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Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong was the first city I visited on the asian continent. Those were my first steps in a country, in which i couldnt read a sign, and maybe the first time i felt a culture shock. I really liked it though.

Most people I know prefer visting Thailand, Japan or Indonesia. But i gotta tell you, that Hong Kong has A LOT to offer! We spent 5 or 6 nights in HK, and those 6 days kept as busy for every single second.

Here are my favorite spots I'd recommend to everyone who visits Hong Kong for the first time:

• Victoria Peak
The classic skyline from the top of a mountain. From that viewing point you get a look all over Hong Kong, the bay and all of Kowloon. Everything else besides the view feels very touristic, the restaurants, the crowds, and the waiting line for the escalator. Go up there, take some photos, enjoy the skyline, and get off again.:)

• Lantau Island
Lantau Island is famous for its Big Buddha, and the way to reach the island is a pretty adeventurous one as well. You can hike all the way up to the Buddha which will take you a couple hours i guess, or you take the hanging cable-car, which still takes around 10 to 15 minutes to reach the touristic area. But expect a huge waiting line to reach the lift. Next time i'm gonna visit HK, i will plan a whole day on hiking the Lantau Isaland. If you're afraid of heights, it will be a fun ride. I had to close my eyes a couple times. ;) Once you passed the souvenir-shops & the food village, you can walk your way up a hundred of stairs til you reach the Big Buddha statue. From up there you get a breathtaking view of the Island. Expect lots of tourists though...but still.. totally worth the trip!

• Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun isn't the hippest or cleanest area of Hong Kong, but it's a great place to take authentic photos of HK. Actually it's a big fish market, surrounded by boat houses, and tons of fisher boats. Most people you will meet over there are locals. The day we visited Lei Yue Mun, we were pretty much the only tourists.

• Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery
This walk uphill was one of the most memorable moments I had in HK. You can feel the serenety while walking up those the thousands of stairs til you reach the monastry. You're surrounded by nature, and it takes you away from the busy city life you mostly experience in Hong Kong. It's en exhausting path for sure, and it feels like an endless path. The monastery itself isn't that impressiv at all, but it's rather the path with the then thousands buddha statues in line who will lead you to the top of the mountain.

• Victoria Harbour
Trust me that the skyline of Hong Kong you will see from the Kowloon bay at Victoria Harbour, is far more impressive than then one you know from Brooklyn of Manhattan. I remember that we walked towards the bay after sunset, feeling a light wind, and hearing the sound of the waves, and the huge concrete jungle ahead of us felt like a blast that moment. Every evening there's a laser show, which actually is the cheesy part of the game. Lots of people meet up at the Victora Harbour to observe that laser show. Forget about the laser show, and enjoy the HK skyline!

• Lan Kwai Fong
Lan Kwai Fong is a big block on the Hong Kong Island where nightlife happens. Bad thing about it, it's filled with expats and tourists. The only asian people you are going to meet, might be tourists from other countries. The good thing is, it's easy to find, it's always busy: every night! There's a daily happy hour, where you pay 5 euro [7$] for 2 gin&tonics. All the bars are grouped within one block, so you never get lost, no matter how drunk you get. Just above Lan Kwai Fong, there's Wyndham Street, and Hollywood Road. Those two streets are packed with restaurants and bars as well. One of the popular clubs called "Dragon-I" is located on that road. 

There are plenties of temples all around the city. Same counts for shopping areas, expect infinite shopping in HK. I love the right mix of modern buildings, vivid city life, and still keeping traditional buildings & markets inside the city.

Food and drinks are pretty cheap, and the food is really delicious if you avoid the touristic hotspots. The flight from Luxembourg to Hong-Kong and our 5-nights at fancy hotel totally cost around 800 euro. I haven't visited HK since then, but i'm pretty sure I'm heading back very soon. We visited HK in November and it still felt like summer time. If you're looking for a nice winter/fall destination, check out Hong Kong Island! 




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Seattle, WA

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The first thing that pops up in your head when you hear about Seattle, might be "Nirvana" or the grunge-era. At least that was the case for me, before I visited Seattle, WA.

I didn't know much about the city, til I met my buddy Tony in New Orleans during Mardi-Gras. After a couple of drinks in Nola, we shared contacts, and invited each other to our hometown. That's how i made it to Seattle. After having convinced my girlfriend back then, we decided to do the whole westcoast on one single trip. Seattle was the first city on our journey.

