General Travel

Many of my long trips over the past five years have been in Europe and since I require a Schengen visa to enter most countries in the continent, I have applied in various embassies here in Singapore. Generally, my experiences applying for a Schengen tourist visa have been very procedural. Several documents are required for presentation but as long as one manages to fulfill them, there are barely any questions asked — unlike the application process for other countries for example.

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I normally post my annual travel-oriented currency outlook at the very beginning of the year but due to other commitments, it took me only now to publish it. As we start a new year, we once again look for travel ideas and aim to scale new depths where travel is concerned. There are several factors that may affect your decision on where to go but one that is widely considered is to go somewhere that is cheaper than it used to be only a short time back. This tactic worked very well for Japan when the Yen depreciated by as much as 60% against the US Dollar in 2 years. The same happened in the middle of 2016 when the UK voted for Brexit and the Pound Sterling plunged by 15%, triggering an influx of tourists visiting the UK for shopping and sightseeing.

So what’s in store for 2017? I have by no means a crystal ball. Looking at my list from 2016, I got about 3 out of 5 correctly including the outlook for Chinese Yuan which dropped quite substantially last year. I also identified 3 places to avoid last year based on the expectation that those countries’ currencies will strengthen and got 2/3 correct….

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As 2017 draws near, it is once again time to check out the official publication of Singapore public holidays from the Ministry of Manpower. You know the drill each year. Look out for the dates of the 11 standard holidays, see if the date for Deepavali is confirmed and then determine whether there are any potential long weekends for the coming year.

It is shaping up to be a wonderful year if long weekends are your thing. Jetstar has even planned ahead and rolled out a package offering flights to seven destinations during the seven long weekends for 2017. It’s a great idea but options were only limited to their network.

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With its anodized titanium finish, the American Express Centurion Card is usually recognized as the most exclusive credit card in the world. It has no credit limit. Membership is supposed to be by invitation only and some channels have reported a seemingly endless number of perks with the card. A member had reportedly used the card to buy a painting for over US$100 million from an auction house.

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Creative recently launched the Aurvana ANC, the latest in its line of Aurvana headphones and its most wallet-friendly noise-cancelling option so far. As an urbanite and a frequent traveler, this was a most welcome feature as it gives the ability to have a more personal listening space in an ever shrinking and increasingly noisy world. I went for a series of trips recently and took out the Aurvana ANC for a spin. These were my impressions:

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Tipping is a way of life in the United States. Most waiting staff are paid below minimum wage and rely on tips to make a living. This practice is different from many other countries where servers are paid a living wage and where a “service charge” is added to the bill. For most visitors, it can be confusing – and even embarrassing – trying to decipher whether a particular service warrants a tip. Despite having lived for a period of time in the United States previously, I was likewise stuck in situations where I pondered the merits of a tip during a recent visit. Of course, I could have played it safe and just tipped every server that took care of me but it would have been excessive not to mention detrimental to the tipping culture of the United States.

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