Interview with Curly Traveller

Usually I post my ‘Interview with…’ post on Monday, but as you can tell, it’s been a bit delayed. That’s because I’m busy travelling. Because of that, I’ll feature a travel blog today: Curly Traveller.

Anja writes about more than just travelling, but that is how I came across her blog. I found it while she was still in Hong Kong (she joins her husband on his business travels) and blogging about her experiences, but now she is back in Singapore. I was lucky enough to meet her earlier this year (see this post here) and I eagerly wait for her new posts to arrive in my RSS reader, as I’ll be guaranteed to receive a funny or quirky story, or at least lots of interesting pictures about a place she visited or discovered.

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What was the reason for you to start a blog?
Five years ago my husband got a job in Singapore. I started my blog -initially in Dutch- to document our new life for friends and family. Pretty soon I shifted to blogging in english and for a broader audience. The focus remained on the pictures I take. The topics became more varied: travel, art, culture, lifestyle and personal posts. My frequency went up to between 3 to 7 posts per week.

Where do you get your motivation and inspiration from?
Inspiration is easy! It basically comes from daily life. In my case ‘daily life’ happens to comprise lots of travelling and living in another country. On top of that I am a curious person who sees the beauty and uniqueness in the ordinary. All that together provides an endless stream of inspiration.

As far as motivation goes: I am an enthusiastic photographer and my blog serves as a place where I can share them with others. Since my husband works a lot, I am often on my own on my explorations. Via my blogposts I can talk about my experiences and stories to everyone who is interested.

You have been to Hong Kong several times and also lived here for several weeks – what did you like best and worst about Hong Kong?
What I like best about Hong Kong is it’s authenticity and that it is so vibrant. It really feels like a big, lively city!
What I regret is that so many people don’t speak any English. I love to wonder around through streets and alleys. When I spot something that intrigues or puzzles me, e.g. some vegetables or fruits that I do not know, I tend to ask people what it is and to tell me more about it. In Hong Kong, I usually got no answer, since the people I approached did not speak English. It limits the depth of my explorations a bit. I try to compensate that afterwards, by googling stuff and thus finding my answers, but it’s not the same.

If someone asks you what are the three things to do in Hong Kong, what would you recommend?
Three obvious things are:
1. Take the Star Ferry
2. Take the tram up the Peak
3. Watch the light show on the island in the evenings

But I would like to recommend three less obvious things:
1. Visit the 10.000 buddha’s monastery
2. Visit the Tin Hau temple at Repulse Bay
3. take the cable car ride to Lantau Island and visit the big Buddha there. It might look like I am all and only into temples, but the surroundings of these three sights are very nice.

What was the first and the last thing you did when you were in Hong Kong?
The first time was 25 years ago. My dutch boyfriend at the time lived at the Peak as a child, with his expat parents. So the first thing we did was to go to the Peak to find back the house where he grew up in. (Yes, we found it!)
The last thing I did the last time I visited Hong Kong was to go up in the ICC to the top floor. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy, but still great views all around.

You travel a lot and very frequently – what are your favourite places to go to escape from busy, hectic city life?
My favourite escape is to go to a resort where they have private pool villas. We went to two Banyan Tree Hotels where we took such a villa. In Phuket and on Bintan Island. The one on Bintan Island was my favourite. To have your own private villa, with an infinity pool overlooking the chinese sea. Every night standing in the water, near the edge of our pool, watching a beautiful sunset. It’s just magical!

Could you recommend three travel or HK blogs to my readers?
Three travel blogs (by women) it is:
1. Girl, Unstoppable
2. Living in another language
3. Postcards from Rachel

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Thanks for the interview Anja, it was nice talking with you.

If you want to find out more about Anja’s travels and her life in Singapore, head over to her blog: Curly Traveller or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

[All pictures in this post belong to Anja at Curly Traveller]