10 latest experiences http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa en-us On any normal day, Hong Kong is about as densely populated as a tube of Smarties. Yes, they’re packed in all right, but there’s always that teeny tiny gap at the top of the tube that’s not quite filled. Disappointing for us maybe, but not for the humble Smartie, as it’s got that all-important gap to move around in. Yes, this is like Hong Kong on any normal day. Hong kong, China Jadelisa Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:00:24 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1287 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1287 Tall building. Check. 102nd floor observatory. Check. Fast elevator. Check. The promise of amazing views. Erm… sorry but it’s a bit cloudy up there today. You what? Clouds? I didn’t come all the way to New York to be turned away from the building that is the pinnacle of American architecture! Come back to the Empire State Building at night they said, when it will be clearer. So back at nightfall we came. And they weren’t wrong. New York City, United States Jadelisa Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:40:53 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1286 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1286 Singapore is busy, bustling and booming, but beneath its glossy exterior there lies a rich colonial history. And nowhere oozes more history than at the world famous Raffles Hotel. Whirl back in time to the era of 1930s colonial glamour, and pull up a pew at the decadent Long Bar. The hotel might be posh, but it’s a popular tourist trap, and outsiders are most welcome to escape the heat and unwind with that infamous cocktail, the Singapore Sling. Singapore, Singapore Jadelisa Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:18:38 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1285 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1285 When you find yourself paying £4 for a pint of Peroni in some destitute wasteland in Shoreditch that’s masquerading as “trendy”, you know the world’s gone mad and you need out. If it’s not achingly trendy Jack Wills clad Sloanes, then its filthy chavs and WKD soaked seats in Wetherspoons. The only stereotype I’ll happily stand for with my drinking venue is Ye Olde Traditional English Pub with Good Ale. And for that there’s no better place than The Bridge Inn in Topsham. Topsham, United Kingdom Jadelisa Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:57:50 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1284 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1284 England in the full throws of an icy cold wet winter can be a depressing place. Wet jeans chafing at your thighs, frostbite eating away at your ears and shit hair. Oh to be a woodland animal and hibernate the winter away with dreams of sunshine, lollipops and rainbows… Unfortunately, us human beings took a slightly different route down the path of evolution and weren’t designed to furrow away underground. So if you can’t beat the weather, you might as well join it in all its glorious shades of grey. Take a trip to Postbridge on Dartmoor and you can actually experience a smidgen of Technicolor. Dartmoor, United Kingdom Jadelisa Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:48:05 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1283 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1283 I Heart Shopping. I particularly Heart shopping if it's bloody cheap and there's a bargain to be had. So give me 15,000 market stalls of pure cheap shopping pleasure and I am there faster than a line of coke up a celebrity's nose. Chatuchak weekend market in Bangkok is just what the doctor ordered to feed a discount shopping addiction. And God bless the Great British pound for crippling every other currency, because in Thailand, that makes me a rich woman. Don't get me wrong, I have morals somewhere, but when it comes to shopping I am a shameless materialistic bitch. Bangkok, Thailand Jadelisa Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:22:09 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1267 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1267 Every once in a while I have vivid dreams of flying through the air, where I gracefully dart and duck through the skies, picking up treasure as I go… Freud might have something else to say on the matter, but this to me is how snorkelling feels, as I can float and dive in seas that offer up tropical fish for treasure. It’s my one chance to fly without the fear of engines cutting out. Pulau Payar, Malaysia Jadelisa Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:06:12 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1264 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1264 Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Singapore and Australia. It’s a well-trodden backpackers route, and one that almost always fails to acknowledge the existence of the cultural melting pot that is Malaysia. Which is certainly a shame, as you won’t be able to experience the wonderful delicacy of ‘the king of fruits’, the durian. And ‘experience’ it most certainly is, for this is a fruit that smells so bad it could bring up a little bit of last night’s dinner and is banned from most hotels and taxis. But of course, the Malays love it, and just as Marmite can be your mate, the durian can be too. If you find that your travels take you to Kuala Lumpur, or if you’re simply on a stopover at the capital, make sure you find the time to meander down the bustling sweaty side streets to simultaneously shock and treat your taste buds. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Jadelisa Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:42:25 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1261 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1261 Cable cars are not my friend. “You want to come hang with me, on a thin wire rope, in a little claustrophobic cabin, where you can’t get out unless you have suicidal tendencies?” Yes, of course. What fun it will be hanging with you, getting a sweat on and wanting to vom. I don’t do heights. Well, I do them when I know nothing could snap or break, causing me to plummet 700 metres to my death. Yet still, last summer in Langkawi I found myself sat in a claustrophobic cabin, getting a sweat on, 700 metres above sea level. Do I listen to my own fears? Hmm... No it appears not. Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia Jadelisa Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:52:15 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1258 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1258 Three hours on the clock. One plain bagel and an apple. A tatty subway map. Absolutely no understanding of the tatty subway map. One camera. I was somewhat equipped and ready to be let loose on my own in a slightly bigger apple than the one I was holding. The sprawling metropolis that’s so good they named it twice… the land of that famous t-shirt… the city of dreams… the home of, er, Matisse’s Goldfish and Palette. That there, for the uninitiated, is modern art, and there’s plenty more of it housed inside the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA for short. I’d done the tourist traps, I’d got vertigo up the Empire State, I’d been Torvill and Dean in Central Park, I’d even tried to have breakfast at Tiffany’s but slightly misinterpreted the song… But on my final day in New York I felt like I’d better do something to set myself apart from my sandal and sock-wearing counterparts. New York City, United States Jadelisa Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:16:54 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/jadelisa/experience/1250 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1250