This Fine Place

The colours here are blindingly beautiful. Clear, turquoise waters, peachy pink hues of the clouds and bold blues are all magnified around you. Borocay is something special.

What a great combo of the canary yellow umbrellas against that sea+sky. It was super hot, so I was happy to hide in the shade and take it all in.

When you head further afield down along White Beach, you can catch a picturesque sunset.

The best and cheapest way to experience the island is via a local trike (equivalent of a Thai tuk tuk)….comfortable they are not, but will surely give you a giggle.

This is the best way to explore the limestone karsts around this area. Authenic Thai travel, a beautiful wooden longtail adorned with ribbons and flowers to bless and keep the crew safe.

We meandered around the islands, glimpsing the wildlife which inhabit the stone structures and settled on a tiny strip of beach to catch the sunset.

Recently, we took a little vay-cay to Penang in Malaysia for the weekend. The capital, Georgetown, is a listed UNESCO world heritage site and has some cracking old colonial architecture. I was enchanted by the old Chinese shophouses, mostly dilapidated but many still fully functional as homes or businesses.

I managed to find this little gem of a guesthouse on AirBnB too which really help get the feel of the old town, but with all the modern comfort and style to go with it. Sinkeh Guesthouse is located in the centre of Georgetown. It is an architectural diamond, an upgraded original shophouse, just like many of its neighbours. Find them at http://www.sinkeh.com/

Architecturally, this city is wonderfully inspiring. The beautiful and unique Peranakan tiles on the shophouse fronts are especially characteristic of this region and can be found adorning many Chinese-Peranankan shophouses in Singapore also.

Is it any wonder Mr Jimmy Choo was so creatively inspired by his hometown?

If ever I have my own interiors shop, it will be like this one! I love the (err) industrial look and design of the furniture and store itself. The male model ain’t too bad either. Hell-loh sirrr!

They have a great mixture of quality soft furnishings, pottery, glass jars, metalics, wood and lightening. And even a few little stationery cards. I bought a beautiful grey striped cushion from the House Doctor brand (http://en.housedoctor.dk/catalogue) and the morrocon inspired large metal tray as seen below.

They also have a nice little metro-tiled (heart) coffee corner to take it all in, which I failed to get a snap of. Drop into them today. They’re located at 41 Drury Street, Dublin 2 or find them at http://www.industryandco.com

On a trip to Saigon a few months ago, I was impressed with their café scene. There are some great little places that have popped up that mix awesome interiors with fantastic Vietnamese coffee – if you haven’t tried it, get yourself some.  Here was one coffee shop we stumbled upon in the  phường bến nghé area.