite a bit and have stayed in some fantastic accommodation and eaten in some amazing restaurants because of the […]
January 21, 2015
Flights for $3 (inclusive of taxes and toilets).
I’m planning to go to Malaysian Borneo in June (for another Dad and Daughter Adventure) and I started looking at flights today. And being somewhat frugal I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the cheapest way to get there. After way too much time searching around I did find a cheap way, but it […]
January 5, 2015
Travel highlights of 2104.
…and there goes another year. And, as usual, there is never enough travelling. I can’t complain, though. In 2014 I went on our first Big Dad and Daughter Adventure to Cambodia, did some serious skiing in the New Zealand Alps, had my first American Thanksgiving in a snowy Minnesota, skied in Utah with the mormons and […]
December 19, 2014
A Christmas tipple.
It’s that time of year when most people (well, most Australians at least) give the bottle a bit of a nudge. Admittedly, I give it a good go at Christmas parties, but at least I stick to beer and wine. On my last trip to Vietnam I got quite tipsy on rice wine and in the morning I had […]
