Wandering/Wondering

Author: CBT

  • Why do so many Welsh people go to Australia?

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    While walking past the reception in the hostel in Darwin, I heard the receptionist tell a group of young women, ‘We don’t get many Welsh people here’. Attention grabbed, I turned and asked, ‘You don’t?’. It turned out that several of the group were from Wales, including a girl from Pwllheli – Welsh-speaking Gog (Northener),…

  • An Admission of Failure

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    CBT
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    While walking past a beach in Darwin, I saw a lone man facing the sea. His arms were spread wide, and he seemed to be declaiming something to the waves in Larrakia. I wondered if he was a local eccentric, until, later in the day, I saw a group of people on another beach in…

  • Why are Chinese communities so much more visible in Malaysia than in Thailand?

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    CBT
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    Kuala Lumpur was strikingly similar to Bangkok in many ways. Ultra-modern infrastructure, skyscrapers, and massive shopping centres, right next to tattered, grimy streets in oppressive tropical heat. But there was a key difference: where Bangkok had the shining spires of Buddhist temples and the Grand Palace, Kuala Lumpur had mosques, Hindu temples, and at least…

  • Malaysia & Australia (and a little bit of Istanbul)

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    CBT
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    Day 1 It’s about midnight by the time I land at Istanbul Airport, but thankfully, the hotel I had booked is in the airport. All my needs and worries are met as I check in to my tiny – but sleek and modern – room, get a bag of toiletries handed to me by the…

  • Update

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    CBT
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    I have run out of journeys and questions. But I am going out into the world to restock very soon. CBT