I've fallen out with Stuart Maconie. A non-existent apostrophe when describing something belonging to Leeds, a mere 4.5 pages dedicated to Sheffield (with most of that being about what is now Hallam Union), and NOTHING other than a mention of it being Philip Larkin's home afforded to Hull. I am most unimpressed. Poncy Lancashire boy. So I can't even remember when I wrote my last blog and what had happened, but in the past week there have been a few things worth ...

So Sunday I spent on the beach again, and not doing like I told myself I would and going to purchase some Bondi essentials: flip-flops (they call them 'thongs' here, but I'm definitely not gonna adopt that...) and sunglasses. Same old same old really. The tan is coming on a shade each day. I picked up a book (judged by its cover, and title) at Manchester Airport by Stuart Maconie called 'Pies and Prejudice: In Search of The North'. It's helping wile away the day...

Current location: 5mins from Bondi Beach, Sydney. Weather: 26 degrees Celsius, slight breeze. Bondi suburb reminds me of some of the upstate towns in New York or Connecticut; streets are wide and have been re-tarmacked a billion times and phone wires drape over them wherever you look, crossed with coastal holiday resorts in the south of France, like Nice. There's a parade (Campbell's) that runs parallel to the honestly, fairly unremarkable beach, selling smooth...

Other observations (on free internet whilst waiting to board): People drink, with straws, out of plastic bags. I didn't even mention the climate! Shocking neglect of a crucial geographical aspect, tut. Well, I'll put it this way, if you leave an air-conditioned building you'll find it nicely warm for the first 15 minutes or so, when you'll feel normal, but after that you'll realise that you are completely drenched in sweat and your clothes are stuck to you. B...

Error 1: forgot sunglasses. Error 2: forgetting how allergic I am to biting b****** insects. Woke up with a sore throat, insect bites that look like targets, hips that hurt like hell and really tense calves. Eeeexcellent! First stop Chinatown so I head for the MRT: a superior version of all the underground systems in the world in my view. You pay S$2 (about 60p) for a single journey and then get half of it back when you put the credit card style ticket bac...