Seattle is a pretty big city, and you definitely need a car to move around. It depends on where you're staying at, it can easily take 1 hour bus ride to make it to the different areas in Seattle.

Well the famous "Space Needle" tower, was all I wanted to see. But i was so wrong! First of all, after our first day, I noticed how big their coffee culture is! The first Starbucks coffee shop, was opened in Seattle in 1971 just nearby the Pike Place Market. In that area, you can find so many different coffee bars, and every single coffee i had in Seattle was just amazing. Since that trip I started enjoying my coffee "black", without any sugar or milk. Tony took me to different coffee drive-ins, and shared his knowledge of coffee roasting. Besides the coffee culture, there's an even bigger beer culture in Seattle! But i can't tell about that, as i'm not a beer drinker.

The food was delicious ! I had the best alaskan salmon, the best oysters, and generally the best sea food in Seattle.  It seemed like fastfood wasn't such a big thing in that city. 

There's so much nature to discover in the state of Washington and around Seattle. Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains are surrounding the city. While talking to the people in Seattle I could notice the importance of nature for them. Tony and his friends knew so many precise stories about the different mountains, lakes, and woods all around Seattle. Most of the houses in the suburbs were built with their local wood. 

But don't get the idea that Seattle would be a lumberjack city. During our stay there was a big block party on Capitol Hill, and so many bands were playing that weekend. As i was told Capitol Hill is the main gay-block of the city. The streets were packed with punk-kids, hipsters, and even older people who were having a good time, and enjoying bands like: Tv on the Radio, Les Savy Fav, Baths,...

BALLARD - was one of my favorite neighbourhoods in the city. You can find so many different shops, from the famous recordstore "Bop Street", to different tattoo parlours, good restaurants, and diy designer shops. 

FREMONT - a less busier area for shopping, but still it's totally worth to check out. You will find lots of street-wear shops, a big wall-painting of Shepard Fairey [OBEY], a statue of Lenin, and of course the Fremont Troll ! If you wanna grab lunch in Fremont, i'd recommend the delicious "Jai Thai" restaurant. 

For a more morbid adventure in Seattle, you can visit the different memorial statues of Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and the graves of Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee. Visiting the grave of Bruce Lee was very interesting though. The grave is located at the Lakeview Memorial cemetery. Not only you could still see lots of fans visiting Bruce Lee´s grave with their most respectful behaviour, some were even crying. The Lakeview Memorial is the nicest cemetery i´ve ever visited. From the top of the hill, you have a beautiful scenic view all over the city. 

 

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Sea Rock Inn {Mendocino, CA}

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One of the most memorable hotels i've ever stayed at in the USA, was the Sea Rock Inn in Mendocino, California. 

Heard about the Sir Douglas Quintet song "Mendocino" ?  "Please stay here with me in Mendocino, Mendocino, Mendocino, Where life's such a groove". That's exactly what Mendocino feels like. A small village with the all beauty and magic you expect to happen in California.

And the Sea Rock Inn, was just the perfect match to our short stay in Mendocino. You can choose between different cottages or bigger suites. We had a small wooden cottage, just next to the Mendocino coast. As soon as you stepped out of the cottage, you had an amazing panoramic view of the ocean. Perfect for watching the most romantic sunset.

Our room was equipped with a small stove, to heat up the room during colder nights. The location was alright. It tooks us 10-15 minutes walking to reach the city center. Free parking was available as well, just behind our cottage. 

The "Sea Rock Inn" just felt like a total different experience compared to most other californian cities i've been to. Forget about the glamour, the hipsters, and all the bling bling. I'd recommend Mendocino to every couple who wants to have a break from the big city life. Enjoy the nature, the lovely people of Mendocino, and the delicious sea food.


If I  had to go back to Mendocino, the "SEA ROCK INN" would be definitely be the place i'd love to stay at again. The breathtaking view from the porch outside the cottage is all worth it.

Breakfast was delicious as well. The lovely staff took care of everything. And again from the breakfast room, you could enjoy the beautiful scenery around the hotel.


Contact:
Sea Rock Inn
11101 Lansing Street
Mendocino, CA 95460

E-mail: innkeeper@searock.com
Website: http://www.searock.com/

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Budapest

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I visited a lot of cities in Europe, some were more impressive, others more entertaining, but I gotta admit ... for now ... that Budapest became my favorite european city. I first discovered the beautiful capital of Hungary last summer in July 2014. My first trip lasted 5 nights, and after that short trip, I knew I had to turn back. So I booked another flight to Budapest for September 2014. After those 2 trips last year, I'm heading back this summer in August 2015.

