Giovana searched online and found ‘GuanYuan Flower Birds Fish and Insects Market’ which may have information she wanted and hopefully to view a real fight there. I then searched on Chinese search engine Baidu.com.cn, and found ‘Hong Yan Market’ which a blogger says it was the place for cricket fight championship in 2007 and has everything you need for crickets.

So we took a taxi there, but found out, there wasn’t much going on. Cricket fights will not start till about 15th September, which according to the people in the market, are shown every day. Currently, the crickets are too young, most trainers will buy now and train them for a month before registering them for the fights. We had an interesting chat with two elderly cricket fight fans in the market, and I learnt that China has about 300 years of history in engaging in cricket fights, said to be fun, exciting and a great hobby which is good for your health. Usually they only play for about 50Yuan (less than US$10), the government however is cracking down on all types of gambling.

For the cricket championship, it’s estimated to have 3000 registrants, and the prize could be 100k Yuan (approx US$15,000), we have no idea however how accurate the information is.

In order to film how the crickets fight, we paid them 50Yuan to put on a fight between two crickets for us. They said it’s not the right season, the crickets are too young, and they didn’t seem very aggressive and strong. It happens in less than a second, once the two stuck their teeth into each other the one which quits looses. Usually owners simply let the looser go back to nature, because they believe, it will lose the fighting spirit and usually never makes a good fighter.

We also learnt from people in this market that, Shi Li Qiao Market which is in the vicinity has more crickets stuff for sale. When we got to Shi Li Qiao, we knew we had found the right place! The market was much better organised, with more variety of fish, birds and dogs, in fact just about any pet you can think of, and naturally more crickets with an amazing range of products for the cricket fanatics! There’s also this decent cricket shop, supplies all your cricket needs like a home, water/food trays, mating room, balance for measuring the weight before going on a fight, and a picture of an champion in 2002, which won 9 matches and retired afterwards and treated as a hero, and later buried in a proper coffin. They even have a dedicated website.

They said cricket is the most treasured insect among the famous four because of it’s beautiful sound, with the most varieties of tools and accessories.

Crickets are mostly reproduced in Shan Dong Province, a region in which each household breeds crickets.

I stayed a weekend before going to Beijing for Olympics. Zappati was really live on Friday night both the indoor dance floor and outdoor beer garden, we stayed until 1.30am and moved onto LAN - another fancy new restaurant/bar near the Bond (on the corner of Guangdong Rd and Sichuan Rd), features beautiful decor with a traditional and modern style mix, unfortunately, being new, there’s not much of a crowd as yet.

Saturday buffet lunch at the Shangri-la hotel Pudong was the best I ever had! If you think Cafe mix in Shangri-la Sydney was great, this is 5 times better! The variety is unbelievable, different cuisine has its own designated area, and the desert bar alone expands 3 tables! It’s expensive for local Chinese (approximately USD$40.00), but if you can afford it, it’s truly worth it! I heard from my friend, that the Westin Hotel also has excellent buffet, probably even better! I can’t imagine how you could possibly taste more than what is already there!

After the mouth watering lunch, we hit the pool party at the Purple Mountain Hotel. There were approximately two hundred people there, beautiful local and international girls, great music and a really fun party! I wouldn’t mind going back every Saturday:-)

Its always fun to visit Shanghai, an ever changing city, with new places to go and new things to do every time I go, every year, and this is the second time I’m here this year, and I’m pretty sure by Oct when I return for China Grand Prix, I’ll discover something new!

Night Clubs
People in our group are quite nice and fun to hang out with, we checked out some of the hottest bar/clubs in town, Baronetti, Mariuzzin, Nuth… Mariuzzin downtown being my favorite. Not sure why Baronetti is so popular, i went there during last visit in Rio too, not impressed with the place, the crowd, the music is ok. Nuth is a big place with upstairs bar/restuarant and dance floor, outdoor garden downstairs, contemporary design, nice open air area. Different nights have different theme, crowd.

Castelo De Pedras
back to Rio from Buzios, and went out with my new brazilian friend Rita, and experienced the craziest dance club! there’s a thousand people at Castelo de Pedras, so crowded, everyone is into dancing while singing along with the popular music played, 60% are men, of all colors, half topless showing off their great bods and sensual moves, its hooottttt! there’s even firework inside the club when it reaches peak! its like a mini carnival in salvador, its wiiiild!

Via Show
Working on my computer during the weekdays, going to the beach..
On the weekend, went out with Rita and her friends Binhon and Alexandra.
Its amazing in Via Show, a dancing crowd of couple of thousands (apparently more on thursdays)! Its a shame I´m not allowed to take the camera in.

