“Get Shiseido on the line. Two bottles down and we’re still not finished with him…”
Travel
Of Irish jigs, Triple Salchows and an end to Hong Kong hotel quarantine
In the face of inevitable and glittering industry acknowledgements Martin, you will always be more famous as the guy that did the Triple Salchow off the hotel bed during lockdown.
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Quirky
Celebrating 20 years as The Muffy Report is born for a day
Matilda’s name (and I’m not making this up) was taken from Australia’s beloved folk song ‘Waltzing Matilda’, a result of her penchant for stepping waltz-like from side to side.
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Quirky
Three RATS and a full moon in Hong Kong
Yesterday as I was packing to go and checking all the quarantine room drawers for my belongings, I noticed the room safe for the first time. If only I had spotted it earlier I may not have stolen my own passport.
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Travel
No points to the Four Points Sheraton, top points to Qatar Airways, and time to bring out the Brancott
To maintain the same rigid 14-day cancellation policy from the days when quarantine room demand far exceeded supply is outrageous.
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People
Catching up with travel retail TRI-PODs, Kiwis and Kreols in Dubai
Jacqui and I compared our life journeys from New Zealand to where we are today. Journeys from the bottom of the earth that have, we hope, a long way to run yet.
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Airports
Normal service resumes in Dubai
I may, just may, about to become the face of ‘the website that never slumps’.
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Airports
Sunrise and sunset over Doha and on from Edinburgh to Dubai
What I like most perhaps about the store is its non-formulaic approach. No semi-forced walkthrough here, you can go off-piste just as much as you want with a surprise in the form of a travel retail-exclusive or newcomer at almost every turn.
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Travel
Destination Doha once more as one jewel remains wrapped while another is set to sparkle
I’ve been travelling so much that when I visited my dentist on Friday, I actually (and I swear this is true) went to fasten my seat belt as I sat in my chair. Given my aversion to dentists and what followed, I probably should have.
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Airports
Building a showcase for South Africa at Johannesburg Airport
Travel retail, already a fine showcase at OR Tambo, can be a gateway to deeper knowledge and wider engagement with the best that South Africa has to offer.
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Travel
From a Dante-esque hell to the heaven of home
The staff at the Airport Regal do a good job and my ten-pace room was ok but I still feel like I have escaped from room 1072 rather than simply having checked-out.
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Travel
Reigning Supreme at the Regal while discovering a new variant
To ward off bordeom I recommend the COVID equivalent of the old Pick-up Sticks game. In this version (I guess we should call it a variant) you use swabs instead and push them up your nostrils.
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Food
Local flavour, world-class experience – a snapshot of South Africa at Durbanville Hills
What we’ve discovered in the past few days is the sheer diversity, wealth and quality of South African cuisine, alongside magnificent hospitality.