There is so much to discover and to enjoy in Budapest. The city is packed with delicious restaurants, beautifully designed bars, and lots of historical sights. The main attractions are located centrally. Most parts are reachable by walking distances, so public transportation isn't needed. For the 10 days i spent in the capital, we always had the best weather.

Let's start with the north of the city-center, where the Budapest City Park Városliget is located. You can spend a couple of hours in that part of city. The beautiful park is surrounded by historical buildings & castles, the famous heroes square, a big pond, and a bunch of restaurants.  I'd recommend the restaurant "Robinson" and its charming outdoor dining area, where you can try some delicious hungarian dishes, and a panoramic view of the pond the park is included with your hungarian goulash. :) Inside the park, there's the famous and biggest thermal bath of Budapast "Széchenyi". It's an eyecatcher for sure, and you will feel like taking a bath in the 19th century. Every weekend they organize an open-air party at the Széchenyi  thermal bath. Even if it's cold or raining, the warm temperature of the water, will put you at ease.

 

If you're booking a hotel room, I'd recommend looking for the area nearby the St. Stephen's Basilica. In my opinion that's the very center of the city. You can reach anything within walking distance. Just in front of the basilica starts the Zrinyi Street, which is packed with restaurants, and some of the most popular clubs and bars of Budapest. The Erzsébet Square is only 3 minutes walking away from the basilica. The square is a beautiful and hip place to hangout all day in summer time. People are cooling down their foot in the small pool, you can have food at the nearby open-air dining area, or you just go clubbing at the Akvarium Club which is located below the square in the basement floor.

The southern part of the city, which is located on the BUDA side of the Danube river, is reachable within 20 minutes. Just pass the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, and follow the path to the top of the Buda Castle, or the less tiring option would be the elevator. From the top of the hill, you can enjoy the the beautiful skyline of the PEST side of the city. You get pretty much the same view from different areas of the BUDA side. The Citadella fortress on the south-east side is totally worth the hike. It's even higher than the Buda castle, and on the top there's beautiful botanical garden (during summer time), once you walk down the citadella hill, you will reach the famous thermal bath Gellert. Passing Gellert, and moving over the bridge back to the Pest side, you will hit the Central Market Hall, which is worth a visit. 

 

WHAT KEEPS ME GOING BACK TO BUDAPEST ...

• it never gets boring. I guess i've seen most of the main attractions, but just walking through the streets of Budapest is totally enjoyable. Everyone is super friendy, and everyone I met speaks english, even the older generation. 

• it's cheap ! Like many eastern-european cities, food & drinks are half the price than central Europe.  It's a great city, to go out dining in a restaurant everyday. Expect to pay around 10 euro [13 Us$] for a starter, the main dish, a coffee, 2 softdrinks and a glass of wine. Half a pint of beer is around 1 euro, gin&tonic is around 3.50 euro, and a cocktail around 5 euro. 

• it's a lively city. I've only been there twice, but during those trips there was a biiiig beer festival in the mainstreet of the center, a food festival, parties on the cruising-ship, parties at the thermal bath, a techno party at the Margit Island... Budapest people know how to enjoy life. The city has a big diversity of bars, wine bars, restaurants... boredom never comes up.

• it's easy to meet people in Budapest. Not only locals, but during summer season, there are lots of tourists and students all over the city. Is it annoying ? Not really, there are so many different places to hang out that you won't notice the huge amount of tourists in the city. Budapest women are very pretty as well ! Classy, and good looking... Sorry girls, I can't tell about the men. :)

I had such a great time in Budapest, that it keeps me from visiting the beautiful city of Prague. Both cities often get compared with each other, that's why I'm afraid of not enjoy Prague that much, after I fell i love with Budapest.

 

• Here's a gallery of the photos I took during my trip : Budapest

 

 

Why JAPAN ?

I will dedicate my first travel blog-post to the beautiful country of the rising sun called JAPAN.

I first visited Japan in May 2014, and after a very short 5-day-journey across the Kansei region, I instantly fell in love with that beautiful country.

 

5 days only? Isn't that too short?

Well, I felt a little bit insecure visiting a country, where it wouldn't be easy to communicate with the people around me. I wouldn't be able to talk to most people, and couldn't read their letters and signs. I was on a budget as well. The 5 nights in Japan [2 in Kyoto, and 3 in Osaka] and the flight cost me around 750 euro [830 US$], bargain!, wasn't it? 

