Hong Kong ... a place to move to?

I'm thinking of spending a year living in Asia - Hong Kong or Tokyo? Hmmm.

Honkers is pretty gorgeous at night ...

Moleskin notebooks - for the travel writer

Moleskin do a fantastic range of notebooks and now they've gone one better ... they've created a special range of City Notebooks for favourite towns such as Paris, London, Berlin and Rome.

They also have a dedicated website that includes travel information and blogs.

Great travel wear from Vigilante

This trench coat is a part of the winter collection from Vigilante. They also do great travel-weight jeans and a denim skirt that folds up into almost nothing - perfect for travel shoppers like me :-)

Kenyan safari, 1920s-style

Cottars Sarfari Service has been operating in the same family's hands since 1920. The picture behind this blog's title is from their gorgeous website. Located in the Masai Mara region of western Kenya, they offer a full-service tented safari as well as other safaris (including wedding safaris).

I love it ... Just like 'Mogambo' with Clark Gable, Ava Gardener and Grace Kelly ...

Leggy blonde Sydney reveals some of her seductive charms

Read what one journalist thinks about glamour girl Sydney.

The world's most liveable cities ...

The Monocle Quality of Life Survey in the IHT has come up with the following top ten list of cities:

1 Munich
2 Copenhagen
3 Zurich
4 Tokyo
5 Vienna
6 Helsinki (pictured)
7 Sydney
8 Stockholm
9 Honolulu
10 Madrid

Being a Sydney resident I agree there is a certain amount of livability here - the harbour certainly makes Sydney a looker - however, one wouldn't want to rely on public transport or be a keen motorist.

The trains are always late and the traffic is terrible.

I've created the happy arrangement of living near where I work so I can make like a European and walk to work. Cycling would be an option if Sydneysiders weren't such rude, selfish drivers!

Sydney is great for outdoor pursuits such as swimming, surfing and sailing. However, like any pretty girl with a great pair of legs and a tanned, toned bod, there's not much in the way of intellectualism or groovy creativity. She relies on her looks to seduce, not her personality or her brain or her sense of humour.

Melbourne is much more interesting!

For lovers of the Wallabies ... :-D

This is the port of Sete, near Montpellier, on the south coast of France.

The perfect place to stay during the pool rounds of the RWC!

Singita Sebora Tented Safari, Tanzania

Even the name is romantic :-)

I once stayed in the smallest hotel room in the British Isles ... this isn't it.

This is The Milestone Hotel in Kensington Circuit, London. It's adjacent to Kensington Palace and hence all the shopping delights London has to offer.

They have 45 guest rooms, 12 suites and 6 2-bedroom apartments. The studio suite I like costs over AUD 1200 a night - plus VAT. 17.5 % on top. Yep, add another couple of hundred dollars and you've got a night of luxury and extravagance in one of the best but MOST EXPENSIVE cities in the world!

My tiny hotel room cost me 80 pounds .... oh well.

A romantic safari to South Africa

Singita Private Game Reserves are South Africa's finest according to Travel + Leisure magazine. They offer several lodges, as well as the Sabora Tented Camp in Tanzania.

This is my idea of Africa and I hold Sydney Pollack responsible! He directed 'Out of Africa' and made this place too too romantic for words. Not for me the youth hostel or 3 star hotel - I want to stay in a tented camp and have someone wash my hair for me.

Robert Redford or similar would be most suitable :-D

This hotel group is regarded the 2nd best in the world, but they look like the best to me!

The Isle of Skye, Scotland

On of my favourite books is Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart. I remember my mum recommending it to me and I loved the misty atmosphere of this romantic island off the north-west coast of Scotland. The book's synopsis is something like this ....

'Beautiful but troubled, Gianetta cannot seem to escape her past, her pain, or her ex-husband - not even in a remote hotel on the Scottish Isle of Skye. One of her fellow guests, however, is also hiding secrets . . . and a skill and penchant for murder.

And now the killer only has eyes for Gianetta . . .'

Kinloch Lodge is owned by a famous Scottish chef called Claire Macdonald and she runs a cookery school as well as a small guesthouse and restaurant. Move over Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver et al - I want to eat here! The rooms look lovely and the lodge accepts four-legged guests as well (my dog Millie would love it). The tariff is quite reasonable for UK standards.

Indian dreaming .....

I have a passion for India, even though I've never visited her. When I was a small child, if she had need to, my mother would leave me in the care of our neighbour, a Mrs Agarwal. Mrs Agarwal's husband worked with my father at the Jenny Lind Hospital for Sick Children in Norwich and I was great friends with her children.

Mrs Agarwal taught me how to speak Hindi. She would speak to me and I would answer, all in this foreign tongue. I was a blonde curly-haired Shirley Temple lookalike who spoke Hindi with an English accent, and my parents were always amused by my unusual bilingualism. Never had anyone seen a stranger Indian than me!

Ever since then I've had a deep-seated love of Indian culture. I'd love to visit this vibrant country one day, when I have the time to see it properly. Since I first read MM Kaye's 'Death in Kashmir' I've always fancied an Indian honeymoon :-D I've not got the guy but the dream prevails ....

The above photos show two of the Oberoi Hotels, the Rajvilas in Jaipur and the Udaivilas in Udaipur. My parents have stayed at both these hotels. They're living my dream for me (lucky them :-D). The Rajvilas includes luxury tents as well as private villas and suites. The Udaivilas has the extraordinary pool and breathtaking views over Lake Pichola.

Both are small hotels (fewer than 100 rooms) which means more privacy and more staff per guest to make your stay unforgettable.

I'm sure Mrs Agarwal would approve :-D

A Day Spa with a difference .... The Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai

I visited Chiang Mai in January of this year and gave myself a treat at the Day Spa at The Four Seasons Resort. A 3-hour massage, facial and pedicure, all carried out in a suite of rooms larger than my flat in Sydney.

The resort is located in the foothills and is built around a valley. Rice paddy fields are tended by farmers in traditional coolie hats and I could have sworn I saw an elephant in the distance! The view from the terrace was breathtaking and the air invigorating. A stay in one of the private pavilions is definitely on my wishlist ...

The Huka Lodge, Taupo, New Zealand

I want the Owner's Cottage at the Huka Lodge to be my house.

Could one place be any more luxurious?

Huka Lodge has been named the best hotel in Oceania (Australia, NZ and the South Pacific) and it possesses an enviable celebrity guest list - several crowned heads of state, pop stars, actors and actresses have enjoyed the extraordinary scenery and first class facilities.

A honeymoon in a houseboat on the Dal in Kashmir was always my dream .... since they're still waging civil war there the Huka Lodge has now become my ideal post-wedding destination :-D