Apparently dance clubs like Castelo de Pedras and Via Show are attended by average/poor brazilians, while the night clubs in downtown /beach areas are more for middle or upper class . But if you want to experience the real brazilian dance and the unbelievable energy of the crowd, you have to go to these poor people´s parties!

Buzios became famous after the visit of French actress Brigitte Bardot in the 60’s. It has great beaches, beautiful water, many water sports you can do - surfing, diving.. the town has lots of restaurants, shops, clubs and busy till 2 or 3 in the morning! Most visitors are brazilians and some from Argentina, lots of family. Great family holiday location, but 2-3 days is enough for me, someone who is used to the beautiful beaches in Sydney:-)

When i visited brava beach, i spotted a very nice hotel, Brava Club, its right on the cliff, beach front, with georgous views. The new rooms on the top are really nice, with indoor jacuzzi, and a seperate swimming pool for this new section. Only accommodating 2 people though. for family, you need inter-connecting rooms, not in this new section though. The hotel terrace is beautiful and large enough to host a function/wedding for couple of hundred of people. The brava beach is quite narrow though, not as wide as some of the other popular beaches here.

If you come here for NYE, best to be in an exclusive area at Copacabana, in a beachfront apartment or hotel party with view to the whole beach and firework, as well as easy access to the crazy crowd dancing to the music at different stages on the beach, and head to Ipanema beach party after midnight!

damn i missed my flight! now i have to stay here for another 6hrs!! Cannt blame anything one but myself:-( was getting too comfortable in the lounge…

i have a feeling this is not good to be a smooth trip. things have already gone wrong a few times, since i left sydney this morning. But as usual, as if some angel´s been looking after me, plus i always try harder, things always turn out to be ok:-)but i have to remind myself, not to rely on good luck!

My flight from sydney did not start smooth. i arrived just a little over an hr at the Sydney airport, LAN counter, i was told all staff travel (anyone working in travel, standby discounted tickets) are handled by Qantas, at counter E. There wasn´t anybody waiting when i approached, but was told to come back at 10 (my flight departs at 10.45). when i returned, there was a loooong line. Worried about missing the flight, i approached the check in staff, but was told they´re not checking in LAN standby yet, so i had to wait in the queue. By 10.15, i had to approach him again, as there´s no way i could make it following the queue. then he told me to approach his supervisor, who´s on the phone sorting out another couple of pax to Santiago. i waited another 10min, he called my name and gave me my boarding pass, i ran, without noticing that he checked me in economy class till i was in the line of customs check point. i had no time to go back, had to try my luck at the boarding gate. the LAN staff at the gate was very helpful, i knew there were seats in business class, she said the Qantas staff did not realise my ticket was in business class, typical! she then told me first she couldn´t do anything for the flight from sydney to auckland, but can change it to business from auckland to santiago. Eventually she managed to book me all way through to santiago in business, i was soo happy, and gave her a Merry Xmas kiss!

On the plane, i sat next to an interesting lady, who´s a very active middle aged traveller, especially into trekking tours. We were telling each other the most interesting travel stories. She´s meeting her husband in Santiago, going on a trekking tour at En Atacama, and then to Bunos Ares cruising to antarctic. She told me a wonderful walking tour she did in turkey and how she researched 90 hours for her itinerary and was able to explore alot of remote areas where tourists don´t normally go, they also chartered a boat with another couple to those hideaways where only boat has access to, and interesting market shopping for food for the boat chef to prepare. I asked her to email me the special itinerary so that we could suggest to our clients too. Hope she will!

its not too much a torture waiting in the LAN lounge actually. its the second time i´m here for long hours, last time was on the way back from Rio to Sydney. Food here is simple, but nice, rasberry juice is not sth. you can easily get in Sydney, its simply devine! and if u need to sleep, there´s a seperate area, with lie down chairs. The internet area i´m in is private, spacious, big enough table to put yr bags, food, drinks. I´ll just have to treat it as an office for 6hrs and get some work done, so i have more time for fun later!

Later that night
I didn’t realise there’re other costs of missing this afternoon flight! not only there’s no biz class on the evening flight, it goes via Sao Paulo, which adds another 2hrs to the already looong trip!
when i finally arrived at airport at 2am, my luggage did not arrive! its getting worse, by the time i arrived at the Luxor Regente, there’s no reservation for me! Its all prepaid through an agency in Florida, there’s nothing i could do but let the staff to freeze 2nights costs on my credit card, before they could look into it tomorrow… AND, the hotel is shit! 4 star??? NO WAY! 3.5 the most! I later found out, most 4 star hotels in Rio are like 3-3.5 star in Asia.
I get my flight confirmation last minute, 4 days before departure, and there was no 5 star available, but never again, book anything relying on others’ comments or feedbacks online (i checked feedback on tripadvisor, obviously it says nothing what i experienced! staff are ok, location is good, nothing else…) few days later, i learnt the hotel doesn’t even have any iron and ironing board for guests!