I had the maximum of a japanese experience i could have expected on that short trip, from delicious japanese food, to the geishas at the Gion area in Kyoto, to a traveler meet-up with locals and gaijins [foreigners] all dressed up in traditional Kimonos. 

photo by Frank Desiront

 

KANSEI AREA!

As soon as i left Japan, I knew i'd turn back very soon, for a long trip and of course visiting its capital Tokyo. I turned back in April 2015 for the sakura season [cherry blossoms], and started my trip in Tokyo. From Tokyo I moved on towards Kansei, and visited my friends in Osaka again. From Osaka you're pretty close to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and plenty of other smaller cities. It's just right in the middle of the country, and it only takes you 3 hours to reach Tokyo by Shinkansen [super-fast bullettrain], and 3 hours to reach Fukuoka on the west-side of the island. A 200 euro [230 US$] Japan-Rail Pass will give you access to infinite train-rides for a whole week. It is expensive for a one-week ticket. But as soon as you figure out that a one-way ticket from Tokyo to Osaka costs half the price [around 100 euro] of the JR Pass, you will notice that it's worth every cent. 

After having experienced the 2 most famous cities of Japan, Tokyo and Osaka. I'd definitely recommend the Kansei area for those who are planing their first adventure in Japan. Why? Well, it's just a totally different vibe than Tokyo. Less crowded, less busyer, more smiling people, and a lot more of cultural and traditional  sights. By the way Kyoto is considered the most cultural city of whole Japan. The city of Kyoto owns the most temples per city in Japan. 

If you plan on doing both cities on the same trip. I'd recommend visiting Tokyo on the first days of your journey. In case you'd start your trip in Kansei, you might get disappointed with Tokyo. Don't get me wrong! Tokyo is an a-m-a-z-i-n-g city! But it's just too busy, and it takes you forever to move around with public transportation.

All the clichees you've seen and heard about Japan, you will experience all of them in Osaka and Kyoto... except for the concrete jungle that Tokyo is best known for.

After my second trip to Japan, I'm already planning to turn back for a second time this year. But only visiting Tokyo for 5-6 days. It's such a huge city, that i've only discovered a tiny part of it on my first 5-days in Tokyo. 

I could go on, and write about Japan for a couple of hours, and fill pages with tons of words and photos. In the next weeks I will try to add single reviews to this blog, and more precise recommendations of the different areas I discovered in Japan.

 

Is it easy to get along without understanding a word ?

To be honest, japanese people [well most of them] are very bad in english! Once you start learning japanese, you will understand why they're so bad. It's just a total different grammar, the order of the subjects, verbs, objects are totally different, than most of the languages we are used to. They got 3 different alphabets [hiragana, katakana, and an endless huge symbol-alphabet called kanji]. Let's get to the point! It's very easy to move around Japan. Most menus have photos next to their common meals. A lot of restaurants have english menus, and all you need to do, is to point with your finger on what you want to eat. Your finger will be the most important tool in Japan.

The subway and railway stations have the english station-names on their rail-map. Most employees at the maininformation-desk speak english. The check-in staff at the hotels mostly communicate in broken-english, but they will understand anything you'll ask them.

Once you start going  out in japan around midnight, after a couple of drinks, lots of japanese people will overcome their shyness, and will try to communicate in english with you.

Everyone i've met in japan was super-friendly und very helpful. You will never feel lost in Japan... maybe just for a couple of minutes ;), til someone reaches out to help you.

Welcome.

Welcome to my travel blog.

I discovered my passion for traveling around Summer 2002, when I stepped for the first time into an airplane, and discoverd the beautiful state of California. Since then I was blown away about discovering different cultures, culinary highlights, and making new friends abroad, a few thousand miles away from the place called my home.

Traveling is a passion, ... even a lifestyle. You leave, you discover, and come back home. You turn back home wiser, relieved, and sometimes exhausted due to the huge amount of experiences, memories, and new friendships (and the so called drunken nights). The next days you start working again, getting back into daily life, all you can think about is the urge of leaving again.

If those lines sound familiar to you... please keep following my blog. I will do my best to share the great moments i experienced abroad for the last decade. I call myself a hobby photographer, even a video-editor, and I'm doing my best for bringing the best photographic memories back home, to keep that specific and special moment last forever.

Please keep in mind... you can't ever travel too far!

Frank.