I've been Nominated for the Leibster Blog Award

As I woke up this morning, being the geek I am, I slopped open (yes I'll use the verb slopped to describe opening my computer if I want to!) my laptop, activated my VPN (being in China) and lo and behold, I've got an award nomination! I would like to thank Kae Lani Kennedy AKA A Travel Broad  for my nomination. You should check her website out, it's a lot better than mine!

After doing a little research into what exactly the Liebster blog award is, I've discovered it comes from a blogger in Germany, the idea being to promote bloggers who you think deserve recognition while it also gives you an opportunity to ask 11 questions to your 11 favourite bloggers.

So, as an avid fan of German law and order, I'll now abide by zie rulez unt regulationz ov zie Liebster Avarwd!

Here goes, 11 random facts about me:

1. My favourite food is cheesy pesto mash wrapped in a corn tortilla. This is one of the reasons I'm fat. 
2. I came to China over a year ago, and I still haven’t figured out why.
3. I like cats.
4. Bouncy dogs are my lifelong enemies.
5. I'm never happier than when I'm looking at a map, they have a hypnotic quality which can captivate me for many hours. 
6. My favourite writer is Paul Theroux.
7. I take my philosophical advice from Bubbles, a character from a Canadian TV show named Trailer Park Boys. "Plato was the smartest cocksucker who ever lived".
8. I hate Aeroplanes, I'd much rather take a sleeper train and look out the window scribbling notes and reading when I get bored. 
9. I pretend to be very arrogant when writing, but I just do it for entertainment. 
10. I hate being photographed.
11. Karl Pilkington is my favourite "Travel Journalist".

Mike Smith as Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys

 Now to answer Kae Lani Kennedy's 11 questions for me.

1.) What inspired you to start traveling?

The fear of having regrets when I die, of not living a life of note or interest.

2.) What is your favourite destination so far and why?

If I have to choose one it would be Moreton Island in Queensland Australia. Its a great big sand island just off the coast from Brisbane, its not the biggest of the great Australian sand islands but that's not the point. It's close to civilisation, it lacks the sand mining operation of North Stradbroke Island and the Dingoes of Fraser Island. It's deviod of mosquitoes which is a huge plus! Besides, it's an island made of sand in a clean tropical paradise, what more do you want in life?

3.) Where you’ve had your favorite meal?

My favourite meal is a breakfast of Eggs Florentine from a little restaurant named Greedies in Isleworth, London. The Hollandaise Sauce is to die for. I'd recommend you have it with a side of wedges because they're great too!
 
4.) What’s your favourite travel memory.

I'm not sure if I have a favourite, perhaps sleeping under the stars on Lady Musgrave Island. It sounds idyllic but there was a gale blowing which froze me half to death, after 3 or 4 hours I retreated to my tent. I wish I could romanticize travel the way many writers do, but my best memories are always tangled up with memories of struggle,annoyances and inconveniences. Even Tangalooma on Moreton Island was little more than a pimped up Butlins. 

5.) Share with us your favorite photo and a little bit of detail about the photo.

This is my Favourite travel photo

This is me on lady Musgrave Island, I don't know why its my favourite, it just is.


6.) What are some words you live by (quotes, your motto, a mantra)?


"If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean", Pat Nolan.

"What am I doing here?" - Arthur Rimbaud, Bruce Chatwin among others.

"If you ask for nothing, you will receive it in abundance", Julee Barnett. 

7.) Why did you start a travel blog?

I used to co edit the Travel Section of newspaper called The Waterfront with a fantastic travel writer named Andy Belcher (Far more talented than I). For the April fools day edition I wrote an "interview" with Osama Bin Laden (Killed 3 weeks after I wrote the article). You can read it here. Anyhow, the Paper Editor said it was too controversial, and publishing it could ruin his career but I was so proud of it I decided to get a blog, build a following and get people to look at my amazing article! I also liked the idea of being an uncensored travel writer, able to say whatever the hell I want, without an editor saying (blah blah blah blah copyright blah blah islamists blah blah).

8.) Do you have a favorite place in the airport to hang out before a flight?

The computer shop. Why? To promote my blog of course!

9.) When you fly, what do you like to do to keep you occupied?

I look out the window (much to the annoyance of the Cabin Crew who keep on telling me to shut my window blind) and read books.

10.) What’s the strangest thing a local has every told you about their city?

"Stay away from ze Uyghurs! Zey'll kill you if you look at zem" - Some Han Chinese Idiot, Wuhan. 

11.) When it comes to travel blogging, what do you find is your biggest obstacle?

Travelling. And the great firewall of China. 

So, here's 11 bloggers I think are good enough for a Leibster Blog Award:

1: George of George on the Go
2: Kate of Compendium of Crazy
3:Anthony of You Bloody Tourist
4:Chocolate of Impossible Saints
5:Many Anne of A totally impractical guide to living in Shanghai
6:Matthew of Tw1tter Tunez
7:Monica of The Travel Hack
8:Ted of Travelling Ted
9:Debbie of Debbie Travels
10:Rachelle of Flatbacker
11: The Denning Family of Discover, Share, Inspire

And here's 11 questions for you:

1: What's one country you would never go to?
2: What's you're favourite flavour of Angel Delight?
3: What was the last country you visited/if your're abroad, where are you now?
4: What would you have done if you were born there?
5: Marco Polo described the Turkomen people as "dull of intellect", do you agree?
6: What would you have done if you had lived in Nazi Occupied France?
7: Do you feel confident enough to visit North Korea?
8: If you were having dinner with Elizabeth II along with a gaggle of foreign dignitaries, and farted. A silent but deadly type. Would you admit to it?
9: Have you ever heard of a city named Zhengzhou?
10:What's your greatest fear?
11:Would you kill somebody if you had to?

These are the rules for the nominated bloggers:

• Link back to the blogger that nominated you
• Write 11 random facts about yourself
• Answer 11 questions from the blogger that nominated you
• Nominate 11 other bloggers
• Ask them 11 new questions