Just came back from a 9 day Fiji tour, here’s the update for discerning travellers’ fiji holiday:

Nadi/Mainland area:

At the airport, Mocambo has just been renovated, and is now renamed Novotel, rooms have been significantly improved, highly recommended for pre/post stay for island holidays.

We stayed in Shangri-la for two nights for the trade day organised by Fiji Visitors Bureau. Its not a hotel suitable for first class travellers, except the new ‘premier ocean bures’ being built on the other side of the hotel, in front of the spa facilities, all luxurious one bedroom, with indoor and outdoor spa, beach front, between the exclusive Chi Village and Wedding Chapel. A heli pad is also provided for guests who wish to take heli transfer from the airport. This hotel offers varieties of dining options, a night club, excellent evening shows, great facilities and activities for kids.

In Denarau area, we visited the new Hilton and Radisson.

Hilton is very modern, does not have much of a fijian feel, too much concrete i think. Part of resort is still under construction (further apart from the completed section). studio/1br/2br are beautiful, but not too spacious. 3 br villa is impressive, with plunge pool in the garden. Resort pool is enormous, other facilities (gym, kids club) are average. The beach has black sand, but covered with white sand transported from elsewhere. White sand gets washed away at certain parts and require new sands.

Radisson is a nice 5 star property, not as luxurious as Hilton, it offer great value. beautiful lobby, pool area and nice accommodation. Currently has some great offers for rates as well as upgrade from deluxe room to 1br, and from 1br to 2br.

I revisited Westin, i’m not a big fan for the renovated Westin, mainly because the bathroom is quite ordinary, definitely not the usual Westin standard. For that reason, and value for money, i’d much prefer Radisson or Sofitel. If you are staying in Westin, book the deluxe rooms which are on second floor, with high ceiling, dvd, surrounding sound system.

Our next stop is the Vomo Island, the island has nice beach and on two different sides of the island. Accommodation are mostly beach front, some hillside, the bures are nice but not as impressive as the new 3 br villa - absolutely gorgeous. The resort is also completing some beach front 4br villas. You can go to Vomo island via helicopter or boat transfer with South Sea Cruises, its a vessel transporting general public, if you want extra comfort, pay additional fee to get in the captain’s lounge. On the way back from Vomo, we actually met the priminister of Fiji in the lounge! Shame we didn’t take a photo with him..

We then flew to Northern Islands, where its known for world class diving sites.
the aircraft to Northern islands are usually small, 20 seaters, which would certainly make some passengers nervous.

We visited Taveuni Island Resort, Qamea, Namale and Jean Michel Cousteau.

Taveuni Island Resort, is 10min drive from airport. Its set on cliff, beach is down below and not that great, but the accommodation is beautiful, most with stunning ocean views, open space, lots of green lawn area in front of the villas. It does not cater for children.

After half an hour on a bumpy road, and a 15min boat transfer, i was expecting to see a 6 star property on Qamea Island, unfortunately its a 4 star and i believe their best villa accommodation is over priced. However, its a great property for ppl who loves the rain forest experience, and for divers who has easy access to some of the best diving sites. Resort management and staff are hospitable, very friendly and organise alot of activities which easily fill a week’s holiday.

Namale is a great resort for honeymooners and corporate conferences (the resort is in the process of seperating the resort to these two areas). The grand villas are luxurious, with lots spaces. The resort, being Anthony Robbins’ training ground at times, has lots of interesting facilities, where you could easily entertain yourself if it rains for days, facilities like ten-pin bowling, basketball court, 1200 sq ft gym with huge screen for sports tv, movie theatre, virtual golf, putting green, billiards… the resort also has excellent spa facility.

The best family resort in fiji would be Jean Michel Cousteau, nothing beats ‘a nanny per child under 5 offer’ by the resort and the kids club is the best i’ve seen in fiji. Most rooms are designed for family (except the honeymoon bures), not so luxurious, a 4 star, except ‘The Villa’ - definitely 5 star plus. its however located at a windy spot.
I also had the best snorkeling experience with the resort marine biologist who even brought an underwater notepad with him and wrote down all the fish names when we did the snorkeling! Varieties of colorful marine life right near the resort.

