Tag Archives: travel

TheBackpackr beats The Great China Firewall!

Oh well… the battle was fun while it lasted, though it didn’t carry on for too long. Upon arriving in Beijing, China, I was presented with an Internet connection in my hotel that totally blocked YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot and many other sites (I wrote about it here). Sure I had heard about the issues before arriving in China, and I was determined to get around them. The solution that several sites stated was to sign up for a VPN … Continue reading

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TheBackpackr vs The Great China Firewall

And so… I have arrived in China, and have already been warmly welcomed by The Great China Firewall. Facebook, nope. Twitter, nope. Gmail, nope. Blogspot, nope. And many other websites – all NOPE! Only Foursquare and LinkedIn work, among a few other international social media websites. It’s no wonder the local Facebook / Twitter clones known as Weibo and RenRen are thriving. I’ve declared war on it and will endeavour to get around it. When I do, I’ll share more … Continue reading

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Step-by-step graphical guide to getting an Australian visa

If only… 1. Food was free 2. There was no evil in the world 3. All countries requiring visas operated on the same system as Australia… I just completed the visa application process, and for someone who is Internet literate, perhaps even a tad technical, it was over in a mere 5 minutes! No more preparing the passport sized photos, no more waking up early, no more driving to the city, no more queueing for numbers and no more returning … Continue reading

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Standard medicine for traveling

When I travel, I always ensure my first aid kit is packed into my bags. It pays to be prepared, as you’ll never know when a headache will rear it’s evil head (hmm… is that a pun?), diarrhoea may strike, or you may accidentally cut yourself. So, the question is… what should you pack into a first aid kit? You don’t want to pack every type of medication, crutches and a wheelchair – so, what are the essentials? Feel free … Continue reading

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Hidden fees for Firefly mobile bookings

The offering seemed simple, and being an explorer, I was convinced enough to give it a spin. Little did I know, I was going to be in for a surprise! Convenience my foot! More like conveniently hidden fees! It reminds me of the time I blogged about Tiger Airways trying to hide certain fees too – read about it here. With my iPhone, I logged onto m.fireflyz.com.my and was promptly redirected to flyfirefly.mobi. Everything seemed easy enough – aside from … Continue reading

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Travel entertainment on mobile devices

We travel a lot these days, whether by plane, bus or train and it can get rather boring at times, if we’re not prepared for the long journey. I like to stock up on movies or TV series and transfer them to my iPad / iPhone to watch while on the go. In order to save time transcoding your movie files, get an app like CineXplayer, OPlayer HD or yxplayer. They play most video files natively, thereby saving you a … Continue reading

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Travel packing list

I travel a fair bit and over time, I’ve learnt to refine the art of packing. First of all, I don’t start packing 2 hours before my plane leaves, nor do I throw a random bunch of clothes into a bag and hope I’ll be okay. I’ve formed a fairly comprehensive list of items to pack, and hope it will help you as the basis for your own list. You can find it on Google Docs here. Or, you can … Continue reading

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Best FREE travel iPhone apps

Right now, I’m traveling the US on a three week tour of the West Coast. Though I brought my trusty MacBook Pro along, I installed a fair number of apps on my iPhone so that I could get to them from my fingertips at any time. Here’s what I found really handy. (Of course I didn’t install ALL of them! Some are based on findings and recommendations by friends). They’re my unbiased reviews of apps I’ve found. Do feel free … Continue reading

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Wedding Story is off to Bangladesh

Yesterday, I sent off the Wedding Story team, as they embarked on a foreign wedding held at Chittagong, Bangladesh. Grace, Kee Sitt, Sharon and Ian are spending 10 days there to provide photography and videography services to Ali and Farhat. Before they departed, they wanted to send video greetings from their blog, and I was given the “privilege” to help them with that, and edit it too, with my limited amateur skills! Several hours later, here you go…

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