Encounters
…and just when I was hitting a bit of a low point, and thought I’d spend another evening locked in, despite the sunshine, I got a message… Georgios from Chicago, whom I had met a few times in Hong Kong over beers, texted me that he was in town. He was heading to Paris, to […] Read More
Late dinner
I met up with my friend Federico for beers…. but at one point, you just need some solid food. It’s nearly 11 pm, and in Germany or Belgium, a lot of places would be close to closing time… Of course, not so here in Argentina. We walked over a few blocks into the city and […] Read More
Santuario de la Naturaleza
After two late nights in a row, and only falling asleep at 6 am in the morning, I still peeled myself out of bed at 9 something, hit the shower and then the metro, to meet up with Hannah and her Colleagues of Beyond English. Beyond English is a social enterprise that provides English lessons […] Read More
Longest day ever
I boarded Qantas flight QF17 shortly past noon on January 15th 2015, and our 747 took off around 1.30. The flight was relatively smooth, no real turbulence. Thank god, as it was basically 99% over water – the longest commercial flight over water in the world, actually. We flew nearly twelve hours straight, and landed shortly […] Read More
Summer in Perth
I feel my stay in Perth will be a lazy one. Very lazy. I met up with Clint the other day and we basically just walked from café to bar to café. It was great to catch up. He moved to Perth from Auckland some six month ago, and just found a new job in […] Read More
Street Food hunt
I met up with Shashank, a freelance TV producer, who is currently preparing a documentary for a TV team from Singapore, on Mumbai’s street food vendors. I simply went along for the ride, as he figured out a few places and family businesses that would be willing to be interviewed. First stop: Chowpatty Beach, a […] Read More
Lake Washington
Summer is in full swing, so this weekend was a really lazy one. After the match Rubgy vs. Sisters, I went on a beer bust for the rest of the day and ended up bar hopping with my friend Daniel until very, very late. Sunday I tried to sleep in, and then headed down to […] Read More
Sur le plateau
The flight to Montréal was smooth and uneventful. I’m really glad it all worked out with my connections in Istanbul. And it was great to see Heike and Toma and their little baby, already grown so much after two months. They hosted me for a short night and even got me from and drove me […] Read More
Summer heat
Finally, I’m back in summer. After autumn in New Zealand, spring in Japan and some rain in Istanbul, it was about time. Istanbul had just started to become warmer (and humid) when I was about to leave. Stepping off the plane in Tel Aviv, even though in the evening, I felt I was back in […] Read More
Small world
It must have been at least 10 years since I last saw them: Robert, with whom I went to college in Bruges, and his wife Suzanne, a fellow Madonna fan. They both are Dutch diplomats, and we stayed in touch via Facebook throughout the years, their postings to Washington D.C., various Madonna tours, and their […] Read More