After returning from the Nothern islands, we visited some resorts in Mamanuca islands - Tokoriki Island Resort, Amunuca and Liku Liku.

Tokoriki’s bures are all beach front, and rooms are nice, with strong fijian flavour, but the bedding is quite pethetic. If Westin’s heavenly bed is 5 star, this is only 3 star bedding. The sunset villa has a plunge pool and day bed, great for honeymooners. the resort has a beautiful infinity pool, but the beach seems to have alots of sea weeds and rocks at certain parts.

Heavy rain started the night before we visited Amunuca, which is located on the same island as Tokoriki, but a different side and requires a boat transfer. We held umbrellas in the palling rain and strong wind on a small dingy and got half drenched by the time we got there… we could not take the Tokoriki Island Resort’s umbrellas with us, but Amunuca has only 2 umbrellas for the 8 of us.. and being a new resort, the lobby has leaking ceilings along the corridor, wet floor everywhere, some areas has buckets on the floor and the resort does not have enough staff to dry all the wet floor. One agent slipped and fell on the floor despite being carefully.. The resort accommodation is like domitory style, except the honeymoon villa which is quite decent. the rest are all crowded, and have no living rooms. The beddings are nice, as wel as the common pool area, and the spa supposed to be good, but we didn’t have time to visit. I will not recommend this to discerning travellers, except the honeymoon villas, but not till the resort is ready.

We had to make a decision at Amunuca whether we’ll proceed with our inspection of Liku Liku which is a 50 minutes boat transfer and we could be soaking wet by the time we reach there, or we skip that and return directly to Nadi. We decided to continue our inspection, as we don’t have umbrellas, we had black garbage bags and turned them into rain coates..things we do for our clients!

When we got to Liku Liku, things were better organised, we were greeted with staff on the jetty with umbrellas and later upgraded to white disposabal rain coates, quite funny to see the transition from black trash

to white trash..lol. Liku liku is another newly opened couple’s resort, the only resort in Fiji which offers overwater bungalow. The resort is beautiful and staff are well managed (same owner as Mololo on the other side of the island and Rosie’s holiday - Fiji’s largest local operator). It has nice beach, crystal clear water, and excellent rooms, whether on the beach or overwater. highly recommend!

During my trip i also met a Fijian girl who had worked at the Wakaya Club for 4 years. I’ve never seen the resort, so was quite keen to find out why its been one of the top resorts in Fiji. She said apart from the elegent accommodation, its the friendly yet unobtrusive services the resort offers to its guests who value privacy. Many celebrities are repeat clients of the island and hardly any celebrities were photographed while visiting the island.

The upcoming area on coral coast is now the Taunovo Bay, its between denarau and pacific harbour. For our first class clients, the brandnew Taunovo Bay Resort & Spa (link to the new product) is offering luxury beach front villas, will be open for business from Jan 2008, currently openning specials are at half price! Unfortunately we did not have chance to visit the property. but the pictures look beautiful.

Please check our Fiji Luxury Islands for updated recommendations from us.

Another great event we hosted in Shanghai! Approx 50 guests joined us for the best Shanghai experience!

Its always been an exciting time visiting Shanghai. This fastest growing city never stop to amaze me. Food, shopping, nightlife, and unlimited business opportunites are the top reasons people love Shanghai, and of course, the Grand Prix After Party is definitely a must, celebrating with the formula 1 drivers with the Shanghai elite - the indisputable social event of the year!

Sep 7
Queentown has always been one of my favorite travel destination, been there twice, this is my third visit.

I love the scenery here, doesn’t matter where you are, you cann’t miss the georgous mountain and lake view. I always wanted to buy a property here, shame Australians cann’t get a loan here in NZ, i think. Plus staying at a different place for each visit isn’t a bad idea:-)

i’ve been snowboarding on Coronet Peak for the last two days, its my first time learning snowboarding, although i’ve been skiing for quite some time. After two days torture, i finally got a little hang of it!! i know the next day would be the begining of a new pleasure!

Sep 10
hey, i skydived from 12,000 feet high yesterday, its awesome! you couldn’t find a better place to skydive than queestown, its simply amazing! Its not scary really, except the first second, the rest is pure pleasure! i’ve got a dvd you can watch when i return!

Its the best party time in Hong Kong! Watching rugby is really an excuse for party, people in the stadium care more about having a good time than the game:-) Plenty costumes, music and exciting happy crowd!

In the evening huge crowd gathers at Lang Kui Fang bars and restaurant area, for food, drinks, music and dance..and poeple watching…and some guys heading to Wan Chai later into the night.

90% of the local crowd are expats though, Hong Kong people don’t seem to be involved much, except those working with the expats.