Category Archives: Travel

The Chequers, The Chasers and a Country Market

Posted on 19 July 2016 by sheg4184

While everyone here has been complaining that the English summer has been grim, with endless pouring rain and much flooding, since I arrived two weeks ago, the weather has been sublime and, thanks to all that rain, the countryside is blooming and exuberantly, … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Food & Wine, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Chequers, The Chasers and a Country Market

Highlights of Cebu City

Posted on 29 April 2016 by sheg4184

A weekend in Cebu City. A friend’s birthday. A room at The Henry. A table  at Anzani . A Sunday recovery barbecue by the pool in the friend’s garden. A recipe for a super weekend. Our hotel may be a good place to … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, Philippines, Travel | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Host of Golden Daffodils

Posted on 12 April 2016 by sheg4184

Manila is the natural habitat of the small dog, given the proliferation of high rise apartments and limited green space. In our own area of Manila, I often pass herds of tiny dogs, sometimes dressed in slippers and jackets, occasionally … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Host of Golden Daffodils

Dancing with Dolphins

Posted on 4 April 2016 by sheg4184

  Another March, another birthday, and finding I had no great inclination to party, we headed north to Subic instead, where rumour had it there were dolphins to be met. It’s a three-hour drive from Makati – about 120 km north-west … Continue reading →

Posted in Philippines, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dancing with Dolphins

“My Precious”

Posted on 21 March 2016 by sheg4184

Hiding in the shadows of dense Filipino forest – the Aeta of the animal kingdom – a petite, palm-sized primate clings to a branch with padded fingers. The platypus of the Philippines, – shy, elusive, unassuming – with a halo … Continue reading →

Posted in Philippines, Travel | Comments Off on “My Precious”

Hidden Treasure

Posted on 7 December 2015 by sheg4184

Five years in Manila and somehow I had never even heard of Hidden Valley Springs. It took a friend visiting from Hawaii to show me the way, and what a blissful escape from the madding crowd created by the APEC … Continue reading →

Posted in Philippines, Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hidden Treasure

Of Llamas and Lighthouses

Posted on 25 October 2015 by sheg4184

“…I didn’t really think through what a lighthouse keeper actually did. I was attracted by the romantic notion of sitting on a rock, writing haikus and dashing off the occasional watercolor.”  ~ ‘Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper,’  by … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Of Llamas and Lighthouses

Train Tracks

Posted on 4 October 2015 by sheg4184

Last night, over dinner, we were discussing past and potential train trips around Australia, which reminded me about a piece I wrote last year about a journey from Sydney to Canberra.. A train broods menacingly beside the platform swarming with perspiring … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Train Tracks

A Modern Fairytale or Cycling Down Memory Lane

Posted on 20 August 2015 by sheg4184

Once upon a time, in a country far, far away – a country as wet as the Philippines but colder – a tall, dark, handsome prince arrived with his fair princess in the land of the leprechauns in search of … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A Modern Fairytale or Cycling Down Memory Lane

A Gastronomic Road Trip

Posted on 6 August 2015 by sheg4184

“If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it stands to reason that I’m going to get there. I’ve begun to think we sit far more than we’re supposed to.” He smiled. “Why else would we … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Food & Wine, Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Gastronomic Road Trip