For the past few years, I would spend one February weekend attending an annual zazen retreat organised by my zazen group at a farm outside of London. Our zazen group is quite small, so most of us know each other quite well. People come and go, and there is no pressure to [...]

 
I have visited exhibitions on Ukiyo-e (Japanese Woodblock prints) in Japan, France and London before, but never in Brighton. After reading some positive reviews on the "Floating Worlds: Japanese Woodcuts" exhibition at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, I decided to head to Brighton to see the exhibition before it ended.
Oddly enough [...]

 
Not surprisingly, I have never visited Brighton in the winter, but an exhibition on my wish list brought me to the coastal city in January. Obviously, I had to check the weather forecast before booking my train ticket, and it was lucky that the forecast was correct for a change.
Sunshine and blue [...]

 
Although Colchester is only 50 miles from London, I have never visited this historic market town before. Regarded as Britain's oldest recorded town, it used to be the capital of Roman Britain, but it does not seem to attract as many visitors as Cambridge and Oxford. After visiting The Beth Chatto Gardens [...]

 
In the last few years, I became very interested in English gardens, and I tried to visit as many as possible during the summer/autumn months when the weather is more pleasant. Since I don't have a car anymore, I would have to plan ahead and constantly check the weather forecast. I am [...]

 
I have attended many group coastal walks/hikes in the past, like Seven Sisters (from Seaford to Eastbourne), Hastings circular, and Newhaven to Brighton... the coastal walks/hikes around the South East England are extremely popular with many meetup walking groups due to its proximity to London, and of course, the spectacular views.
It [...]

 
The first stop of my three-week trip in Scotland this summer was Glasgow. Although the city is not as glamourous as Edinburgh, I tend to have a bias towards Glasgow, partly because of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and partly because of its friendly residents.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of [...]

 
This summer, I spent two weeks staying in Ullapool, a small picturesque port on the shores of Loch Broom with around 1,500 inhabitants up in the Scottish Highlands. Before this trip, I have never travelled anywhere beyond Inverness in the Highlands. Since Ullapool cannot be reached by rail, I had to take [...]

The scenery from Ullapool to Assynt
 
Scotland is one of my favourite places in the world. I love the landscape, wilderness, people and traditions; however, I am not so fond of its weather – a crucial element that has put me off moving up there. I have been traveling up to Scotland annually [...]

 
January has been a stressful month for me, and even my regular meditation practice could not prevent me from developing some skin allergy as a result of stress. I feel that many city dwellers often struggle to maintain a work/play/rest balance, and despite the best effort, stress seems to affect many of [...]