Let's Go: Turkey!

Jamie & I are flying out to Turkey this Friday, so stay tuned for the (occasional) blog. Or follow us on Instagram @foxytravels for pics of our travels. Julie & Jamie xx

We know it's shocking, but...

Shocking News!! Jamie & I will be travelling to Hong Kong (again? I hear you say) this year at Christmas time. We fly out a few days before Christmas 2013, and then spend 12 or so days just hanging out round "the island". For a treat, we have shouted ourselves a harbour-view room for the last few nights in the Mandarin Oriental, so that we may watch the New Year's Eve fireworks! What a cracker (sorry)! Jamie doesn't know this yet, but I plan on getting a pretty techy point-n-shoot camera (as opposed to my very functional but heavy DSLR). So do stay posted for some amazing snaps of Hong Kong life. Oh, and I have a countdown on by work desktop. Only 198 days, 19 hours to go (or so). Love Julie & Jamie Fox The Travelling Foxes xx

Hello blog followers! Sorry for the lack of blogs, but the internet has been intermittent... Jaipur was a really interesting place where they are very proud of their heritage. It is a state of princes & kings (raja & maharaja) & the men ALL wear moustaches. We visited Amber Fort & went ruby shopping, & stayed in an old ancestral palace (mahal). Agra Fort was an amazing structure, where we caught our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal. We visited the Taj at sunset, and no matter how many times you've seen pictures of it, it still takes your breath away. Magical. On to Orccha & Khajuraho, where it is more relaxed & less touristy, and located in the "heart of India". More temples and historic sites, plus we were hosted by a local family with the most delicious home cooked meal. Now we are in Varanasi. It's taken it all to another level... Varanasi is on the Ganges, and a very holy town, so many many pilgrims from Hindu, Buddha and other faiths. Tonight we are doing a sunset "cruise" for a candle lighting ceremony for our ancestors & loved ones. You will all be in our thoughts. Other than that we have both been well, with no reported cases of Delhi Belly. Fingers crossed. Cricket coverage is at high saturation point, so all the boys are happy! Love to you all Namaste Julie & Jamie

Singapore & The F1 Grand Prix

Coming out of a long cold Melbourne winter is no great preparation for the heat & humidity of Singapore. But everywhere is air-conditioned and the infinity pool is a pure dream! Jamie and I have made it to the Singapore Formula 1 GP for practice and qualifying sessions, but tonight is the race. Very exciting and looking forward to it! Not much else to report yet. No I haven't done any shopping, just lazing poolside. It was great people watching yesterday. The best bit was witnessing the English bovva boys drinking a jug of champagne, heavily tattooed dripping in solid gold jewellery and rolexes getting asked to leave the pool deck. Priceless! Til next time soon Jamie and Julie

Itchy Feet

The Travelling Foxes have again got itchy feet.  Where to this time I hear you ask?  Well, the journey begins in Singapore for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in September.  Last year I asked "India or Peru?" on Facebook, and most of you said India.  Singapore is just more than half way there for us, so after the GP, we head to Delhi and spend 20 days travelling the north & south of the country.

Our dear friends at Intrepid (we've travelled with them twice before) have agreed to show us the sights.  This is the trip we've booked: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/HHKZC#overview

"Nothing will prepare you", I hear you say, but jolly good because we are prepared to move out of our comfort zone.  Waaay out of our comfort zone.  I've heard stories before about the poverty, the smell, the conditions, etc but I want to experience the world & her peoples, and not just from a guide book or Nat Geo channel.  The time for the luxury travel is close (by luxury I mean easy travel where they all speak english in 1st world countries), but there's still some things on my list that I have to see & experience. And those things will only get harder the older I get, so I'm getting them out the way.  Climbing the Inca Trail at 70 anyone? No I don't think so.  So Paris & cocktails will have to wait a few more years....

I'm also posting on Facebook, so if you want to befriend me, here I am: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=729276553&ref=tn_tnmn

If you have any comments or advice, we'd love to hear them!

Tasting Menu at Bo Innovation

Now that I've moved past the "raw prawn" episode (see previous blog), I'd like to share the tasting menu from Bo Innovation (Hong Kong).  The description of the dish is in brackets:

TOMATO

(pat chun, "lam kok")

IBERICO 36

(morel, vermicelli) 

this was jamon wrapped around morel mushroom & vermicelli noodle. Best dish award.

FOIE GRAS

("mui choy")

COD

(white miso, saffron, sauternes, seaweed)

I took a photo of this one, it's on my FB account. Delicious!

MOLECULAR

("xiao long bao") which of course we know as shanghai dumplings. Tasted right, but weird texture.

SCALLOP

(kaffir lime, kyoho grape, passion fruit, shichimi potato)

CENTURY EGG

(pickled ginger) nothing more to say on this one.

PLATS Choose one from the following:

SUCKLING PIG (sichuan vanilla, apple, peas)

LANGOUSTINE (mustard, salty egg, cauliflower, black truffle, duck sauce)

PIGEON (wood fungus, shiitake rice cake, "choy sum")

CARABINERO RED PRAWN ("har mi", lo mein, chili, sage) - my choice

SAGA-GYU BEEF (black truffle, soy, "cheung fun") - Jamie's choice

DESSERT

PINEAPPLE

(bun, white chocolate latte)

PETIT DIM-SUM

Day 6-10, Hong Kong - Port Douglas

 

After checking out of MetroPark & dropping the bags to the city bag drop (why can't Melb have a city check-in where they take your bags to the airport for you?), we headed off to Yin Yang, a private kitchen restaurant where the emphasis is on home-style cooking. Just what I needed to settle my funny tummy.  Imagine my horror then when we got there to be told "no sorry you did not confirm yesterday of your booking". WTF? I'm on holidays & don't check my emails everyday!  "Okay" he says, "see what I can do". 

So we were served a very restricted set menu with water. Some water broccoli, some truffled scrambled egg & a clay pot mushroom & eel dish which was very bony but tasty.  Great lunch but I am disappointed as I saw other tables being served crispy duck & rice, etc. :(

Time came to fly south to Port Douglas for the start of the "relaxing" part of the holiday. There's nothing better than sharing a bottle (or three) of bubbly with friends (thx Sarah) at the Tin Shed overlooking the inlet as the sun dips below the mountains.

The next few days were spent sleeping in, then walking along Four Mile Beach with a coffee for brekkie, having a bite to eat for lunch, a dip in the pool in the afternoon followed by the usual "where should we go for dinner" conversation.

Next we sail out to the reef to see tropical fish & turtles! Stay tuned!

Julie & Jamie xox